So the basic concept is a mix of Hexblade Warlock and Celestial Warlock, but flavored around the idea of a chaotic good patron from the plane of Arborea that grants it's gifts through strong emotions - namely anger, compassion, joy, fear, and sorrow. Given the focus on a variety of emotions, I thought it would be appropriate to still excel as a blaster, but also provide some reasonable support features as well. If you choose Pact of the Tome at level 3, it becomes really well balanced between utility, support and blaster ... being able to fill a number of roles within the party. Let me know your thoughts:
You have made a pact with a patron from Arborea. "Larger than life, Arborea is a place of violent moods and deep affections, of whim backed by steel, and of passions that blaze brightly until they burn out. Its good-natured inhabitants are dedicated to fighting evil, but their reckless emotions sometimes break free with devastating consequences. Rage is as common and as honored as joy in Arborea. There the mountains and forests are extravagantly massive and beautiful, and every glade and stream is inhabited by nature spirits that brook no infringement." Like it's home, your patron is capable of both deep affection and violent temper. While committed to defeating evil, to them fear, joy, melancholy and rage are equally beautiful emotions, each worthy of their own moments. Like your patron, your magic is full of passion and wild at heart, but always willing to fight for what is right at a moment's notice.
Expanded Spell List
The Arborean lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.
Starting at 1st level, you gain the ability to use your reaction and focus your fury on a creature within 60 feet of you that attacks you or one of your allies. Your arcane fury lasts for 1 minute. The fury ends early if the target dies, you die, or you are incapacitated. Until your fury ends, you gain the following benefits:
You gain advantage on your attack rolls against the creature, but have disadvantage against other creatures.
Any attack roll you make against the cursed target is a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20 on the d20.
If you hit the target of your fury with a critical hit, you gain 1d6 + your proficiency bonus temporary hit points.
You can’t use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.
Comforting Words
At 1st level, you gain the ability to channel divine energy to heal wounds. You have a pool of d6s that you spend to fuel this healing. The number of dice in the pool equals 1 + your warlock level.
As a bonus action, you can heal one creature you can see within 60 feet of you, spending dice from the pool. The maximum number of dice you can spend at once equals your Charisma modifier (minimum of one die). Roll the dice you spend, add them together, and restore a number of hit points equal to the total.
Your pool regains all expended dice when you finish a long rest.
Joyful Embrace
Starting at 6th Level, you channel your patron's affection to imbue your allies with joyous restoration. To do so, as an action touch one ally spend one comforting words die to remove 1 level of exhaustion, or one of the frightened, charmed or stunned conditions.
In the alternative, as an action, you may touch one ally and spend one comforting words die to imbue one of your allies with a joyful spirit that grants them advantage on one saving throw or ability check made in the next ten minutes.
Once you use this ability, you may not use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Foreboding Foresight
At 10th level, whenever you are hit with an attack by the target of passion for vengeance, use your reaction to roll a d6, on a score of 4 or higher you disappear as if using the misty step spell and move to any space of your choice within melee range of the attacking creature. This causes the attack to miss, regardless of the roll.
Stricken with Grief
Starting at 14th level, when a hostile creature has reduced an ally to zero hit points, you can use your Action to use the sorrow you feel and lash out at the creature who reduced your ally to zero hit points. They make a constitution saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failure they take 7d10 radiant damage, or half on a success. Your ally who was reduced to zero hit points is healed by the same amount as the damage you dealt to their attacker.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
Updated. Still trying to get all the features right.
1. Expanded spell list is trying to have the right flavor of being from Arborea and a rough - thought not necessary - association with Sehanine the Moonweaver (the divine I envision my character's patron serving). I want the spells to add a fair bit of support options as well. Also trying not to make it too OP.
2. Impassioned Vengeance is based on anger and mechanically very similar to Hexblade's Curse just with some slight variations that felt appropriate since the ability is tied to rage.
3. Comforting words is based on compassion and is basically healing light from the Celestial Warlock.
4. Joyful Embrace is based on joy and the first part works like either greater or lesser restoration, but only impacts those conditions which might conceivably be remedied by a divine sensation of happiness or contentment. The second part works like inspiration. However, you can only use this ability once per short rest ... so choose wisely.
5. Foreboding Foresight is based on fear and is inspired by the armor of hexes ability from Hexblade.
6. Stricken with Grief is based on sadness and is inspired by searing vengeance from the Celestial Warlock.
Like most other Warlocks it would ability score prioritize CHA > DEX > CON > WIS > INT > STR. I think Pact of the Tome would be the best pact, though others could certainly work too.
So the basic concept is a mix of Hexblade Warlock and Celestial Warlock, but flavored around the idea of a chaotic good patron from the plane of Arborea that grants it's gifts through strong emotions - namely anger, compassion, joy, fear, and sorrow. Given the focus on a variety of emotions, I thought it would be appropriate to still excel as a blaster, but also provide some reasonable support features as well. If you choose Pact of the Tome at level 3, it becomes really well balanced between utility, support and blaster ... being able to fill a number of roles within the party. Let me know your thoughts:
You have made a pact with a patron from Arborea. "Larger than life, Arborea is a place of violent moods and deep affections, of whim backed by steel, and of passions that blaze brightly until they burn out. Its good-natured inhabitants are dedicated to fighting evil, but their reckless emotions sometimes break free with devastating consequences. Rage is as common and as honored as joy in Arborea. There the mountains and forests are extravagantly massive and beautiful, and every glade and stream is inhabited by nature spirits that brook no infringement." Like it's home, your patron is capable of both deep affection and violent temper. While committed to defeating evil, to them fear, joy, melancholy and rage are equally beautiful emotions, each worthy of their own moments. Like your patron, your magic is full of passion and wild at heart, but always willing to fight for what is right at a moment's notice.
Expanded Spell List
The Arborean lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.
The Arborean Expanded Spell List
1st: bane, bless
2nd: moonbeam, aid
3rd: beacon of hope, spirit guardians
4th: greater invisibility, conjure woodland beings
5th: maelstrom, seeming
Impassioned Vengeance
Starting at 1st level, you gain the ability to use your reaction and focus your fury on a creature within 60 feet of you that attacks you or one of your allies. Your arcane fury lasts for 1 minute. The fury ends early if the target dies, you die, or you are incapacitated. Until your fury ends, you gain the following benefits:
You can’t use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.
Comforting Words
At 1st level, you gain the ability to channel divine energy to heal wounds. You have a pool of d6s that you spend to fuel this healing. The number of dice in the pool equals 1 + your warlock level.
As a bonus action, you can heal one creature you can see within 60 feet of you, spending dice from the pool. The maximum number of dice you can spend at once equals your Charisma modifier (minimum of one die). Roll the dice you spend, add them together, and restore a number of hit points equal to the total.
Your pool regains all expended dice when you finish a long rest.
Joyful Embrace
Starting at 6th Level, you channel your patron's affection to imbue your allies with joyous restoration. To do so, as an action touch one ally spend one comforting words die to remove 1 level of exhaustion, or one of the frightened, charmed or stunned conditions.
In the alternative, as an action, you may touch one ally and spend one comforting words die to imbue one of your allies with a joyful spirit that grants them advantage on one saving throw or ability check made in the next ten minutes.
Once you use this ability, you may not use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Foreboding Foresight
At 10th level, whenever you are hit with an attack by the target of passion for vengeance, use your reaction to roll a d6, on a score of 4 or higher you disappear as if using the misty step spell and move to any space of your choice within melee range of the attacking creature. This causes the attack to miss, regardless of the roll.
Stricken with Grief
Starting at 14th level, when a hostile creature has reduced an ally to zero hit points, you can use your Action to use the sorrow you feel and lash out at the creature who reduced your ally to zero hit points. They make a constitution saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failure they take 7d10 radiant damage, or half on a success. Your ally who was reduced to zero hit points is healed by the same amount as the damage you dealt to their attacker.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
Link to the build - https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/1360693-arborean
Updated. Still trying to get all the features right.
1. Expanded spell list is trying to have the right flavor of being from Arborea and a rough - thought not necessary - association with Sehanine the Moonweaver (the divine I envision my character's patron serving). I want the spells to add a fair bit of support options as well. Also trying not to make it too OP.
2. Impassioned Vengeance is based on anger and mechanically very similar to Hexblade's Curse just with some slight variations that felt appropriate since the ability is tied to rage.
3. Comforting words is based on compassion and is basically healing light from the Celestial Warlock.
4. Joyful Embrace is based on joy and the first part works like either greater or lesser restoration, but only impacts those conditions which might conceivably be remedied by a divine sensation of happiness or contentment. The second part works like inspiration. However, you can only use this ability once per short rest ... so choose wisely.
5. Foreboding Foresight is based on fear and is inspired by the armor of hexes ability from Hexblade.
6. Stricken with Grief is based on sadness and is inspired by searing vengeance from the Celestial Warlock.
Like most other Warlocks it would ability score prioritize CHA > DEX > CON > WIS > INT > STR. I think Pact of the Tome would be the best pact, though others could certainly work too.