It's not that I know, it's the impression I have. Now, I also tell you that I have no doubts about it. But it's not something that I know of.
Pact magic has been a pain in the ass for designers from the very beginning. And this is the opportunity to end that. And that is what they have done. That's why I'm sure it won't go back to the Pact Magic system, because it causes a lot of design problems. Other things can change them. They can modify mystic arcanum, for example. Or pacts as cantrips. And many other things. They can invent new features. And they can play a little more with the magic system. But I would be very surprised if in the next playtest (to say the least) we see pact magic back.
It's not that I know, it's the impression I have. Now, I also tell you that I have no doubts about it. But it's not something that I know of.
Pact magic has been a pain in the ass for designers from the very beginning. And this is the opportunity to end that. And that is what they have done. That's why I'm sure it won't go back to the Pact Magic system, because it causes a lot of design problems. Other things can change them. They can modify mystic arcanum, for example. Or pacts as cantrips. And many other things. They can invent new features. And they can play a little more with the magic system. But I would be very surprised if in the next playtest (to say the least) we see pact magic back.
The interesting thing here is I have the opposite view. I do not see a world they remain halfcasters. Like I would put money on it. I imagine we will end up either with the full caster status, or a buffed version of pact magic which could work on short or long rests.
I think the fewer slots but maximum power fantasy works really well and just needed fixing. The numbers were off and it could be frustrating because of that but that’s a numbers thing.
I am not against other solutions too. But I really do not want to see worse spell progression than other full casters. That ain’t it.
What if you gained more pact slots as you level but recharge on long rest. Then have an ability similar to Arcane Recovery at 2nd level where you regain 1 pact slot on a short rest and can’t do it again until a long rest. And it goes to 2 pact slots at level 5, 3 pact slots at level 11, etc. something along those lines.
I would think most tables take at least one short rest and balancing the number recovered on warlock level would be easier than the SR full regained slots so tables that don’t take many aren’t screwed and the ones that take a lot of SR aren’t OP.
It's not that I know, it's the impression I have. Now, I also tell you that I have no doubts about it. But it's not something that I know of.
Pact magic has been a pain in the ass for designers from the very beginning. And this is the opportunity to end that. And that is what they have done. That's why I'm sure it won't go back to the Pact Magic system, because it causes a lot of design problems. Other things can change them. They can modify mystic arcanum, for example. Or pacts as cantrips. And many other things. They can invent new features. And they can play a little more with the magic system. But I would be very surprised if in the next playtest (to say the least) we see pact magic back.
The interesting thing here is I have the opposite view. I do not see a world they remain halfcasters. Like I would put money on it. I imagine we will end up either with the full caster status, or a buffed version of pact magic which could work on short or long rests.
I think the fewer slots but maximum power fantasy works really well and just needed fixing. The numbers were off and it could be frustrating because of that but that’s a numbers thing.
I am not against other solutions too. But I really do not want to see worse spell progression than other full casters. That ain’t it.
This is pretty much my standpoint. Halfcaster warlock is slow progression and doesn’t fit with the class’s flavor.
It's not that I know, it's the impression I have. Now, I also tell you that I have no doubts about it. But it's not something that I know of.
Pact magic has been a pain in the ass for designers from the very beginning. And this is the opportunity to end that. And that is what they have done. That's why I'm sure it won't go back to the Pact Magic system, because it causes a lot of design problems. Other things can change them. They can modify mystic arcanum, for example. Or pacts as cantrips. And many other things. They can invent new features. And they can play a little more with the magic system. But I would be very surprised if in the next playtest (to say the least) we see pact magic back.
The interesting thing here is I have the opposite view. I do not see a world they remain halfcasters. Like I would put money on it. I imagine we will end up either with the full caster status, or a buffed version of pact magic which could work on short or long rests.
I think the fewer slots but maximum power fantasy works really well and just needed fixing. The numbers were off and it could be frustrating because of that but that’s a numbers thing.
I am not against other solutions too. But I really do not want to see worse spell progression than other full casters. That ain’t it.
Well, a version of the Warlock as a fullcaster could be. I don't think that's the intention, but it could happen. Also a version of the halfcaster warlock in which the spell slots will scale better. That could happen too. Even a halfcaster version but with mystic arcanum upgraded in such a way that his progression as a halfcaster was equivalent of a fullcaster. Even other creative solutions. A lot can be done with the Warlock without needing to get stuck in an intransigent way in the pact magic system. And it's not that pact magic bothers me. Warlock is probably the class i've played the most, and pact magic never bothered me. But I understand the reasons why they have removed that system in favor of a halfcaster system. And I don't dislike it, except for the bad spell slots progression.
What if you gained more pact slots as you level but recharge on long rest. Then have an ability similar to Arcane Recovery at 2nd level where you regain 1 pact slot on a short rest and can’t do it again until a long rest. And it goes to 2 pact slots at level 5, 3 pact slots at level 11, etc. something along those lines.
I would think most tables take at least one short rest and balancing the number recovered on warlock level would be easier than the SR full regained slots so tables that don’t take many aren’t screwed and the ones that take a lot of SR aren’t OP.
I like the spell points option mentioned actually. Keep the old max slot level progression, give warlocks a number of points equal to whatever they would have had access to for 2 short rests a day by default, then if they do short rest they can have X arcane recovery charges that gives them some points back. We already have the concept of spending points for slots in the sorcerer, and spell points are already a variant in use at tables.
So my very immediate initial reaction to seeing the new Warlock was "oh thank Bahamut, more spell slots!" Then I saw that they were half-casters and immediately said "oh no, gross and weird." But to everyone on the forums crying out "look how they massacred my boy" I have one piece of advice: ACTUALLY. PLAYTEST. IT.
In one 4-5 hour level 5 playtest session (people playing the new Sorcerer, Wizard, Fighter, a Tome Warlock, and a Blade Warlock) I had more fun with the new Warlock than I ever did playing the PHB version in a previous Level 1-7 campaign. And here's why: Reading through the PHB version of Warlock, I was immediately drawn to the class. You get spells (always a must for me), and Invocations? Reading through it, the Warlock seems like the most customizable class in the game. But that ends up getting gutted by certain Invocations being absolutely required. You have to take Agonizing Blast. You should very really strongly probably also take Repelling Blast, because the ability to knock people around is tactically good, and you're going to end up using EB a lot. Like... a lot. So any Invocations that make it better/more interesting are absolute must-haves - meaning your Invocations aren't much of a choice anymore. This is mitigated somewhat for Hexblade Warlocks, but you just replace the EB Invocations with the Invocations that make Pact of the Blade better and you have the same basic problem.
The main issue is: most Warlocks (PHB version) will only ever have 2 spell slots. Most encounters will last longer than 2 rounds. So once you've used your goodies, all you have left is "I cast Eldritch Blast." This is not fun. Casting the same spell turn after turn is not fun, no matter how much damage it does, no matter how far back I can push the people I hit. It's the same issue martials had with "I run up and use my action to Attack" that the designers are trying to address with the new Weapon Mastery system.
Now, the new UA Warlock. At first, it looks like a half-caster, right? WRONG! The new Mystic Arcanum being an Invocation makes them function more like a 2/3 caster because even though their normal spell progression works like a half-caster (i.e. getting 2nd level spells at 5th level), the Mystic Arcanum gives them access to spells like a full caster. At 5th level, you can take the Mystic Arcanum Invocation to get a 3rd level spell. This helps you feel like you're keeping pace with the full casters - if that's what you want.
If you want to use your Invocations to get more spells via Mystic Arcanum - boom, you can do that. If you want to use your Invocations to make your Pact of the Blade better - boom, you can do that. If you want to use your Invocations to really trick out Eldritch Blast and use your spell slots for utility/support like you're still playing the old PHB Warlock - boom, you can still do that.
But the real difference is how much fun you have playing. Playing the new UA Warlock, I only cast Eldritch Blast twice. And when I did, it was because I chose to cast it, not because I had nothing else I could do. This feels so much better.
Now, for people saying "oh, why not just play Paladin?" Well, to pass on a message from the player who played the Pact of the Blade Warlock: "BECAUSE THEY USE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT SPELL LISTS, YOU DOLTS!" (His words, not mine.) Paladin and Ranger are half-casters for the Divine and Primal spell lists, respectively. It makes sense to get an Arcane half-caster in the mix as well (although, as mentioned previously, you can feel like more than a half-caster as a Warlock).
All that said, there are definitely some things that I think could be improved. The ability to change your Mystic Arcanum every time you level up is good and can reduce what people are calling the new "Mystic Arcanum tax," but the Mystic Arcanum for spells of 6th level and higher should still be a base class feature, not Invocations. And I definitely think there should be some version of Arcane Recovery so Warlocks can get a little something on a short rest. And, as always, some of the Invocations are next to useless. But other than those minor complaints (this is playtest content, after all), this new Warlock feels like a huge step in the right direction and I will be absolutely incensed if a bunch of people who never even played it leave negative feedback in the survey and we get saddled with stupid-***, *********, *********, ***-*********, **************************** pact magic again.
The interesting thing here is I have the opposite view. I do not see a world they remain halfcasters. Like I would put money on it. I imagine we will end up either with the full caster status, or a buffed version of pact magic which could work on short or long rests.
I think the fewer slots but maximum power fantasy works really well and just needed fixing. The numbers were off and it could be frustrating because of that but that’s a numbers thing.
I am not against other solutions too. But I really do not want to see worse spell progression than other full casters. That ain’t it.
They are unlikely to become arcane full casters because wizards and sorcerers already exist. Fewer slots but maximum power always sucked, especially when you had to waste on of your two precious slots on a low level spell that doesn't scale. And it's not about the numbers. It's about a fundamental truth that nothing can ever guarantee you a consistent, predictable number of short rests per day. Nothing. It's entirely dependent on the DM and the story. Sometimes you have all the short rests you want, sometimes you're under pressure or during an assault and you can't put warfare on pause for 1 hour. The game, at least base game, didn't have an arcane half-caster, an actual proper gish. Now it has one.
The interesting thing here is I have the opposite view. I do not see a world they remain halfcasters. Like I would put money on it. I imagine we will end up either with the full caster status, or a buffed version of pact magic which could work on short or long rests.
I think the fewer slots but maximum power fantasy works really well and just needed fixing. The numbers were off and it could be frustrating because of that but that’s a numbers thing.
I am not against other solutions too. But I really do not want to see worse spell progression than other full casters. That ain’t it.
They are unlikely to become arcane full casters because wizards and sorcerers already exist. Fewer slots but maximum power always sucked, especially when you had to waste on of your two precious slots on a low level spell that doesn't scale. And it's not about the numbers. It's about a fundamental truth that nothing can ever guarantee you a consistent, predictable number of short rests per day. Nothing. It's entirely dependent on the DM and the story. Sometimes you have all the short rests you want, sometimes you're under pressure or during an assault and you can't put warfare on pause for 1 hour. The game, at least base game, didn't have an arcane half-caster, an actual proper gish. Now it has one.
It didn’t suck for me and a lot of people. Yes it could be painful to blow strong spell slots on lower levelled spells but this power fantasy is one of the things that set warlocks apart. Invocations being the second thing (though i really wish they dialed these up a bit). Warlock is by far my favourite class, with its problems.
I would agree nothing guarantees you short rests. But also nothing guarantees you have anything in this game. Wizards aren’t guaranteed scrolls to learn spells, or teleportation circles. Soul knife rogues can come against psychic immune creatures. Lots of classes have times when their features don’t work. If a class has a feature made impossible to work consistently that is a failure of the DM. if someone has a warlock in their game and then refuses to allow any short tests for a long time, that is not fun and not as intended.
pact magic needed work. 100%. But whatever it turns into does need to capture something similar to the power fantasy. Ie spell levels equal to a full caster with invocations. Whether that’s full caster, limited but powerful spells. Some lower level spells but mostly high level spells. Spell points. Whatever. Honestly I get the feeling we are after the same thing to some extent.
Someone asked, if Warlocks are half-casters, what is the other half?
Well, a Paladin is a half-Fighter half-Cleric, a Ranger is a half-Fighter half Druid, and a Warlock is a half-Wizard half Sorcerer.
If you choose to expend all your invocations as mystic arcanum, you can have more spellcasting in a day than a Wizard. That while wearing medium armor, and having cantrips out the wazoo. Celestial Tomelock looks nice.
On the other hand you can eschew mystic arcanum altogether and take on demand invocations. Alternatively you can mix them up.
If you play a human Celestial Warlock, take Pact of the Tome, and Lessons of the First Ones, you can take all three Magic Initiates for a total of 12 cantrips plus Eldritch Blast and your Pact cantrip at level 3.
Okay, well. That's ok. But the D&D magic system is based on spell slots. Vancian magic, which is becoming less and less Vancian, is inherent in D&D. I'm not saying that your design is bad (in Midnight for D&D 3.5 there was a similar system, and it worked), the problem is that it doesn't fit the Vancian D&D system.
That was what I liked about Pact Magic, it was different from all the other casters. That’s what I hate about this iteration, it’s just the same as all the other casters. It’s boring.
They could simply convert Pact Magic to a long rest feature instead of butchering the class completely.
What was butchered, was a comatose geezer that took a nap at every opportunity, and had a double-barrel shotgun of spells that shot only twice. An arcane gish is born in its stead, and it's beautiful and solid already in its first iteration. Yeah, I'll miss having access to leveled spells as soon as all the full spellcasters, but I sure won't miss short rest dependency and having to abandon low level spells because burning one of your two 5th level slots on a 2nd level spell felt insufferable. Pact Magic didn't work. It just didn't, and no amount of crutches could save that stillborn mechanic. Good riddance.
If you don’t like it, do play the effing class. Leave it the hell alone for those of us who do like it. All it really needed was a boost to the number of spell slots, a little more variety in the utility spells they could take as Eldritch Invocations, and the same thing every other caster in the game needs which is for more of the spells to be rewritten to get better when upcast.
Someone asked, if Warlocks are half-casters, what is the other half?
Well, a Paladin is a half-Fighter half-Cleric, a Ranger is a half-Fighter half Druid, and a Warlock is a half-Wizard half Sorcerer.
If you choose to expend all your invocations as mystic arcanum, you can have more spellcasting in a day than a Wizard. That while wearing medium armor, and having cantrips out the wazoo. Celestial Tomelock looks nice.
On the other hand you can eschew mystic arcanum altogether and take on demand invocations. Alternatively you can mix them up.
If you play a human Celestial Warlock, take Pact of the Tome, and Lessons of the First Ones, you can take all three Magic Initiates for a total of 12 cantrips plus Eldritch Blast and your Pact cantrip at level 3.
The interesting thing here is I have the opposite view. I do not see a world they remain halfcasters. Like I would put money on it. I imagine we will end up either with the full caster status, or a buffed version of pact magic which could work on short or long rests.
I think the fewer slots but maximum power fantasy works really well and just needed fixing. The numbers were off and it could be frustrating because of that but that’s a numbers thing.
I am not against other solutions too. But I really do not want to see worse spell progression than other full casters. That ain’t it.
They are unlikely to become arcane full casters because wizards and sorcerers already exist. Fewer slots but maximum power always sucked, especially when you had to waste on of your two precious slots on a low level spell that doesn't scale. And it's not about the numbers. It's about a fundamental truth that nothing can ever guarantee you a consistent, predictable number of short rests per day. Nothing. It's entirely dependent on the DM and the story. Sometimes you have all the short rests you want, sometimes you're under pressure or during an assault and you can't put warfare on pause for 1 hour. The game, at least base game, didn't have an arcane half-caster, an actual proper gish. Now it has one.
Nothing can guarantee SR. That’s true. But you could probably count on 1 short rest at some point, unless it’s time dependent quest. So a few more slots (4-6) as you level that recharge in LR. Plus a mechanic similar to Arcane Recovery to gain, starting with 1 slot at low level scaling up to 3(?) on a SR once per LR. And more invocation options with spells with no slot required to cast would help flesh out the Warlocks casting without having to be stingy with your slot usage. Leave Mystic Arcanum as class features.
I like the spell points option mentioned actually. Keep the old max slot level progression, give warlocks a number of points equal to whatever they would have had access to for 2 short rests a day by default, then if they do short rest they can have X arcane recovery charges that gives them some points back. We already have the concept of spending points for slots in the sorcerer, and spell points are already a variant in use at tables.
Someone asked, if Warlocks are half-casters, what is the other half?
Well, a Paladin is a half-Fighter half-Cleric, a Ranger is a half-Fighter half Druid, and a Warlock is a half-Wizard half Sorcerer.
If you choose to expend all your invocations as mystic arcanum, you can have more spellcasting in a day than a Wizard. That while wearing medium armor, and having cantrips out the wazoo. Celestial Tomelock looks nice.
On the other hand you can eschew mystic arcanum altogether and take on demand invocations. Alternatively you can mix them up.
If you play a human Celestial Warlock, take Pact of the Tome, and Lessons of the First Ones, you can take all three Magic Initiates for a total of 12 cantrips plus Eldritch Blast and your Pact cantrip at level 3.
You can’t just say a warlock is a combination of a caster and a caster and get half caster. Warlocks don’t get any of the metamagics or abilities to change spells. They don’t get to burn a resource to get new spells. They don’t get the wizards ability to change or learn new spells quickly they don’t learn as many spells per level. in fact they get less spell slots than both even with arcanum. And none of them pack the same punch. The only thing that gives them an edge really is POTB and eldritch blast.
And sure they can have all the cantrips but… why? We have eldritch blast? Sure a different damage type is nice but why would you ever need 12 cantrips? That’s such a huge cost for so little benefit.
and mystic arcanum aren’t free. They used to be but we lose the customisability we had before to get the same thing we had before? That isn’t an upgrade that’s paying to remain neutral.
I am genuinely curious to see at what point this new warlock gets more spells than a wizard in a day though? Especially in light of arcane recovery.
If you don’t like it, do play the effing class. Leave it the hell alone for those of us who do like it. All it really needed was a boost to the number of spell slots, a little more variety in the utility spells they could take as Eldritch Invocations, and the same thing every other caster in the game needs which is for the spells to be rewritten to get better when upcast.
So the class is fine, except for its core mechanics?
If you don’t like it, do play the effing class. Leave it the hell alone for those of us who do like it. All it really needed was a boost to the number of spell slots, a little more variety in the utility spells they could take as Eldritch Invocations, and the same thing every other caster in the game needs which is for the spells to be rewritten to get better when upcast.
So the class is fine, except for its core mechanics?
That’s a little disingenuous. The core mechanic numbers needed work. A few more spell slots.
All classes could do with a few extra options. That isn’t a unique thing for warlocks. Hence new spells and feats being released. Saying a few new utility spells for invocations isn’t saying it doesn’t work. Or that the feature is bad. It’s saying that more options could be fun. That doesn’t mean it’s broken.
let’s not lump a few suggested improvements with “the core concept isn’t ok”.
Barbarian rage is a fun ability that is overall good, but could do with some tweaks to make it better. That doesn’t mean the concept is bad. It means it could be better
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
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It's not that I know, it's the impression I have. Now, I also tell you that I have no doubts about it. But it's not something that I know of.
Pact magic has been a pain in the ass for designers from the very beginning. And this is the opportunity to end that. And that is what they have done. That's why I'm sure it won't go back to the Pact Magic system, because it causes a lot of design problems. Other things can change them. They can modify mystic arcanum, for example. Or pacts as cantrips. And many other things. They can invent new features. And they can play a little more with the magic system. But I would be very surprised if in the next playtest (to say the least) we see pact magic back.
The interesting thing here is I have the opposite view. I do not see a world they remain halfcasters. Like I would put money on it. I imagine we will end up either with the full caster status, or a buffed version of pact magic which could work on short or long rests.
I think the fewer slots but maximum power fantasy works really well and just needed fixing. The numbers were off and it could be frustrating because of that but that’s a numbers thing.
I am not against other solutions too. But I really do not want to see worse spell progression than other full casters. That ain’t it.
What if you gained more pact slots as you level but recharge on long rest. Then have an ability similar to Arcane Recovery at 2nd level where you regain 1 pact slot on a short rest and can’t do it again until a long rest. And it goes to 2 pact slots at level 5, 3 pact slots at level 11, etc. something along those lines.
I would think most tables take at least one short rest and balancing the number recovered on warlock level would be easier than the SR full regained slots so tables that don’t take many aren’t screwed and the ones that take a lot of SR aren’t OP.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
This is pretty much my standpoint. Halfcaster warlock is slow progression and doesn’t fit with the class’s flavor.
Well, a version of the Warlock as a fullcaster could be. I don't think that's the intention, but it could happen. Also a version of the halfcaster warlock in which the spell slots will scale better. That could happen too. Even a halfcaster version but with mystic arcanum upgraded in such a way that his progression as a halfcaster was equivalent of a fullcaster. Even other creative solutions. A lot can be done with the Warlock without needing to get stuck in an intransigent way in the pact magic system. And it's not that pact magic bothers me. Warlock is probably the class i've played the most, and pact magic never bothered me. But I understand the reasons why they have removed that system in favor of a halfcaster system. And I don't dislike it, except for the bad spell slots progression.
Good idea.
I like the spell points option mentioned actually. Keep the old max slot level progression, give warlocks a number of points equal to whatever they would have had access to for 2 short rests a day by default, then if they do short rest they can have X arcane recovery charges that gives them some points back. We already have the concept of spending points for slots in the sorcerer, and spell points are already a variant in use at tables.
RANT WARNING: Read at your own risk.
So my very immediate initial reaction to seeing the new Warlock was "oh thank Bahamut, more spell slots!" Then I saw that they were half-casters and immediately said "oh no, gross and weird." But to everyone on the forums crying out "look how they massacred my boy" I have one piece of advice: ACTUALLY. PLAYTEST. IT.
In one 4-5 hour level 5 playtest session (people playing the new Sorcerer, Wizard, Fighter, a Tome Warlock, and a Blade Warlock) I had more fun with the new Warlock than I ever did playing the PHB version in a previous Level 1-7 campaign. And here's why: Reading through the PHB version of Warlock, I was immediately drawn to the class. You get spells (always a must for me), and Invocations? Reading through it, the Warlock seems like the most customizable class in the game. But that ends up getting gutted by certain Invocations being absolutely required. You have to take Agonizing Blast. You should very really strongly probably also take Repelling Blast, because the ability to knock people around is tactically good, and you're going to end up using EB a lot. Like... a lot. So any Invocations that make it better/more interesting are absolute must-haves - meaning your Invocations aren't much of a choice anymore. This is mitigated somewhat for Hexblade Warlocks, but you just replace the EB Invocations with the Invocations that make Pact of the Blade better and you have the same basic problem.
The main issue is: most Warlocks (PHB version) will only ever have 2 spell slots. Most encounters will last longer than 2 rounds. So once you've used your goodies, all you have left is "I cast Eldritch Blast." This is not fun. Casting the same spell turn after turn is not fun, no matter how much damage it does, no matter how far back I can push the people I hit. It's the same issue martials had with "I run up and use my action to Attack" that the designers are trying to address with the new Weapon Mastery system.
Now, the new UA Warlock. At first, it looks like a half-caster, right? WRONG! The new Mystic Arcanum being an Invocation makes them function more like a 2/3 caster because even though their normal spell progression works like a half-caster (i.e. getting 2nd level spells at 5th level), the Mystic Arcanum gives them access to spells like a full caster. At 5th level, you can take the Mystic Arcanum Invocation to get a 3rd level spell. This helps you feel like you're keeping pace with the full casters - if that's what you want.
If you want to use your Invocations to get more spells via Mystic Arcanum - boom, you can do that. If you want to use your Invocations to make your Pact of the Blade better - boom, you can do that. If you want to use your Invocations to really trick out Eldritch Blast and use your spell slots for utility/support like you're still playing the old PHB Warlock - boom, you can still do that.
But the real difference is how much fun you have playing. Playing the new UA Warlock, I only cast Eldritch Blast twice. And when I did, it was because I chose to cast it, not because I had nothing else I could do. This feels so much better.
Now, for people saying "oh, why not just play Paladin?" Well, to pass on a message from the player who played the Pact of the Blade Warlock: "BECAUSE THEY USE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT SPELL LISTS, YOU DOLTS!" (His words, not mine.) Paladin and Ranger are half-casters for the Divine and Primal spell lists, respectively. It makes sense to get an Arcane half-caster in the mix as well (although, as mentioned previously, you can feel like more than a half-caster as a Warlock).
All that said, there are definitely some things that I think could be improved. The ability to change your Mystic Arcanum every time you level up is good and can reduce what people are calling the new "Mystic Arcanum tax," but the Mystic Arcanum for spells of 6th level and higher should still be a base class feature, not Invocations. And I definitely think there should be some version of Arcane Recovery so Warlocks can get a little something on a short rest. And, as always, some of the Invocations are next to useless. But other than those minor complaints (this is playtest content, after all), this new Warlock feels like a huge step in the right direction and I will be absolutely incensed if a bunch of people who never even played it leave negative feedback in the survey and we get saddled with stupid-***, *********, *********, ***-*********, **************************** pact magic again.
They are unlikely to become arcane full casters because wizards and sorcerers already exist. Fewer slots but maximum power always sucked, especially when you had to waste on of your two precious slots on a low level spell that doesn't scale. And it's not about the numbers. It's about a fundamental truth that nothing can ever guarantee you a consistent, predictable number of short rests per day. Nothing. It's entirely dependent on the DM and the story. Sometimes you have all the short rests you want, sometimes you're under pressure or during an assault and you can't put warfare on pause for 1 hour. The game, at least base game, didn't have an arcane half-caster, an actual proper gish. Now it has one.
It didn’t suck for me and a lot of people. Yes it could be painful to blow strong spell slots on lower levelled spells but this power fantasy is one of the things that set warlocks apart. Invocations being the second thing (though i really wish they dialed these up a bit). Warlock is by far my favourite class, with its problems.
I would agree nothing guarantees you short rests. But also nothing guarantees you have anything in this game. Wizards aren’t guaranteed scrolls to learn spells, or teleportation circles. Soul knife rogues can come against psychic immune creatures. Lots of classes have times when their features don’t work. If a class has a feature made impossible to work consistently that is a failure of the DM. if someone has a warlock in their game and then refuses to allow any short tests for a long time, that is not fun and not as intended.
pact magic needed work. 100%. But whatever it turns into does need to capture something similar to the power fantasy. Ie spell levels equal to a full caster with invocations. Whether that’s full caster, limited but powerful spells. Some lower level spells but mostly high level spells. Spell points. Whatever. Honestly I get the feeling we are after the same thing to some extent.
Someone asked, if Warlocks are half-casters, what is the other half?
Well, a Paladin is a half-Fighter half-Cleric, a Ranger is a half-Fighter half Druid, and a Warlock is a half-Wizard half Sorcerer.
If you choose to expend all your invocations as mystic arcanum, you can have more spellcasting in a day than a Wizard. That while wearing medium armor, and having cantrips out the wazoo. Celestial Tomelock looks nice.
On the other hand you can eschew mystic arcanum altogether and take on demand invocations. Alternatively you can mix them up.
If you play a human Celestial Warlock, take Pact of the Tome, and Lessons of the First Ones, you can take all three Magic Initiates for a total of 12 cantrips plus Eldritch Blast and your Pact cantrip at level 3.
That was what I liked about Pact Magic, it was different from all the other casters. That’s what I hate about this iteration, it’s just the same as all the other casters. It’s boring.
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If you don’t like it, do play the effing class. Leave it the hell alone for those of us who do like it. All it really needed was a boost to the number of spell slots, a little more variety in the utility spells they could take as Eldritch Invocations, and the same thing every other caster in the game needs which is for more of the spells to be rewritten to get better when upcast.
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More magic than a wizard per day? How?
Nothing can guarantee SR. That’s true. But you could probably count on 1 short rest at some point, unless it’s time dependent quest. So a few more slots (4-6) as you level that recharge in LR. Plus a mechanic similar to Arcane Recovery to gain, starting with 1 slot at low level scaling up to 3(?) on a SR once per LR. And more invocation options with spells with no slot required to cast would help flesh out the Warlocks casting without having to be stingy with your slot usage. Leave Mystic Arcanum as class features.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
That honestly works much better for Sorcerers.
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You can’t just say a warlock is a combination of a caster and a caster and get half caster. Warlocks don’t get any of the metamagics or abilities to change spells. They don’t get to burn a resource to get new spells. They don’t get the wizards ability to change or learn new spells quickly they don’t learn as many spells per level. in fact they get less spell slots than both even with arcanum. And none of them pack the same punch. The only thing that gives them an edge really is POTB and eldritch blast.
And sure they can have all the cantrips but… why? We have eldritch blast? Sure a different damage type is nice but why would you ever need 12 cantrips? That’s such a huge cost for so little benefit.
and mystic arcanum aren’t free. They used to be but we lose the customisability we had before to get the same thing we had before? That isn’t an upgrade that’s paying to remain neutral.
I am genuinely curious to see at what point this new warlock gets more spells than a wizard in a day though? Especially in light of arcane recovery.
So the class is fine, except for its core mechanics?
That’s a little disingenuous. The core mechanic numbers needed work. A few more spell slots.
All classes could do with a few extra options. That isn’t a unique thing for warlocks. Hence new spells and feats being released. Saying a few new utility spells for invocations isn’t saying it doesn’t work. Or that the feature is bad. It’s saying that more options could be fun. That doesn’t mean it’s broken.
let’s not lump a few suggested improvements with “the core concept isn’t ok”.
Barbarian rage is a fun ability that is overall good, but could do with some tweaks to make it better. That doesn’t mean the concept is bad. It means it could be better
So, tomelocks and chainlocks can go eff themselves?
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)