I haven’t been able to keep up in this thread but here are my thoughts.
Get rid of medium armor and save that for a subclass.
I’m fine with long rest spell slot recovery but think they need to keep pact magic. Maybe add a slot or two as you level. The “daily timing” can be controlled by how many spells you can prepare. These, and MA are your big “boom” spells (they don’t have to be damage spells but could be scaling utility, debuff type spells like Hold Person)
Add more spell options via Invocations to choose from at 1st and 2nd level range that don’t require a spell slot (although could be limited to x times per day for balance). These can be more utility or battlefield control options
Add Mystic Arcanum option at 3rd. And make them once a day or by using a spell slot. You only have up to 5th level slots so you still only get once a day on 6-9 level spells.
And need more “non-spell” invocations to round out builds that are not spell focused like buffs to Chain pact and Blade Pact. Although blade doesn’t seem so bad right now.
I think this is pretty much it. Have invocations that give you casts of a certain spell. Either unlimited or limited. Let that deal with low level utility spells but have only your big spell slots specifically. I wouldn’t be against having things like invocations for shield that let you cast it 3 times a day or something. Maybe invocations for things like detect good and evil. Honestly I think that, plus old mystic arcanum, plus a few more spell slots littered around would solve it. PB spell slots anyone?
But I don’t know if they need to get rid of Hexblade. It will not function like they do now, from what we’ve seen so far with Blade pact. So they may fill a slightly different niche.
Hexblade has always been a crutch to make the failed design of Pact of the Blade work. That's all it was.
But I don’t know if they need to get rid of Hexblade. It will not function like they do now, from what we’ve seen so far with Blade pact. So they may fill a slightly different niche.
Hexblade has always been a crutch to make the failed design of Pact of the Blade work. That's all it was.
I agree but I think the concept has potential. Hexblade could be the Warlock that gets to pact with 2H weapons or dual-wield and/or wear heavy armor. I think the concept has too much flavor and potential to dump entirely.
But I don’t know if they need to get rid of Hexblade. It will not function like they do now, from what we’ve seen so far with Blade pact. So they may fill a slightly different niche.
Hexblade has always been a crutch to make the failed design of Pact of the Blade work. That's all it was.
I agree but I think the concept has potential. Hexblade could be the Warlock that gets to pact with 2H weapons or dual-wield and/or wear heavy armor. I think the concept has too much flavor and potential to dump entirely.
Too much flavor? Are we thinking of the same Hexblade? I have literally never seen a standard-flavor Hexblade because it's so confusing and uninteresting. Plus, it's really lame that it pretty much forces you into taking Pact of the Blade. Wanna play a Pact of the Tome Hexblade? Tough. Subclasses shouldn't be making decisions for you like that, especially when the decision comes before you even choose the subclass.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
I agree but I think the concept has potential. Hexblade could be the Warlock that gets to pact with 2H weapons or dual-wield and/or wear heavy armor. I think the concept has too much flavor and potential to dump entirely.
That would pigeonhole everyone who would want to play a bladelock into that subclass again. Regarding flavor, it was the only warlock subclass where you didn't even really know what the hell your patron was. Was it a sentient magic weapon? The creator of the sentient magic weapons? Raven Queen? Who knows, or cares? Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone, the iconic Hexblade, was basically a bladelock of the fiend patron, he literally made a pact with Arioch, one of the lords of Chaos.
Too much flavor? Are we thinking of the same Hexblade? I have literally never seen an unflavored Hexblade because it's so confusing and uninteresting. Plus, it's really lame that it pretty much forces you into taking Pact of the Blade. Wanna play a Pact of the Tome Hexblade? Tough. Subclasses shouldn't be making decisions for you like that, especially when the decision comes before you even choose the subclass.
Well, you don't need to be forced to choose the pact of the sword, it could be as a level 3 trait of that subclass to additionally gain the pact of the sword (regardless of the characteristic for your spells), or if you already had it chosen you gain a 2nd PACT BOON.
Although for this (and so that the one with the tome does not have a spell stat requirement without removing that great detail), a 4th option should be added for PACT BOON (The one with the talisman, reworked of course, perhaps, in addition to scaling, that covers a different point instead of being like the resistence or guide cantrip, maybe absorb damage, protect from damage types or conditions, or regenerate spell slots, and replace the tome in the Intelligence or charisma requirement)
But I don’t know if they need to get rid of Hexblade. It will not function like they do now, from what we’ve seen so far with Blade pact. So they may fill a slightly different niche.
Hexblade has always been a crutch to make the failed design of Pact of the Blade work. That's all it was.
I agree but I think the concept has potential. Hexblade could be the Warlock that gets to pact with 2H weapons or dual-wield and/or wear heavy armor. I think the concept has too much flavor and potential to dump entirely.
Too much flavor? Are we thinking of the same Hexblade? I have literally never seen a standard-flavor Hexblade because it's so confusing and uninteresting. Plus, it's really lame that it pretty much forces you into taking Pact of the Blade. Wanna play a Pact of the Tome Hexblade? Tough. Subclasses shouldn't be making decisions for you like that, especially when the decision comes before you even choose the subclass.
if Hexblade was reworked to include the line "you can use your spellcasting ability modifier for the attack and damage rolls, instead of using Strength or Dexterity," then what would you strictly need Pact Weapon cantrip for? is your Hexblade a throwing dagger that you need returned immediately?
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unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: providefeedback!
Bladelock seems undertuned as a gish -- you don't have access to fighting styles (you can't take a fighting style with an invocation because you don't have the prereqs), you can't dual wield because you can only have one pact weapon, you can't use polearm mastery or great weapon mastery because you can't use heavy weapons as a pact weapon, you don't get shield proficiency (which is the usual selling point of single weapon styles), hex seems generally not as good as hunter's mark for rangers.
But I don’t know if they need to get rid of Hexblade. It will not function like they do now, from what we’ve seen so far with Blade pact. So they may fill a slightly different niche.
Hexblade has always been a crutch to make the failed design of Pact of the Blade work. That's all it was.
I agree but I think the concept has potential. Hexblade could be the Warlock that gets to pact with 2H weapons or dual-wield and/or wear heavy armor. I think the concept has too much flavor and potential to dump entirely.
Too much flavor? Are we thinking of the same Hexblade? I have literally never seen a standard-flavor Hexblade because it's so confusing and uninteresting. Plus, it's really lame that it pretty much forces you into taking Pact of the Blade. Wanna play a Pact of the Tome Hexblade? Tough. Subclasses shouldn't be making decisions for you like that, especially when the decision comes before you even choose the subclass.
if Hexblade was reworked to include the line "you can use your spellcasting ability modifier for the attack and damage rolls, instead of using Strength or Dexterity," then what would you strictly need Pact Weapon cantrip for? is your Hexblade a throwing dagger that you need returned immediately?
Invocations and an Extra Attack at 5th level. And including something like that would be dumb because it actively punishes people who chose Blade at 1st level by saying, "You know those cool features you got earlier? They're 100% redundant now. You had so many other options. You fool."
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Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
But I don’t know if they need to get rid of Hexblade. It will not function like they do now, from what we’ve seen so far with Blade pact. So they may fill a slightly different niche.
Hexblade has always been a crutch to make the failed design of Pact of the Blade work. That's all it was.
I agree but I think the concept has potential. Hexblade could be the Warlock that gets to pact with 2H weapons or dual-wield and/or wear heavy armor. I think the concept has too much flavor and potential to dump entirely.
Too much flavor? Are we thinking of the same Hexblade? I have literally never seen a standard-flavor Hexblade because it's so confusing and uninteresting. Plus, it's really lame that it pretty much forces you into taking Pact of the Blade. Wanna play a Pact of the Tome Hexblade? Tough. Subclasses shouldn't be making decisions for you like that, especially when the decision comes before you even choose the subclass.
if Hexblade was reworked to include the line "you can use your spellcasting ability modifier for the attack and damage rolls, instead of using Strength or Dexterity," then what would you strictly need Pact Weapon cantrip for? is your Hexblade a throwing dagger that you need returned immediately?
Invocations and an Extra Attack at 5th level. And including something like that would be dumb because it actively punishes people who chose Blade at 1st level by saying, "You know those cool features you got earlier? They're 100% redundant now. You had so many other options. You fool."
if you want that extra attack it seems like you should take the pact of the blade. if you want an imp or book, then take a different pact. seems simple enough. no one is forcing you to use the sword you just bought (with your soul) and anyway it probably came with some cool spells. the solution was even offered that a hexblade could be allowed a second pact (if one is blade), which seems generous. what are you asking for besides deleting a subclass you don't like? if it was removed, do your favorite subclasses get a share of the leftover power budget or something?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: providefeedback!
But I don’t know if they need to get rid of Hexblade. It will not function like they do now, from what we’ve seen so far with Blade pact. So they may fill a slightly different niche.
Hexblade has always been a crutch to make the failed design of Pact of the Blade work. That's all it was.
I agree but I think the concept has potential. Hexblade could be the Warlock that gets to pact with 2H weapons or dual-wield and/or wear heavy armor. I think the concept has too much flavor and potential to dump entirely.
Too much flavor? Are we thinking of the same Hexblade? I have literally never seen a standard-flavor Hexblade because it's so confusing and uninteresting. Plus, it's really lame that it pretty much forces you into taking Pact of the Blade. Wanna play a Pact of the Tome Hexblade? Tough. Subclasses shouldn't be making decisions for you like that, especially when the decision comes before you even choose the subclass.
if Hexblade was reworked to include the line "you can use your spellcasting ability modifier for the attack and damage rolls, instead of using Strength or Dexterity," then what would you strictly need Pact Weapon cantrip for? is your Hexblade a throwing dagger that you need returned immediately?
Invocations and an Extra Attack at 5th level. And including something like that would be dumb because it actively punishes people who chose Blade at 1st level by saying, "You know those cool features you got earlier? They're 100% redundant now. You had so many other options. You fool."
if you want that extra attack it seems like you should take the pact of the blade. if you want an imp or book, then take a different pact. seems simple enough. no one is forcing you to use the sword you just bought (with your soul) and anyway it probably came with some cool spells. the solution was even offered that a hexblade could be allowed a second pact (if one is blade), which seems generous. what are you asking for besides deleting a subclass you don't like? if it was removed, do your favorite subclasses get a share of the leftover power budget or something?
Yep. Because I get to have an actually good and interesting subclass as a choice instead of Hexblade if it gets the boot. Barely anybody likes the flavor, the mechanics were obviously made as crutches for Pact of the Blade, and anything you suggest to "fix" the subclass would be either removing the flavor or making it the only choice for Pact of the Blade once again.
Your suggestion of "all Hexblades get decent melee, Pact of the Blades get better" is pretty much the idea for the design of the original Hexblade, and we all know how well that worked out. The "Hexblades get an extra pact cantrip" idea isn't super cool because there are only so many pacts, and it just lets a Hexblade walk up to a Pact of the Blade and a Pact of the Tome and say "amateurs" and pull out his book sword, which doesn't really make sense. Why should Hexblade have both when everybody else gets one? Plus, that would have to be one of the only 3rd-level features to keep it balanced, which means more flavorful features would wait until later, which isn't good.
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Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
But I don’t know if they need to get rid of Hexblade. It will not function like they do now, from what we’ve seen so far with Blade pact. So they may fill a slightly different niche.
Hexblade has always been a crutch to make the failed design of Pact of the Blade work. That's all it was.
I agree but I think the concept has potential. Hexblade could be the Warlock that gets to pact with 2H weapons or dual-wield and/or wear heavy armor. I think the concept has too much flavor and potential to dump entirely.
Too much flavor? Are we thinking of the same Hexblade? I have literally never seen a standard-flavor Hexblade because it's so confusing and uninteresting. Plus, it's really lame that it pretty much forces you into taking Pact of the Blade. Wanna play a Pact of the Tome Hexblade? Tough. Subclasses shouldn't be making decisions for you like that, especially when the decision comes before you even choose the subclass.
1) I fundamentally disagree with your premise, there's room for subclasses that take one choice/aspect granted by your base class and focus on it/dial it up. I view this like saying "Arcane Archer shouldn't push my Fighter into an archery build, that's uninteresting!""Open Hand Monk shouldn't push my monk into fighting unarmed, that's uninteresting!"
2) Yes, Hexblade has flavor. It's a martial build that (a) is beholden to a sentient weapon and (b) supplements its martial training with curses rather than pure skill. Those are both pretty well-traveled fantasy archetypes.
The more I think about it, the UA warlock feels like the design team went in with a checklist of items they had to include/exclude, none of which really mesh well together:
1) we have to make EB/Hex class-locked to prevent multi-classing dips 2) we have to make Pact of the Blade a viable gish 3) we have to get rid of Pact Magic because short rests bad
If that's the approach they're taking, I'm not sure any proposal is going to really work because they're not even attempting to look at the question of what a warlock actually is -- a caster who is a practitioner of second-hand magic -- and proceeding from there
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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)
If that's the approach they're taking, I'm not sure any proposal is going to really work because they're not even attempting to look at the question of what a warlock actually is -- a caster who is a practitioner of second-hand magic -- and proceeding from there
Eh, classes are mostly designed around functionality.
Based on what the class was in 3.5 (AFAIK it did not exit prior to that edition) it should probably not have spellcasting at all, just a larger number of invocations and more options for doing interesting things with eldritch blast, and the bladelock becomes "can use eldritch blast as a melee weapon". I'm not sure the 3.5e warlock was terribly popular, though.
I haven’t been able to keep up in this thread but here are my thoughts.
Get rid of medium armor and save that for a subclass.
I’m fine with long rest spell slot recovery but think they need to keep pact magic. Maybe add a slot or two as you level. The “daily timing” can be controlled by how many spells you can prepare. These, and MA are your big “boom” spells (they don’t have to be damage spells but could be scaling utility, debuff type spells like Hold Person)
Add more spell options via Invocations to choose from at 1st and 2nd level range that don’t require a spell slot (although could be limited to x times per day for balance). These can be more utility or battlefield control options
Add Mystic Arcanum option at 3rd. And make them once a day or by using a spell slot. You only have up to 5th level slots so you still only get once a day on 6-9 level spells.
And need more “non-spell” invocations to round out builds that are not spell focused like buffs to Chain pact and Blade Pact. Although blade doesn’t seem so bad right now.
I think this is pretty much it. Have invocations that give you casts of a certain spell. Either unlimited or limited. Let that deal with low level utility spells but have only your big spell slots specifically. I wouldn’t be against having things like invocations for shield that let you cast it 3 times a day or something. Maybe invocations for things like detect good and evil. Honestly I think that, plus old mystic arcanum, plus a few more spell slots littered around would solve it. PB spell slots anyone?
The more I think about it, the UA warlock feels like the design team went in with a checklist of items they had to include/exclude, none of which really mesh well together:
1) we have to make EB/Hex class-locked to prevent multi-classing dips 2) we have to make Pact of the Blade a viable gish 3) we have to get rid of Pact Magic because short rests bad
If that's the approach they're taking, I'm not sure any proposal is going to really work because they're not even attempting to look at the question of what a warlock actually is -- a caster who is a practitioner of second-hand magic -- and proceeding from there
I don't see how the proposal they've... proposed doesn't solve all of these though. EB/Hex class-locked, check; Pact of the Blade viable gish, check; Pact Slots gone, check; Warlock's magic is secondhand - check. Half-caster + MA hits everything.
1) I fundamentally disagree with your premise, there's room for subclasses that take one choice/aspect granted by your base class and focus on it/dial it up. I view this like saying "Arcane Archer shouldn't push my Fighter into an archery build, that's uninteresting!""Open Hand Monk shouldn't push my monk into fighting unarmed, that's uninteresting!"
2) Yes, Hexblade has flavor. It's a martial build that (a) is beholden to a sentient weapon and (b) supplements its martial training with curses rather than pure skill. Those are both pretty well-traveled fantasy archetypes.
1) So, choosing between being able to become a bladelock for any patron and be good, you'd rather corral all bladelocks into one obviously superior subclass for that entire melee playstyle? Sounds fun to have an illusion of choice between one optimal option and all other weak options...
2) And what about the moment you find an actual sentient magic weapon that is not your abstract patron sentient magic weapon, and bond with it? Is it considered eldritch adultery? What about when you find another, better sentient magic weapon? Do you become weaponizer?
If that's the approach they're taking, I'm not sure any proposal is going to really work because they're not even attempting to look at the question of what a warlock actually is -- a caster who is a practitioner of second-hand magic -- and proceeding from there
Eh, classes are mostly designed around functionality.
Based on what the class was in 3.5 (AFAIK it did not exit prior to that edition) it should probably not have spellcasting at all, just a larger number of invocations and more options for doing interesting things with eldritch blast, and the bladelock becomes "can use eldritch blast as a melee weapon". I'm not sure the 3.5e warlock was terribly popular, though.
You're half right about the casting. I'm looking at Complete Arcane now, and here's the breakdown. Invocations that allow you to cast spells: 23. Invocations that are not spells: 10. Arguably, some of them still are basically spells, like Charm, which says it's basically the Charm Monster spell, or Entropic Warding, which combines Entropic Shield and Pass Without Trace. It's a little complicated to judge though, so let's just say 23 and 10.
The eldritch blast invocations were a different category, and there's 10 effect modifiers and 5 shape modifiers for a total of 15. Combine those with the 10 that aren't spells, and then technically Warlocks have more non-spell invocations than spell invocations, by 2. But Warlocks could cast Detect Magic. So let's say 1.
Ahem.
The idea of the eldritch blast in 3.5e was pretty neat. It's somewhat similar to what this playtest is doing with Modify Spell for Wizards. I'm not sure it was ever actually good, and I'm even less sure it was ever actually as customizable as it looks (that's 3.5 for ya), but it was definitely neat in concept, at the very least. But did it effectively sell the class idea? I don't think so, no. So I wouldn't say I miss it. Except we're stuck with its shadow, minus the more wacky ideas like chain-lightning and AoE, and minus any debuffs. I would guess this is basically how it felt to play a 3.5e Warlock optimally, but it still reads as less fun because you can't dream of all the possibilities that would turn out to be unworkably weak. If we're gonna keep Eldritch Blast, and I'm sure we are, then idk, I'd like to see more EB invocations adapted and invented.
Aaaaand that's basically the idea of my thread on the matter...
Hexblade has always been a crutch to make the failed design of Pact of the Blade work. That's all it was.
I agree but I think the concept has potential. Hexblade could be the Warlock that gets to pact with 2H weapons or dual-wield and/or wear heavy armor. I think the concept has too much flavor and potential to dump entirely.
Too much flavor? Are we thinking of the same Hexblade? I have literally never seen a standard-flavor Hexblade because it's so confusing and uninteresting. Plus, it's really lame that it pretty much forces you into taking Pact of the Blade. Wanna play a Pact of the Tome Hexblade? Tough. Subclasses shouldn't be making decisions for you like that, especially when the decision comes before you even choose the subclass.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
That would pigeonhole everyone who would want to play a bladelock into that subclass again. Regarding flavor, it was the only warlock subclass where you didn't even really know what the hell your patron was. Was it a sentient magic weapon? The creator of the sentient magic weapons? Raven Queen? Who knows, or cares? Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone, the iconic Hexblade, was basically a bladelock of the fiend patron, he literally made a pact with Arioch, one of the lords of Chaos.
Well, you don't need to be forced to choose the pact of the sword, it could be as a level 3 trait of that subclass to additionally gain the pact of the sword (regardless of the characteristic for your spells), or if you already had it chosen you gain a 2nd PACT BOON.
Although for this (and so that the one with the tome does not have a spell stat requirement without removing that great detail), a 4th option should be added for PACT BOON (The one with the talisman, reworked of course, perhaps, in addition to scaling, that covers a different point instead of being like the resistence or guide cantrip, maybe absorb damage, protect from damage types or conditions, or regenerate spell slots, and replace the tome in the Intelligence or charisma requirement)
if Hexblade was reworked to include the line "you can use your spellcasting ability modifier for the attack and damage rolls, instead of using Strength or Dexterity," then what would you strictly need Pact Weapon cantrip for? is your Hexblade a throwing dagger that you need returned immediately?
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
Bladelock seems undertuned as a gish -- you don't have access to fighting styles (you can't take a fighting style with an invocation because you don't have the prereqs), you can't dual wield because you can only have one pact weapon, you can't use polearm mastery or great weapon mastery because you can't use heavy weapons as a pact weapon, you don't get shield proficiency (which is the usual selling point of single weapon styles), hex seems generally not as good as hunter's mark for rangers.
Invocations and an Extra Attack at 5th level. And including something like that would be dumb because it actively punishes people who chose Blade at 1st level by saying, "You know those cool features you got earlier? They're 100% redundant now. You had so many other options. You fool."
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
if you want that extra attack it seems like you should take the pact of the blade. if you want an imp or book, then take a different pact. seems simple enough. no one is forcing you to use the sword you just bought (with your soul) and anyway it probably came with some cool spells. the solution was even offered that a hexblade could be allowed a second pact (if one is blade), which seems generous. what are you asking for besides deleting a subclass you don't like? if it was removed, do your favorite subclasses get a share of the leftover power budget or something?
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
Yep. Because I get to have an actually good and interesting subclass as a choice instead of Hexblade if it gets the boot. Barely anybody likes the flavor, the mechanics were obviously made as crutches for Pact of the Blade, and anything you suggest to "fix" the subclass would be either removing the flavor or making it the only choice for Pact of the Blade once again.
Your suggestion of "all Hexblades get decent melee, Pact of the Blades get better" is pretty much the idea for the design of the original Hexblade, and we all know how well that worked out. The "Hexblades get an extra pact cantrip" idea isn't super cool because there are only so many pacts, and it just lets a Hexblade walk up to a Pact of the Blade and a Pact of the Tome and say "amateurs" and pull out his book sword, which doesn't really make sense. Why should Hexblade have both when everybody else gets one? Plus, that would have to be one of the only 3rd-level features to keep it balanced, which means more flavorful features would wait until later, which isn't good.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
1) I fundamentally disagree with your premise, there's room for subclasses that take one choice/aspect granted by your base class and focus on it/dial it up. I view this like saying "Arcane Archer shouldn't push my Fighter into an archery build, that's uninteresting!" "Open Hand Monk shouldn't push my monk into fighting unarmed, that's uninteresting!"
2) Yes, Hexblade has flavor. It's a martial build that (a) is beholden to a sentient weapon and (b) supplements its martial training with curses rather than pure skill. Those are both pretty well-traveled fantasy archetypes.
The more I think about it, the UA warlock feels like the design team went in with a checklist of items they had to include/exclude, none of which really mesh well together:
1) we have to make EB/Hex class-locked to prevent multi-classing dips
2) we have to make Pact of the Blade a viable gish
3) we have to get rid of Pact Magic because short rests bad
If that's the approach they're taking, I'm not sure any proposal is going to really work because they're not even attempting to look at the question of what a warlock actually is -- a caster who is a practitioner of second-hand magic -- and proceeding from there
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)
Eh, classes are mostly designed around functionality.
Based on what the class was in 3.5 (AFAIK it did not exit prior to that edition) it should probably not have spellcasting at all, just a larger number of invocations and more options for doing interesting things with eldritch blast, and the bladelock becomes "can use eldritch blast as a melee weapon". I'm not sure the 3.5e warlock was terribly popular, though.
Sort of. Take option 1 of your poll and remove Half-Caster.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
I don't see how the proposal they've... proposed doesn't solve all of these though. EB/Hex class-locked, check; Pact of the Blade viable gish, check; Pact Slots gone, check; Warlock's magic is secondhand - check. Half-caster + MA hits everything.
1) So, choosing between being able to become a bladelock for any patron and be good, you'd rather corral all bladelocks into one obviously superior subclass for that entire melee playstyle? Sounds fun to have an illusion of choice between one optimal option and all other weak options...
2) And what about the moment you find an actual sentient magic weapon that is not your abstract patron sentient magic weapon, and bond with it? Is it considered eldritch adultery? What about when you find another, better sentient magic weapon? Do you become weaponizer?
You're half right about the casting. I'm looking at Complete Arcane now, and here's the breakdown. Invocations that allow you to cast spells: 23. Invocations that are not spells: 10. Arguably, some of them still are basically spells, like Charm, which says it's basically the Charm Monster spell, or Entropic Warding, which combines Entropic Shield and Pass Without Trace. It's a little complicated to judge though, so let's just say 23 and 10.
The eldritch blast invocations were a different category, and there's 10 effect modifiers and 5 shape modifiers for a total of 15. Combine those with the 10 that aren't spells, and then technically Warlocks have more non-spell invocations than spell invocations, by 2. But Warlocks could cast Detect Magic. So let's say 1.
Ahem.
The idea of the eldritch blast in 3.5e was pretty neat. It's somewhat similar to what this playtest is doing with Modify Spell for Wizards. I'm not sure it was ever actually good, and I'm even less sure it was ever actually as customizable as it looks (that's 3.5 for ya), but it was definitely neat in concept, at the very least. But did it effectively sell the class idea? I don't think so, no. So I wouldn't say I miss it. Except we're stuck with its shadow, minus the more wacky ideas like chain-lightning and AoE, and minus any debuffs. I would guess this is basically how it felt to play a 3.5e Warlock optimally, but it still reads as less fun because you can't dream of all the possibilities that would turn out to be unworkably weak. If we're gonna keep Eldritch Blast, and I'm sure we are, then idk, I'd like to see more EB invocations adapted and invented.
Yeah, but they were the equivalent of invocations that grant a spell -- they didn't have spell slots and so on.
Right. But they were still out there casting spells.