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.
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.
But they didn’t use spell slots like normal casters, and neither did Sorcerers as they used spell points. They cast spells, but they didn’t do it the same way as everyone else did it. That’s what made them interesting to play from a mechanical standpoint. I would rather go back to how Warlocks were and do it all with invocations and them not have a single slot of any kind rather than them becoming half-casters.
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?
1) I don't think it would be "obviously superior" at all - just like Arcane Archers are not obviously superior at archery compared to every other Fighter (arguably, Battlemaster, Eldritch Knight and Echo Knight can outshoot them.) I do think that for a specific kind of Bladelock, Hexblade might be superior - say, one that wants to use a 2H weapon and/or heavy armor, depending on how they ultimately end up modifying Hexblade - but not necessarily for all of them.
2) I would presume that, like with all sentient magic items, your DM added it to the campaign for a reason. Perhaps the Pact Blade you started the game with was a vestige or aspect whose purpose was leading you towards locating its true form all along. Perhaps when you bond with that item, the personality of your pact weapon subsumes or augments the one in the existing item. Perhaps they're wholly unrelated, and bonding with the item sparks a power struggle for your very soul. Seems like a fantasy story to me 🙂
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.
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.
But they didn’t use spell slots like normal casters, and neither did Sorcerers as they used spell points. They cast spells, but they didn’t do it the same way as everyone else did it. That’s what made them interesting to play from a mechanical standpoint. I would rather go back to how Warlocks were and do it all with invocations and them not have a single slot of any kind rather than them becoming half-casters.
The 3.5 warlock had sorcerer flavor, not the fluff of the 4e or 5e warlock.
I am fine with the changes that are being made to Warlock. It would have been cooler for the class to still have their unique way of using spells and spell slots, because it makes them different and interesting. However, the need to make Warlock useful in parties that don’t take too many short rests is understandable and it makes sense that 1D&D should fix this problem.
I will say though that with Warlock now having so many spells and Invocations, they are no longer remotely simple, even for a spellcaster. With all of the mages out of the way, it looks like there will not be any simple spellcasters in the next iteration of the Player’s Handbook. This would be quite sad, since it would ensure that the large simple loving part of the player base will be shunted off to play only Warriors or classes that they do not enjoy.
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I wouldn't call the 2014 Warlock simple. Sure, Eldritch Blast spam was easy enough, but a lot of the invocations even in core are traps for new players (especially if you take them too early or too late or hold onto one past its expiration date), and knowing when to use your precious spell slots or when to hold on to them took game knowledge too.
As for the simple caster now, Sorcerers seem fine to me. Their biggest downside in 2014 was very limited spells known, and that's been fixed now, so mistakes in spell selection are a lot less punishing.
Clerics are even simpler and likely what I would hand to a new player who wants to be a spellcaster.
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.
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.
But they didn’t use spell slots like normal casters, and neither did Sorcerers as they used spell points. They cast spells, but they didn’t do it the same way as everyone else did it. That’s what made them interesting to play from a mechanical standpoint. I would rather go back to how Warlocks were and do it all with invocations and them not have a single slot of any kind rather than them becoming half-casters.
The 3.5 warlock had sorcerer flavor, not the fluff of the 4e or 5e warlock.
I honestly couldn’t care less about the fluff, it’s the mechanics I care about.
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)
I wouldn't call the 2014 Warlock simple. Sure, Eldritch Blast spam was easy enough, but a lot of the invocations even in core are traps for new players (especially if you take them too early or too late or hold onto one past its expiration date), and knowing when to use your precious spell slots or when to hold on to them took game knowledge too.
As for the simple caster now, Sorcerers seem fine to me. Their biggest downside in 2014 was very limited spells known, and that's been fixed now, so mistakes in spell selection are a lot less punishing.
Clerics are even simpler and likely what I would hand to a new player who wants to be a spellcaster.
I dunno. I never thought of Warlocks as that simple, but the lack of numerous spell slots and not having that many spells known combined with the relative ease of picking less complicated Eldritch Invocations definitely made it one of the more newbie friendly casters.
Clerics and other casters like them have tons of spell slots of numerous levels (which creates a lot of choices, confusion and complexity that some might not want to deal with), the whole class list of spells to constantly learn about, modify, and prepare from, as well as several other features. I doubt that they are that simple compared to 5e's Warlock, and I know that they certainly are not as newbie friendly as necessary to fit the role of simple caster.
Warlock was never the simple caster. That's nonsense. Even if we were to somehow imagine that "simple caster" is something that even can exist in this game... Warlock isn't it.
I like the "always cast at maximum power" idea we already have. I think that's neat and it "feels" right for the concept of someone using magic they "shouldn't." It's probably possible to balance it properly for a long rest economy, and that would be my preference. I would even go a step further and consider removing cantrips. But I don't think that's super important, and it's not gonna happen.
I'd have to poll a bunch of newbies to know how it reads though. I know people tend to get annoyed with how certain spells (especially when it's patron spells) don't scale. People also don't seem to trade in their spells and invocations very often. Nobody likes losing things, after all. So the satisfaction with the class might be pretty different between newbies and old heads. That's something to fix. You could remove the ability to trade them, but add more known to make up for it. You'd probably need to tune down the average power of them if you're giving more known, which is challenging with spells because other classes are using them too. So idk.
I don't envy the devs here. But I'm not thrilled with half-caster Warlock.
I dunno. I never thought of Warlocks as that simple, but the lack of numerous spell slots and not having that many spells known combined with the relative ease of picking less complicated Eldritch Invocations definitely made it one of the more newbie friendly casters.
Clerics and other casters like them have tons of spell slots of numerous levels (which creates a lot of choices, confusion and complexity that some might not want to deal with), the whole class list of spells to constantly learn about, modify, and prepare from, as well as several other features. I doubt that they are that simple compared to 5e's Warlock, and I know that they certainly are not as newbie friendly as necessary to fit the role of simple caster.
I'm not saying it's bad for new players, per se, but there's a lot of minefields under that unassuming exterior. Of the low-level invocations in the 2014 PHB I think only Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast are a no-brainer. The rest are a bevy of traps, combo pieces and niche options for the unwary. Armor of Shadows? Trap. Beast Speech and Eyes of the Runekeeper? Highly table-dependent. Devil's Sight? Combo piece. Eldritch Sight? Trap for tomelock, redundant if you have... any other caster, potentially useful otherwise. Eldritch Spear? Trap. Fiendish Vigor? Good for one level, which just so happens to be the level you should probably be grabbing Agonizing Blast. Mask of Many Faces/Misty Visions? Table-dependent. Thief of Five Fates? Trap.
Clerics do get a ton of spells, but they don't have to burn spells known on any of them, so if something isn't working out or coming up all that often, the new player is just a long rest away from trying something new. And it's about to get even more new-player friendly by having a built-in blasting and healing option available no matter what spells they have prepped. And that's on top of having medium armor and shields right at level 1.
I just want an infernal tiefling to make a good fiendish warlock. So, fixing up Hellish Rebuke so that it works well with the warlock spell progression, whatever that may be. Rules for swapping out firebolt, because why on earth firebolt when you could eldritch blast.
Late to the party, but I really dislike the direction that the new proposed rules have taken Warlocks.
Like others have said, it's turning Warlocks into the "half caster" for arcane magics, and it is like trying to fit a round peg into a square hole. Sure, at 20th level, a warlock is going to have comparable number of spells they can cast - but at the cost of several invocations that once gave you a 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th level spell as a part of the normal class progression with mystic arcanum. Now, it's costing you 4 invocations to get the same thing, where you are only getting 1 extra invocation. Additionally, you're going to be lagging WAY behind every other caster as far as when you are learning higher level spells, and you're going to feel weak by comparison.
Essentially, most of the other class rebuilds have had at least something I've been intrigued and excited about, but warlocks seem to have taken a class with a lot of flavor and unique mechanics into a "Hey, we need a half-arcane caster, let's retool warlocks to fit that."
Also, the capstone ability of allowing to cast Hex for free is /terrible/. Not only is Hex frustrating to use (especially for the path of the tome casters where that ties up your only concentration spot - and this isn't changed in UE) - BUT compared to like the sorceror's arcane Apotheosis?!
So, instead of just complaining about what I hate, here's a few suggestions. - from what I understand from the mythos of the spellcasters: Wizards learn how to manipulate the magic of the world around them and get better at it as they study. Sorcerors have innate magic in their blood, and Warlocks tied their essence/soul/what have you to a powerful patron. So I think of it like the patron has planted a bit of their essence/made an investment in the warlock. The more the warlock uses it/the more they earn their way, the more that seed grows. So they draw on their own magically-tainted/flavored/whatever soul.
- Keep the old warlock spell progression that is still cast at the highest spell slot they have (they have a big bang but not a lot of restraint), automatic mystic arcanum. Give them at least ONE more spell slot (maybe 1/5 levels? 1st, 5th, 10th, and 15th). AND if you must get rid of their recharge at short rests if you're getting rid of short rests, how about this: let them take 1 level of exhaustion for extra casts. So if you've already cast your allotted 3 spells that day for your level, you can take a level of exhaustion for one more... two levels for two more... etc. Like they're tapping into their very soul to cast the spells - and it is costly. It fits with the playing with dangerous powers and high risks of the class.
- For the capstone ability, how about letting them take on the creature type of their patron? Their bond to their patron has had an affect on them. If they're a fiendlock, they get the fiend type and a chunk of appropriately flavored abilities. Ditto for fey for the archfey, abberation for the Great Old One, etc etc etc!
I dunno. I never thought of Warlocks as that simple, but the lack of numerous spell slots and not having that many spells known combined with the relative ease of picking less complicated Eldritch Invocations definitely made it one of the more newbie friendly casters.
Clerics and other casters like them have tons of spell slots of numerous levels (which creates a lot of choices, confusion and complexity that some might not want to deal with), the whole class list of spells to constantly learn about, modify, and prepare from, as well as several other features. I doubt that they are that simple compared to 5e's Warlock, and I know that they certainly are not as newbie friendly as necessary to fit the role of simple caster.
I'm not saying it's bad for new players, per se, but there's a lot of minefields under that unassuming exterior. Of the low-level invocations in the 2014 PHB I think only Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast are a no-brainer. The rest are a bevy of traps, combo pieces and niche options for the unwary. Armor of Shadows? Trap. Beast Speech and Eyes of the Runekeeper? Highly table-dependent. Devil's Sight? Combo piece. Eldritch Sight? Trap for tomelock, redundant if you have... any other caster, potentially useful otherwise. Eldritch Spear? Trap. Fiendish Vigor? Good for one level, which just so happens to be the level you should probably be grabbing Agonizing Blast. Mask of Many Faces/Misty Visions? Table-dependent. Thief of Five Fates? Trap.
Clerics do get a ton of spells, but they don't have to burn spells known on any of them, so if something isn't working out or coming up all that often, the new player is just a long rest away from trying something new. And it's about to get even more new-player friendly by having a built-in blasting and healing option available no matter what spells they have prepped. And that's on top of having medium armor and shields right at level 1.
I have a really hard time taking someone seriously when they dismiss anything that isn't a purely optimal DPR build as a "trap" or "table-dependent"
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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)
Late to the party, but I really dislike the direction that the new proposed rules have taken Warlocks.
Like others have said, it's turning Warlocks into the "half caster" for arcane magics, and it is like trying to fit a round peg into a square hole. Sure, at 20th level, a warlock is going to have comparable number of spells they can cast - but at the cost of several invocations that once gave you a 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th level spell as a part of the normal class progression with mystic arcanum. Now, it's costing you 4 invocations to get the same thing, where you are only getting 1 extra invocation. Additionally, you're going to be lagging WAY behind every other caster as far as when you are learning higher level spells, and you're going to feel weak by comparison.
Essentially, most of the other class rebuilds have had at least something I've been intrigued and excited about, but warlocks seem to have taken a class with a lot of flavor and unique mechanics into a "Hey, we need a half-arcane caster, let's retool warlocks to fit that."
Also, the capstone ability of allowing to cast Hex for free is /terrible/. Not only is Hex frustrating to use (especially for the path of the tome casters where that ties up your only concentration spot - and this isn't changed in UE) - BUT compared to like the sorceror's arcane Apotheosis?!
So, instead of just complaining about what I hate, here's a few suggestions. - from what I understand from the mythos of the spellcasters: Wizards learn how to manipulate the magic of the world around them and get better at it as they study. Sorcerors have innate magic in their blood, and Warlocks tied their essence/soul/what have you to a powerful patron. So I think of it like the patron has planted a bit of their essence/made an investment in the warlock. The more the warlock uses it/the more they earn their way, the more that seed grows. So they draw on their own magically-tainted/flavored/whatever soul.
- Keep the old warlock spell progression that is still cast at the highest spell slot they have (they have a big bang but not a lot of restraint), automatic mystic arcanum. Give them at least ONE more spell slot (maybe 1/5 levels? 1st, 5th, 10th, and 15th). AND if you must get rid of their recharge at short rests if you're getting rid of short rests, how about this: let them take 1 level of exhaustion for extra casts. So if you've already cast your allotted 3 spells that day for your level, you can take a level of exhaustion for one more... two levels for two more... etc. Like they're tapping into their very soul to cast the spells - and it is costly. It fits with the playing with dangerous powers and high risks of the class.
- For the capstone ability, how about letting them take on the creature type of their patron? Their bond to their patron has had an affect on them. If they're a fiendlock, they get the fiend type and a chunk of appropriately flavored abilities. Ditto for fey for the archfey, abberation for the Great Old One, etc etc etc!
I like a lot of this and the recharge spells for exhaustion assuming they were using the last play tests exhaustion might be a cool idea. Or burn hit points for recharging spells, take one minute for every xdy damage they return one spell slot. For the capstone that would require way too many different abilities. One thing I thought would be interesting for a cap stone is if they now could up cast spells to 6th+level instead of stopping at 5th, they don't learn 6th+level spells outside mystic arcanum but they can upcast to whatever the balance point is past 5th level.
I dunno. I never thought of Warlocks as that simple, but the lack of numerous spell slots and not having that many spells known combined with the relative ease of picking less complicated Eldritch Invocations definitely made it one of the more newbie friendly casters.
Clerics and other casters like them have tons of spell slots of numerous levels (which creates a lot of choices, confusion and complexity that some might not want to deal with), the whole class list of spells to constantly learn about, modify, and prepare from, as well as several other features. I doubt that they are that simple compared to 5e's Warlock, and I know that they certainly are not as newbie friendly as necessary to fit the role of simple caster.
I'm not saying it's bad for new players, per se, but there's a lot of minefields under that unassuming exterior. Of the low-level invocations in the 2014 PHB I think only Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast are a no-brainer. The rest are a bevy of traps, combo pieces and niche options for the unwary. Armor of Shadows? Trap. Beast Speech and Eyes of the Runekeeper? Highly table-dependent. Devil's Sight? Combo piece. Eldritch Sight? Trap for tomelock, redundant if you have... any other caster, potentially useful otherwise. Eldritch Spear? Trap. Fiendish Vigor? Good for one level, which just so happens to be the level you should probably be grabbing Agonizing Blast. Mask of Many Faces/Misty Visions? Table-dependent. Thief of Five Fates? Trap.
Clerics do get a ton of spells, but they don't have to burn spells known on any of them, so if something isn't working out or coming up all that often, the new player is just a long rest away from trying something new. And it's about to get even more new-player friendly by having a built-in blasting and healing option available no matter what spells they have prepped. And that's on top of having medium armor and shields right at level 1.
I have a really hard time taking someone seriously when they dismiss anything that isn't a purely optimal DPR build as a "trap" or "table-dependent"
Some of those are very poorly designed even if they aren't necessarily a trap. Thief of 5 fates, I mean really bane once per day and it uses a slot. Sure its upcast to lets say 3rd level so now it hits 5 enemies instead of 3, but is that really worth a invocation and a spell slot. Sure it fits the thematic cursing element of warlocks but mechanically that is weak and the design of once per day is sad. Like have the spell be added to your known list with one free cast at minimum level, its bane that wont break things. Many of the traps are clear role play invocations not sources of power so I am not sure trap is the right term. Makes me wonder if there should be a pool of minor invocations for invocations that are mostly if not all roleplaying boons and not mechanical boons that use a different resource to choose.
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But they didn’t use spell slots like normal casters, and neither did Sorcerers as they used spell points. They cast spells, but they didn’t do it the same way as everyone else did it. That’s what made them interesting to play from a mechanical standpoint. I would rather go back to how Warlocks were and do it all with invocations and them not have a single slot of any kind rather than them becoming half-casters.
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1) I don't think it would be "obviously superior" at all - just like Arcane Archers are not obviously superior at archery compared to every other Fighter (arguably, Battlemaster, Eldritch Knight and Echo Knight can outshoot them.) I do think that for a specific kind of Bladelock, Hexblade might be superior - say, one that wants to use a 2H weapon and/or heavy armor, depending on how they ultimately end up modifying Hexblade - but not necessarily for all of them.
2) I would presume that, like with all sentient magic items, your DM added it to the campaign for a reason. Perhaps the Pact Blade you started the game with was a vestige or aspect whose purpose was leading you towards locating its true form all along. Perhaps when you bond with that item, the personality of your pact weapon subsumes or augments the one in the existing item. Perhaps they're wholly unrelated, and bonding with the item sparks a power struggle for your very soul. Seems like a fantasy story to me 🙂
The 3.5 warlock had sorcerer flavor, not the fluff of the 4e or 5e warlock.
I am fine with the changes that are being made to Warlock. It would have been cooler for the class to still have their unique way of using spells and spell slots, because it makes them different and interesting. However, the need to make Warlock useful in parties that don’t take too many short rests is understandable and it makes sense that 1D&D should fix this problem.
I will say though that with Warlock now having so many spells and Invocations, they are no longer remotely simple, even for a spellcaster. With all of the mages out of the way, it looks like there will not be any simple spellcasters in the next iteration of the Player’s Handbook. This would be quite sad, since it would ensure that the large simple loving part of the player base will be shunted off to play only Warriors or classes that they do not enjoy.
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HERE.I wouldn't call the 2014 Warlock simple. Sure, Eldritch Blast spam was easy enough, but a lot of the invocations even in core are traps for new players (especially if you take them too early or too late or hold onto one past its expiration date), and knowing when to use your precious spell slots or when to hold on to them took game knowledge too.
As for the simple caster now, Sorcerers seem fine to me. Their biggest downside in 2014 was very limited spells known, and that's been fixed now, so mistakes in spell selection are a lot less punishing.
Clerics are even simpler and likely what I would hand to a new player who wants to be a spellcaster.
I honestly couldn’t care less about the fluff, it’s the mechanics I care about.
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The problem is that the 5e mechanics don't work well with the rest of the system.
That’s why they should be fixed. I’ve said that from the start. Fixed, not replaced with half-casting. It’s the half-casting I object to,
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Fixed means "uses standard mechanics". That means half-caster or full-caster, and they don't want to stack full arcane caster with much else.
That's one weird-ass dictionary you have
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)
I dunno. I never thought of Warlocks as that simple, but the lack of numerous spell slots and not having that many spells known combined with the relative ease of picking less complicated Eldritch Invocations definitely made it one of the more newbie friendly casters.
Clerics and other casters like them have tons of spell slots of numerous levels (which creates a lot of choices, confusion and complexity that some might not want to deal with), the whole class list of spells to constantly learn about, modify, and prepare from, as well as several other features. I doubt that they are that simple compared to 5e's Warlock, and I know that they certainly are not as newbie friendly as necessary to fit the role of simple caster.
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
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HERE.Warlock was never the simple caster. That's nonsense. Even if we were to somehow imagine that "simple caster" is something that even can exist in this game... Warlock isn't it.
I like the "always cast at maximum power" idea we already have. I think that's neat and it "feels" right for the concept of someone using magic they "shouldn't." It's probably possible to balance it properly for a long rest economy, and that would be my preference. I would even go a step further and consider removing cantrips. But I don't think that's super important, and it's not gonna happen.
I'd have to poll a bunch of newbies to know how it reads though. I know people tend to get annoyed with how certain spells (especially when it's patron spells) don't scale. People also don't seem to trade in their spells and invocations very often. Nobody likes losing things, after all. So the satisfaction with the class might be pretty different between newbies and old heads. That's something to fix. You could remove the ability to trade them, but add more known to make up for it. You'd probably need to tune down the average power of them if you're giving more known, which is challenging with spells because other classes are using them too. So idk.
I don't envy the devs here. But I'm not thrilled with half-caster Warlock.
I'm not saying it's bad for new players, per se, but there's a lot of minefields under that unassuming exterior. Of the low-level invocations in the 2014 PHB I think only Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast are a no-brainer. The rest are a bevy of traps, combo pieces and niche options for the unwary. Armor of Shadows? Trap. Beast Speech and Eyes of the Runekeeper? Highly table-dependent. Devil's Sight? Combo piece. Eldritch Sight? Trap for tomelock, redundant if you have... any other caster, potentially useful otherwise. Eldritch Spear? Trap. Fiendish Vigor? Good for one level, which just so happens to be the level you should probably be grabbing Agonizing Blast. Mask of Many Faces/Misty Visions? Table-dependent. Thief of Five Fates? Trap.
Clerics do get a ton of spells, but they don't have to burn spells known on any of them, so if something isn't working out or coming up all that often, the new player is just a long rest away from trying something new. And it's about to get even more new-player friendly by having a built-in blasting and healing option available no matter what spells they have prepped. And that's on top of having medium armor and shields right at level 1.
I just want an infernal tiefling to make a good fiendish warlock. So, fixing up Hellish Rebuke so that it works well with the warlock spell progression, whatever that may be. Rules for swapping out firebolt, because why on earth firebolt when you could eldritch blast.
Late to the party, but I really dislike the direction that the new proposed rules have taken Warlocks.
Like others have said, it's turning Warlocks into the "half caster" for arcane magics, and it is like trying to fit a round peg into a square hole.
Sure, at 20th level, a warlock is going to have comparable number of spells they can cast - but at the cost of several invocations that once gave you a 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th level spell as a part of the normal class progression with mystic arcanum. Now, it's costing you 4 invocations to get the same thing, where you are only getting 1 extra invocation.
Additionally, you're going to be lagging WAY behind every other caster as far as when you are learning higher level spells, and you're going to feel weak by comparison.
Essentially, most of the other class rebuilds have had at least something I've been intrigued and excited about, but warlocks seem to have taken a class with a lot of flavor and unique mechanics into a "Hey, we need a half-arcane caster, let's retool warlocks to fit that."
Also, the capstone ability of allowing to cast Hex for free is /terrible/. Not only is Hex frustrating to use (especially for the path of the tome casters where that ties up your only concentration spot - and this isn't changed in UE) - BUT compared to like the sorceror's arcane Apotheosis?!
So, instead of just complaining about what I hate, here's a few suggestions.
- from what I understand from the mythos of the spellcasters: Wizards learn how to manipulate the magic of the world around them and get better at it as they study. Sorcerors have innate magic in their blood, and Warlocks tied their essence/soul/what have you to a powerful patron. So I think of it like the patron has planted a bit of their essence/made an investment in the warlock. The more the warlock uses it/the more they earn their way, the more that seed grows. So they draw on their own magically-tainted/flavored/whatever soul.
- Keep the old warlock spell progression that is still cast at the highest spell slot they have (they have a big bang but not a lot of restraint), automatic mystic arcanum. Give them at least ONE more spell slot (maybe 1/5 levels? 1st, 5th, 10th, and 15th). AND if you must get rid of their recharge at short rests if you're getting rid of short rests, how about this: let them take 1 level of exhaustion for extra casts. So if you've already cast your allotted 3 spells that day for your level, you can take a level of exhaustion for one more... two levels for two more... etc. Like they're tapping into their very soul to cast the spells - and it is costly. It fits with the playing with dangerous powers and high risks of the class.
- For the capstone ability, how about letting them take on the creature type of their patron? Their bond to their patron has had an affect on them. If they're a fiendlock, they get the fiend type and a chunk of appropriately flavored abilities. Ditto for fey for the archfey, abberation for the Great Old One, etc etc etc!
I have a really hard time taking someone seriously when they dismiss anything that isn't a purely optimal DPR build as a "trap" or "table-dependent"
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)
I like a lot of this and the recharge spells for exhaustion assuming they were using the last play tests exhaustion might be a cool idea. Or burn hit points for recharging spells, take one minute for every xdy damage they return one spell slot. For the capstone that would require way too many different abilities. One thing I thought would be interesting for a cap stone is if they now could up cast spells to 6th+level instead of stopping at 5th, they don't learn 6th+level spells outside mystic arcanum but they can upcast to whatever the balance point is past 5th level.
I wish I could like this post twice.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Funny, they worked fine for the past 10 years.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Some of those are very poorly designed even if they aren't necessarily a trap. Thief of 5 fates, I mean really bane once per day and it uses a slot. Sure its upcast to lets say 3rd level so now it hits 5 enemies instead of 3, but is that really worth a invocation and a spell slot. Sure it fits the thematic cursing element of warlocks but mechanically that is weak and the design of once per day is sad. Like have the spell be added to your known list with one free cast at minimum level, its bane that wont break things. Many of the traps are clear role play invocations not sources of power so I am not sure trap is the right term. Makes me wonder if there should be a pool of minor invocations for invocations that are mostly if not all roleplaying boons and not mechanical boons that use a different resource to choose.