The playtest Warlock intro fluff text mentioned, "Warlocks are defined by pacts with otherworldly beings." My old-school gaming crew has been musing on how we might make lean into that vision more.
First, we were toying with the idea that the entire concept of Pact Magic was connected to your Patron at level 1, and everything (including Invocations) you get thereafter was completely flavored by that choice (going beyond what the Patron subclasses currently offer). As an example, perhaps only Fiend Patron warlocks have access to Devil's Sight, while Archfey gives you access to something else, like Feysight (say, the ability to see invisible creatures), and Great Old One gives you something else, like say limited-range Blindsense (via sensing the presence of nearby minds). This also opens the door to things like Pact of the Blade functioning differently under each patron, making them more patron-theme-appropriate.
Second, we were thinking about Warlocks not having spell slots at all, but instead having Pact Magic give them access to specific (theme-appropriate) invocations that either cast a spell 1x per day (or proficiency bonus times per day) without using spell slots or do other (theme-appropriate) cool things, with a healthy selection of always-on things (like Devil's Sight) and a big list of 1 minute ritual options, curses, hexes or whatever else might be interesting and fun. All the current patron subclass features would become invocations available only to that patron, allowing the Warlock to select them, or not. Not all celestial patron warlocks take Radiant Soul invocation, for example. But Radiant Soul is only available to warlocks of the celestial patron. This adds a wonderful level of flexibility, and we feel it nicely meshes with the opening text, "Warlocks view their patrons as resources, as a means to the end of achieving magical power."
Third and finally, the class gives double or even triple the number of invocations Warlocks get, since invocations would become nearly everything the warlock does with this setup, outside of mystic arcanum.
In this setup, we believe the Warlock achieves a unique spellcaster feel, as it does not rely on spell slots. They instead rely on tapping into their patron's power to learn invocations and rituals/curses/hexes. It also removes the patron subclass, as those features gets folded into Pact Magic and invocations, making the Warlock the only class without subclasses (as it doesn't need it at that point, and which makes the class unique in another way). If you want to add back in some short rest features, that seems fairly easy to do via some kind of new feature that initially offers 2 rituals/curses/hexes per short rest (scaling frequency of use up with levels).
Anywho, just some thoughts we wanted to share, with the sincere goal of just trying to make something unique and fun. We feel that smarter folks than us would be able to properly balance the above into the elusive sweet spot.
By the by, we've read through several UA-related Warlock posts here, but not all of them. So if this concept has already been mentioned, sorry about repeating it.
If changing Pact Magic from 1-4 spell slots per short rest to a half caster was too much for the community to handle, I suspect eliminating subclass features and spellcasting entirely in favor of more Invocations will cause some hospitalizations.
I, however, think it would be fun to try out. I love more flexibility and options to make a class fit exactly with my character concept.
I remember a UA release leading up to Xanathar's Guide, they were trying out some Invocations being Patron-specific. I really liked the idea, but apparently it didn't test well, because while some of those Invocations made it to the book, the Patron restrictions didn't. I would love to see each Patron come with a set of exclusive Invocations, similar to how each Patron comes with a list of spells. Ideally, I'd love to see each Patron offer a unique buff to Eldritch Blast, one related to each Pact Boon, and then maybe a miscellaneous one, but that's just me spitballing. The old UA did have each Patron get a specific Invocation for EB, I think the Archfey one became Lance Of Lethargy and the GOO one became Grasp Of Hadar. The Fiend one didn't make it in. I would want the Warlock to get a couple of extra Invocation slots that could only be used with those Patron-specific choices(they could still use their regular slots for them if they want more from the Patron list), and then bring back something like the free casting off the Patron spell list that they had in UA5, but I think just one free spell per day feels too weak. I'm a big fan of incentivizing Warlocks to be "on brand" when it comes to their Patron, whether it's through exclusive spell/Invocation choices, or built-in flavoring of core Warlock features.
Oh yes, it was the "Warlock & Wizard" UA from 2017. That one also included the Raven Queen as a new Patron option, which I absolutely loved. I'm still bummed it didn't survive the playtest.
I remember a UA release leading up to Xanathar's Guide, they were trying out some Invocations being Patron-specific. I really liked the idea, but apparently it didn't test well, because while some of those Invocations made it to the book, the Patron restrictions didn't. I would love to see each Patron come with a set of exclusive Invocations, similar to how each Patron comes with a list of spells. Ideally, I'd love to see each Patron offer a unique buff to Eldritch Blast, one related to each Pact Boon, and then maybe a miscellaneous one, but that's just me spitballing. The old UA did have each Patron get a specific Invocation for EB, I think the Archfey one became Lance Of Lethargy and the GOO one became Grasp Of Hadar. The Fiend one didn't make it in. I would want the Warlock to get a couple of extra Invocation slots that could only be used with those Patron-specific choices(they could still use their regular slots for them if they want more from the Patron list), and then bring back something like the free casting off the Patron spell list that they had in UA5, but I think just one free spell per day feels too weak. I'm a big fan of incentivizing Warlocks to be "on brand" when it comes to their Patron, whether it's through exclusive spell/Invocation choices, or built-in flavoring of core Warlock features.
Oh yes, it was the "Warlock & Wizard" UA from 2017. That one also included the Raven Queen as a new Patron option, which I absolutely loved. I'm still bummed it didn't survive the playtest.
I loved the Raven Queen Warlock as well. It was pretty awesome. Got a free Raven familiar that at 6th level could merge with it and it came with Spiritual Weapon as a spell choice.
Now that a lot of the Hexblade’s features have been adopted into Pact of the Blade, I wonder if we might see it replaced by a Shadow patron, instead, which could include the Raven Queen.
Now that a lot of the Hexblade’s features have been adopted into Pact of the Blade, I wonder if we might see it replaced by a Shadow patron, instead, which could include the Raven Queen.
I really hope the RQ idea comes back around, it was a really solid Patron UA. But even if it doesn't, I won't be sad to see the Hexblade fade away. The lore around it was always kind of dumb, and it basically just became the "default" patron for a lot of people who didn't want to bother with a backstory(not ALL Hexblade players, but a lot of them).
Now that a lot of the Hexblade’s features have been adopted into Pact of the Blade, I wonder if we might see it replaced by a Shadow patron, instead, which could include the Raven Queen.
I really hope the RQ idea comes back around, it was a really solid Patron UA. But even if it doesn't, I won't be sad to see the Hexblade fade away. The lore around it was always kind of dumb, and it basically just became the "default" patron for a lot of people who didn't want to bother with a backstory(not ALL Hexblade players, but a lot of them).
I wouldn’t call Hexblade lore “dumb”, per se, but untying it from the sentient weapon would be less restrictive.
I think Hexblade could be replaced by a magic weapon patron, but the patron should BE the magic weapon. Not the entity that gave you the weapon. If an entity gives you a weapon it'd be Pact of the Blade. If the weapon is your patron it'd be this new subclass where your supernatural powers and knowledge flow to you from the weapon you're holding in exchange for doing something the weapon wants of you. It could be a devourer of souls or a blade forged in the Heavens to punish the wicked, but no matter what the weapon is fully sapient, speaks to its wielder, and wants something out of the partnership.
This obviously would synergize with Pact of the Blade. Your Patron Weapon could double as your Bound Weapon in that case, but you could still take Tome or Chain and still benefit from what the Patron Weapon is offering you. For example, a Blade Pact lets you fight with the weapon using your CHA attribute and everything, but if you went Tome maybe you're styled more as a cultist with a ritual dagger that speaks to you and demands you perform sacrificial rites with it after battles are done. Or a Pact of the Chain warlock could have a talking skull at the end of their staff that whispers dark secrets in their ear and compels them to seek out the remains of the skull's former master.
Maybe it could be themed as an object rather than specifically a weapon. A crown or helmet would serve the fantasy similarly. You could call it a Relic Warlock or Artifact Warlock.
The first subclass feature could be something like "You may cast Eldritch Blast through your Patron Artifact without using Somatic Components. If you take the Attack Action you may replace an attack with a single Eldritch Blast beam."
Another feature could be something like, "Your Patron Artifact whispers secret knowledge to you should you listen. It has proficiency in two Intelligence skills of your choice equal to your proficiency modifier and its Intelligence Bonus is equal to your Charisma Bonus. It can make Knowledge checks as if it were a creature but can only communicate what it knows to the warlock it is bound to."
Later levels would revolve around unlocking greater powers from the artifact. Maybe it gets its own little list of Invocations that the artifact can get that act like item enchantments that the warlock can make use of so long as they have their artifact and the artifact is still letting them use its power. At high levels you could end up wearing a magic crown that lets you fly in the air shooting Eldritch Blasts from the jewel in the crown's center or a sword wreathed in black flames that extinguish all light around it for 10ft like a permanent Darkness spell to compliment your Devil's Sight. Your Patron would basically be a customizable magical item that works as long as you appease it.
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The playtest Warlock intro fluff text mentioned, "Warlocks are defined by pacts with otherworldly beings." My old-school gaming crew has been musing on how we might make lean into that vision more.
First, we were toying with the idea that the entire concept of Pact Magic was connected to your Patron at level 1, and everything (including Invocations) you get thereafter was completely flavored by that choice (going beyond what the Patron subclasses currently offer). As an example, perhaps only Fiend Patron warlocks have access to Devil's Sight, while Archfey gives you access to something else, like Feysight (say, the ability to see invisible creatures), and Great Old One gives you something else, like say limited-range Blindsense (via sensing the presence of nearby minds). This also opens the door to things like Pact of the Blade functioning differently under each patron, making them more patron-theme-appropriate.
Second, we were thinking about Warlocks not having spell slots at all, but instead having Pact Magic give them access to specific (theme-appropriate) invocations that either cast a spell 1x per day (or proficiency bonus times per day) without using spell slots or do other (theme-appropriate) cool things, with a healthy selection of always-on things (like Devil's Sight) and a big list of 1 minute ritual options, curses, hexes or whatever else might be interesting and fun. All the current patron subclass features would become invocations available only to that patron, allowing the Warlock to select them, or not. Not all celestial patron warlocks take Radiant Soul invocation, for example. But Radiant Soul is only available to warlocks of the celestial patron. This adds a wonderful level of flexibility, and we feel it nicely meshes with the opening text, "Warlocks view their patrons as resources, as a means to the end of achieving magical power."
Third and finally, the class gives double or even triple the number of invocations Warlocks get, since invocations would become nearly everything the warlock does with this setup, outside of mystic arcanum.
In this setup, we believe the Warlock achieves a unique spellcaster feel, as it does not rely on spell slots. They instead rely on tapping into their patron's power to learn invocations and rituals/curses/hexes. It also removes the patron subclass, as those features gets folded into Pact Magic and invocations, making the Warlock the only class without subclasses (as it doesn't need it at that point, and which makes the class unique in another way). If you want to add back in some short rest features, that seems fairly easy to do via some kind of new feature that initially offers 2 rituals/curses/hexes per short rest (scaling frequency of use up with levels).
Anywho, just some thoughts we wanted to share, with the sincere goal of just trying to make something unique and fun. We feel that smarter folks than us would be able to properly balance the above into the elusive sweet spot.
By the by, we've read through several UA-related Warlock posts here, but not all of them. So if this concept has already been mentioned, sorry about repeating it.
So kinda like how they were in 3.5?
If changing Pact Magic from 1-4 spell slots per short rest to a half caster was too much for the community to handle, I suspect eliminating subclass features and spellcasting entirely in favor of more Invocations will cause some hospitalizations.
I, however, think it would be fun to try out. I love more flexibility and options to make a class fit exactly with my character concept.
I remember a UA release leading up to Xanathar's Guide, they were trying out some Invocations being Patron-specific. I really liked the idea, but apparently it didn't test well, because while some of those Invocations made it to the book, the Patron restrictions didn't. I would love to see each Patron come with a set of exclusive Invocations, similar to how each Patron comes with a list of spells. Ideally, I'd love to see each Patron offer a unique buff to Eldritch Blast, one related to each Pact Boon, and then maybe a miscellaneous one, but that's just me spitballing. The old UA did have each Patron get a specific Invocation for EB, I think the Archfey one became Lance Of Lethargy and the GOO one became Grasp Of Hadar. The Fiend one didn't make it in. I would want the Warlock to get a couple of extra Invocation slots that could only be used with those Patron-specific choices(they could still use their regular slots for them if they want more from the Patron list), and then bring back something like the free casting off the Patron spell list that they had in UA5, but I think just one free spell per day feels too weak. I'm a big fan of incentivizing Warlocks to be "on brand" when it comes to their Patron, whether it's through exclusive spell/Invocation choices, or built-in flavoring of core Warlock features.
Oh yes, it was the "Warlock & Wizard" UA from 2017. That one also included the Raven Queen as a new Patron option, which I absolutely loved. I'm still bummed it didn't survive the playtest.
I loved the Raven Queen Warlock as well. It was pretty awesome. Got a free Raven familiar that at 6th level could merge with it and it came with Spiritual Weapon as a spell choice.
Now that a lot of the Hexblade’s features have been adopted into Pact of the Blade, I wonder if we might see it replaced by a Shadow patron, instead, which could include the Raven Queen.
I really hope the RQ idea comes back around, it was a really solid Patron UA. But even if it doesn't, I won't be sad to see the Hexblade fade away. The lore around it was always kind of dumb, and it basically just became the "default" patron for a lot of people who didn't want to bother with a backstory(not ALL Hexblade players, but a lot of them).
I wouldn’t call Hexblade lore “dumb”, per se, but untying it from the sentient weapon would be less restrictive.
I think Hexblade could be replaced by a magic weapon patron, but the patron should BE the magic weapon. Not the entity that gave you the weapon. If an entity gives you a weapon it'd be Pact of the Blade. If the weapon is your patron it'd be this new subclass where your supernatural powers and knowledge flow to you from the weapon you're holding in exchange for doing something the weapon wants of you. It could be a devourer of souls or a blade forged in the Heavens to punish the wicked, but no matter what the weapon is fully sapient, speaks to its wielder, and wants something out of the partnership.
This obviously would synergize with Pact of the Blade. Your Patron Weapon could double as your Bound Weapon in that case, but you could still take Tome or Chain and still benefit from what the Patron Weapon is offering you. For example, a Blade Pact lets you fight with the weapon using your CHA attribute and everything, but if you went Tome maybe you're styled more as a cultist with a ritual dagger that speaks to you and demands you perform sacrificial rites with it after battles are done. Or a Pact of the Chain warlock could have a talking skull at the end of their staff that whispers dark secrets in their ear and compels them to seek out the remains of the skull's former master.
Maybe it could be themed as an object rather than specifically a weapon. A crown or helmet would serve the fantasy similarly. You could call it a Relic Warlock or Artifact Warlock.
The first subclass feature could be something like "You may cast Eldritch Blast through your Patron Artifact without using Somatic Components. If you take the Attack Action you may replace an attack with a single Eldritch Blast beam."
Another feature could be something like, "Your Patron Artifact whispers secret knowledge to you should you listen. It has proficiency in two Intelligence skills of your choice equal to your proficiency modifier and its Intelligence Bonus is equal to your Charisma Bonus. It can make Knowledge checks as if it were a creature but can only communicate what it knows to the warlock it is bound to."
Later levels would revolve around unlocking greater powers from the artifact. Maybe it gets its own little list of Invocations that the artifact can get that act like item enchantments that the warlock can make use of so long as they have their artifact and the artifact is still letting them use its power. At high levels you could end up wearing a magic crown that lets you fly in the air shooting Eldritch Blasts from the jewel in the crown's center or a sword wreathed in black flames that extinguish all light around it for 10ft like a permanent Darkness spell to compliment your Devil's Sight. Your Patron would basically be a customizable magical item that works as long as you appease it.