Newer player kind of overwhelmed with how many options warlock has compared to my first character (bard). I want to make a warlock but for flavor my focus is a gun that changes shape based on the spell. Revolver for eldritch blast mortar for fire ball etc. I would love help with what to pick at least to level 5. im thinking of choosing fiend for my pact and then choosing agonizing blast and eldritch spear. thank you! Also my DM does not allow multiclassing.
By RAW, you cannot have a gun as your focus but if your DM is willing then, you can take the invocation improved pact weapon*, and either reflavor an existing weapon such as a light crossbow to a revolver or, i believe there is a revolver option in the DMG.
*Improved pact weapon :
Prerequisite: Pact of the Blade feature
You can use any weapon you summon with your Pact of the Blade feature as a spellcasting focus for your warlock spells.
In addition, the weapon gains a +1 bonus to its attack and damage rolls, unless it is a magic weapon that already has a bonus to those rolls.
Finally, the weapon you conjure can be a shortbow, longbow, light crossbow, or heavy crossbow.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Born under the watch of something from the furthest corners of the far realms.... It knows all.... it sees all... and it asks: "What is it that you want to see?"... and my answer is... ALL"
I've had a little think about it and there is some ways you could do it but given Multi classing is off the table I think I'd go this route....
Race: Any you want to play its not that important to the build but if you want maximum power then a race with a Charisma bonus would be best.
Background: Guild Artisan. Were going down an almost Percy from Crit Role camapign 1 route. Backstory: You were a wand maker of little to no reknown. The wands you made were, at best, functional. One day you heard a voice and in the corner sat an Imp clutching a scroll. The Imp introduced himself as Elementari, an Imp in the service to an powerful fiend from the Nine Hells who wanted to become your Patron. This would grant you more skill at crafting magical foci of various types as well as granting you certain other powers. The imp made it quite clear your soul was not being sold for this ability and handed you a contract which you read. The Contract was largelystandard business fare but one clause did make the soul of any mortal killed by one of your magical foci become the sole property of the Fiend.
Warlock: Fiend Patron but any pact could be used with it.
Gun aspect: Your magical foci are either wands in the form of flintlock style pistols or staff in the form of flintlock muskets or hand mortars. The Firing mechanis is a pair od crystals covered in tiny arcane script. For your own personal use you carry one of each type as they are geared toward specfic uses: The pistol form is for channeling basic cantrip level ranged attacks, the rifle form is for any ranged spell or an eldritch blast that is being augmented with invovations and the hand mortaris for channeling the power of any spell with an area of effect (such as fireball or flamestrike). The foci beocme more ornate as you level up, so if you gained the Spell Sniper feat you might include an engraved scope to the musket focus to represent he feats ability to ignore cover etc.
You then flavour the casting of each spell to include the "gun" so if casting a fireball you brace the hand mortar against yourself and utter the invocation and rather than going out in astraight line the fire ball archs up in a gentle curve before exploding , if casting a eldritch spear infused eldritch blast you use the musket staff like a hunting rifle, sighting down the barrel, utter the invocation and send the beams down range. Hellish Rebuke could be a snap shot with the pistol focus etc.
You could then have a dagger and flavour it as a bayonet. and turn your musket focus into a spear for those close combat encounters.
Spellwise you might lean a bit more towards teh Fiends expanded spell list.
For cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Mending and either Mage Hand or Prestidigitation
level 1: Hellish Rebuke, Hex
level 2: Scorching Ray (shot through the hand mortar), Shadow Blade (from XGtE, either used as inteded or "load" it into the pistol or musket and fire it)
Level 3: Fireball (shot through the hand mortar), Summon Lesser Demons (just because sometimes a hoard of little demons can be fun)
Invocations: Agonising Blast, Eyes of the Rune Keeper (just to keep it a little thematic) and then a 3rd one associated with whatever pact you chose.
I don't know if that helps at all but I found it an intersting though exercise to go through.
A final option might be to not go warlock bu go Artificer, take the Gunsmith version (https://media.wizards.com/2016/dnd/downloads/1_UA_Artificer_20170109.pdf) and see if you can sweet talk the DM into letting you pick Warlock spells instead of Artificer spells. Then you cna have a gun that can deal a variety of different shots as you level up, only down point is you won't get any of those sweet invocations.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
* Need a character idea? Search for "Rob76's Unused" in the Story and Lore section.
Newer player kind of overwhelmed with how many options warlock has compared to my first character (bard). I want to make a warlock but for flavor my focus is a gun that changes shape based on the spell. Revolver for eldritch blast mortar for fire ball etc. I would love help with what to pick at least to level 5. im thinking of choosing fiend for my pact and then choosing agonizing blast and eldritch spear. thank you! Also my DM does not allow multiclassing.
By RAW, you cannot have a gun as your focus but if your DM is willing then, you can take the invocation improved pact weapon*, and either reflavor an existing weapon such as a light crossbow to a revolver or, i believe there is a revolver option in the DMG.
*Improved pact weapon :
Prerequisite: Pact of the Blade feature
You can use any weapon you summon with your Pact of the Blade feature as a spellcasting focus for your warlock spells.
In addition, the weapon gains a +1 bonus to its attack and damage rolls, unless it is a magic weapon that already has a bonus to those rolls.
Finally, the weapon you conjure can be a shortbow, longbow, light crossbow, or heavy crossbow.
Born under the watch of something from the furthest corners of the far realms.... It knows all.... it sees all... and it asks: "What is it that you want to see?"... and my answer is... ALL"
I've had a little think about it and there is some ways you could do it but given Multi classing is off the table I think I'd go this route....
Race: Any you want to play its not that important to the build but if you want maximum power then a race with a Charisma bonus would be best.
Background: Guild Artisan. Were going down an almost Percy from Crit Role camapign 1 route. Backstory: You were a wand maker of little to no reknown. The wands you made were, at best, functional. One day you heard a voice and in the corner sat an Imp clutching a scroll. The Imp introduced himself as Elementari, an Imp in the service to an powerful fiend from the Nine Hells who wanted to become your Patron. This would grant you more skill at crafting magical foci of various types as well as granting you certain other powers. The imp made it quite clear your soul was not being sold for this ability and handed you a contract which you read. The Contract was largelystandard business fare but one clause did make the soul of any mortal killed by one of your magical foci become the sole property of the Fiend.
Warlock: Fiend Patron but any pact could be used with it.
Gun aspect: Your magical foci are either wands in the form of flintlock style pistols or staff in the form of flintlock muskets or hand mortars. The Firing mechanis is a pair od crystals covered in tiny arcane script. For your own personal use you carry one of each type as they are geared toward specfic uses: The pistol form is for channeling basic cantrip level ranged attacks, the rifle form is for any ranged spell or an eldritch blast that is being augmented with invovations and the hand mortaris for channeling the power of any spell with an area of effect (such as fireball or flamestrike). The foci beocme more ornate as you level up, so if you gained the Spell Sniper feat you might include an engraved scope to the musket focus to represent he feats ability to ignore cover etc.
You then flavour the casting of each spell to include the "gun" so if casting a fireball you brace the hand mortar against yourself and utter the invocation and rather than going out in astraight line the fire ball archs up in a gentle curve before exploding , if casting a eldritch spear infused eldritch blast you use the musket staff like a hunting rifle, sighting down the barrel, utter the invocation and send the beams down range. Hellish Rebuke could be a snap shot with the pistol focus etc.
You could then have a dagger and flavour it as a bayonet. and turn your musket focus into a spear for those close combat encounters.
Spellwise you might lean a bit more towards teh Fiends expanded spell list.
For cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Mending and either Mage Hand or Prestidigitation
level 1: Hellish Rebuke, Hex
level 2: Scorching Ray (shot through the hand mortar), Shadow Blade (from XGtE, either used as inteded or "load" it into the pistol or musket and fire it)
Level 3: Fireball (shot through the hand mortar), Summon Lesser Demons (just because sometimes a hoard of little demons can be fun)
Invocations: Agonising Blast, Eyes of the Rune Keeper (just to keep it a little thematic) and then a 3rd one associated with whatever pact you chose.
I don't know if that helps at all but I found it an intersting though exercise to go through.
A final option might be to not go warlock bu go Artificer, take the Gunsmith version (https://media.wizards.com/2016/dnd/downloads/1_UA_Artificer_20170109.pdf) and see if you can sweet talk the DM into letting you pick Warlock spells instead of Artificer spells. Then you cna have a gun that can deal a variety of different shots as you level up, only down point is you won't get any of those sweet invocations.