Well here we are again. The 3.5 Warlock. I've got some of my own. The ideas I'm presenting at this time are not the finished conversion. It is a rough working draft. I'm looking for feed back, ideas, and input. The goal is to keep the class backwards compatible while still upgrading it and offering some of the class feature options that pathfinder has become known for.
Here's where we are right now:
Hit dice: Upgraded to D8s
BAB: Still a 3/4 BAB class (+15/+10/+5 at 20th level)
Saves: Poor Fortitude and Poor Reflex. Good Will Power.
Skills: (just update these to Pathfinder)
Skill Points: Remain the same.
Number of Invocations: Remains the same 12 by 20th level.
Alignment: Must be Chaotic or Any Evil.
Note: class features marked with a (*) are new class features detailed below.
1st: Eldritch Blast 1D6, Eldritch Curse*, Eldritch Pool*, Eldritch Power*, Invocations (least)
2nd: Eldritch Power*, Eldritch Resistance*
3rd: Damage Reduction 1/(TYPE), Eldritch Blast 2D6
4th: Eldritch Power*, Deceive Item
5th: Eldritch Blast 3D6, Mettle
6th: Eldritch Power*, New Invocations (lesser)
7th: Damage Reduction 2/(TYPE), Eldritch Blast 4D6
8th: Eldritch Power*, Eldritch Resilience 1
9th: Eldritch Blast 5D6
10th: Eldritch Power*, Energy Resistance 5
11th: Damage Reduction 3/(TYPE), Eldritch Blast 6D6, New Invocations (greater)
12th: Eldritch Power*, Improved Eldritch Resistance*
13th: Eldritch Blast 7D6, Eldritch Resilience 3
14th: Eldritch Power*
15th: Damage Reduction 4/(TYPE), Eldritch Blast 8D6, Energy Resistance 10
16th: Eldritch Power*, New Invocations (Grand/Formerly Dark)
17th: Eldritch Blast 9D6
18th: Eldritch Power*, Eldritch Resilience 5
19th: Damage Reduction 5/(TYPE), Eldritch Blast 10D6
20th: Eldritch Perfection*
Some notes:
So the new stuff
(Mind you these are very rough draft mechanical descriptions of what the abilities are at this point)
Eldritch Curse (Su): Gained at 1st level. Activation: Swift Action. Cost 1 point from Eldritch Pool. Range 60ft. Saving throw: Will power Negates. Saving throw based on 10 + 1/2 Warlock level + Charisma Modifier. Effect: Target takes a -2 penalty on attacks rolls, combat maneuvers, saves, ability checks, caster level checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls. Duration: 3 rounds + ½ Warlock level (minimum of 1) + Charisma modifier. Once save made opponent cannot be targeted again for 24 hours.
Yes the Eldritch Curse is a direct port of the Hexblade curse. Awesome debuff ability. Here it is tied to the Eldritch pool so each use costs you a point. But you still cannot target someone that's already made their save for 24 hours. I've always felt this was an ability the Warlock should have had, but since the Hexblade came out in Complete Warrior before the Warlock in Complete Arcane the warlock never got it.
Eldritch Pool (Su): Gained at 1st level. Points equal to ½ Warlock level (minimum of 1) + Charisma Modifier. Pool is replenished every 24 hours.
-As long as the warlock has at least 1 point remaining in his Eldritch Pool he can use the following spells @ will as spell like abilities: Detect Magic, Read Magic, Light, Ghost Sound, Open Close, Prestidigitation-Can spend 1 point from his Pool to force an opponent to re-roll any one attack roll, combat maneuver check, skill check, ability check, caster level check or saving throw. The Warlock must accept the result of the re-roll for better or worse. Immediate Action.
-Can spend 1 point from his Pool to reroll any one attack roll, combat maneuver check, skill check, ability check, caster level check or saving throw. The decision to make this reroll must be done before the results of the first roll are revealed and the Warlock must accept the reroll for better or for worse. Only one reroll may be attempted per use of this ability.
-Points can also be spent to activate other class features or abilities
The Eldritch Pool: It seems that a lot of the new classes have begun to incorporate this nice mechanic. Part of the decision to go with the Eldritch Pool was to give the Warlock some cantrips, provided he doesn't burn out his pool. Another was to give him a baleful aura of luck vs unluck which plays nicely into the whole Chaos, Blast, and curse theme. Plus it also provides a trigger mechanic upon which to base a lot of his Eldritch Powers
Eldritch Power: Gained at 1st level, 2nd level, and every even level thereafter up to 18th level. Unless otherwise stated any saving throw called for by an Eldritch Power is equal to 10 + 1/2 the Warlock level + Charisma Modifier. Unless otherwise noted any given Eldritch Power cannot be selected more than once. Eldritch Powers are going to be similar in nature to Rogue Talents, Ninja Tricks, Discoveries, Hexes, ect. Its where you can really get to customize the class further. I've given some ideas below. This is where I'm really looking for ideas and feed back to further expand this ability
Some Ideas for Eldritch PowersLike I said this is the section where I'm really looking for some good ideas and feed back.
The reason behind wanting to incorporate the Eldritch Powers is that it makes for a really customizable class. Its amazing the directions you can take the Alchemist or the Rogue in with these abilities. One of the problems with the 3.5 Warlock is that you always felt railroaded by the material into its "Fiendish" background. Here I wanted to remove that but still make the class somewhat customizable.
Eldritch Resistance (Su): Gained 2nd level. Adds Charisma Modifier to saving throws vs. Spells and Spell Like Abilities.
Once again this was a Hexblade ability that I felt fit with the general theme of the Warlock, that being someone suffused with Eldritch Power. Is it too much of a leap to say that having that power constantly infusing you, you may eventually build up defenses to it?
Damage Reduction: The only thing I changed about the Damage Reduction is that now you will be able to select from different types when you first get it. So rather than having to take DR/Cold Iron you could also pick from: Magic, Silvered, Mithral, Good, Evil, Law, and Chaos. Once the choice is made it cannot be changed at a later time.
Once again this is all about providing class customization options. That way if you don't want your characters background to be tied to Fey origins you're not railroaded into DR/Cold Iron. You have choices.
Mettle (Ex): Gained at 5th level. Applies to Fortitude and Willpower saves with partial or lesser effects. If successful the warlock suffers no effect.
: Yes this was another Hexblade ability. It fits with the Warlock. Granted I've abbreviated the ability. If you need a full description you can find it on Google
Energy Resistance: Really nothing has changed with Energy resistance except for the fact that it improves much faster than it did in the 3.5 version. (You resistances improve again at 15th level rather than 20th) That's because I wanted to tie energy Resistance into one of the selectable capstone abilities.
Improved Eldritch Resistance (Su): Gained at 12th level. The Warlock gains spell resistance equal to warlock level + 10.
A further improvement upon the 2nd level ability. Now in addition to adding their Charisma modifier to saving throws vs. spells and spell like abilities they also have spell resistance.
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Eldritch Perfection: This is where the capstone(s) are. When the Warlock hits level 20 he will be able to select from several nice abilities to be the capstones. Here are some working ideas.
Like I said earlier, this is a rough draft. Looking for feed back. Tell me what you think so far.
I will comment on the individual features of you class in the next post. Here is a conversion that I did. It does not hew exactly to the Complete Arcane version; in fact it is more of a hybrid caster with an unlimited eldritch blast. But it works very well in Pathfinder. If you care to take a look.
MA
It looks (and feels) like a combination of the warlock and hexblade. I don't know if it is too much, but it feels like a much different class (I know, pot calling the kettle black and all, with my conversion). Are you blaster (eldritch blast) with a few utility powers (from the invocations)? Or are you a dedicated debuffer? You seem to want both in the same class . . . and that is different from the warlock concept.
I like the idea of your Eldritch pool, but it may be a tad too powerful.
-Can spend 1 point from his Pool to force an opponent to re-roll any one attack roll, combat maneuver check, skill check, ability check, caster level check or saving throw. The Warlock must accept the result of the re-roll for better or worse. Immediate Action.
-Can spend 1 point from his Pool to reroll any one attack roll, combat maneuver check, skill check, ability check, caster level check or saving throw. The decision to make this reroll must be done before the results of the first roll are revealed and the Warlock must accept the reroll for better or for worse. Only one reroll may be attempted per use of this ability.
1 point to force an opponent to reroll? 1 point to gain a reroll for yourself? At 1st level? This is an incredibly amazing power and your warlock could easly do this 10-16 times a day at his highest levels. It is too much in my opinion.
On Eldritch powers: you are getting these AND invocations? It seems like you are trying to get the good parts of a sorcerer, ninja, rogue, and barbarian, on top of an at-will ranged touch attack and at-will invocations. A trifle much, once again, in my own humble opinion.
The rest seems okay, but you should ask what do you want from this class? Does it stay true to the warlock people have come to enjoy and love? Does it retain the same flavor, even if the mechanics are different? The warlock is a difficult class to get right, because there are so many folks out there with varying opinions who either love it or hate it; very few are actually neutral towards it.
Your adaptation is not bad as a starting point, but it really needs to be racheted down into a specific concept. Just my opinion.
MA
Personally, I always wanted to combine the Warlock with the Binder, not the Hexblade, but I can appreciate your approach. I would say that you're stepping on the Sorcerer's toes by giving different heritages. Also, mithral is not a damage reduction type, because it counts as silver in Pathfinder.