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I remember the days of 3.5 where the warlock was this class that just about everyone I knew loved to play. I don't know if it was the fluff or the spammable blast attack, but people seemed to adore it. I, on the other hand, wasn't super keen on it. The class never seemed to be able to do much; always only sort of effective.
After the witch class for Pathfinder was released, I realized Paizo had made a great attempt at bringing us some of the same fluff. I've played witches and I absolutely love them; fluff and mechanics alike.
Later on, we got the occult classes and after reading the kineticist, I got reminded of the warlock from 3.5. So after some thought, I decided to throw the two together and see if we could get a Pathfinderized warlock. One that would give us some of the same feelings from the old days, while also utilizing Paizo's more modern sensibilities in regards to class design.
Let me know what you think!
Constructive criticism is always welcome (emphasis on constructive...).
Also, in case anyone was wondering, I use this site to make the nice looking PDF's. Super helpful and easy to use!
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i know there was a conversion of the warlock a few years ago from from a guy names master asmarotious or something like that which i found was a pretty good warlock based on doing warlock stuff, while a witch/kineticist hybrid sounds pretty cool this doesn't seem to be something what should be called warlock it has plenty of flavor and some really neat abilities but just doesn't scream warlock
A pact with a generally dark entity.
A magic blast attack.Sounds like a warlock to me.
I've seen the other warlock homebrew, and I think it's great! But I wanted to take a crack at it from a different angle.
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warlocks are charisma based and spontaneous casters their blasts are also significantly more potent right out of the gate and they wouldn't need to deal with burn
I can see that!
I downgraded them to d4's from d6's because their blasts are force damage and thus aren't susceptible to energy resistance or DR. I originally had them as d6's, but it seemed a bit overpowered. I actually wrote an Invocation in order to allow a player to power up their blasts to d6's if they wanted.I also don't think a class concept falls apart when you change its casting stat and technically this class is a spontaneous caster. It casts just like an arcanist from the advanced class guide and thus prepares the spells that it "knows" for the day. Much more versatile and allows the warlock to really pick and choose how to use its spells for the day.
When it comes to burn, I think it fits the warlock fluff perfectly. Warlocks are trading in a bit of their freedom and sometimes even their morality to gain power through the patronage of this strange entity. They're driven by a lust for power and knowledge, and thus, the burn mechanic takes that one step further. They are literally consuming their essence to gain greater power and knowledge.
I don't really see the point in reiterating the same class we've seen a handful of times. The core concepts are there and the fluff fits; this version's just got more inherent Pathfinder-ness.
But either way, to each their own! Thanks for the critique.
I am occasionally doodling a similar concept of making 3rd edition warlock hexer class that would combine kinetic blast eldritch bolts with hexes.
I'd get rid of the spells and gave more hexes - at the same rate witch gets them (and which happens to be the rate at which kineticist gets utility wild talents),
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I am occasionally doodling a similar concept of making
3rd edition warlockhexer class that would combinekinetic blasteldritch bolts with hexes.I'd get rid of the spells and gave more hexes - at the same rate witch gets them (and which happens to be the rate at which kineticist gets utility wild talents),
Ooooh, I like that!
I gave mine spellcasting because I had the idea for the grimoire, so it just seemed to fit, but I like how that lines up so nicely. I'd love to take a look at it once you get passed the doodling stage!
...
You know... What if the grimoire, instead of being tied to spellcasting, was augmenting the warlock's ability to perform occult rituals?
Consume Essence should be at least level 4 and you should remove the bit where the burn cost can be reduced by harming a creature. That fails the bag of rats test and can potentially mean infinite spells.
Having eldritch blast deal force damage is too powerful especially considering this ability is at-will. And you should remove the bit where you can use it to counterspell any spell; that's really overpowered.
I'm not comparing to 3.5e standards.
Almost nothing in the game is immune or resistant to force damage.
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Thanks for the critiques guys!
Drejk:
I like the idea! Enough that I added an entry to the grimoire that allows it to function as an instructor for learning occult rituals. I want to keep the spellcasting since this is based partially off the witch class but I think giving them a constant instructor for ways into the occult is interesting and reasonable.
Cyrad:
I upped the Consume Essence ability to 5th level. I agree that it makes more sense to put it off a bit. If you actually double check how I had the entry written, the bag of rats doesn't exactly apply since Consume Essence has limited uses per day, but either way I removed the ability to harm a creature to regain spell slots. I also changed the ability to heal burn from doing nonlethal damage to giving the target a fortitude save or be sickened for 1 round. Far more reasonable and isn't any kind of insane boon to gain while also healing burn.
You know, I've seen folks talk about force damage being too powerful and I get where they're coming from, but if we really take a look at it, a 5th level warlock with an 18 Int that uses his eldritch blast will do an average 11 damage that bypasses DR and resistance. He can only do this once per round (at least until a much later level and by accepting large amounts of burn). If we look at a 5th level fighter with 18 Strength and Power Attack that wields a +1 greatsword, she will do an average of 20 damage while using Power Attack. If she also has Cleave and Great Cleave, she will make additional attacks with that same damage output. Yes, it is susceptible to DR but generally that will still leave it better or on par with the eldritch blast.
By 20th level, a warlock will do something like 45 damage from one blast and that's only if his burn is maxed out. Sure, he could have used his Meta-Arcana and let off 2 blasts in a round, but that costs him 4 points of burn (remember, he's limited in how much burn he can accept not only in total, but per round. able to accept up to 6 point in a round at his max) A 20th level fighter will do something like 50 damage or more (depending on their feat choices) per attack with a max enchanted greatsword. Even if you take into account DR of high level enemies, the fighter is still pumping out over a hundred damage on an average round when making her 4 attacks.
Is the eldritch blast powerful? Most definitely. It's supposed to be. But I don't think it breaks the game at all, nor does it outshine our usual damage dealers ability to kill baddies.
Oh, I also changed the blasts counter spell ability to only apply to spells with the force descriptor. Narrows it down and makes the blast function more like its kineticist parent.
Think of it this way: if you change it to a different energy type, that leaves room to add extra abilities that change the blast.
i can make a sorc do an aoe blast of 300+ damage per target at mid levels or a martial that can do 400+ damage to a single target every round with little worry of dr or resistances
mage with an at-will blast that bypasses all resistances sorcerer with limited spells per day martial that has almost no utility beyond just shooting or stabbing things
Also, since when is Damage Reduction not a concern for a martial?
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The Kickstarter for the newly revised, updated, and vastly expanded, full-color HARDCOVER version of the New Paths Compendium j for the Pathfinder RPG launched today.
It features a number of new Pathfinder classes, and one of the new ones just happens to be the Warlock!
In fact, the warlock is one of the things I'm really excited about people seeing once the book comes out (of course, we have to get it funded first :)
Become a BACKER of the New Paths Compendium kickstarter today!
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You are correct that some of them were in the original New Paths Compendium (which was a softcover, BW book in print), while a few others were released as stand-along classes.
This new version will be a full-color hardcover that collects the best classes from the original book, plus all the newer classes, PLUS a handful of even newer unreleased classes (including the aforementioned warlock, along with classes like the tinkerer and mystic archer.
In addition, the entire book has been revised, refined, expanded with new archetypes, spells, feats ... I think it's going to be something special! You can learn more by clicking the 'Learn more about the project' link above.
The book has also been reorganized and has all new, amazing art and a brand new, refined layout.
Hope everyone checks it out! :)
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| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The Kickstarter for the newly revised, updated, and vastly expanded, full-color HARDCOVER version of the New Paths Compendium j for the Pathfinder RPG launched today.
It features a number of new Pathfinder classes, and one of the new ones just happens to be the Warlock!
In fact, the warlock is one of the things I'm really excited about people seeing once the book comes out (of course, we have to get it funded first :)
Become a BACKER of the New Paths Compendium kickstarter today!
Dang! Beat to the punch. Just took a look at the Kickstarter and it looks great. Your Warlock has an intelligent item just like mine! I guess great minds think alike ;)
I actually met a few of you guys at paizocon this year and would love to work with you if the opportunity ever presented itself. You folks over at Kobold have put out some killer stuff and to contribute to that would be an honor.
Good to have some free warlock hybrid stuff out there. ;)
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The Kickstarter for the newly revised, updated, and vastly expanded, full-color HARDCOVER version of the New Paths Compendium j for the Pathfinder RPG launched today.
It features a number of new Pathfinder classes, and one of the new ones just happens to be the Warlock!
In fact, the warlock is one of the things I'm really excited about people seeing once the book comes out (of course, we have to get it funded first :)
Become a BACKER of the New Paths Compendium kickstarter today!
Dang! Beat to the punch. Just took a look at the Kickstarter and it looks great. Your Warlock has an intelligent item just like mine! I guess great minds think alike ;)
I actually met a few of you guys at paizocon this year and would love to work with you if the opportunity ever presented itself. You folks over at Kobold have put out some killer stuff and to contribute to that would be an honor.
Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you know the Expanded and Updated New Paths Compendium Hardcover is now available right here on Paizo.com!!
Expanded and Updated New Paths Compendium Hardcover
Includes the Warlock plus 11 other new classes (plus archetypes, spells, feats, and more)