I’m not talking about adding any extra slots. Keep the invocations as they are “You can cast {insert spall here} X using a warlock spell slot. You can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.”
Where “X” currently reads “once”, Channing that to “twice”.
No extra slots they get per day, like it is right now, but they get the benefit of their invocation one more time per day.
Sure, that's viable. But in my personal opinion, such an invocation should either add the spell to your spells known without limiting the number of times you could cast it, or allow you to cast it once per day at its most basic level without using spell slots or adding it to your spell list. The current way it is written tries to go in-between, and ends up combining the worst aspects of each into a single, terrible invocation.
If you as the DM haven’t considered that ability if the Warlock in your encounters if they have that invocation I dint know what to tell you.
It's actually the opposite. I've considered how this invocation would function at my table and how it would affect gameplay very carefully, and I have decided that allowing it more than once a day (and potentially once per every other encounter if it is just added to the warlock's spell list) is not worth the headache. It's not worth it to me as a DM, nor the other players. YMMV.
If the other players at the table get annoyed by let actions I assume no one else has any familiars or hirelings or beast companions, or is playing any caster who has any of the conjure animals or fey or woodland beings or minor elementals or elementals spells?
No, those have all been part of the game. Familiars, retainers, hirelings, conjured creatures, I find ways to manage it. But I have also very carefully adjusted such spells and situations, and they work very different at my table than elsewhere.
I’ve never seen a conjured creature cause significant slow down at a table I’ve been at or run, but then I tell any players who use that spell that they need to know their pets abilities as much as their own. I also require players with polymorph to have a subset of things they’re likely to use and have those stats either down cold or on little cards they can toss to another PC. They also need to talk to those PCs they’re likely to use polymorph on semi-regularly to hash those details out ahead of time.
Cool. It sounds like you've had more positive experiences with these spells at your table than what I've had. It also sounds like you have addressed how to use these spells and abilities in a way that works for you, just as I've done.
Part of my main jobs in a combat encounter as a DM, as I see it, is to keep combat flowing smoothly for everyone. By letting people who tie spells like these know they need to be prepared ahead of they want to use them, it does away with most of the “slow down” issues you bring up.
I feel like I'm talking in circles. But I agree that is a role for the DM. And I have not prohibited a player from using the spell. But I have adjusted the spell itself and with the invocation, the only difference is how frequently it can be cast. In my experience once in a while is less of a problem than multiple times a day.
Also, I suggested the targeting them to lose concentration once or once in a while if you were finding their conjured elementals annoying for some reason.
I never said “frequently” or to the point that they feel punished for taking an invocation. That would be absurd.
As a DM, I try to run my combatants in a way that makes sense. If they have a reason to single out the warlock or understand they could break his concentration, then I would do so. If I am running combatants to target that player's character simply because I am annoyed at how he is running his character, then I have my own issues to reflect on as a DM and I am at risk of placing my enjoyment of the game over the others' enjoyment.
I would find it odd or incongruous if the warlock never had to make concentration checks too though.
I never said they shouldn't have to make checks. But they shouldn't be targeted to make checks unless it makes sense in the game. If enemies are not smart enough to know that the warlock is controlling the creature or would know that attacking them might cause the warlock to lose control, then there is no reason for such enemies to try and single out the warlock.
I’m here trying to offer suggestions on how to improve these invocations because I never see anyone take them before. Probably because there isn’t enough “bang for your buck” in them for many players. Invocations are pretty precious resources and dropping one on an invocation that lets you do something once per day seems... very underwhelming.
I agree that they are problematic, but my issue as I said above is that they typically place a limit on castings AND require a spell slot. Make it one or the other and I see them as less of a problem. Some spells make sense to add to the spells known, while other spells seem more appropriate to leave as once per day. I personally find that conjure elemental and polymorph should be once per day, while the others can be added to the spell list.
And it’s not just 4th/5th level spells this type of invocation applies to, there are 1st level spells that have it too. Bane... bane once per long rest. Really? That’s not even good at 3rd level when you can first access it.
As I mentioned in my original post and follow-up to that post, of those invocations only the ones that deal with conjure elemental and polymorph are limited to once per day (also without requiring expending a spell slot). The others simply allow you to add the spell to your spells known, allowing you to use as many warlock spell slots as you have/want. So yes, in this particular discussion between you and I, only 4th and 5th level spells are relevant.
