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2024 Player's Handbook reveal: "New Warlock"
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<blockquote data-quote="tglassy" data-source="post: 9386446" data-attributes="member: 6855204"><p>Here's how I always viewed the different kinds of magic. </p><p></p><p>Wizards learn magic. It's a science to them. A study. They learn when you mix this ingredient with this gesture, that happens. They study their whole lives, learning the science of magic. Anyone can become a Wizard, but only those who are extremely intelligent will ever go far. But their power isn't really their own. They're just harnessing it. Like how the power drill's power isn't your own, but you harness it to screw a board together effortlessly.</p><p></p><p>Clerics are devout followers. They are true believers. Their souls are attuned to their god, and they are chosen by that god. Or whatever they are worshiping. Their power isn't actually theirs. Their power is channeled through them, from their god. If their god was destroyed, they'd lose all their power, because the power was never theirs to begin with. It isn't them healing, it's their god, healing through them. </p><p></p><p>Divine Soul Sorcerers have Celestial Power in their blood. That's the Sorcerer's thing. They are the power. Either they descend from a celestial being, or were somehow exposed, but the power they draw is theirs, not some god's. They may be the child of a god, or touched by one, but the power is their own. They are the ones healing. They don't have to worship anyone. They are the power. That's what makes Sorcerer's flavor so good. </p><p></p><p>Warlocks could be either, depending on how you want to do it. I've got a couple versions of the Warlock. In one way, Warlocks are not channeling their patron's power, they're learning it, like a wizard. The Patron is TEACHING them how to do things that Wizards learn over a long period of time. They're basically Freshmen going to the Seniors asking them to help with math homework, and the Senior is handing them a calculator. They're cheating. Warlocks learn how to cast at will 1st lvl spells (Mask of Many Faces) at lvl 2, whereas a Wizard can't do that until lvl 18. Yeah, the wizard can choose ANY 1st lvl spell for their at will spell, but the Warlock is just learning tricks. Not the work and theory that goes into it. It's like memorizing the keys on a piano to play a song. You can't read music, so you can only play the one song, but if you learn that one song well enough, no one will know you can't actually play. Also, the Patron is not usually a god, but some other Celestial Being. A Planetar, or something. The Warlock strikes a bargain: give me power for service. It's a quid pro quo. Unlike the Cleric, who is devout and believes wholeheartedly in their god's mission, and will do it whether they have power or not, Warlocks are more...transactional. Maybe they believe. Maybe they don't. Doesn't really matter, they'll do the service for the power. </p><p></p><p>Another way I do this, especially for Celestial Warlocks, is to make the like Sorcerers, and that the power is actually their own, the Patron is just teaching them how to use it. For example, an Assimar Celestial Warlock, going to a Planetar to learn how to harness his power. Yes, they could just be a Divine Soul Sorcerer, but in this version, the Divine Soul is untrained, developing their power on their own, while the Celestial Warlock is being taught tricks and tips by a being that knows how to use it. They'll ultimately suffer for skipping steps, as the Warlock is much less flexible, especailly with higher level spells, and has a much smaller spell list, but they'll be able to do things the Sorcerer would never figure out alone.</p><p></p><p>I've done the same for Genie Warlocks, playing an Earth Genasi with a Dao Genie Patron. I made him the Genie's half human son, and his mother made a bargain with the Genie to take care of the son, and the Genie's version of this was to teach the boy how to develop his power so he could take care of himself. Hence a Patron, but not necessarily a willing one. That was a fun character.</p><p></p><p>In both of these versions, the Patron cannot take away the Warlock's power once given, because it isn't channeled from the Patron, it's taught. The Patron can, however, stop teaching. The third way is more like a Cleric, where you're channeling the Patron's power, but that just feels too clericy to me. It doesn't have enough of its own identity. Yes, you're channeling something other than a god, but then the Celestial Warlock just feels too much like the same thing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="tglassy, post: 9386446, member: 6855204"] Here's how I always viewed the different kinds of magic. Wizards learn magic. It's a science to them. A study. They learn when you mix this ingredient with this gesture, that happens. They study their whole lives, learning the science of magic. Anyone can become a Wizard, but only those who are extremely intelligent will ever go far. But their power isn't really their own. They're just harnessing it. Like how the power drill's power isn't your own, but you harness it to screw a board together effortlessly. Clerics are devout followers. They are true believers. Their souls are attuned to their god, and they are chosen by that god. Or whatever they are worshiping. Their power isn't actually theirs. Their power is channeled through them, from their god. If their god was destroyed, they'd lose all their power, because the power was never theirs to begin with. It isn't them healing, it's their god, healing through them. Divine Soul Sorcerers have Celestial Power in their blood. That's the Sorcerer's thing. They are the power. Either they descend from a celestial being, or were somehow exposed, but the power they draw is theirs, not some god's. They may be the child of a god, or touched by one, but the power is their own. They are the ones healing. They don't have to worship anyone. They are the power. That's what makes Sorcerer's flavor so good. Warlocks could be either, depending on how you want to do it. I've got a couple versions of the Warlock. In one way, Warlocks are not channeling their patron's power, they're learning it, like a wizard. The Patron is TEACHING them how to do things that Wizards learn over a long period of time. They're basically Freshmen going to the Seniors asking them to help with math homework, and the Senior is handing them a calculator. They're cheating. Warlocks learn how to cast at will 1st lvl spells (Mask of Many Faces) at lvl 2, whereas a Wizard can't do that until lvl 18. Yeah, the wizard can choose ANY 1st lvl spell for their at will spell, but the Warlock is just learning tricks. Not the work and theory that goes into it. It's like memorizing the keys on a piano to play a song. You can't read music, so you can only play the one song, but if you learn that one song well enough, no one will know you can't actually play. Also, the Patron is not usually a god, but some other Celestial Being. A Planetar, or something. The Warlock strikes a bargain: give me power for service. It's a quid pro quo. Unlike the Cleric, who is devout and believes wholeheartedly in their god's mission, and will do it whether they have power or not, Warlocks are more...transactional. Maybe they believe. Maybe they don't. Doesn't really matter, they'll do the service for the power. Another way I do this, especially for Celestial Warlocks, is to make the like Sorcerers, and that the power is actually their own, the Patron is just teaching them how to use it. For example, an Assimar Celestial Warlock, going to a Planetar to learn how to harness his power. Yes, they could just be a Divine Soul Sorcerer, but in this version, the Divine Soul is untrained, developing their power on their own, while the Celestial Warlock is being taught tricks and tips by a being that knows how to use it. They'll ultimately suffer for skipping steps, as the Warlock is much less flexible, especailly with higher level spells, and has a much smaller spell list, but they'll be able to do things the Sorcerer would never figure out alone. I've done the same for Genie Warlocks, playing an Earth Genasi with a Dao Genie Patron. I made him the Genie's half human son, and his mother made a bargain with the Genie to take care of the son, and the Genie's version of this was to teach the boy how to develop his power so he could take care of himself. Hence a Patron, but not necessarily a willing one. That was a fun character. In both of these versions, the Patron cannot take away the Warlock's power once given, because it isn't channeled from the Patron, it's taught. The Patron can, however, stop teaching. The third way is more like a Cleric, where you're channeling the Patron's power, but that just feels too clericy to me. It doesn't have enough of its own identity. Yes, you're channeling something other than a god, but then the Celestial Warlock just feels too much like the same thing. [/QUOTE]
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