D&D 5E 5e PHB Warlock Pact Blade Rules aren’t Clearly Stated - What is Your Interpretation

[Fire Brand]

Hello all-

Thanks for your interpretations, examples, and character- mechanics and RPG background-building ideas – I think 5e is ultimately designed to do – that came out of this thread.

Here’s how WotC responded to me today. Most of this I did understand from the rules. Interestingly WotC gives solid examples that experienced gamers here inferred. If it were worded this way. I wouldn't have questioned some parts, or words, or the way you have to piece it together in the PHB. The 5e conversational tone gets in the way of concrete examples sometimes in my constructive criticism opinion. Anyway. That's all I have to say about that.

I could break this down into the parts I understood in the rules and others that needed this explanation. But I'll just quote it verbatim and let you reply if you wish. thanks again for taking the time to help me figure this out and get some great RPG ideas moreso than just having a weapon feature.

“Thank you for contacting Wizards Customer Service. For the Pact Weapon, it cost you an action to make one appear in your hand. A good example is something happens were your disarmed of your weapon and it is in the hands of another person. You can spend an action to make a new weapon in your hand. This will cause the older weapon to disappear. There is no limit on how many times you can do this per day or fight. It will cost you an action for each time you create it. As for which weapon you can make, the only limitation it says is the weapons in chapter 5.”

 

[Fire Brand]

It seems that (3) might have been better worded along the lines of "If you use this feature again, you can summon a new pact weapon but any existing pact weapon that you have summoned disappears".

Thank you. Yeah that's what I'm getting at. And that's an economy of words they could've fit in. And I (obviously) couldn't communicate. But there were still some interesting RPG responses here. So it wasn't in vain.

 

[Demandroid]

what do you think to the ability to make a magical weapon your pact weapon? Would it be possible for example to make a mace +1 my pact blade, but then every time I use it, make it appear as a shortsword +1?

 

[xorpalm]

I'd say no.

The first paragraph says you *create* your pact weapon each time.

For the bonded weapon, in the next paragraph, it says you don't create it but *call it from an extradimensional space*

So I'd suggest you can create any magical pact blade you want, but if you want the bonded one, you have to call it and it's not *created* according the regular pact blade rules.

 

[sunrisekid]

Came here to thank you all for your great conversation! I had my own, rather narrow, assumptions about this power, but after reading I've decided to be much more liberal in my reading of the feature. So, thanks.

 

[Fire Brand]

Came here to thank you all for your great conversation! I had my own, rather narrow, assumptions about this power, but after reading I've decided to be much more liberal in my reading of the feature. So, thanks.

Cool I probably could've started it more tactfully instead of arrgh they're leaving me hanging! But I'm glad the thread (unexpectedly) turned up some creative ideas and interpretations.

 

[dwayne]

I decided to not read the whole post due to most of it is dealing with how the terminology can be twisted or used as an advantage to give and edge. Some may have had points but to be honist the whole warlock/witch thing and the pact blade ( An Athame or Athamé ) here is a link for more detail http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athame The thing is how I will use it is a small ceremonial knife, dagger, ect.. almost any one will see it as unnatural or feel uneasy around it. so any one handed weapon even a spear does sound over powered to me but as the class is a melee caster class not sure will have to see it in game and go from there.

 

[Andor]

I decided to not read the whole post due to most of it is dealing with how the terminology can be twisted or used as an advantage to give and edge. Some may have had points but to be honist the whole warlock/witch thing and the pact blade ( An Athame or Athamé ) here is a link for more detail http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athame The thing is how I will use it is a small ceremonial knife, dagger, ect.. almost any one will see it as unnatural or feel uneasy around it. so any one handed weapon even a spear does sound over powered to me but as the class is a melee caster class not sure will have to see it in game and go from there.

I see where you are coming from, but you're overthinking the "Warlock" title. An athame is a ritual knife used in magical rituals. In 5e terms it would be an "arcane focus." It is not a weapon per se. A pact blade is explicitly a melee weapon granted to the warlock by his pact patron, it's closer to Arioch granting Stormbringer to Elric, or the Lady of the Lake grating Excalibur to Arthur (and that is the first time I have ever thought of Arthur as a feypact bladelock) than it is to a mere mystical tool.

As for overpowered, it seems pretty clear that a bladelock is always inferior to an eldritch blast specialist in terms of raw damage, so no. Allowing 2 attacks a round in melee for 1d8/10 compared to 4 at range for 1d10 is not overpowered.

 

[dwayne]

I see where you are coming from, but you're overthinking the "Warlock" title. An athame is a ritual knife used in magical rituals. In 5e terms it would be an "arcane focus." It is not a weapon per se. A pact blade is explicitly a melee weapon granted to the warlock by his pact patron, it's closer to Arioch granting Stormbringer to Elric, or the Lady of the Lake grating Excalibur to Arthur (and that is the first time I have ever thought of Arthur as a feypact bladelock) than it is to a mere mystical tool.

As for overpowered, it seems pretty clear that a bladelock is always inferior to an eldritch blast specialist in terms of raw damage, so no. Allowing 2 attacks a round in melee for 1d8/10 compared to 4 at range for 1d10 is not overpowered.

Sorry but were the class came from and its roots were a caster with light melee skill and has been added to to the point that its first intended result is almost lost, it now almost looks like a cross between a hex blade and the warlock class. This is not what I would concider a warlock class as its more of a hex blade than anything else Eldritch Blast was an ability at first level that increased and now its a spell ability that even a bard can get. As I said some of the things they did I do not agree with and from how I see it they just combined the two classes in to one and lost some of what made the warlock fun.