D&D 5E Adapting the Warlock Chassis for other Classes

[Kobold Stew]

So many fun ideas here. I can think of specific characters for whom each of the following would have been great payoffs.

Cohort
You’ve gained the services of a loyal cohort. Your cohort uses the Sidekick rules. When helping you don or doff armor, the time is halved. They can also use their own action to equip you with a shield.

Hero of the Games
When engaging in a prizefight or an athletic game like jousting or charioteering, you have advantage on your ability checks.

Heroic Endurance
Prerequisite: Proficiency in Endurance
You were pushed to the limits of mortal endurance and you persevered. Once per day after a short rest you may reduce your exhaustion level by your Constitution modifier. Additionally, you suffer no penalty from sleeping in light or medium armor.

Hidden Backstory
Choose a second Background. This might reflect a storied life, deep cover, dying and being resurrected, recovering from amnesia, or burying these skills due to some tragedy or personal vow

Remarkable Athlete
Prerequisite: Proficiency in Athletics
You gain a climbing and swimming speed equal to your walking speed, and your jumping distance is doubled.

Signature Item
You are known for a specific item, such as a sword, a signet, a helmet, or shield. This item becomes imbued with magic through your heroism over the course of your adventures. While you have 1-4 Fighter levels, the item is magical and gains a minor magical property (DMG 143) or sentience. While you have 5-10 Fighter levels, it also grants a +1 bonus to AC, +1 attack and damage, or another minor magical property. While you have 11-16 Fighter levels, this bonus increases to +2 or gain a +1 bonus to another of these categories. While you have 17-20 Fighter levels, this bonus increases to +3 or gain a +1 bonus to another of these categories.

 

[Quickleaf]

So many fun ideas here. I can think of specific characters for whom each of the following would have been great payoffs.

Hey! Good to "see" you again!

Yes, that's exactly what I hope to inspire with this version, storytelling / character story ideas.

It's all messy ideas right now, rough draft stuff – which I hate sharing online – but maybe it can serve as inspiration for others.

 

[Weiley31]

Honestly, I think the Warlock makes for a pretty fine Gish, or at least a starting point for one, in 5E. And with the updated Pact of The Blade, even more so.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Well if this ain't just timely.

I was just playing with the idea of a warlock-ified Fighter where you treat your basic attack as Eldritch Blast and invocations sometimes have weapon type requirements.

So you've got a sword invocation that extends crit range, an ax/pick invocation that deals more damage on a crit, a bow invocation that can immobilize at range, etc.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Honestly, I think the Warlock makes for a pretty fine Gish, or at least a starting point for one, in 5E. And with the updated Pact of The Blade, even more so.

Hexblade is the second-best gish in 5e (after paladin). The others don't manage balance or blending well.

 

[mamba]

As a half-caster chassis, the warlock is fine, but it falls insanely short of working well for full-casters.

Two spell slots for the tiers most game play in? No, thank you.

I liked the 2024 playtest chassis, I can see that as the basis for many classes, the 2014 and final 2024 one not so much…

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I liked the 2024 playtest chassis, I can see that as the basis for many classes, the 2014 and final 2024 one not so much…

Whereas I'm the reverse. The most recent 5.5e stuff we've seen is actually quite good, and creates a fun, flexible structure for building what you want out of a class. The Playtest...4(? 5?) Warlock was absolute trash, a straight-up massive nerf (seriously, they took away Mystic Arcana and made it an Invocation...and then only added ONE additional invocation. Meaning they literally took away 3 invocations!) pretending to be giving "choice" and "freedom."

I've been playing a Playtest 7 Celestial Warlock with the Blade and Tome pacts, and in a low-magic game, it absolutely feels spot-on. Frankly, I feel more like "actual" Vancian spellcasting than any other spellcaster I've ever played--I have a couple baseline tricks, and the rest of the time I have to rely on my sword or my magic darts. Add in being a halfway-okay healer (cure wounds on a short rest + Healing Light dice mean we don't need a Cleric to keep people topped up), and I feel like a genuinely well-rounded support character, someone the party relies on, but not someone the party is outclassed by.

I have to be cautious in combat because my AC is merely passable (14), but I have the option of fighting both in melee (Blade pact) and at range (eldritch blast). I can use spells for both offense (flaming sphere) and defense/support, but can't use them frivolously--every spell has to count. With Tome, I've got the ability to fill the party's ritual-caster spot. And soon, I'll be able to pick up the Invocation that gives proficiency in Persuasion and Deception, meaning I'll be a versatile, well-rounded, but not dominant force in any part of play I might want to participate in.

5e isn't really a game designed for my interests. But at least with the Playtest 7 Warlock, I can massage it into something vaguely resembling what does interest me.

 

[mamba]

The Playtest...4(? 5?) Warlock was absolute trash, a straight-up massive nerf (seriously, they took away Mystic Arcana and made it an Invocation...and then only added ONE additional invocation. Meaning they literally took away 3 invocations!)

the playtest was not about balance, they always point that out and they always get feedback that takes it into account regardless…

As to whether it was a nerf, I think Treantmonk looked into it and found it about equal with all the people shouting ‘nerf’ misunderstanding things. As I said, it was not about balance anyway, it was about the design with more spell slots and no short rest chassis

 

[EzekielRaiden]

the playtest was not about balance, they always point that out and they always get feedback that takes it into account regardless…

As to whether it was a nerf, I think Treantmonk looked into it and found it about equal with all the people shouting ‘nerf’ misunderstanding things. As I said, it was not about balance anyway, it was about the design with more spell slots and no short rest chassis

What is there to misunderstand?

5.0 Warlock gets 4 Mystic Arcana. Taking that away and turning Mystic Arcana into an invocation means you are now--by the new standard--4 invocations in debt. The Playtest 5 rules add...one extra invocation.

How on Earth is that not "you have had 3 invocations taken away from you"?

 

[TwoSix]

I can use spells for both offense (flaming sphere) and defense/support, but can't use them frivolously--every spell has to count.

I think that's really the dividing line between those who like pact magic casting and those who prefer the standard 5e method of casting.

Some people say "If I cast fireball now, I won't be able to cast counterspell or shield later; that's so frustrating." And others say "I have to make a choice between fireball now or counterspelling later, that's an interesting tactical decision."