Level Up (A5E) Additional Eldritch Invocations for Pact of the Chain Warlocks

[Micah Sweet]

So... kind of a weird take on my end: Warlock familiars should be expendable.

Extremely expendable.

Like. You should plan for them to die and use their death to your advantage.

So I'd recommend an Invocation that allows you to get your familiar back for free at the end of a short rest! No minimum level. Also causes your familiar to leave a body behind that you can pick up and mourn over, or leave on the lonely cobblestones, as appropriate.

And then a later invocation that allows you to resummon your familiar, regardless of where they are or if they're dead, as an action, after level 5 if you have the short rest invocation.

Then you can send your familiar out onto the battlefield to act as an extension of your will, watch it get schmucked into the dirt, and cast Corpse Explosion on the remains...

Then resummon it the next turn and see if your enemy is foolish enough to kill it, again!

... gonna go ahead and add these options to my Occult Omens materials...

Makes a lot of sense for the right kind of warlock.

 

[lichmaster]

So... kind of a weird take on my end: Warlock familiars should be expendable.

Extremely expendable.

Like. You should plan for them to die and use their death to your advantage.

So I'd recommend an Invocation that allows you to get your familiar back for free at the end of a short rest! No minimum level. Also causes your familiar to leave a body behind that you can pick up and mourn over, or leave on the lonely cobblestones, as appropriate.

And then a later invocation that allows you to resummon your familiar, regardless of where they are or if they're dead, as an action, after level 5 if you have the short rest invocation.

Then you can send your familiar out onto the battlefield to act as an extension of your will, watch it get schmucked into the dirt, and cast Corpse Explosion on the remains...

Then resummon it the next turn and see if your enemy is foolish enough to kill it, again!

... gonna go ahead and add these options to my Occult Omens materials...

I can totally see this if the familiar has a disposition similar to the one of Skelly with Zagreus in the game Hades, where he doesn't mind being the punching bag and being killed and resurrected over and over.
Otherwise, semi intelligent familiars would probably be in a foul disposition against the caster after a loop or two of this trick.
Besides, I see this use of expendable minions closer to in theme to a necromancer with his zombies and skeletons.
Fun idea though!

 

[Tessarael]

Another basic solution is to have a rare form of the Find Familiar spell that summons a familiar with more hit points. Something like this, for example:

Find Tough Familiar: The familiar that you summon is hardier than usual, with +1 HP per spellcaster level. However, the rarefied incense and herbs that you must burn to summon it are more expensive, costing 100gp rather than 10gp.

 

[Verall]

For a solution within the existing rules you could pickup the ingens survivor feat, that would allow you to make your familiar any small creature and then select a Nolbog.

Nilbog | Level Up

a5e.tools

Most foes would not reasonably figure out what it truely is.

 

[Tessarael]

A Nilbog familiar is a rather dodgy solution. Great if your DM allows it, but I don't want to go down that path.

 

[Tessarael]

Some example standard ways to boost a familiar's hit points and armor class are below. I'm not bothering to list those that are only available at high levels.

Of those below, I think the best options are Elven Chain, and long duration spells like Aid and Mage Armor. A pity that Warlocks don't get those spells, so you'll need to convince your party members to help. The Rallying Speaker feat is also excellent.

Spells:

• Aid spell increases maximum HP +5 for 8 hours for 3 targets, +5 for each spell slot above 2nd level (Cleric/Herald spell).
• Enhance Ability spell (Constitution) grants 2d6 temporary HP, needs concentration up to 1 hour (not a Warlock spell).
• Heroism spell gives spellcasting ability modifier temporary HP at the start of each turn, conc. 1 min. (Bard/Herald spell).
• Mage Armor spell gives 5 temporary HP for each level above 1st, and AC 13 + Dexterity modifier, for 8 hours. (Sorcerer/Wizard spell).
  • Somewhat frustrating that the Armor of Shadows eldritch invocation doesn't give Warlock the spell, to be able to cast it on their familiar.
• Komanov's Fell Prayer of Healing rare spell gives temporary HP equal to the damage healed. (Cleric spell)

Class abilities:

• Beast Whisperer: level x proficiency bonus temporary HP, and proficiency bonus AC to a beast of CR ≤ 1/4 (Ranger 3).
  • Interesting for someone with a beast Find Familiar, but seldom for a Warlock.
• Harmony of Pain battle hymn grants bardic inspiration die temporary HP to a target (Bard level 1).

Feats:

• Mystical Talent feat: 2 cantrips + Mage Armor spell to buff familiar as above
• Rallying Speaker feat: level + Charisma modifier temporary HP to 6 friendly creatures (including you) within 30' that understand your 10 minute speech. Per LUA5E page 392, this is once per short or long rest. (The A5E wiki incorrectly specifies that is only per long rest.)

Magic items:

• Amulet of Health, which gives Constitution 19 => +12 HP for an Imp or Quasit.
• Belt of Dwarvenkind, which gives Constitution +2 => +4 HP for an Imp or Quasit.
• Elven Chain, which gives AC 14 + Dexterity modifier (max. 2). Cost 5,000gp. Doesn't require attunement or armor proficiency.
• Ioun Stone of Fortitude, which gives Constitution +2 => +4 HP for an Imp or Quasit.
• Potion of Heroism, +10 temporary HP for 1 hour, and the benefits of the Bless spell.

Interestingly, the Constitution increase items work best with the PHB 2024 Quasit, which has 10d4 (25) HP and Constitution 10. That version of the Quasit would get +40 HP from the Amulet of Health, which is a really big boost.

 

[Verall]

Beast whisperer wouldn’t work sorry, familiars loose the beast keyword and it gets replaced by another of your choice usually fey, fiend or celestial I believe.

 

[Tessarael]

Beast whisperer wouldn’t work sorry, familiars loose the beast keyword and it gets replaced by another of your choice usually fey, fiend or celestial I believe.

You are correct. I think I'd allow it as a DM.

 

[lichmaster]

Some example standard ways to boost a familiar's hit points are below. I'm not bothering to list those that are only available at high levels.

It looks like if you want to max your familiar's HP through spells the best route would be to multiclass as cleric, so you can cast Aid, Enhance ability or Fell prayer, and let's not forget Warding Bond to halve the damage it takes!

 

[Tessarael]

Having Armor of Shadows grant the Mage Armor spell would make it viable for a Warlock to boost their familiar or team mate:

Armor of Shadows: You are under the constant effect of the mage armor spell, as cast with a 1st level spell slot. This effect does not emit a magical aura. You also learn the mage armor spell, and the spell doesn’t count against your number of spells known.

That allows the Warlock to then cast it on a familiar or team mate. They can boost it with a higher level spell slot, granting 5 temporary HP per level above 1st.

It also means that they can learn the rare variant, if they gain access to it or research it. Stekart’s Enhanced Mage Armor: AC 10 + your proficiency bonus + its Dexterity modifier.

The standard version of Armor of Shadows is not worth taking, once you have access to magical padded leather armor +1 (AC 13 + Dexterity modifier), and in comparison to the eldritch warrior invocation, that grants proficiency with medium armor and martial weapons.

Mechanically, your first choice for most of the magical boosts that you would use on a familiar should be a team mate, or yourself, as PCs have more oomph, and your familiar can just be resummoned later outside combat if they go down.