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Dear Team WotC: Better Pact Magic Fixes
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<blockquote data-quote="VenerableBede" data-source="post: 9006071" data-attributes="member: 7032917"><p>You're right in every respect. That said, my purpose is not to say that warlock spellcasting is equal in raw power to wizard spellcasting—I don't think even the most diehard warlock fan genuinely believes that. My purpose was to show how the underlying mechanics support that Pact Magic and Mystic Arcanum, together, are the equivalent of full casting, but in a different form—the warlock is a full caster, so tweaks to Pack Magic need to be made with that in mind. It isn't necessarily as strong as traditional spellcasting, but it's still worthy to be recognized as an equivalent category.</p><p></p><p>That's also why I wasn't taking into consideration (in that analysis) features like Arcane Recovery. I just wanted to compare the barebones Spellcasting feature with the barebones Pact Magic and Mystic Arcanum features.</p><p></p><p>Of course, pointing out things like Arcane Recovery and other ways traditional casters squeeze out extra spells, to me, just supports the argument that maybe WotC should go further than I've suggested in beefing up Pact Magic—maybe, if they go the route of Meditation/Channel Patron, let the warlock recharge 3 times a day eventually, or let the warlock have 3 and 4 slots earlier than it does and eventually get to 5 slots. I'm just spitballing here.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I'm not talking about original intent, whatever that might have been. I'm talking about what we actually have (2014 PHB warlock), how what we actually have can work exceptionally well, and how it's only held back by a faulty universal mechanic (short rests). We have something that exists we can work off, so I'm going off of that.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Agreed—any solution that makes the warlock more Vancian is the wrong one. We have enough Vancian casters.</p><p></p><p></p><p>For my personal tastes (and being a big fan of 3.5 warlock, I played a lot of it), if they went this direction I'd rather have them make an entirely new class that was a modern adaptation of the 3.5 warlock. 5e being as averse to new classes as it is, that will never happen, but I can dream.</p><p></p><p>That said, I'd vastly prefer this approach to "fixing" the warlock than anything that makes the warlock Vancian. At least it would keep the warlock unique and lean even more heavily into how uniquely customizable the warlock is.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Let's keep this AND ditch any semblance of Vancian casting in the warlock class <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>+1</p><p></p><p></p><p>+1 +1</p><p>Funny story, I keep up with 5th Edition and <em>Level Up</em>, and at first I was stoked when I saw that <em>Level Up</em> warlocks used spell points instead of spell slots. Now I could get as fiddly as I wanted with the little low-level spells that most warlocks forget about as I leveled up—particularly <em>misty step</em>. Then I quickly discovered I actually hated that change, and it took less than a single game session to decide I was just going to use normal spell slots. It helped me solidify my understanding that I played warlock exactly because I wanted to play a full caster that wasn't so darn fiddly and that always had a trick or two up his sleeve every encounter.</p><p></p><p>If I wanted to play a caster that was obnoxiously fiddly and had unfun resource management, I'd play literally any other full caster offered by 5e. Warlock is the one full caster that feels simple <em>and</em> flexible <em>and</em> has a bevvy of at-will or easily recharged options that are both satisfying to use and frequently useful. And on top of all that, the class still has a lot of depth under the hood. There's a reason I can't stop playing warlocks in 5e—it's the closest class they got to perfect right from the beginning (which is extra miraculous considering warlock was also the newest of all the classes).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="VenerableBede, post: 9006071, member: 7032917"] You're right in every respect. That said, my purpose is not to say that warlock spellcasting is equal in raw power to wizard spellcasting—I don't think even the most diehard warlock fan genuinely believes that. My purpose was to show how the underlying mechanics support that Pact Magic and Mystic Arcanum, together, are the equivalent of full casting, but in a different form—the warlock is a full caster, so tweaks to Pack Magic need to be made with that in mind. It isn't necessarily as strong as traditional spellcasting, but it's still worthy to be recognized as an equivalent category. That's also why I wasn't taking into consideration (in that analysis) features like Arcane Recovery. I just wanted to compare the barebones Spellcasting feature with the barebones Pact Magic and Mystic Arcanum features. Of course, pointing out things like Arcane Recovery and other ways traditional casters squeeze out extra spells, to me, just supports the argument that maybe WotC should go further than I've suggested in beefing up Pact Magic—maybe, if they go the route of Meditation/Channel Patron, let the warlock recharge 3 times a day eventually, or let the warlock have 3 and 4 slots earlier than it does and eventually get to 5 slots. I'm just spitballing here. I'm not talking about original intent, whatever that might have been. I'm talking about what we actually have (2014 PHB warlock), how what we actually have can work exceptionally well, and how it's only held back by a faulty universal mechanic (short rests). We have something that exists we can work off, so I'm going off of that. Agreed—any solution that makes the warlock more Vancian is the wrong one. We have enough Vancian casters. For my personal tastes (and being a big fan of 3.5 warlock, I played a lot of it), if they went this direction I'd rather have them make an entirely new class that was a modern adaptation of the 3.5 warlock. 5e being as averse to new classes as it is, that will never happen, but I can dream. That said, I'd vastly prefer this approach to "fixing" the warlock than anything that makes the warlock Vancian. At least it would keep the warlock unique and lean even more heavily into how uniquely customizable the warlock is. Let's keep this AND ditch any semblance of Vancian casting in the warlock class :) +1 +1 +1 Funny story, I keep up with 5th Edition and [I]Level Up[/I], and at first I was stoked when I saw that [I]Level Up[/I] warlocks used spell points instead of spell slots. Now I could get as fiddly as I wanted with the little low-level spells that most warlocks forget about as I leveled up—particularly [I]misty step[/I]. Then I quickly discovered I actually hated that change, and it took less than a single game session to decide I was just going to use normal spell slots. It helped me solidify my understanding that I played warlock exactly because I wanted to play a full caster that wasn't so darn fiddly and that always had a trick or two up his sleeve every encounter. If I wanted to play a caster that was obnoxiously fiddly and had unfun resource management, I'd play literally any other full caster offered by 5e. Warlock is the one full caster that feels simple [I]and[/I] flexible [I]and[/I] has a bevvy of at-will or easily recharged options that are both satisfying to use and frequently useful. And on top of all that, the class still has a lot of depth under the hood. There's a reason I can't stop playing warlocks in 5e—it's the closest class they got to perfect right from the beginning (which is extra miraculous considering warlock was also the newest of all the classes). [/QUOTE]
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