How to stop a Warlock in his tracks

[Savage Wombat]

Should an exception be made for Baleful Utterance (name?) - since it's supposed to be a powerful word that shatters matter?

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Should an exception be made for Baleful Utterance (name?) - since it's supposed to be a powerful word that shatters matter?

Dune, anyone?

Muad'Dib! *boom!*

 

[Corlon]

I really need to get my hands on this warlock class, does anyone have an SRD for it or something?

 

[UltimaGabe]

A warlock's invocations all use the somatic component. A grappled/pinned character cannot cast any spells with a somatic component, regardless of how good their concentration roll is, and I would assume the same applies to the "special" somatic versions of spell-like abilities they use as invocations. There is no reason to expect warlocks to be particularly good at getting out of a grapple/pin once they are in one. Unlike wizards and sorcerors, they cannot use the feat Still Spell, nor do they have vocal only invocations. So once in, they have no magical way to get out, and their physical way of getting out doesn't look good.

Am I reading this wrong or is this a weakness that anti-warlocks can exploit?

Um... maybe it's just me, but isn't that the weakness of ALL spellcasters? It isn't just limited to Warlocks.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Um... maybe it's just me, but isn't that the weakness of ALL spellcasters? It isn't just limited to Warlocks.

Nope, most spellcasters will find that they have a fair few spells which are V only.

 

[Kashell]

Poison + Grapple = Dead Mage

 

[Caliban]

Nope, most spellcasters will find that they have a fair few spells which are V only.

Which gives them one round to escape before they are pinned and unable to speak. Wizards can fall back on a Silent Dimension Door or Teleport. Sorcerers are out of luck.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Which gives them one round to escape before they are pinned and unable to speak. Wizards can fall back on a Silent Dimension Door or Teleport. Sorcerers are out of luck.

A grappled wizard or sorceror should not be waiting one round before they dim-door or teleport out.

If they were up close and personal with a grappling monster, the plan already went wrong and they should be retreating and regrouping.

 

[Caliban]

A grappled wizard or sorceror should not be waiting one round before they dim-door or teleport out.

That's pretty much what I said.

If they were up close and personal with a grappling monster, the plan already went wrong and they should be retreating and regrouping.

My point was that it does't matter how many "V" only spells you have available, there are only two that really matter when you are grappled, and you have a very narrow window to use them in.

Heaven forbid you are faced by intelligent, prepared opponents who cast silence on their grappler before he charges and grapples you. (A tactic my character has used in the past.)

 

[Laman Stahros]

Eldritch Blast by itself is still an invocation and (more importantly here) still requires somatic components.

As per Complete Arcane p.8, under Invocations and Eldritch Blast, Eldritch Blast is not an invocation. However, it seems that it does require somatic components.