Invocations for a Far Realm-flavored Warlock

[starwed]

Another possibility, given that the Far Realm usually represents a space beyond known dimensions, is that the Far Layer causes dimensional tears to form in its area- creatures inside it must save every round or be Dimension Doored, Teleported, or even Plane Shifted to random destinations. That could have most unpleasant consequences.

It could produce a baleful teleport like effect on those inside. (Although, probably not 9d6 damage a round. ^_^)

There's also the Rending Rift power in Untapped Potential, which allows you to:

...force numerous chaotic fissures in the fabric of reality round you, creating a swirling maelstrom that disperses any matter passing through it in space and time. This storm of fissures moves with you and proves hostile to those who would attack you.

 

[Soel]

Still loving this concept!

Some idea kernels -
Eldritch Glaive (Dragon Magic) could be a tentacle (too easy,) and have grapple capability.

Impenetrable Barrier (also DM) could have its own eyes, complete with a gaze attack (confusion, per spell maybe?) or alternately, the wall could just have eldritch etchings that with a successful Dicipher Script, cause the reader to take penalties to Concentration checks due to the etchings ingraining into his head (words made real, sort of a thought parasite.)

 

[Nifft]

Color of Outer Space is not a name I would choose for that Invocation- I mean, space itself has no color (unless it's black), and if I were to base an Invocation on the HPL story "the Colour Out of Space" I'd make it more like your Light From Beyond. In other words, a light that's wholly otherworldly, and damages those that see it. I think a better name for the Hypnotic Pattern one would be Higher Geometry or something like that, the idea being that it creates an extradimensional pattern so complex that when a viewer's eye starts to follow it, they just can't stop- and thus stand there and do nothing while they take in the whole picture.

Light From Beyond is too cool to criticize though. Very flavorful and perfectly in line with Far Realm lore.

Yeah... agree with you on CoOS. Maybe it should be an Outer invocation (highest level) which deals Wisdom damage and has the effect of rainbow pattern.

Entangling Octo-Phasm at first made me wonder whether you had noticed the Entangling Blast Invocation at the Least level, which causes targets to be Entangled for 1 minute if they fail the save. But then it occurred to me that your Invocation is listed as a Blast Shape specifically- so does that mean your intent was to turn the Eldritch Blast into a sort of Eldritch Tentacles effect? Like an Evard's Black Tentacles that somehow involves the Eldritch Blast? That's a very cool and unique idea- though a bit hard to wrap my mind around how it should work mechanically. Also- with this, Chilling Tentacles seems to become obsolete, so perhaps the Alienoid should just have this replace that.

The reason my version is a Blast Shape is so you can only target one critter at a time, and you can only do so at close range. IMHO, entangling as an area effect is really too strong, if you are allowed to deal damage at the same time. That's a purely mechanical reason.

It could be balanced as a 1st level blast-shape ("entangling blast"), but IMHO it must be a shape rather than an essence.

Combine forces and agree on Least blast-shape?

Viscous Walls makes me a bit leery because it can produce multiple effects. No other Warlock "Wall" Invocation can do that.

Yeah, true. But the other wall invocations all break the rules in terms of damage type (all deal at least some untyped damage), so I figured the flexibility would pay for the lack of that untyped damage.

If this Invocation represents actually dragging the Far Realm into conjunction with the Material Plane, it should probably have some cool effects other than just damage- Insanity is obvious, but it's probably too obvious- and anyway has been done. Forcing creatures caught within to swim in order to make their way out might be a good start- perhaps this Far-Realmy fog does something strange to gravity within its area. Another possibility, given that the Far Realm usually represents a space beyond known dimensions, is that the Far Layer causes dimensional tears to form in its area- creatures inside it must save every round or be Dimension Doored, Teleported, or even Plane Shifted to random destinations. That could have most unpleasant consequences.

How about dimensional lock within its area? No summoning in or travel out. Sorry Mr. Wizard, you are really screwed, and you'll be taking acid damage every round. Plane shift would work, as would cross the threshold.

Cheers, -- N

 

[paradox42]

It could produce a baleful teleport like effect on those inside. (Although, probably not 9d6 damage a round. ^_^)

Aha, this is even better than having Acid damage (or any other energy type for that matter). Also, since the Alienoid is supposed to be psi-like instead of spell-like, it's highly appropriate to look at psionic powers for effects to give them. Perhaps Far Layer deals half Acid, half "baleful teleport?"

There's also the Rending Rift power in Untapped Potential, which allows you to:

Do something that's probably extremely cool, but sadly I don't have Untapped Potential yet so I can't judge it on its merits myself. Though I've heard nothing but good about it, so perhaps when my next paycheck comes I should give myself an early holiday present.

Still loving this concept!

Some idea kernels -
Eldritch Glaive (Dragon Magic) could be a tentacle (too easy,) and have grapple capability.

Impenetrable Barrier (also DM) could have its own eyes, complete with a gaze attack (confusion, per spell maybe?) or alternately, the wall could just have eldritch etchings that with a successful Dicipher Script, cause the reader to take penalties to Concentration checks due to the etchings ingraining into his head (words made real, sort of a thought parasite.)

I don't have Dragon Magic either actually- but, isn't that the book with the new Dragon-flavored Warlock-like class that gets a breath weapon instead of an Eldirtch Blast? I've temporarily forgotten what it's called, but I was intrigued by the concept.

Back on topic- do you mind describing in more detail what these two Invocations do? The "Eldritch Etchings" idea is an interesting one; I wonder if we can turn that into an Eldritch Essence Invocation for the Alienoid. Imagine firing words from your mouth that are visible, like the rebus puzzles of a Dabus, and not only deal damage to the target but also cause Confusion, or perhaps WIS or INT damage. What to call this?

And on a slight tangent, since we're talking about new Invocations anyway, I have read through the ones in Complete Mage and will add a post later today (or perhaps early tomorrow) detailing my thoughts on them in relation to the Alienoid.

 

[paradox42]

Yeah... agree with you on CoOS. Maybe it should be an Outer invocation (highest level) which deals Wisdom damage and has the effect of rainbow pattern.

It'd have to deal a lot of damage to rate that level, IMO, but then again my views tend to skew towards the high end of the power curve anyway since I'm used to running Epic and near-Epic games. Anyway, I like the thought- definitely worth pursuing.

The reason my version is a Blast Shape is so you can only target one critter at a time, and you can only do so at close range. IMHO, entangling as an area effect is really too strong, if you are allowed to deal damage at the same time. That's a purely mechanical reason.

You must have really hated the original (pre-Spell Compendium) version of Briar Web then. I rather liked it, myself, and though it was a wonderful addition to the spell list of the Florant (a variant Sorcerer-type Arcane caster in my homebrew that has plant-based powers). I've never really had problems dealing with Entanglement in my games, as an area effect or otherwise really- though admittedly it isn't often combined with damage.

In any case, the existing Eldritch Essence, Entangling Blast, does affect only one target, unless you combined it with something like Eldritch Cone or Eldritch Doom of course. So no problems there. Or did you mean that allowing it to be combined with the area-effect Eldritch Blasts was a Bad Idea?

It could be balanced as a 1st level blast-shape ("entangling blast"), but IMHO it must be a shape rather than an essence.

Combine forces and agree on Least blast-shape?

I suppose this proves my supposition above was correct? I, personally, don't mind the potential of an area-effect damaging Entanglement, but it's easy enough to change Entangling Blast to a Blast Shape instead of Eldritch Essence too. Certainly, for the Alienoid, making it look like a series of tentacles would be highly appropriate!

Yeah, true. But the other wall invocations all break the rules in terms of damage type (all deal at least some untyped damage), so I figured the flexibility would pay for the lack of that untyped damage.

Fair point. And the other Wall invocations allow the user to create several of them and place them wherever, to divide up the battlefield, as demonstrated to spectacular effect in JollyDoc's Age of Worms story hour. Viscous Walls doesn't- as soon as you make another one the first one goes poof. In light of that restriction, I'm hard pressed to think of a min-maxer who would take it over the regular Wall Invocations.

How about dimensional lock within its area? No summoning in or travel out. Sorry Mr. Wizard, you are really screwed, and you'll be taking acid damage every round. Plane shift would work, as would cross the threshold.

Wonderfully nasty idea. In fact, I think combining this idea (D-Lock) with the Baleful Teleport notion suggested by starwed is the way to go. The Far Layer disrupts any attempt to use standard Teleportation effects inside its area, because of intense dimensional flux; simultaneously, however, that same dimensional flux causes portions of space to constantly pinch in and out of existence- thus splitting off portions of beings caught within the area and disrupting their structure as a standard Baleful Teleport effect would. While, of course, dealing Acid damage at the same time due to the corrosive nature of the fog in general.

The damage will have to be a bit low, to balance it properly, but wow what a cool and nasty effect! I know my players would jump all over this one. If the Alienoid I currently have in my second game (I finally got somebody to try one, as a replacement for a character he lost interest in due to being trumped at his own game by another party member) wasn't dead-set on picking up Pseudonatural Blast as his first Outer Invocation when he hits 16th, I'd be shocked if he didn't go for Far Layer instantly. Well, once I add it to the house-rules files at least.

Thanks for the great ideas, all!

 

[paradox42]

All right, here's my thoughts on how the new Invocations in Complete Mage stack up for the Alienoid Warlock. I'll do lists by Invocation "tier," each one in turn.

Least:

• All-Seeing Eyes: Apparently Comprehend Languages on written material is equivalent to a +6 skill bonus somehow? I don't really have a problem with the Alienoid getting this just as the Fiendish one does, except that language comprehension doesn't really strike me as in-flavor for the Far Realm. I could go either way on this one.
• Call of the Beast: Animals like the character? Definitely not Alienoid. One thing that's been consistent about the Far Realm or related critters in every story where they've shown up is that animals fear and despise them, and usually give the protagonists a barometer (often ignored or unrealized Until It's Too Late) to judge proximity of the Horrors From Beyond.
• Hammer Blast: Sure. Nothing about this is out-of-flavor.
• Otherworldly Whispers: Looks like great minds think alike, or nearly alike- the Alienoid already gets Glimpse From Beyond which is almost the same thing. Glimpse allows one more Knowledge bonus, but simultaneously restricts what you can apply the bonuses to so it sort of balances out. Glimpse also allows the user to use the skills untrained, but I'd house-rule Whispers to work that way anyway.
• Serpent's Tongue: Meh. I don't see this as really in-flavor for an Alienoid, though if one were to change the Invocation to make it grant, say, spider traits (assuming some of them have Scent) then I could see it. For now, this one's out.
• Soulreaving Aura: Consume the dying at a distance. It's a bit more "necromantic" and "EEEevil" than the Far Realm is typically associated with, but it's not completely at odds either. I could go either way.
• Swimming the Styx: Even if this were in flavor for the Far Realm, the name has got to change to be Alienoid. Okay, sure, there's Octopi and the Deep Ones for Cthulhu references, but the Far Realm isn't really Aquatic in nature. For me, this one's ditched.

Lesser:

• Baneful Blast: A very interesting notion. I'm not sure how in-flavor for the Far Realm this is, since it doesn't typically concern itself with what the creature types of normal reality are (it consumes them all equally), but I could also see keeping this.
• Cold Comfort: Alienoids already get Adaptation, right, and at the lower tier? Of course, this one also lets allies share the wealth, so it deserves its place in the list- perfectly positioned, too, since the lower version is self-only.
• Crawling Eye: Mentioned before I even got Complete Mage as being perfect for the Alienoid- and my opinion hasn't changed. Eeeewww! But perfectly in-flavor.
• Disembodied Hand: Another "detach-the-body-part-and-let-it-run-around" Invocation. What's not to like? Personally, I'd have my hand scuttling around like Thing from the Addams Family, but that's me.
• Mask of Flesh: Interesting idea. It's neither particularly in-flavor, nor out of it. So, I'd let an Alienoid have this.
• Relentless Dispelling: "That spell's gone. No, really. It's gone. I insist." Fun idea, and since it's "pure magic" without any world flavor whatsoever the ALienoid has no reason not to have it.
• Witchwood Step: Another "back-to-nature" Invocation? These were probably put in the please the "standard Warlocks come from Fey" crowd. In any case, anything nature-flavored is almost certainly not appropriate for the Alienoid, given where his powers come from, and this one is no exception. Though, I suppose I could see it if you use some dimensional explanation for why the character can move unimpeded past all this stuff.

Greater:

• Caustic Mire: Sticky Acid? Explain how this is not Far-Realm-y, and it'll come off the Alienoid's list. Until then, have at that glue, Pseudo-lovin' friends!
• Hellspawned Grace: Turn into a kitty-cat from a specific Outer Plane? Out. Kicked to the curb. Not comin' back. So far from the Far Realm it isn't funny. Now, show me one to shift form to- say, a Chaos Beast- and you might have one for the Alienoid.
• Hindering Blast: Fun. We could even explain this for the Alienoid as wrapping the victim in a "slow time envelope" or "stealing time" from it.
• Nightmares Made Real: If there's a better three-word description for the Far Realm, I'd like to hear it. Obviously this stays, even if it is mainly illusion!
• Painful Slumber of Ages: Not really sure about this one, but it can fit certain Far-Realm-y themes I suppose. "That is Not Dead Which Can Eternal Lie" and all that. For me, for now, it stays.

Outer: (Dark/Supreme)

• Binding Blast: Okay, okay- I have been suitably chastised for insisting that Disorienting Blast stay where it was and what it was. But since I gave this to the Alienoid originally, even before I ever posted to ENWorld or Complete Mage came out, obviously the Alienoid gets this now.
• Caster's Lament: Another "pure magic" one that works fairly well for eny old generic Warlock, IMO.
• Steal Summoning: I'm a little leery on the how and the why of the Far Realm stealing control of something like an animal off the Summon Nature's Ally list, but really this works just as well for the Alienoid as for the Fiendish Warlock IMO.

Well! That was quite a mouthful, wasn't it? Any reader comments/debates on the above?

 

[Nifft]

Steal Summoning: I'm a little leery on the how and the why of the Far Realm stealing control of something like an animal off the Summon Nature's Ally list, but really this works just as well for the Alienoid as for the Fiendish Warlock IMO.

That's easy and awesome. Whatever you steal loses 2 points of Con but gains the Pseudonatural template (in addition to whatever templates it already had).

"The flesh of the stolen summon roils, as it undergoes a hideous corruption, bursting with fine writhing tendrils, new orifices, and occasional eyestalks. Its myriad new eyes now look to you with insane devotion..."

Cheers, -- N

 

[frankthedm]

Pseudonatural Blast
Level Equivalent: 7th
Type: Eldritch Essence
This Eldritch Essence invocation allows you to change your Eldritch Blast into a Pseudonatural Blast. A Pseudonatural Blast is infused with energies from the Far Realm, and it is greatly corrosive to the minds and bodies of normal creatures as a result. Pseudonatural Blasts ignore Spell Resistance, and any creature struck by one must make a Will save or go permanently Insane (as if from the Insanity spell) as its mind breaks under the strain of the alien energy. This is a Mind-Affecting effect.

Uhm That one seems broken strong. Ignore SR is not that big of a deal and honestly warlocks need more than one way, but the thing is the added effect of a will save for the effect of a seventh level spell on top of the blasts damage. The only other dark invocation that comes close is the word of changings' baleful polymorphing, but that is a fort save, a save that is much higher most of the time. Whats worse, this one can be chained into multiple tagets, word of changing only hit one target at a time.

Now i'll admit a no SR bewitching blast might seem weak for a dark invocation, but insanity seem realy realy bad.

 

[paradox42]

Uhm That one seems broken strong. Ignore SR is not that big of a deal and honestly warlocks need more than one way, but the thing is the added effect of a will save for the effect of a seventh level spell on top of the blasts damage. The only other dark invocation that comes close is the word of changings' baleful polymorphing, but that is a fort save, a save that is much higher most of the time. Whats worse, this one can be chained into multiple tagets, word of changing only hit one target at a time.

Now i'll admit a no SR bewitching blast might seem weak for a dark invocation, but insanity seem realy realy bad.

The Alienoid in my second game has this, and it hasn't caused me problems yet- the fact that so many things at that CR range (i.e. 16th level or higher, when the character can finally get this) are immune to mind-affecting effects means the secondary effect is usually moot, and the character just uses it for no-SR damage when the critter's resistant or immune to Acid. But I can see how it could be really nasty over the long term, particularly if it's in the hands of an NPC villain who has weeks or months to blast people before the PCs show up to deal with the problem.

There are numerous ways one could reduce the power; I have three immediate suggestions. You could grant a bonus on the save, you could use Nifft's mechanic of only allowing a target to be affected once per 24 hours (and if the save succeeds, the target becomes immune to the Insanity effect for that long), or you could just reduce it to a Confusion effect for 1 round/level (or even just 1 minute). Pick one, or make your own.

So does the fact that you cast Animate Thread on this after six months of inactivity mean you're trying out an Alienoid in play?

 

[frankthedm]

So does the fact that you cast Animate Thread on this after six months of inactivity mean you're trying out an Alienoid in play?

Warlock's infinite magic does not go well with the style of game i am willing to run or the style of game our host is willing to run. The 2 more or less "allow anything" DMs of my group basically insist on the material be in a "published" book.

The biggest problem is that the insanity inducing blast can be Chained. That the issue. That is stronger than an invocation the simply was SLA Insanity. That might be on par with the balefull polymorph invoke. Chainable up to 3-4 targets is a easy TPK.