Yaaaay... time to rework a thing that -technically- doesn't need reworking but could be more narratively satisfying (to me) than it currently is...
Fortunately, the class table doesn't -really- need to change much, it's the patrons, invocations, and archetypes that do, aside from Magical Cunning... And a lil level 5 ability.
Magical Cunning can die in a fire. If you've got 1 minute to recover 1 pact magic slot with a special ritual you can probably get in a 10 minute short rest, who the hell are we kidding, here? And they give Wizards the ability to recover spell slots on a short rest once a day? Come -on-. That just means if you spend 1 minute to try and recover the Wizard's gonna complain if you don't wait another 9. Just like they did in 5e when short rest vs long rest came up.
It is supposed to be super-short, much shorter than the 1 hour short rest.
If you homebrew short rests to 10 minutes, then yes this gets silly.
My version of this is recovery of a spell slot as an action (!) This is usable in combat even. And if the reuse of this is once per long rest, it isn't something to use casually.
At higher levels it becomes regain
all spell slots as an action.
Thematically, I treat it as "grabbing power" from your patron, at least the higher level one; you reach the point where you can demand power instead of asking for it.
Step 1: Level 1 Patron.
Patron grants you an improved spell list at level 1. Not a -huge- deal or massive increase in functionality, but it's a nice ribbon that bears narrative weight while unlocking invocation options.
The Patron should give you known spells, not a list. I hope you aren't going back to 2014 "added to list".
Step 2: Invocations.
All the current archetype niftiness tied to patrons becomes a list of additional invocations you can select, and are still tied to patrons! Yaaaaay! Now your patron's abilities are still something you can select that shapes and informs your character as you grow, but you can also skip those abilities to gain something else. Tied to that, the Pact Boons and all subsequent invocations that require pact boons are removed. But hey, Hurl Through Hell becomes something you can take as an invocation around level 14 if you're a fiend warlock!
I really dislike decompiling packages. DnD needs more multi-step packages, not less, that thematically tie abilities together.
Decompiled packages leads to optimization causing certain elements being discarded, and others over-selected. With a linked set of abilities, a thematically strong yet mechanically non-dominant ability can get a lift along a mechanically strong one.
Decompiled, every thematically strong abilities need to have mechanical heft.
The simplest example of this is ribbons, like diplomacy on a fighter subclass. Making that mechanically optimal is extremely hard, but it can be quite important as a flavour element that thematically works with the subclass. But it also happens with other abilities.
Having abilities that aren't optimal but are fey-flavoured when you are a fey-pact warlock is
good; forcing every fey-flavoured ability a fey-pact warlock to be either a trap (suboptimal) or optimal is
bad. And this is what this change does.
Step 3: Magical Cunning Replacement.
Look, I get it. Sorcerers get to use points to make extra spell slots and Wizards often felt underperforming because of it so you -had- to give them a short rest recovery option or -something-, but giving Warlocks an even SHORTER recovery method to make it feel less like its encroaching upon their territory is a bad idea. Go the other direction.
Magical Cunning can, instead, give Warlocks a scaling once per long rest spell slot that follows their pact magic capping at 5th. Yes. This increases their potential throughput in a single fight, rather than giving them a post-fight recovery mechanic. But isn't that exactly what the Wizard already has? Wizards are meant to hold onto their spell slots until they need them, rather than burning them all out in a single fight and needing a long rest to get "Enough" back to fight in another fight. So they installed a short rest option for Wizards who burn too hard.
This puts Warlocks on even footing in that regard. One big burst in the day, and smaller short-rest uses. And since a Wizard can't Arcane Recover more than a 5th level slot, it functionally works out to be the same.
So, here I'd do:
Beseech Patron: Starting at level 3, as an action you Beseech your Patron and regain an expended Warlock Spell. Once you have done this, you cannot do it again until you complete a long rest.
Enhanced Supplication: Starting at level 11, you can Beseech your Patron again after completing a short rest.
Demand Power: Starting at level 17, you can no longer Beseech your Patron; instead of Beseeching your Patron you can Demand Power. When you Demand Power as an action, you regain all of your expended warlock spell slots. Once you have done this you cannot do this again until you complete a long or short rest rest.
This is similar in balance to "an extra spell slot". You could cast a spell after a rest, then regain it, then go on with your day; but it is very tempting to save it for use in combat, where you spend a turn recharging your battery.
The Beseech Patron action (or Demand Power) can also have hooks placed on it by invocations or the like. Like, a fey patron could "when you Beseech Patron, you can also take the dodge action". Or, an infernal patron, "When you Beseech Patron, if you reduced a creature to 0 HP since your last turn, you can also gain temporary HP equal to its 1/2 of its HP maximum until the end of your next turn".
"An extra spell slot" is stronger than the level 3 version of this (the upgrades at 11 and 17 are, of course, even stronger), but I like the texture of "hey sugar daddy, I need more juice".
Step 4: Extra Attack
Warlocks are cultists that function as quasi-fullcasters and quasi-halfcasters dependent on the situation. They will almost never (unless they're pact of the blade) try to wade into melee, but it creates another line of separation between them, sorcerers, and wizards when the antimagic field lands. "But it's a caster class! They don't need Extra Attack" you're damn right they don't... if they're not Pact of the Blade. They're gonna spend all their time hucking cantrips and spells if they're not pact of the blade. So what harm does it do if they all have it and only some of them need it?
Extra Attack is already too common. Fewer classes should have it, not more. There are other ways to make a class better in combat if you really need it.
Step 5: Subclasses
Instead of your patron being your subclass, your Pact Boon fulfills the role. 3, 6, 10, and 14. Quick example would be Pact of the Blade which can pretty much just be mapped out directly, though with some minor changes. Specifically adding the Hexblade's armor proficiencies at 3rd, moving Eldritch Smite and Lifedrinker up one level, and moving Devouring Blade up two levels. And just because Weapon Masteries are the new 'This is how you know you use weapons' for all the classes, put in a shift-up for Warlocks at 6 for interesting flexibility.
My reworked warlock does a dual-subclass design. Both Patron and Pact Boon provide periodic benefits.
This does give me an idea however; what if you got to pick either your Patron or Boon at level 1? That helps solve the "at level 3 you change armor and become a melee class" problem. If you want to lean into your melee-ness, you grab Pact of the Blade at level 1 and get medium armor etc. If that is secondary, grab your Patron at 1 and Pact at 3.
It is probably more radical than you want, however.
We can do the same thing for Pact of the Chain with a whole pet archetype. Pact of the Tome for a more caster-centric option. Pact of the Talisman for a protective option. Could look to A5e and other sources for other pact boon options. Like Pact of the Censer for a battlefield manipulation build creating areas of difficult or even damaging terrain, or the Pact of the Cauldron for a delightfully witchy potion-brewing and divination archetype.
And with those expended we could move into the Pact of the Wand providing more functionality to cantrip-casting. Pact of the Circlet for mind-control and manipulation. Pact of the Dagger for a more traditionally 'Cultist' option with some sacrificing abilities.
So then you can be a follower of a Fiend, like Mizora, from level 1 onward instead of having to deal with the "You don't know who you begged for power 'til level 3!' that got foisted onto Warlocks as part of a push for all subclasses to start at 3rd level. And 3rd level instead defines HOW you serve Mizora. You still get your fiend-specific options as part of your leveling progression through invocations, and by freeing up the pact boon invocations by moving them into the subclasses (which are much more fulsome) you get a larger more complete form of service.
So, I think characters should be playable as intended from level 1, not waiting until level 3 to start their main gameplay loop.
Here, we have the problem that you want to be a weapon-wielding spellcaster. But at level 1 you are about as good at this as a wizard is. It isn't until level 3 that you suddenly go from incompetent in melee to half way competent.
It is a 2024 problem, and also a dip problem in 2014 (hexblade dip to get cha-to-melee as a paladin).
