The Celestial Warlock

[Jaron Mortimer]

There are those that reach the divine through supplication, prayer, and study.

There are those that reach the divine through zeal and self righteousness.

There are those that reach the divine though nature and her myriad wonders... And then there's these guys.

The Celestial Warlock
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The celestial warlock is much like his brethren, though he is loathe to admit it: He was either born with some undeniable link to power, yet cared little for the traditional trappings of wizardry or sorcery; or reached out to one of the many Sub-divine or Near-divine celestial beings for power and aid. Though he is not a cleric, this favored soul wields mighty spells in the fight against true evil. Though he is not a paladin, he brings considerable might to bear against his foes.

- Chain Warlocks gain the ability to call a lantern archon as a familliar, and will always call a good-aligned creature regardless
- Tome warlocks summon a shining, gilded tome, bound in mithral or gold plates
- Blade Warlocks summon a gleaming blade, godel or silver in hue, that seems to shine with an internal light.

1st: Armor of the divine - At first level, the Celestial warlock gains Proficiency with Medium armor and shields. Additionally, while wearing armor or using the Armor of Shadows invocation, you add +1 to your AC.

6th: Light of the Divine - At 6th level, the Celestial warlock may change the Damage type of spell he can cast. Choose one spell you know that can deal damage; Until you complete a long rest, this spell deals Radiant damage instead of its normal damage type. After completing a Short or long rest, you may chose a different spell for this ability. As well, any spells you cast that deal radiant damage deal bonus damage equal to your charisma modifier. This does not stack with the bonus damage from Agonizing Blast.

10th: Mantle of the Divine - At 10th level, After finishing a short or Long rest, pick a damage type. You gain resistance to that damage type. This damage type can't be changed until after you finish a short or long rest. Magic Weapons bypass this resistance.

14th: Divine Intervention - At 14th level, you may summon a divine entity to your aid. You can cast Conjure Celestial as a 7th level spell without any components and without using a spell slot. You must finish a long rest before you can do this again.

Spell List
1: Bless, Guiding Bolt
2: Prayer of Healing, Scorching Ray
3: Fly, Spirit Guardians
4: Guardian of Faith, Banishment
5: Destructive Wave, Hallow


So, this is my attempt at the "Holy" warlock that's been seen before. Essentially, for all that the Fiend pact is to the Tiefling, I wanted to make the Celestial Pact to the Aasimar: Better AC, no bonus hit points; Bonus damage instead of a reroll; the exact same resistance ability; and summoning an angel instead of sending them to hell. it is reccommended to reflavor the invocations to fit the concept, though, mechanically, nothing needs to change.

Edit: Changed the "Light of the divine" ability to make it a bit more user friendly.

 

[Inchoroi]

Hm. Looks good to me. I'd need a detailed playtest, but at first glance, doesn't look OP at all.

 

[Unwise]

Does medium armor with a +1 AC equal the AC of platemail? I'm not sure how I feel about a bladelock running around with AC 20. Especially as it would be much earlier than the Paladin or Fighter could do so, since they need not buy platemail. In 4e, angels had some thing where they had bonus AC while unhurt. I don't know if that is a traditional thing, if so it could be something to consider.

That being said, I think this looks good. Out of interest, how many radiant spells do Warlocks actually have access to? How about cantrips? That will make a big difference as to the balance.

 

[Jaron Mortimer]

The best Medium armor is breast plate, with a 15, with a dex max of 2. +1 to that would make it 18. That being said, an optimized Warlock can get a 20 fairly easily, or get that by taking 1 level of fighter.

The only natively radiant damage spells the warlock gets are what he's getting from this spell list. The 1/short rest ability makes that useful, especially for spells like hex or armor of agthys.

 

[Jaron Mortimer]

To make another point, a fighter with the Defense fighting style gets the same bonus.

 

[trentonjoe]

I have an issue with the AC thing as well. Between medium armor, shield prof. AND the +1, that's a lot. I would say two of the three but not all three.

I would reccomend an ability that that added AC as a reaction (something like the spell shield) that recharged once per short rest or something similar. But to have a PC with a 19 AC at 1st level (scale, shield, dex, +1 bonus) is just to good in my opinion. Now 17 with a 19 sometimes at first level is still pretty good.


The spell list also seems a little "too good". I might be wrong here, all the warlock's extra spell lists might be other classes best spells but it's worth looking at.

 

[Dragongrief]

I have an issue with the AC thing as well. Between medium armor, shield prof. AND the +1, that's a lot. I would say two of the three but not all three.

I would reccomend an ability that that added AC as a reaction (something like the spell shield) that recharged once per short rest or something similar. But to have a PC with a 19 AC at 1st level (scale, shield, dex, +1 bonus) is just to good in my opinion. Now 17 with a 19 sometimes at first level is still pretty good.

I'm missing how this is any different than a fighter with chain mail, shield and the Defense style (as Jaron Mortimer pointed out). Plus the fighter has more base HP, and doesn't need to sink a higher score into Dexterity just to get the AC (which means higher Con or Str).

I understand that it seems odd for a "squishy" to have a huge AC, but they have to sacrifice to get it.

 

[trentonjoe]

What are they sacrificing to get it? I am not trying to be snarky, I am really asking. It just seems to easy to get a high AC.

 

[Dragongrief]

One of their top 3 scores - unless they're playing an elf or halfling, and then only one of the subraces will give a bonus to their primary ability so they'll be at +2 attack for the first 3 levels.

Lets take an iconic pairing - tiefling warlock (bonus to Int and Cha) - using the Standard Array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8).

With no bonus to Dex, you need to put at least the 14 into it to have the AC at 1st. Your 15 would go into Cha for magic, leaving the 13, 12, 10, and 8 for the remaining scores, giving a +1 Con mod at best for HP (which you will need in the event something does hit you).

You would be a glass cannon essentially.

Can you hit well? Yes
Do you avoid AC targeting attacks well? Yes
Do you soak damage well? No

Most monsters at that level have a +3 to +4 attack, so a 20-25% chance to hit, and it will take 1-3 average hits (depending on the enemy) to knock you out.

Out of combat focus is also limited to either generalization (+3 max on any skill check) or focusing on social skills.

It isn't a horrible way to build a character, but it is a very specific niche you'll be filling with it.

 

[Jaron Mortimer]

Edit: deleted cause someone else pointed it out.