Jaelommiss
First Post
When I first saw the warlock class I skipped past it entirely on my way to read about wizards. Over the following months dozens of threads popped up about how powerful the warlock class could be as a two level dip, and I decided to finally take a look at it. My strongest observation is that it seemed like a reward that would be given by a powerful creature to supplement primary class progression.
I then noticed how it provides strong incentive at every level to continue taking levels in warlock. It was almost as though each level was designed to be a temptation to the player. If only I could convince one of my players to take a first level in warlock, I could give them meaningful choices at each level.
In the last session that I ran for my group I decided to try something that I've never seen attempted before, and one of my players gave me the perfect opportunity.
The local temple had been giving the party grief for supplanting their jurisdiction over life and death by raising a fallen party member from the dead. As payment, they wanted the party to uncover the Name of an epic level vampire wizard that lived somewhere in town (by which I mean that one of his many demiplanes had one of its many entrances in this particular town). Having already established contact with this vampire in a previous adventure, a couple party members paid him a visit to report on an assignment from him, during which the party's cleric/bard learned his name. The monk wisely chose to run away instead. After much paranoid debating on what should be done with the name (the player suspected correctly that the vampire was playing them), they returned to the temple to deliver the name. Lo and behold, they want to Gate the vampire inside a magic circle in an underground chamber sealed by adamantine doors with all interior surfaces imbued with permanent daylight so that they can destroy him. It didn't end well for the paladins and pretty much the entire temple got destroyed after the vampire lolnope'd* out of containment.
Upon speaking the vampire's name to summon him, the cleric/bard was wracked with pain and covered in tattoos. In the back of his mind he felt a foreign presence that was granting him power and knowledge. As a result of speaking the vampires name (a name that I had explained as a dark word that struck terror into his soul when he heard it), he had been bonded with the vampire, who then became a warlock patron.
What does this all mean mechanically? Well my party uses XP for leveling, so I couldn't give him a full level in warlock without disrupting the game a lot. Telling the player what his next class level would be when he finally earned it would just be cruel. I instead gave him half of a warlock level. Let me explain what I mean by that. He gained Pact Magic, minus the cantrips (essentially 2 spells known and a restore-on-a-short-rest 1st level slot), and a warlock patron feature. Because I felt that the vampire as I had portrayed him did not closely match any existing patrons, I made my own. Using the Death Domain spell list outlined in the DMG and the necromancer wizard's Grim Harvest feature, I created an undead patron. No HP or hit dice were gained as a result of this warlock level, and it will not contribute towards his overall character level (and thus proficiency bonus). If he decides to take additional levels of warlock in the future it will count towards his overall warlock level, with his first level cantrips unlocking at 2nd level. The next level he takes as a warlock will bring him to warlock 2, but only contribute to overall level as a single level. Warlock 3 would contribute to overall level as two levels, and require 2 level ups to achieve.
It is too early to draw conclusions on whether or not this will unbalance the game, though it certainly seems to have done what I wanted it to. As I left I overheard him discussing with another player the benefits he will gain for taking additional warlock levels instead of continuing his progression as a cleric or bard. By handing him the first few rewards as a warlock he is seriously considering pursuing his pact further. On top of that I also have huge potential hooks for the future. Even if he rejected the pact entirely it would have given me a hook to build on.
Each additional level looks extremely tempting for him, especially at the beginning. Taking a level to get cantrips, invocations, and an extra spell slot is impossible to pass up. Pact Boons are awesome, and increasing slot level is hard to turn down. If you've gone that far you might as well take the ASI/Feat. Another invocation, and coupled with another boost to slot level? Yes, please. That's already warlock five, or four levels invested into warlock on top of the 'gifted' level. If he goes this far I'll give him a fun and powerful Patron Feature with his next level. The level 6 features are generally powerful anyway. Invocation and slot level boost again. Still really nice. And then another ASI/Feat. Invocation and slot boost AGAIN. Boosting the spell level of four to eight slots per day is just powerful.
*Homebrew Mass Finger of Death that raised slain targets as wights. It killed 13 out of 16 CR 3 paladins that it hit. Many wights were born that day.
I then noticed how it provides strong incentive at every level to continue taking levels in warlock. It was almost as though each level was designed to be a temptation to the player. If only I could convince one of my players to take a first level in warlock, I could give them meaningful choices at each level.
In the last session that I ran for my group I decided to try something that I've never seen attempted before, and one of my players gave me the perfect opportunity.
The local temple had been giving the party grief for supplanting their jurisdiction over life and death by raising a fallen party member from the dead. As payment, they wanted the party to uncover the Name of an epic level vampire wizard that lived somewhere in town (by which I mean that one of his many demiplanes had one of its many entrances in this particular town). Having already established contact with this vampire in a previous adventure, a couple party members paid him a visit to report on an assignment from him, during which the party's cleric/bard learned his name. The monk wisely chose to run away instead. After much paranoid debating on what should be done with the name (the player suspected correctly that the vampire was playing them), they returned to the temple to deliver the name. Lo and behold, they want to Gate the vampire inside a magic circle in an underground chamber sealed by adamantine doors with all interior surfaces imbued with permanent daylight so that they can destroy him. It didn't end well for the paladins and pretty much the entire temple got destroyed after the vampire lolnope'd* out of containment.
Upon speaking the vampire's name to summon him, the cleric/bard was wracked with pain and covered in tattoos. In the back of his mind he felt a foreign presence that was granting him power and knowledge. As a result of speaking the vampires name (a name that I had explained as a dark word that struck terror into his soul when he heard it), he had been bonded with the vampire, who then became a warlock patron.
What does this all mean mechanically? Well my party uses XP for leveling, so I couldn't give him a full level in warlock without disrupting the game a lot. Telling the player what his next class level would be when he finally earned it would just be cruel. I instead gave him half of a warlock level. Let me explain what I mean by that. He gained Pact Magic, minus the cantrips (essentially 2 spells known and a restore-on-a-short-rest 1st level slot), and a warlock patron feature. Because I felt that the vampire as I had portrayed him did not closely match any existing patrons, I made my own. Using the Death Domain spell list outlined in the DMG and the necromancer wizard's Grim Harvest feature, I created an undead patron. No HP or hit dice were gained as a result of this warlock level, and it will not contribute towards his overall character level (and thus proficiency bonus). If he decides to take additional levels of warlock in the future it will count towards his overall warlock level, with his first level cantrips unlocking at 2nd level. The next level he takes as a warlock will bring him to warlock 2, but only contribute to overall level as a single level. Warlock 3 would contribute to overall level as two levels, and require 2 level ups to achieve.
It is too early to draw conclusions on whether or not this will unbalance the game, though it certainly seems to have done what I wanted it to. As I left I overheard him discussing with another player the benefits he will gain for taking additional warlock levels instead of continuing his progression as a cleric or bard. By handing him the first few rewards as a warlock he is seriously considering pursuing his pact further. On top of that I also have huge potential hooks for the future. Even if he rejected the pact entirely it would have given me a hook to build on.
| Warlock level | Reward |
| 2 | Cantrips, 2nd slot, Invocations |
| 3 | Pact Boon, Slot level increases |
| 4 | Ability Score Improvement, Cantrip |
| 5 | Invocation, Slot level increases |
| 6 | Patron Feature |
| 7 | Invocation, Slot level increases |
| 8 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 9 | Invocation, Slot level increases |
*Homebrew Mass Finger of Death that raised slain targets as wights. It killed 13 out of 16 CR 3 paladins that it hit. Many wights were born that day.
