D&D (2024) Warlock brainstorm

[CleverNickName]

Here's what the Pact of the Cauldron could look like.

Pact of the Cauldron
Your Patron gives you a magical Iron Cauldron, a ceremonial cooking pot about the size of a soccer ball. It looks very heavy and sturdy, but weighs only one pound even when filled (but to everyone else, it weighs 15 pounds). Your Iron Cauldron might be a finely-engraved work of art gifted to you by one of the Archfey, or it might be a rusty black cauldron decorated with infernal runes if your Patron is one of the Fiends.

When you gain this feature, choose three potions from Magic Item Table A or Table B in the Dungeon Master's Guide. Using your Iron Cauldron, you can brew one of these potions over the course of a Long Rest. This ritual consumes 100gp worth of rare ingredients in the process. Potions that are not consumed before midnight turn to stagnant water, blood, bile, or some other unpleasant (and ordinary) liquid.

New Warlock Invocations
Improved Potions
Requirements: Pact of the Cauldron feature, warlock level 7
Choose 3 potions from Table C in the Dungeon Master's Guide. You can brew one of these potions using your Iron Cauldron over the course of a Long Rest. This ritual consumes 300gp worth of rare ingredients in the process.

Otherworldly Fortitude
Requirements: Pact of the Cauldron feature
You are immune to the Poisoned condition. You have Advantage on save throws against poison, and have resistance to Poison damage.

 

[Lojaan]

I don't really know how to articulate it but I feel like there should be more interaction between patron and pact. Like maybe patron determines what you are, and pact determines what you do?

Like get rid of the hexblade entirely and make that pack of the blade. So you could be an infernal hexblade, or a fey hexblade. etx...

Keep the Shadowfell fluff of hexblade tho and make it a new "shadow" or "death" patron (archfell?).

Make eldritch blast part of gift of the tome, or only give them the invocations that improve it, so they become the magic blasters.

Not sure what to do with pact of the chain but this is where you could put the sneaky, non-directly combat warlock concept. Maybe fold pact of the talisman into this too so your "familiar" can be an item if you like.

What do you think? It kinda gives you three "versions" of each subclass which I think is fun.

 

[Pauln6]

I don't really know how to articulate it but I feel like there should be more interaction between patron and pact. Like maybe patron determines what you are, and pact determines what you do?

Like get rid of the hexblade entirely and make that pack of the blade. So you could be an infernal hexblade, or a fey hexblade. etx...

Keep the Shadowfell fluff of hexblade tho and make it a new "shadow" or "death" patron (archfell?).

Make eldritch blast part of gift of the tome, or only give them the invocations that improve it, so they become the magic blasters.

Not sure what to do with pact of the chain but this is where you could put the sneaky, non-directly combat warlock concept. Maybe fold pact of the talisman into this too so your "familiar" can be an item if you like.

What do you think? It kinda gives you three "versions" of each subclass which I think is fun.

Oof yeah. I made my own version of the Shade Pact by poaching the fiend pact boon of temp hp and the fey pact misty escape replaced with shadow step but when everyone chooses devil sight and darkness is one of the few shadow spells, I have finally caved and multi classed into shadow sorcerer. I would say though that neither class really has a strong shadow flavour on their own. We need some proper shadow magic.

 

[Minigiant]

I don't really know how to articulate it but I feel like there should be more interaction between patron and pact. Like maybe patron determines what you are, and pact determines what you do?

Like get rid of the hexblade entirely and make that pack of the blade. So you could be an infernal hexblade, or a fey hexblade. etx...

Keep the Shadowfell fluff of hexblade tho and make it a new "shadow" or "death" patron (archfell?).

Make eldritch blast part of gift of the tome, or only give them the invocations that improve it, so they become the magic blasters.

Not sure what to do with pact of the chain but this is where you could put the sneaky, non-directly combat warlock concept. Maybe fold pact of the talisman into this too so your "familiar" can be an item if you like.

What do you think? It kinda gives you three "versions" of each subclass which I think is fun.

Like I mentioned before, I'd love more warlock cantrips. Tying every pact to a cantrip works as well.

Like the Pact of the Chain could have an at-will restrain called eldritch chain or eldritch bind.
Redo hexblades and give Pack of the Blade a cantrip that makes an attack with Charisma.
Pact of the Talisman lets you alter you physical looks and allows for a stronger unarmed attack.
Pact of the Rod would be for eldritch blast and stronger eldritch blasts.

 

[mellored]

Like I mentioned before, I'd love more warlock cantrips. Tying every pact to a cantrip works as well.

A number of levels 1 spells would make good cantrips.

Infernal pact being able to cast burning hands at-will for instance. Down cast a level so it's 2d6 at level 1, and 11d6 at level 20.

That will be right in line with a rogue, who also gets 10d6 sneak attack at level 20.

Also works with guiding bolt (3d6), magic missile (2d4+2), sleep (3d8), bane (2 creatures), catapult (2d8), chaos bolt(2d8), and probably more.

 

[mellored]

1: Warlock Magic, Eldritch Blast, Patron, Least Pact (level 1 spell)
2: Edritch Shape, Invocations
3: Eldritch Essence, Pact Boon
4: feat
5: Lesser Pact (level 2 spell)
...
11: Greater Pact (level 3 spell)
17: Dark Pact (level 4 spell)

Warlock Magic: when you cast a spell with a level, you cast it at a level equal to your 1/2 your warlock level -1. So this starts at level 0, and goes up to level 9.
Charisma is your casting modifier.

Eldritch Blast: deal 1d4+Cha damage. This increases by 1d4 every 2 levels.

Eldritch Shape: learn two of the following modifications to Eldritch blast. You can chose to use one each time you cast.
*15' cone
*5' burst
*target a second creature within 30' of the first.
*30' line
*increase range
*melee attack, increase die size

Eldritch Essence: learn two of the following modifications to Eldritch blast. You can chose to use one each time you cast.
*change damage type
*half damage and feared.
*half damage and charmed.
*increase die size to 1d6
*push 10'
*no damage and grabbed

Pact: your patron lets you cast a spell at-will.

Infernal Patron
Least Cantrip, burning hands
Lesser Cantrip, flaming sphere
Greater Cantrip, fireball
Dark Cantrip, wall of fire

Fey Patron
Least Cantrip: sleep
Lesser Cantrip: crown of madness
Greater Cantrip: hypnotic pattern
Dark Cantrip: charm creatures

Invocations

Least/Lesser/Greater/Dark Dual Pact, gain the Pact Cantrip from another Patron. (Must be the same Patron).

Pact Magic
Select an arcana spell of a level equal half your warlock level or lower. You can cast it once per short rest.

Mystic Arcanum: Select a spell from any spell list of a level equal half your warlock level or lower. You can cast it once per long rest.

 

[Blue]

Okay, thoughts in a bunch of different directions, not meant to be taken together.

Alternative to spell slots: Move their pact-granted magic to some other resource then spell slots that thematically brings it home to the fact that this is being granted as part of a pact.

More variety in spell slots: Having all spell slots at max spell level is a nice differentiator from the Spellcasting classes, but 5e lets this down in that not every spell upcasts, creating a divide in spell usefulness even though it's on the Warlock list. Also there's fun and tactics in picking which level slot to use. So maybe have Major and Minor slots, with differing spell levels and possibly other points of difference like when they return. Thsi this idea I'd also fold the Arcana casting into it.

No Spells, all Invocations: Give more invocations, have them be the major lifting of the class. Also genericise it out so that invocations can be used just like we use half and 1/3 casting in other classes and it stacks. (For example, I'd love to see ranger with nature invocations and no spell slots.) While these ideas are all separate, this one plays nice with the next one.

Add more pacts: Pacts are quite interesting but there are so few of them. Add more pacts, and add more invocations with pact requisites - including some invocations where one of several pacts will be sufficient.

EB and Hex as class feature: What it says on the tin. This works with most options.

Have a melee alternative to EB with invocation support: While we have BB and GFB, EB really gets a lot of invaction support. Give warlocks the chance to get a melee option with the same level of support if that's what the player wants.

Make patron more important and remove pacts: This is not because I dislike them, but to bring in line with the rest of the classes in having a single subclass. Thoguh to be honest, I'd rather go the other way and give each class a second choice, where this cleric picked the War domain and the Templar subclass, what that cleric picked Knowledge and the Cloistered subclass.

Expand out to include hedge-witches and others: Expand the types of archetypes covered by widening the definition of patron. It could be spirits you've collected, or whatever.

 

[mellored]

More variety in spell slots: Having all spell slots at max spell level is a nice differentiator from the Spellcasting classes, but 5e lets this down in that not every spell upcasts, creating a divide in spell usefulness even though it's on the Warlock list. Also there's fun and tactics in picking which level slot to use. So maybe have Major and Minor slots, with differing spell levels and possibly other points of difference like when they return. Thsi this idea I'd also fold the Arcana casting into it.

Most spells that don't scale just don't need to. At-will arcane eye is great no matter what the level.

Also just to toss out another idea.
You could have spells that "scale" by use.
So 1/day -> 1/short rest -> at-will -> without concentration.

Blur or invisibility for example, would work well with that.

 

[CreamCloud0]

Having a bonus set of spell castings (PB slots/LR) that can only be used for your expanded spell list spells.

 

[Haplo781]

Literally go back to 3.5 mechanics and add some of 4e's features.