Warlock?

[Rechan]

On that note, if the warlock kills the binder and takes his stuff, I'll be a happy DM.

Evilgasm for one please.

 

[Frostmarrow]

If either! My current money is lying on Divine Controller, from much the same etymology.

Consider:

Ranger (?? the Grid says arcane striker, but that seems silly; elf)
Paladin (divine defender; dwarf? Half-orc?)
Warlock (divine controller; tiefling) *
Warlord (arcane leader; half-elf)
Fighter (martial defender; dwarf? Half-orc?)
Wizard (arcane controller; eladrin)
Cleric (divine leader; the Grid says human)
Rogue (martial striker; halfling)

The races are my best guesses for what the classes' affinities are, though the specific favored class mechanism is, of course, gone.

The Ranger doesn't really fit there, but if I'm right, we've got 2 classes for each role, and we have three divine, three martial, and two arcane classes. Yay!

What makes the ranger arcane? About as much as makes it martial. It's more likely that it's gonna be a martial striker, but then it trods on the rogue; divine, and we're forcing ourselves to make druids divine, and denying ourselves a (pretty awesome) Nature power source.

What makes the warlock a divine controller? If they have wizard-like controlling spells, a dark, demonic-pact (or diabolic pact!) flavored ability list, and use heretical powers provided to them based on acts denying/disobeying the gods...

Then we have a divine power. Yay!

Not every slot will get its class. And the ranger does not trod on the rogue if the rogue is hand-to-hand martial striker and the ranger is ranged martial striker.

The wizard is a ranged arcane controller. Maybe the monk will be a hand-to-hand martial controller? That would be cool and the grid thingy would turn 3D! Yay!

 

[SPECTRE666]

Evilgasm for one please.

Qft

 

[Zzyzx]

I've said it elsewhere, I'll say it here, they need to change the name of either the Warlock or the Warlord, because it's just going to lead to unnecessary confusion when skimming through stat blocks, etc., etc. I'm serious. It's going to be a headache.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, AMEN!

 

[Jedi_Solo]

I just hope they dropped the forced 'Dark and Sinister' vibe from the class. If a player wants to play and angst-ridden Warlock that is the social outcast fighting his demonic heritage - I have no problem with that. But why can't I play a Lawful Good "Warlock" that uses his blasting power to be Hero of the People and "a point of light" without making House Rules?

I see them both as perfectly valid.

WotC: Please drop the Sinister flavor of the class. Let me decide which way I want the character to go.

 

[GreatLemur]

I just hope they dropped the forced 'Dark and Sinister' vibe from the class. If a player wants to play and angst-ridden Warlock that is the social outcast fighting his demonic heritage - I have no problem with that. But why can't I play a Lawful Good "Warlock" that uses his blasting power to be Hero of the People and "a point of light" without making House Rules?

I see them both as perfectly valid.

WotC: Please drop the Sinister flavor of the class. Let me decide which way I want the character to go.

Yeah. Dark flavor is all fine and good, but it's something that should be specific to individual characters. Building themes, worldview, lifestyle, and personality into a character class is annoying and dumb.

Seeing as how Warlock is now core, I'm really hoping it has more options besides the fiendish route. Just as how the paladin is no longer tied to only being lawful good, I'd like to see warlocks able to be bound to non-infernal powers.

I strongly agree with this sentiment. I'd love to see fluff options or actual talent trees for elemental Warlocks, fey Warlocks, arcane/alchemical experiment Warlocks, and even draconic Warlocks.

 

[GreatLemur]

I've said it elsewhere, I'll say it here, they need to change the name of either the Warlock or the Warlord, because it's just going to lead to unnecessary confusion when skimming through stat blocks, etc., etc. I'm serious. It's going to be a headache.

Yeah, two letters of difference at the end of the word ain't really enough, when skimming. And, hell, "Warlord" is a pretty dumb name, anyway. Just call it the Commander or something.

 

[Felon]

Yeah, two letters of difference at the end of the word ain't really enough, when skimming. And, hell, "Warlord" is a pretty dumb name, anyway. Just call it the Commander or something.

Well, "commander" is a term from the minis game, and I don't think they want to muddy that.

I haven't heard anyone suggest this yet, but how about changing warlock to its feminine analogue, "witch"?

 

[lukelightning]

...they need to change the name of either the Warlock or the Warlord...

I agree, for slightly different reasons. Warlord needs to be renamed. To me "warlord" has a strong connotation of military rank as well as despotism. It's like having a lieutenant class, or a tyrant class.

 

[Imp]

On that note, if the warlock kills the binder and takes his stuff, I'll be a happy DM.

Yeah, another thing I've said before (cue trumpets) is that Warlock+Binder+ritual magic is what I think of by default when I think of "fantasy mage", much, much more so than D&D's wizard class, so if they implemented even two out of three of those I'd be very very happy. Even if wracked by headaches trying to figure out what @#%! class this NPC is at 2 in the morning.