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<blockquote data-quote="Bacon Bits" data-source="post: 8451916" data-attributes="member: 6777737">Eh, I don't agree. I think there is an extremely cool and deeply thematic implementation of the warlock class, but I don't think that is what we actually got in 5e.Simply put, rules as written, the warlock pact has no teeth. Your patron has no influence or control over you. Paladins have the &quot;breaking your oath&quot; sidebar. Warlocks don't. There are no penalties and no actual sacrifices that have to be made to be a warlock. A wizard's spellbook has more influence over their ability to access class abilities than a warlock's patron does. So there's all this deep narrative and stylistic theming around the class, but it just looks dark and brooding and grim. It really isn't. It's just a wizard with a flashy backstory. It says you've made a pact with a dangerous, otherworldly power, but the reality is that you have a bunch of abilities without any obligations at all. Maybe the layaway plan is very popular with cosmic powers in the Forgotten Realms, but it still doesn't make for a particularly interesting narrative.The warlock as presented is a pizza cutter. All edge, no point. My guess is that it would look a lot less like heroic fantasy and a lot more like swords &amp; sorcery. A lot more like Conan, Call of Cthulu, or World of Darkness. Which is probably why in the games designed for those settings -- Conan 2d20, CoC, or Mage -- they have mechanics that enforce that using magic actually is dangerous.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Bacon Bits, post: 8451916, member: 6777737"] Eh, I don't agree. I think there is an extremely cool and deeply thematic implementation of the warlock class, but I don't think that is what we actually got in 5e. Simply put, rules as written, the warlock pact has [I]no teeth[/I]. Your patron has [I]no[/I] influence or control over you. Paladins have the "breaking your oath" sidebar. Warlocks don't. There are [I]no[/I] penalties and [I]no [/I]actual sacrifices that have to be made to be a warlock. A wizard's spellbook has more influence over their ability to access class abilities than a warlock's patron does. So there's all this deep narrative and stylistic theming around the class, but it just [I]looks[/I] dark and brooding and grim. It really isn't. It's just a wizard with a flashy backstory. It says you've made a pact with a dangerous, otherworldly power, but the reality is that you have a bunch of abilities without any obligations at all. Maybe the layaway plan is very popular with cosmic powers in the Forgotten Realms, but it still doesn't make for a particularly interesting narrative. The warlock as presented is a pizza cutter. All edge, no point. My guess is that it would look a lot less like heroic fantasy and a lot more like swords & sorcery. A lot more like Conan, Call of Cthulu, or World of Darkness. Which is probably why in the games designed for those settings -- Conan 2d20, CoC, or Mage -- they have mechanics that enforce that using magic [I]actually is[/I] dangerous. [/QUOTE]

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