Reworking the Warlock [PEACH]

[MammonAzrael]

I was looking through threads and I stumbled upon one that got me thinking. The Warlock is only represented through a fiendish heritage, why no others? What's the flavor if you take the Fey Heritage feat? How would an Enlightened Spirit get Celestial Wings from a fiendish heritage? My expansion of the class :

Warlock

Alignment: Any
Hit Die: d6
Skill Points: 4 + Int modifier per level
Class Skills: Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Disguise, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (arcana, the planes, religion), Profession, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, and Use Magic Device

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Invocations Known

1st|

+0

|

+1

|

+0

|

+2

|Eldritch Blast 1d6, Invocation (least)|

1

2nd|

+1

|

+1

|

+0

|

+3

|Heritage (1st ability), Detect Magic|

2

3rd|

+2

|

+2

|

+1

|

+3

|Eldritch Blast 2d6|

2

4th|

+3

|

+2

|

+1

|

+4

|Heritage (2nd Ability), Deceive Item|

3

5th|

+3

|

+3

|

+1

|

+4

|Eldritch Blast 3d6|

3

6th|

+4

|

+3

|

+2

|

+5

|Heritage (3rd Ability), Invocation (least or lesser)|

4

7th|

+5

|

+3

|

+2

|

+5

|Eldritch Blast 4d6|

4

8th|

+6/+1

|

+4

|

+2

|

+6

|Heritage (4th Ability)|

5

9th|

+6/+1

|

+4

|

+3

|

+6

|Eldritch Blast 5d6|

5

10th|

+7/+2

|

+5

|

+3

|

+7

|Heritage (5th Ability)|

6

11th|

+8/+3

|

+5

|

+3

|

+7

|Eldritch Blast 6d6, Invocation (least, lesser, or greater)|

7

12th|

+9/+4

|

+6

|

+4

|

+8

|Heritage (6th Ability), Imbue Item|

7

13th|

+9/+4

|

+6

|

+4

|

+8

|Eldritch Blast 7d6|

8

14th|

+10/+5

|

+6

|

+4

|

+9

|Heritage (7th Ability)|

8

15th|

+11/+6/+1

|

+7

|

+5

|

+9

|Eldritch Blast 8d6|

9

16th|

+12/+7/+2

|

+7

|

+5

|

+10

|Heritage (8th Ability), Invocation (least, lesser, greater, or ancestry)|

10

17th|

+12/+7/+2

|

+8

|

+5

|

+10

|Eldritch Blast 9d6|

10

18th|

+13/+8/+3

|

+8

|

+6

|

+11

|Heritage (9th Ability)|

11

19th|

+14/+9/+4

|

+9

|

+6

|

+11

|Eldritch Blast 10d6|

11

20th|

+15/+10/+5

|

+9

|

+6

|

+12

|Heritage (10th Ability)|

12

[/table]

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Unchanged.

Invocations: Mechanically unchanged. I have changed Dark invocations to Ancestry invocations to reflect a warlocks varying heritage. This change would require some new, homebrewed invocations (which I'm not going to tackle or hunt for atm), but that should give you a basic idea.

Eldritch Blast: Unchanged, save that I altered the progression to every other level, like a rouge's Sneak Attack.

Heritage: At 2nd level a Warlock begins manifesting certain aspects of his otherworldly ancestors. You must choose one of the following lineages to progess: Angelic, Demonic, Fiendish, or Fey. Once chosen this cannot be changed.

Angelic lineage: Warlocks with angelic lineage have a celestial ancestor in their family tree. You must have a non-evil alignment to select this heritage. As you grow more powerful your ancestral power awakens. If your alignment becomes evil, then you no longer receive Heritage abilities (but you retain the ones you've already awakened).

1. Damage Reduction (Su): At 2nd level an angelic warlock gains damage reduction 2/Magic.
2. Smite Evil(Su): At 4th level an angelic warlock may attempt to smite evil with a normal melee attack or his Eldritch Blast. He adds his Charisma bonus (if any) to his attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per warlock level. If the angelic warlock accidentally smites a creature that is not evil, the smite has no effect, but the ability is still used for that day. An angelic warlock may use Smite Evil 3 + his charisma modifier each day.
3. Improved Damage Reduction: At 6th level an angelic warlock's damage reduction improves to 4/Magic.
4. Energy Resistance (Su): At 8th level an angelic warlock gains resistance 5 against acid, cold, and electric.
5. Improved Damage Reduction: At 10th level an angelic warlock's damage reduction improves to 6/Magic.
6. Protective Aura (Su): Against attacks made or effects created by evil creatures, this ability provides a +4 deflection bonus to AC and a +4 resistance bonus on saving throws to anyone within 20 feet of the angelic warlock.
7. Improved Damage Reduction: At 14th level an angelic warlock's damage reduction improves to 8/Magic.
8. Improved Energy Resistance: At 16th level an angelic warlock's energy resistance improves to resistance 10 against acid, cold, and electric.
9. Improved Damage Reduction: At 18th level an angelic warlock's damage reduction improves to 10/Magic.
10. The angelic warlock's type changes to Outsider. Unlike other outsiders, a angelic warlock can be brought back from the dead as if he were a member of his previous creature type. The warlock's Eldritch Blast is considered good aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Demonic lineage: Warlocks with demonic lineage have a demonic ancestor in their family tree. You must have a chaotic and/or evil alignment to select this heritage. As you grow more powerful your ancestral power awakens. If your alignment becomes something other than chaotic and/or evil, then you no longer receive Heritage abilities (but you retain the ones you've already awakened).

1. Damage Reduction (Su): At 2nd level a demonic warlock gains damage reduction 1/Cold Iron.
2. Demonic Resilience (Su): At 4th level a a demonic warlock gains fast healing 1.
3. Improved Damage Reduction: At 6th level a demonic warlock's damage reduction improves to 2/Cold Iron.
4. Energy Resistance (Su): At 8th level a demonic warlock gains resistance 5 against acid and fire.
5. Improved Damage Reduction: At 10th level a demonic warlock's damage reduction improves to 3/Cold Iron.
6. Improved Demonic Resilience: At 12th level a demonic warlock's demonic resilience improves to fast healing 2.
7. Improved Damage Reduction: At 14th level a demonic warlock's damage reduction improves to 4/Cold Iron.
8. Improved Energy Resistance: At 16th level a demonic warlock's energy resistance improves to resistance 10 against acid and fire.
9. Improved Damage Reduction:At 18th level a demonic warlock's damage reduction improves to 5/Cold Iron.
10. Improved Demonic Resilience: At 20th level a demonic warlock's demonic resilience improves to fast healing 5.

Infernal lineage: Warlocks with infernal lineage have a fiendish ancestor in their family tree. You must have be a lawful and/or evil alignment to select this heritage. As you grow more powerful your ancestral power awakens. If your alignment becomes good, then you no longer receive Heritage abilities (but you retain the ones you've already awakened).

1. Damage Reduction (Su): At 2nd level an infernal warlock gains damage reduction 1/Alchemical Silver.
2. At 4th level an infernal warlock gains a +2 bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate skill checks. Diplomacy is considered a class skill.
3. Improved Damage Reduction: At 6th level an infernal warlock's damage reduction improves to 2/Alchemical Silver.
4. Energy Resistance (Su): At 8th level an infernal warlock gains resistance 5 against fire and sonic.
5. Improved Damage Reduction: At 10th level an infernal warlock's damage reduction improves to 3/Alchemical Silver.
6. At 12th level an infernal walock's bonuses to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate increase to +5.
7. Improved Damage Reduction: At 14th level an infernal warlock's damage reduction improves to 4/Alchemical Silver.
8. Improved Energy Resistance: At 16th level an infernal warlock's energy resistance improves to resistance 10 against fire and sonic.
9. Improved Damage Reduction: At 18th level an infernal warlock's damage reduction improves to 5/Alchemical Silver.
10. At 20th level an infernal warlock's type changes to Outsider. Unlike other outsiders, an infernal warlock can be brought back from the dead as if he were a member of his previous creature type. The warlock's Eldritch Blast is considered evil aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Fey lineage: Warlocks with fey lineage have a fey ancestor in their family tree. You must have a non-lawful alignment to select this heritage. As you grow more powerful your ancestral power awakens. If your alignment becomes lawful, then you no longer receive Heritage abilities (but you retain the ones you've already awakened).

1. Damage Reduction (Su): At 2nd level a fey warlock gains damage reduction 1/Cold Iron
2. At 4th level a fey warlock gains immunity to magic and nonmagical sleep effects. He also gains low-light vision out to 60'. If he already has low-light vision, it is increased 30'.
3. Improved Damage Reduction: At 6th level a fey warlock's damage reduction improves to 2/Cold Iron.
4. Spell Resistance (Su): At 8th level a fey warlock gains spell resistance 5 + his class level.
5. Improved Damage Reduction: At 10th level a fey warlock's damage reduction improves to 3/Cold Iron.
6. At 12th level a fey warlock gains a +4 bonus on saves against enchantment or charms spells or effects.
7. Improved Damage Reduction: At 14th level a fey warlock's damage reduction improves to 4/Cold Iron.
8. Improved Spell Resistance: At 16th level a fey warlock's spell resistance improves to 10 + his class level.
9. Improved Damage Reduction: At 18th level a fey warlock's damage reduction improves to 5/Cold Iron.
10. At 20th level a fey warlock's type changes to Fey.

Detect Magic: Unchanged.

Deceive Item: Unchanged.

Imbue Item: Unchanged.



I hope you guys like it! Let me know what you think!

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Edits

Edit #1:

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Changed "Fiendish heritage" to "Infernal heritage."
Changed Infernal heritage alignment requirements from any non-chaotic to lawful and/or evil.

Edit #2

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Changed Fey lineages spell reisistance from "10 + half his class level" to "5 + his class level" and "15 + half his class level" to "10 + his class level."

Edit #3

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Changed 10th Angelic heritage ability to include EB overcoming DR as good aligned.
Changed 10th Infernal heritage ability to include EB overcoming DR as evil aligned.

[puppyavenger]

why do you have demonic AND Fiendish heritiges?

[Xefas]

why do you have demonic AND Fiendish heritiges?

He probably means "Infernal", as in Devils.

[puppyavenger]

He probably means "Infernal", as in Devils.

then shouldn't the alignment be any lawful or evil, instead of any non-good?

[MammonAzrael]

Yes, I did mean Infernal. And good point, lawful and/or evil works better. Thanks for the opinions! Editing.

[FlyMolo]

Problems: This is nice and flavorful, but there's really no particular reason not to play a warlock this way.

And Eldritch blast is slower than sneak attack progression for a reason, i.e. It's a 60 foot touch attack. You don't have to feint, or flank, or hide. Just point your finger. Optimally, from 150 feet away. As an alternate class, this is pretty good. Except for Spell Resistance. That's handled silly-like. SR of 5+character level= 1/4 chance, on average, of avoiding spells. SR 10+Char level is half, and so on. SR 15+half character level is a little silly. By level 20, your effective SR(SR minus CL for that ECL) is 5. At level 15, your effect SR is 7.5. Change it to 5,10,15 SR plus your Fey warlock level.

And, didja know that 4th ed is doing something like this to the warlock?

[MammonAzrael]

But Sneak Attack can be tossed into a full attack, hitting multiple times a round, and isn't subject to SR.

Yeah, I was thinking the Fey SR progression was a little wonky. I was aiming for you to have fairly low SR typically around 5...which would mean that 5 + class level is much cleaner. Then would it be better to improve SR at 16th level to 10+ or 15+? I'm thinking 10, since I don't want it terribly overpowered.

And yeah, I know the Warlock will be a core class in 4th. Though it will, as of my current understanding, still be strictly descendant from fiendish origins. At least according to Races and Classes it will be.

And there isn't supposed to be a reason to take the official warlock class over this! It's a replacement!