Warlock, Variant (3.5e Class)
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- This class is a variant made for the Tome series. You may be looking for the Warlock from Complete Arcane.
Warlock
"I have all the powers of Hell at my disposal. Who are you to question me?"
Some people want power, and are crazy enough to offer their soul to various not nice people to get it. Others are simply (un)lucky enough to be descendants of those same people. However they managed to get their abilities, Warlocks wield the powers of the lower planes, which include powerful magic spells and the ability to shoot hellfire out of their hands.
Making a Warlock
Being somewhat nontraditional spellcasters, and also having decent damage-dealing capability, Warlocks can fit into pretty much any party structure fairly well.
Abilities: A Warlock's most important asset is the spells he can cast from his spheres. The Eldritch Blast is generally a fallback ability when there isn't a spell that you would be better off casting, or when a monster needs finishing off. His ability to summon can help out in a tight spot or when battlefield control is needed.
Races: Warlocks can be any non-Outsider. Actual Outsiders don’t bargain away their souls because they already have the ability to use the powers they would get, and that is represented by them having access to classes like True Fiend or Conduit of the Lower Planes. However, a Warlock who later becomes an Outsider can still be a Warlock.
Alignment: Warlocks who bargain away their souls for power tend to be Evil, though nothing requires them to be. In fact, demons and devils will jump on the chance to corrupt someone Good to Team Evil, but such instances are rare. People whose power comes from their blood can be any alignment.
Starting Gold: 4d4*10 gp (100 gold).
Starting Age: As Rogue.
| Level | Base Attack Bonus |
Saving Throws | Special | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort | Ref | Will | |||
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +2 | +2 | Eldritch Blast, Sphere |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +3 | +3 | Fiendish Similarities |
| 3rd | +2 | +1 | +3 | +3 | Sphere |
| 4th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Call Fiends |
| 5th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Damage Reduction |
| 6th | +4 | +2 | +5 | +5 | Sphere |
| 7th | +5 | +2 | +5 | +5 | Hellfire Blast |
| 8th | +6/+1 | +2 | +6 | +6 | Bonus Feat |
| 9th | +6/+1 | +3 | +6 | +6 | Sphere |
| 10th | +7/+2 | +3 | +7 | +7 | Fiendish Servant |
| 11th | +8/+3 | +3 | +7 | +7 | Bonus Feat |
| 12th | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +8 | Sphere |
| 13th | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +8 | Energy Resistance, Improved Damage Reduction |
| 14th | +10/+5 | +4 | +9 | +9 | Fear Aura |
| 15th | +11/+6/+1 | +5 | +9 | +9 | Fiendish Apotheosis, Sphere |
Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level)
Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Disguise (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Use Magic Device (Cha).
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Warlocks are proficient in light armor, shields (but not great shields), and simple weapons.
Sphere: A Warlock gains basic access to a sphere at every third level. If the Warlock selects a sphere that he already has basic access to, he upgrades it to advanced access. If he already had advanced access, he gains expert access.
Eldritch Blast (Su): As an attack action, a Warlock may fire a blast of fire at his foes. This has a range of Close (25 feet +5 ft./2 levels), does 1d6 damage per level of Warlock, and requires a ranged touch attack to hit.
Fiendish Simularities: A 2nd level Warlock may qualify for and take feats with the [Fiend] or [Necromantic] tag, as long as he meets the other requirements. For [Necromantic] feats, he may use his character level as his caster level.
Call Fiends (Sp): At 4th level, a Warlock can Summon an Outsider with the [Evil] subtype once per day, as long as the Outsider’s Challenge Rating is 3 less than his character level or lower. He can also choose to double the number of creatures summoned by reducing the max CR of the creatures by 2 per doubling (a 9th level Warlock could summon one CR 6 fiend, two CR 4 fiends, 4 CR 2 fiends, or 8 CR 1 fiends). This is treated as a spell of one half the Warlock’s level, rounded down, with a caster level equal to his levels in Warlock.
Damage Reduction (Ex): At 5th level, a Warlock gains damage reduction equal to one half his class level, rounded up. This damage reduction is bypassed by whatever material is baneful to the Warlock’s fiendish patron or ancestor (silver for Baatezu, wood for Yugoloths, stone for Demodands, and iron for Tanar’ri) or Good aligned weapons. At 13th level, it is bypassed only by one of those, which the Warlock chooses upon taking the level. If a Warlock later takes levels in True Fiend (DnD Class), the damage reduction stacks and, at the third level of True Fiend, is bypassed only by weapons that are both Good and made of a baneful substance.
Hellfire Blast (Su): At 7th level, a Warlock may choose to fire a blast of hellfire instead of normal fire, at the cost of 1d6 points of damage (i.e. a 5th level Warlock could use a 5d6 fire blast or a 4d6 hellfire blast). This damage is not fire damage. Hellfire burns hotter than any normal fire.
Bonus Feat: At 8th and 11th level, a Warlock gains a bonus feat, which can be any [Fiend] feat he qualifies for.
Fiendish Servant: At 10th level Warlock can recruit a cohort whose CR is 2 less than his level, but the cohort can only have levels in True Fiend, Fiendish Brute, or Conduit of the Lower Planes (they can also have racial hit dice).
Energy Resistance: At 13th level, a Warlock gains resistance 10 to two energy types of his choice, and resistance 5 to a third.
Fear Aura (Su): At 14th level, a Warlock becomes shrouded in a dreadful aura of evil. Creatures within a 20ft radius must succeed at a Will save or be affected as though by fear as cast by a sorcerer of the Warlock's level. The aura remains in effect until you dismiss it (a free action), you are rendered unconscious or dead, or you activate another aura in its place.
Fiendish Apotheosis: A 15th level Warlock becomes an Outsider with the [Evil] subtype, even if his own alignment is not evil. He is immortal and does not age. This allows him to qualify for the Fiend classes, which can be used to fill out his last 5 levels if he so desires.
Human Warlock Starting Package
Weapons: Shortsword
Skill Selection: Bluff 2, Concentration 3, Diplomacy 3, Disguise 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Knowledge (Planes) 2, Knowledge (Religion) 1, Spellcraft 4, Sleight of Hand 2 ranks.
Sphere: Fire. Gives Fire subtype, gain Fireball (Immediate action) usable as a spell-like ability once a day
| Skill | Ranks | Ability | Armor Check Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluff | 2 | Cha | No |
| Concentration | 3 | Con | No |
| Diplomacy | 3 | Cha | No |
| Disguise | 2 | Cha | No |
| Knowledge (Arcana, Planes) | 2 ranks each | Int | No |
| Knowledge (Religion) | 1 | Int | No |
| Spellcraft | 4 | Int | No |
| Sleight of Hand | 2 | Dex | Yes |
Feat: Hellscarred
Bonus Feats: Apprenticeship (Baatezu, Demondand, Tanar'ri, or Yugoloth)
Gear: Studded Leather Armor, clothes, rations, bedroll, other essentials
Gold: 50 GP
Playing a Warlock
Religion: Warlocks don't really care much for religion, for them the upper and lower planes aren't some abstract idea. Most have a pretty good idea which one they're bound for after all.
Other Classes: Paladins do *not* take kindly to the pacts that give Warlocks their abilities, good aligned Clerics may turn a blind eye towards this granted the Warlock doesn't go out of their way to actively remind them of the fiendish nature of their abilities. They could get along well with casters in general, because of their common interest in magic. As for non-spellcasters, who wouldn't welcome walking magical artillery on the battlefield!
Combat: Warlocks utilize spell-like abilities, but they also have 3/4 BAB so aren't inherently hesitant to enter the chaos of melee once in a while like your average sorceror or wizard.
Advancement: Warlocks benefit well from a dip into any of the more martial classes to supplement their abilities in melee combat, however their magic really comes into it's own when they can qualify for the prerequisites of the fiendish classes such as Fiendish Brute or True Fiend , even the boost in magical abilities from Conduit of the Lower Planes (DnD Class) would benefit the Warlock but without the increase to physical hardiness they would get from the other two.
Conduits in the World
| “ | Sure I may use "evil" magic as your uppity paladin friend so distastefully puts it...but you can't deny that I'm "damned" good at it! | ” |
| —Verrick, Human Warlock | ||
Warlocks form pacts with shady extraplanar sources in exchange for awesome magical power, but who doesn't look for loopholes in a contract?
Daily Life: The closest thing Warlocks get to a set routine is getting up to mischief and hoping their patron doesn't decide to call in a favor that day. Indeed, For many a Warlock, the longer they can put that off the better.
Notables: None I can think of.
Organizations: Warlocks are more likely to team up with other classes than one another, different patrons have different goals and most chafe at the conflicting agendas that result from such groupings. However if multiple Warlocks with the same patron were to band together or even just two or three within an average adventuring party structure they can become a force to be reckoned with.
NPC Reactions: Warlocks do not look very much like fiends (unless they've taken fiend feats), so they get along with commoners fairly well. Still, good religious people do not tend to like them, especially those who lean towards prejudiced and holier-than-thou attitudes. Casters are likely to either express interest in the abilities shown by Warlocks or be put off by the casual attitudes towards magic and sometimes over-inflated egos that some allow themselves to exhibit.
Warlock lore
| DC | Result |
|---|---|
| 5 | Some people will even make deals with demons for power. |
| 10 | Warlocks form pacts with fiends and other extraplanar beings in exchange for powerful magic. |
| 15 | Don't underestimate a Warlock, many can both manifest dangerous abilities and repeatedly cast an impressive selection of magic. |
| 20 | Warlocks who gain enough strength and influence from their patron may eventually become a very powerful full-fledged fiend themselves. |
Warlocks in the Game
Warlocks can very easily make for either a powerful ally or a dangerous foe, their abilities with fiendish magic can be intimidating enough but they can also supplement these with fiendish feats to further augment their powers or even just make themselves harder to kill or generally unpleasant to be around. they can also use those feats to forge weapons and armor or to become deadly martial combatants just waiting to throw a spell in at an opportune moment.
Warlocks and their patrons: One of the most important things to remember when playing a Warlock is that their relationship with their patron can completely change the tone of the character. Are they an unflinchingly loyal servant always ready to impress their master or otherwise further their goals? Or are they resentful of their patron because they have come to regret their decision? Or even feel that they were grossly misinformed when they initially struck their deal and yearn for a way out? As they grow and change along the course of a given campaign they may even transition from one side of this vast spectrum to another, possibly even more than once.
The "Epic" Warlock
As this variant of the Warlock only goes up to 15th level the "epic" of this variant shall include levels 16 through 30 separated into the "Full" Warlock and the proper "Epic" warlock.
| Level | Base Attack Bonus |
Saving Throws | Special | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort | Ref | Will | |||
| 16th | +12/+7/+2 | +5 | +10 | +10 | Bonus Feat |
| 17th | +12/+7/+2 | +5 | +10 | +10 | |
| 18th | +13/+8/+3 | +6 | +11 | +11 | Sphere, Greater Damage Reduction |
| 19th | +14/+9/+4 | +6 | +11 | +11 | |
| 20th | +15/+10/+5 | +6 | +12 | +12 | Bonus Feat, Limited Dark Power |
Bonus Feat: At 16th and 20th level, a Warlock gains a bonus feat, which can be any [Fiend] feat he qualifies for.
Sphere: A "Full" Warlock continues to gain basic/advanced/expert access to a sphere at every third level.
Damage reduction: at 18th level a Warlock's damage reduction is bypassed only by weapons that are both good aligned and made of a baneful substance.
Limited Dark Power: The power of the lower planes echoes through your magic. At 20th level, the Warlock gains a +5 bonus to defeating Spell Resistance with the spell-like abilities granted by his/her spheres, similar to a lesser version of the True Fiend class ability.
| Level | Special |
|---|---|
| 21st | Sphere, Epic Damage Reduction |
| 22nd | |
| 23rd | |
| 24th | Sphere, Bonus Feat |
| 25th | |
| 26th | |
| 27th | Sphere |
| 28th | Bonus Feat |
| 29th | |
| 30th | Sphere |
Sphere: An "Epic" Warlock continues to gain basic/advanced/expert access to a sphere at every third level.
Damage reduction: at 21st level a Warlock's damage reduction is bypassed only by Epic weapons.
Bonus Feat: At 24th and 28th level, a Warlock gains a bonus feat, which can be any [Fiend] feat he qualifies for.
Warlocks and Fiends
There's no reason that the class needs to be tied to fiendish classes; it is simply a matter that there is a large body of work on fiends and, as a whole, the lower planes tend to be more interesting with more dramatic tension. The fiendish elements could easily be changed to celestial elements or something else entirely, if so desired, and new spheres could be easily made to represent different ideas and concepts.
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