[4E] Bladepact Warlock (Variant)

[RTGoodman]

Bladepact Warlock


http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd40/rtg0922/cqelriccov.jpg

Role: Striker. You attack savagely with your bound weapon, using martial prowess and infernal magic to cripple your opponent’s body and soul.
Power Source: Arcane. You gain your spellcasting and martial power from a dark, eldritch pact with a powerful supernatural being.
Key Abilities: Charisma, Constitution, Intelligence

Armor Proficiencies: As Warlock, plus Hide
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple melee, simple ranged, pactbound weapon (see below)
Implement: Rods, wands, pactbound weapon (see below)
Bonus to Defense: As Warlock

Hit Points at 1st Level: As Warlock
Hit Points per Level Gained: As Warlock
Healing Surges: As Warlock

Trained Skills: As Warlock

Class Features: Eldritch Pact, Pactbound Weapon, Soul-Draining Strike, Vengeful Steel, Warlock’s Curse


While some warlocks channel their eldritch pact powers into blasts of magical energy and other flashy spells, you instead utilize that power for more martial tactics. You have pledged to defeat your foe with steel instead of just spell, sending your enemies’ souls to your masters in exchange for further power. Unlike most warlocks, you are proficient with slightly heavier armor, as well as a single military weapon, though this does not diminish your more arcane arts.

Bladepact Warlock Class Features:

Bladepact warlocks have the following class features, some of which are common to all warlocks and some of which are entirely new.

Eldritch Blast
Unlike normal warlocks, you do not gain automatic access to the eldritch blast spell. Instead, you automatically know the soul-draining strike spell (see below). You may choose either eldritch blast or your pact's at-will spell as your second at-will power.


Eldritch Pact
As the Warlock class feature, with the following exception. You do not automatically know your pact’s at-will spell. Instead, you may choose either your pact’s at-will spell or eldritch blast when you select your second at-will power.


Pactbound Weapon
As a part of your pact, you also vowed to use your blade to send the souls of your enemies to the entity with whom you forged the pact. At character creation, you gain proficiency with one of the following military melee weapons: battleaxe, flail, handaxe, longsword, scimitar, shortsword, warhammer, or war pick. After spending one hour in a special ritual, it becomes your pactbound weapon. You may use it for any power that has the Weapon keyword, and you may use it as an implement for any Warlock spell you know (though you never add the weapon’s proficiency bonus to attacks with the Implement keyword). Also, as a standard action, you can call the weapon to your hand from up to 10 squares away.

If you obtain a new weapon with which you are proficient, you can attune it to your pact with a one-hour ritual, after which time it becomes your new pactbound weapon in place of the old weapon.

If your pactbound weapon is broken or damaged, you can spend one hour on another ritual to repair or rebuild it as long as you have at least one piece of the weapon. (This process automatically destroys any other fragments of the weapon in existence, so you can’t use it to create multiple copies of a broken weapon.)


Prime Shot
You do not gain access to this class feature as a bladepact warlock.


Shadow Walk
Unlike other warlocks, you do not have the Shadow Walk class feature.


Soul-Draining Strike
You automatically know the soul-draining strike spell, and can use it at-will.

Soul-Draining Strike -TAB- Warlock (All) Attack 1
As your pactbound weapon bites into the foe, you
feel it drain some vitality and grant it to you.
At-Will ♦ Arcane, Invigorating, Weapon
Standard Action -TAB- Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Charisma vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Charisma modifier damage.


Vengeful Steel
You gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls with Weapon powers against foes under your Warlock’s Curse while wielding your pactbound weapon.


Warlock’s Curse
As the standard Warlock class feature.


Bladepact Warlock Powers

Your powers are spells, but almost entirely focus on the use of your pactbound weapon. Each time you could choose a new spell to learn, you may choose one of the following or any other warlock spell of the same level. Most attacks with your pactbound weapon use your Charisma modifier, with your force of personality and the strength of your pact guiding your weapon as much as your own martial prowess. Many attacks also give benefits based on Constitution modifier or Intelligence modifier.


Level 1 Encounter Spells

Feybound Hunter -TAB-TAB- Warlock (Fey) Attack 1
Like a predator of the Feywild, your quick movement
confounds the enemy and leaves him vulnerable.
Encounter ♦ Arcane, Teleportation, Weapon
Standard Action -TAB- Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Special: You may teleport one square before the attack.
Attack: Charisma vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Charisma modifier damage and you gain con-
cealment against the target until the end of your next turn.
Fey Pact: The number of squares you teleport is equal to
1 + your Intelligence modifier.


Infernal Blade -TAB-TAB- Warlock (Infernal) Attack 1
As you swing your blade, the very flames of Hell spring
up around it, burning even the most resistant foes.
Encounter ♦ Arcane, Fire, Weapon
Standard Action -TAB- Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Constitution vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Constitution modifier fire damage. This attack
ignores the first 5 points of a target’s resistance to fire.
Infernal Pact: The fire resistance ignored is equal to 5 +
your Intelligence modifier.


Weaken Body, Weaken Mind TAB Warlock (All) Attack 1
Your blade cuts into the opponent’s soul, weakening his
mind against later attacks.
Encounter ♦ Arcane, Psychic, Weapon
Standard Action -TAB- Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Charisma vs. Will
Hit: 2[W] + Charisma modifier psychic damage. If the
target is under your curse, it takes a penalty to Will
defense equal to your Constitution modifier until the
end of your next turn.


Level 1 Daily Spells

Siphon the Lifeforce -TAB-TAB- Warlock (All) Attack 1
Your weapon glows black, sapping the target’s lifeforce
and sending it to your eldritch master.
Daily ♦ Arcane, Necrotic, Weapon
Standard Action -TAB- Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Charisma vs. AC
Hit: 3[W] + Charisma modifier necrotic damage, and the
target is slowed and weakened (save ends both).
Miss: Half damage, and the target is only weakened until
the end of your next turn.


Level 3 Encounter Spells

Bloodlust -TAB-TAB-TAB-TAB- Warlock (All) Attack 3
You attack every foe near you, drawing strength from
each enemy’s blood to power your attack against the
next one.
Encounter ♦ Arcane, Invigorating, Weapon
Standard Action -TAB- Close burst 1
Target: Each enemy in burst
Attack: Constitution vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Constitution modifier damage. You gain a
bonus to damage rolls equal to the number of enemies
in the burst.


Parry of Flame -TAB-TAB- Warlock (Infernal) Attack 3
You parry your opponent’s strike with your pactbound
weapon, hellish flames erupting as the weapons meet.
Encounter ♦ Arcane, Fire, Weapon
Immediate Interrupt -TAB- Melee weapon
Trigger: An opponent makes a melee attack against you.
Target: The triggering opponent
Attack: Charisma vs. Reflex
Hit: 1[W] + Charisma modifier fire damage and the
target’s attack misses.


Level 5 Daily Spells

Soul-Chilling Strike ---TAB--- Warlock (All) Attack 5
Your blade makes a horrifying wound, frightening off even
the bravest of foes.
Daily ♦ Arcane, Cold, Fear, Weapon
Standard Action -TAB- Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Charisma vs. AC
Hit: 3[W] + Charisma modifier cold damage and the
target is dazed until the end of your next turn. Make a
secondary attack.
Miss: Half damage, the target is not dazed, and no
secondary attack.
Secondary Target: Each enemy in close burst 5 except
the original target.
Secondary Attack: Charisma vs. Will
Hit: Push the targets a number of squares equal to your
Charisma modifier.


Level 6 Utility Spells

Hellblade Frenzy -TAB-TAB- Warlock (All) Utility 6
Your pactbound blade howls for blood, and in a frenzy
you seek to sate it.
Daily ♦ Arcane, Stance
Minor Action -TAB- Personal
Effect: You gain a +1 bonus on melee attack rolls and
deal extra damage equal to one-half your Constitution
modifier (rounded down). However, you also take a -2
penalty to AC.


Infernal Summons TAB- Warlock (Infernal) Utility 6
You call out to your infernal patron, beseeching him to
send you aid.
Daily ♦ Arcane, Conjuration, Fear, Fire
Standard Action -TAB- Ranged 10
Effect: You summon an avatar of your infernal
patron, which occupies a space within range as a Large
creature. Enemies that can see the avatar have a -2
penalty on attack rolls, a -2 penalty to Will saves, and
a -4 penalty on saves versus effects with the Fear or
Fire keywords. The avatar cannot move, and it disappears
at the end of your next turn unless you sustain the power.
Sustain Minor: The avatar persists as long as you sustain
the power or until the end of the encounter.

[RTGoodman]

So, obviously, this isn't done yet (since I've still got, oh, 20-something levels worth of powers left to do, but here's the basic class features and a couple of sample powers.

This is inspired in part by Moorcock's Elric character/series, and in part by the fact that I kinda wanted to see an arcane melee Striker anyway. Thus, the Bladepact Warlock was born.

Questions? Comments? Wild screams of protest?

[Glooble Glistencrist]

For the most part I like it. I'm not sure if it's overpowered or underpowered.

The problem is you'd pretty much have to dabble in ranged powers if you want any variety at all. But if you're using a lot of ranged powers, the pact blade stuff puts you at a disadvantage. So basically, if this is going to work, you need a whole new set of Melee attack Warlock powers, probably from each pact. And if you're gonna do that anyway, you might as well just make a new class.

Yeah, that's my beef. Everything you have looks good, but I don't feel like there's any way to make it mesh with the existing warlock class. Not sure what to do about that.

[Shadow_Elf]

I noticed in the first power (the encounter power) that the attack targets Will defence. It is worth noting that this is sort of like a +2 bonus to the attack roll, as almost every enemy's Will is around 2 lower than their AC - admittedly, sometimes more, sometimes less. Also, I would suggest making the attack and damage based on either Charisma or Constitution (user's choice), and then make the secondary effect Intelligence based. This opens it up more to all of the pacts.

[Alteran]

First of all, I think you need a pact boon, since I think vengeful blade doesn't really fill that spot.

Also, although targeting secondary defenses with weapon attacks isn't how it usually works, paladins get plenty of weapon attacks vs. secondary defenses. It's probably best to compare it to those, even though paladins are defenders. Targeting secondary defenses is significant enough that weapon powers that do so shouldn't be as powerful as an equivalent one that targets AC, but it's perfectly doable.

I suggest using constitution instead of charisma entirely, for a few reasons. First reason, having constitution as the primary stat would give a Bladepact Warlock more hit points and healing surges, which are very important for melee strikers. Second reason, Multiple Attribute Dependency (MAD) is a problem for some classes (cough, cough, paladin), and it's annoying as a player. Having too many stats you need means you often don't get enough of some of them. Third reason, (least important one), it seems to me that infernal pact is the only path using mainly constitution, as fey pact and dark pact are all charisma, and star pact is split.

[RTGoodman]

The problem is you'd pretty much have to dabble in ranged powers if you want any variety at all. But if you're using a lot of ranged powers, the pact blade stuff puts you at a disadvantage. So basically, if this is going to work, you need a whole new set of Melee attack Warlock powers, probably from each pact. And if you're gonna do that anyway, you might as well just make a new class.

Well, the idea is that, once I get time to make more powers, there'll be at least one or two powers per level, meaning you can choose a power that's melee in nature OR and ranged power. Some melee powers will be "pact-less" (that is, they work the same regardless of pact), while some (including more 1st-level Encounter powers I'm working on now) WILL have effects dependent on your pact. And since you can use your pactbound weapon as an implement, no need to worry about whether you're using ranged or melee (or close or area) attacks.


I noticed in the first power (the encounter power) that the attack targets Will defence. It is worth noting that this is sort of like a +2 bonus to the attack roll, as almost every enemy's Will is around 2 lower than their AC - admittedly, sometimes more, sometimes less.

Yeah, I knew that writing it, but it's basically a rehash of one of the already-existing PHB Warlock powers. There'll probably be a few more pact-specific level 1 Encounter powers, too, so there'll be a mix of powers targetting AC and other defenses.


Also, I would suggest making the attack and damage based on either Charisma or Constitution (user's choice), and then make the secondary effect Intelligence based. This opens it up more to all of the pacts.

That actually does sound like a good idea. I actually mean to do the same for soul-draining strike, too (that is, let the user pick an ability to use for the attack and damage), but it slipped my mind.


First of all, I think you need a pact boon, since I think vengeful blade doesn't really fill that spot.

Well, the idea is that this is more of a separate "build" that a separate PACT. That is, you'd still get a Fey Pact or an Infernal Pact or whatever, but some of the other features change. Vengeful Steel is just a replacement for Prime Shot, since I think it fits better thematically.


Targeting secondary defenses is significant enough that weapon powers that do so shouldn't be as powerful as an equivalent one that targets AC, but it's perfectly doable.

See above - the power basically mimics an already-existing one, so I don't think it's really overpowered to do weapon vs. non-AC defense occasionally.


I suggest using constitution instead of charisma entirely, for a few reasons.

Now, even though this isn't really a separate pact, per se, I DO kinda like the idea of using Constitution first and Charisma secondary. I may change it, but I'll have to think on it first.


I've got work here in about an hour, but once I get back tonight I'll probably just get back to (1) editing the above and (2) writing new powers. Any suggestions on the kinds of powers you'd like to see?

[Alteran]

My mistake was that I thought this was a separate pact. Since it's not, I suggest making powers that would work well with any pact. Obviously every power can't, but you can make a wide enough variety than any pact can use it effectively. This means not having different primary or secondary stats overall, just for different powers.

[RTGoodman]

Alright, I've added some more powers for review. I haven't really edited anything else, but I'll get on that tomorrow, maybe.

The new powers are feybound hunter and infernal blade (Level 1 Encounter), siphon the lifeforce (Level 1 Daily), bloodlust and parry of flame (Level 3 Encounter), and infernal summons (Level 6 Utility).

[Mercenary Pen]

All the powers you have thus far seem to be either based around the Fey pact or the Infernal pact... No love for the Star pact or Dark pact?

[Shadow_Elf]

Make Parry of Flame only make the attack miss if the fires hit. Otherwise its too good. At level 3, there isn't anything that makes an attack auto-miss.

[Alteran]

All the powers you have thus far seem to be either based around the Fey pact or the Infernal pact... No love for the Star pact or Dark pact?

Well, to make powers related to the Dark Pact he would need the FRPG, or at least someone to borrow it from. Or maybe he just hasn't added them yet, I can't speak for him.

[RTGoodman]

All the powers you have thus far seem to be either based around the Fey pact or the Infernal pact... No love for the Star pact or Dark pact?

Yeah, like Alteran said, I don't have FRPG for the Dark Pact (and no one I know near me plays 4E, much less 4E FR), so anything I know about it is just stuff I've come across on the online Compendium. I may still do stuff for it, but I'm not sure. As for Star Pact, I just haven't come up with many powers yet that seem to work well for it, so I haven't included any yet. The non-Pact associated ones work just as well for Starlocks as anyone else, though, so I probably won't have a TON that are pact specific. Probably just a couple per level of Encounter powers, and maybe one pact-specific power at each Daily or Utility level. I DO intend to have some Star Pact powers, though.



Make Parry of Flame only make the attack miss if the fires hit. Otherwise its too good. At level 3, there isn't anything that makes an attack auto-miss.

Indeed. I even originally had it that way, but when I copied it over to here I thought I had made a mistake in the formatting or something originally. I'll fix it momentarily.

[Don the Bastard]

I like it, will ask my DM if I can try it in our RL game.

[Shadow_Elf]

I like it, will ask my DM if I can try it in our RL game.

Or you could steal some powers from this and use the Eldritch Strike at-will found Here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mi/20090408a). If your DM is big on "official" stuff, that might give you some more leverage.