5e Warlock pact changes Take 2

[Garfunion]

(PEACH)
I want the pact gift to be an actual item with benefits.
I also wanted to move the blade pact away from weapon combat, while still providing a melee thematic. But still have melee options.


Pact Boon
At 3rd level, your otherworldly patron bestows a gift upon you for your loyal service. This gift can be used as an arcane focus.

If your patron's gift is destroyed, you can perform a 1--hour ceremony to receive a replacement from your patron. This ceremony can be performed during a short or long rest, and it destroys the previous gift. The gift turns to ash when you die.

You gain one of the following features of your choice.

Pact of the Chain
Your patron gives you a small length of chain. While the chain is on your person, you may cast the find familiar spell as a ritual, without spending the material component cost. This spell does not count against your number of spells known.

When you cast find familiar spell with the chain, you can choose one of the normal forms for your familiar or one of the following special forms: imp, pseudodragon, quasit, or sprite.

Additionally while the chain is on your person, when you take the Attack action, you can forgo one of your own attacks to allow your familiar to make one attack of its own with its reaction.

Pact of the Blade
Your patron gives you a melee weapon of your choice. You are proficient with it while you wield it.

While wielding your pact weapon,
you may channel any cantrip you cast into it. If the cantrip requires a range spell attack, it becomes a melee spell attack with a range of 5ft.

You can transform one magic melee weapon into your pact weapon or choose a different weapon by performing the same ritual, as if you lost your patron's gift. You can’t affect an artifact or a sentient weapon in this way. A magic weapon ceases being your pact weapon if you die and it does not turn to ash.


Pact of the Tome
Your patron gives you a grimoire called a Book of Shadows, that you may use as an arcane focus. When you gain this feature, choose three cantrips from any class’s spell list (the three needn’t be from the same list). While the book is on your person, you can cast those cantrips at will. They don’t count against your number of cantrips known. If they don’t appear on the warlock spell list, they are nonetheless warlock spells for you.

Eldritch Invocations

Bane Blade
Prerequisite: Pact of the Blade feature
Your pact weapon becomes magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage. Additionally when you hit a creature with your pact weapon, the creature gains disadvantage on one attack roll made against you until the end of its turn.

Chain of Control
Prerequisite: Pact of the Chain feature
When you hit a creature with the eldritch blast cantrip, you may have that creature make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, you can move the creature up to 10 feet in any horizontal direction.

Chain of Command
Prerequisite: 7th level, Pact of the Chain feature
You may spend a bonus action, to have your familiar make one attack of its own with its reaction.

Cursed Gift
You may use a bonus action to summon your patron's gift no matter where it is located, causing it to teleport instantly to your empty hand (This feature does not work if you gift is destroyed). If your patron's gift was destroyed, it will appears near you after you complete a long rest.

Forbidden Magic
Prerequisite: 9th level, Pact of the Tome feature
At the end of a long rest you may choose one 5th level or lower spell from the Cleric, Druid, or Wizard spell list. It appears in your grimoire and remains there until cast. The spell you chosen can only be cast as a ritual, even if the spell does not have the ritual tag. After casting this spell you must take a long rest before you using this invocation again.

Glyph of Shadows
Prerequisite: Pact of the Tome feature
Work in progress

Thirsting Blade
Prerequisite: 5th level, Pact of the Blade feature
When you make a melee weapon attack with your pact weapon, you may spend a bonus action to make another melee weapon attack using your pact weapon.
Additionally you may use your Charisma instead of your Strength on attack rolls you make with your pact weapon.

Edited: for grammar and added some suggested changes.

[Grod_The_Giant]

I want the pact gift to be an actual item with benefits.
Cool, I like it

I also wanted to move the blade pact away from weapon combat, while still providing a melee thematic. But still have melee options.
Highly disagree.



Pact Boon
At 3rd level, your otherworldly patron bestows a gift upon you for your loyal service. This gift can be used as an arcane focus.
A nice touch; I like it.


Pact of the Blade
Your patron gives you a melee weapon of your choice. You are proficient with it while you wield it.

While wielding your pact weapon,
you may channel any cantrip you cast into it. If the cantrip requires a range spell attack, it becomes a melee spell attack with a range of 5ft.

You can transform one magic melee weapon into your pact weapon or choose a different weapon by performing the same ritual, as if you lost your patron's gift. You can’t affect an artifact or a sentient weapon in this way. A magic weapon ceases being your pact weapon if you die and it does not turn to ash.
I notice that you've lost the ability to switch weapons-- was that intentional? In any case, I'm not certain about the ability. Basically the idea is to let you cast in melee range without Disadvantage, yes? So you can Eldritch Blast at point-blank range?


Bane Blade
Prerequisite: Pact of the Blade feature
Your pact weapon becomes magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage. Additionally when you hit a creature with your pact weapon, the creature gains disadvantage on one attack roll made against you until the end of its turn.
I still don't like this one... you've bundled one of the more important bits of the base pact with a lackluster defensive boost, and made it optionally available at... probably level 7, given how invocations known progression goes.


Chain of Control
Prerequisite: Pact of the Chain feature
When you hit a creature with the eldritch blast cantrip, you may have that creature make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, you can move the creature up to 10 feet in any horizontal direction.
This replaces Repelling Blast, I take it? It's neat, though it's a bit odd that it's limited to Chain Pact, methinks. They always seemed more interested in mental chains.


Chain of Command
Prerequisite: 6th level, Pact of the Chain feature
You may spend a bonus action, to have your familiar make one attack of its own with its reaction.
Cool; Chain Pact could use something like this, although they'll be squishy as all get-out. It should have a prereq of 5th or 7th level, though-- Warlocks don't get an invocation at 6th.


Cursed Gift
You may use a bonus action to summon your patron's gift, causing it to teleport instantly to your empty hand. If you have lost your patron's gift it will appears near you after you complete a long rest.
And here we see the other nice part of the base blade pact-- I can't see that many people taking this, but it's decent. Unless it's the only way to get back a destroyed gift, in which case it's a brutal invocation tax and should be fixed. (You might put it in the base pact effect anyway, actually). You need more rules text, though-- "lost" is too vague here, and I feel like there should possibly be a limit on the teleport effect. The interaction of the two is odd; if I know I left my gift back in Villageport City on the other side of the plane, I can teleport it to my hand, but if ******* McStabbyface the Rogue hid it in his bedroll I can't get it back without taking a long rest?


Forbidden Magic
Prerequisite: 9th level, Pact of the Tome feature
At the end of a long rest you may choose one 5th level or lower spell from the Cleric, Druid, or Wizard spell list. It appears in your grimoire and remains there until cast. The spell you chosen can only be cast as a ritual, even if the spell does not have the ritual tag. After casting this spell you must take a long rest before you using this invocation again.
Cool; I like it.


Thirsting Blade
Prerequisite: 5th level, Pact of the Blade feature
When you make a melee weapon attack with your pact weapon, you may spend a bonus action to make another melee weapon attack using your pact weapon.
Additionally you may use your Charisma instead of your Strength on attack rolls you make with your pact weapon.
Charisma instead of Strength: Useful. Bonus action attack after an attack action: less so, given that there are A) plenty of feats to do that already, and B) plenty of demand on your bonus action as it is. Melee Warlocks want to make lots of attacks, to take advantage of Hex and Lifedrinker Blade-- you kind of needTWF or Polearm Master to pull even with a Blastlock's damage, and this takes that clear off the table. It's better if you're not using feats, I guess, but even then it strikes me as a significant downgrade overall.

My overall impression: You've made Chain Pact a bit stronger, which is nice; given Tome Pact a tiny boost, which is unnecessary but fine; and broken Blade Pact into sad, sad pieces.

[Garfunion]

@Grod the Giant

In order of your responses.

1. Thank you

2. I disagree with you. There are simply other classes that can be refluffed to be a better "hexblade" with little effort.

3. Thank you

4. Many players when making a bladelock will focus on a weapon or weapon group, usually the weapon that deals the most damage. If they start taking feats this choice becomes even more limited. That is, unless they want to gimp themselves. I also currently can't see why you would spend an action in combat to change your weapon.

Yes. Instead of looking at Eldritch Blast as a point blank ranged attack, look at it like an Eldritch Blade attack, Necrotic Blade attack(chill touch), or Flame Blade attack(fire bolt).

5. First according to SRD5 you can replace one invocation you know when you gain a warlock level, so you can pick this invocation at warlock level 3. Additionally if you are planning on make weapon combat warlock many invocation become unnecessary. Currently if your warlock gets a magic weapon and bonds with it, the always create magic weapon feature become mostly pointless.

6. Yes. I interpret the chain pact as a controller of a lot more then just a familiar. And this invocation helps to illustrate that point more.

7. I will fix the level prerequisite to 7th, thank you. The Sprite familiar has a ranged attack and the warlock can easily summon their familiar during a short rest.

8. In the Pact Boon section it provides the ritual for a pact gift to be restored/changed. I will add some text to fix the misunderstanding I just copied the tome pact ritual.

9. Thank you

10. I think you miss read the invocation. It says melee weapon attack not attack action. it allows better use of the SCAG cantrips and the attack action(extra attack). Example: I cast green-flame blade, it requires a melee weapon attack and I follow it up with a bonus action normal melee weapon attack.

11. As I tried to state, I'm moving away from the blade pact as a melee weapon attacker, to more of a "magical" melee attacker. Currently the blade lock needs to level dip and/or select a few feats to be effective.
With my changes a warlock that wants to thematically be a melee fighter without worrying about weapon related feat, classes, and invocations can pick the blade pact and be done. No need for thirsting blade invocation, Eldritch Blade(Blast) will provide extra attacks. No need for bane blade invocation, Eldritch Blade(Blast) does force damage.

[Sicarius Victis]

No need for thirsting blade invocation, Eldritch Blade(Blast) will provide extra attacks. No need for bane blade invocation, Eldritch Blade(Blast) does force damage.

So, then, what's the point of having a weapon in the first place? Why is it even a "Pact of the Blade"? Why isn't it just "Pact of the Eldritch Glaive" or something?

[Garfunion]

So, then, what's the point of having a weapon in the first place? Why is it even a "Pact of the Blade"? Why isn't it just "Pact of the Eldritch Glaive" or something?

Because it is cool and it provides the thematic feel that players may what. There are still invocation that the player can choose if they want to expand on the actual weapon combat.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Yes. Instead of looking at Eldritch Blast as a point blank ranged attack, look at it like an Eldritch Blade attack, Necrotic Blade attack(chill touch), or Flame Blade attack(fire bolt).
Suggestion? Allow the player to change the damage type of the cantrip to match the weapon's, and possibly allow weapon enchantment bonuses to apply. That should make it feel a bit more like you're doing a Duskblade-style spell-channeling attack.


5. First according to SRD5 you can replace one invocation you know when you gain a warlock level, so you can pick this invocation at warlock level 3. Additionally if you are planning on make weapon combat warlock many invocation become unnecessary. Currently if your warlock gets a magic weapon and bonds with it, the always create magic weapon feature become mostly pointless.
Touche.


10. I think you miss read the invocation. It says melee weapon attack not attack action. it allows better use of the SCAG cantrips and the attack action(extra attack). Example: I cast green-flame blade, it requires a melee weapon attack and I follow it up with a bonus action normal melee weapon attack.
Ah, true. It makes Warlock even more of a tempting multiclass than normal, I suppose.


11. As I tried to state, I'm moving away from the blade pact as a melee weapon attacker, to more of a "magical" melee attacker. Currently the blade lock needs to level dip and/or select a few feats to be effective.
With my changes a warlock that wants to thematically be a melee fighter without worrying about weapon related feat, classes, and invocations can pick the blade pact and be done. No need for thirsting blade invocation, Eldritch Blade(Blast) will provide extra attacks. No need for bane blade invocation, Eldritch Blade(Blast) does force damage.
I... kind of disagree here. He can blast in melee range, but all that really means is giving up the safety of ranged combat without getting any of the benefits of melee weapons (feats, magic item, etc). You're still just spamming Eldritch Blast like every other Warlock out there, and you still need to multiclass to be a good gish-- only now you want five levels of Fighter, not one. The single biggest issue with Bladelocks, I think, is lack of defense-- more than damage, more than MADness-- and you haven't really done much on that front.

[Garfunion]

Suggestion? Allow the player to change the damage type of the cantrip to match the weapon's, and possibly allow weapon enchantment bonuses to apply. That should make it feel a bit more like you're doing a Duskblade-style spell-channeling attack.

Changing the damage type of the cantrip to the weapons damage type well reduce the effectiveness of the cantrip and open the door to damage resistances, making bane blade invocation a must have until they get a magic weapon.

As for the enchantment bonuses, I may need to read more about it. My changes make the pact boon gift an arcane focus, and as an arcane focus you are channeling your spell attack through the weapon.



Touche.


Sorry about that.



I... kind of disagree here. He can blast in melee range, but all that really means is giving up the safety of ranged combat without getting any of the benefits of melee weapons (feats, magic item, etc). You're still just spamming Eldritch Blast like every other Warlock out there, and you still need to multiclass to be a good gish-- only now you want five levels of Fighter, not one. The single biggest issue with Bladelocks, I think, is lack of defense-- more than damage, more than MADness-- and you haven't really done much on that front.

But as I see it, the changes I made do not negatively affect the bladelock. They still can get a weapon that they will be proficient in and they can still make a magic weapon into a pact weapon. Which means they can still pick up weapon feats and magic items. I only took out the create magic weapon as an action and replaced it with spell versatility.

Bane blade invocation was designed to help a little with defense.

Example using one feat to greatly increase that warlock survivability. Combine Eldritch Blade(Blast) with the mobility feat allowing the warlock to run around the battle field and out of melee combat.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Changing the damage type of the cantrip to the weapons damage type well reduce the effectiveness of the cantrip and open the door to damage resistances, making bane blade invocation a must have until they get a magic weapon.

As for the enchantment bonuses, I may need to read more about it. My changes make the pact boon gift an arcane focus, and as an arcane focus you are channeling your spell attack through the weapon.
The problem is that I don't think it will FEEL like you're magic-swording as written. You don't pick a bladelock because you want to cast in melee, you pick it because you want to cast spells AND swing a sword.


But as I see it, the changes I made do not negatively affect the bladelock. They still can get a weapon that they will be proficient in and they can still make a magic weapon into a pact weapon. Which means they can still pick up weapon feats and magic items. I only took out the create magic weapon as an action and replaced it with spell versatility.
You also took out normal Extra Attack, which as I mentioned is something of a mixed blessing. (And will probably interact poorly with multiclassing)


Bane blade invocation was designed to help a little with defense.
It does very little. I prefer the older version that worked on multiple attacks.