A Sword Spearing Warlock?

[Arm of God]

Its about time to start the process of character creation again. This time, I want to create a character that fights by conjuring melee weapons in mid air and using his magic to telepathically thrust them into the flesh of his enemies (or perhaps arm himself with one of these conjured weapons). The inspirations behind this particular playstyle are Archer from Fate/Zero and Virgil from Devil May Cry.

The first class that comes to mind is the Warlock class; specifically the blade pact Warlock. The reasons behind this choice are as follows:

1) Eldritch blast seems like an ideal spell for the sword conjuring attack. Rather than increasing the damage die like most cantrips, Eldritch blast recieves more attack rolls or "beams" as the PC levels up. It deals force damage, just like the cantrip "sword burst," so I don't have to change the damage type to fit the game's logic. All I really have to do is change the name of Eldritch Blast to something like "Sword Thrust" and use vivid imagery to deacribe what is going on.

2) The Warlock's pact weapon allows him to summon any weapon of his choice, so all I have to do is describe the act of summining my weapon similarly to how I describe the sword conjuring attack.

I've hit a bit of a road block when trying to figure out what sort of pact I'd make. Along with this frustration, I don't know what spells and feats would fit this character's abilities. Any suggestions or ideas from you guys would be really helpful!

Backstory wise, I've been thinking of making his race a Moon Elf (High elf to be more broad) to explain why he knows a spell like "Sword burst" (free cantrip), but that hasn't been set in stone.

[MrStabby]

If you are Ok with re-fluffing then this works.

If you are not, then this is pretty close to spiritual weapon anyway (also Mordenkeinen's sword at higher levels).

[DracoKnight]

Its about time to start the process of character creation again. This time, I want to create a character that fights by conjuring melee weapons in mid air and using his magic to telepathically thrust them into the flesh of his enemies (or perhaps arm himself with one of these conjured weapons). The inspirations behind this particular playstyle are Archer from Fate/Zero and Virgil from Devil May Cry.

The first class that comes to mind is the Warlock class; specifically the blade pact Warlock. The reasons behind this choice are as follows:

1) Eldritch blast seems like an ideal spell for the sword conjuring attack. Rather than increasing the damage die like most cantrips, Eldritch blast recieves more attack rolls or "beams" as the PC levels up. It deals force damage, just like the cantrip "sword burst," so I don't have to change the damage type to fit the game's logic. All I really have to do is change the name of Eldritch Blast to something like "Sword Thrust" and use vivid imagery to deacribe what is going on.

2) The Warlock's pact weapon allows him to summon any weapon of his choice, so all I have to do is describe the act of summining my weapon similarly to how I describe the sword conjuring attack.

I've hit a bit of a road block when trying to figure out what sort of pact I'd make. Along with this frustration, I don't know what spells and feats would fit this character's abilities. Any suggestions or ideas from you guys would be really helpful!

Backstory wise, I've been thinking of making his race a Moon Elf (High elf to be more broad) to explain why he knows a spell like "Sword burst" (free cantrip), but that hasn't been set in stone.

Sounds like this will be a lot of fun, and get you going in the direction you're looking to go. I would look at going Variant Human with Magic Initiate Sorcerer over the High Elf. Remember, the High Elf's cantrip is based off of Intelligence which makes you a little bit MAD. If you go Variant Human and take Magic Initiate: Sorcerer, you can pick up sword burst, as well as shocking grasp, and a 1st-level Sorcerer spell of your choice. These spells will key off of your Charisma, and shocking grasp acts as damage + Disengage, since your target can't use reactions, meaning they can't hit you with an Attack of Opportunity. This makes you less MAD, gives you the cantrip you wanted initially, and gives you a couple more tools for your tool belt. :smallbiggrin:

[TundraBuccaneer]

For pact is say great old one, since you get telekinesis. But it is the worst one of the pacts to use with blade pact. And don't forget to take repelling blast that will give your weapons the feeling there is weight behind it.

And fey pact for teleports an invisibility.
Fiend pact for defence and fire spells.

[Arm of God]

Backstory wise, I've been thinking of making his race a Moon Elf (High elf to be more broad) to explain why he knows a spell like "Sword burst" (free cantrip), but that hasn't been set in stone.

I should have given more context. In Faerun, the art of bladesinging is a magical archetype developed by the elves. They keep this art secret from the other races, believing that bladesinging is a sacred practice which only elves should perform. That's why a common sorcerer or non-elf wizard shouldn't know spells like "Sword Storm" or "Green-flame Blade."

I read this in The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

[Grod_The_Giant]

I should have given more context. In Faerun, the art of bladesinging is a magical archetype developed by the elves. They keep this art secret from the other races, believing that bladesinging is a sacred practice which only elves should perform. That's why a common sorcerer or non-elf wizard shouldn't know spells like "Sword Storm" or "Green-flame Blade."

I read this in The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
The cantrips aren't really linked to the Bladesinger; they're credited to "Practitioners of the Art" and both Bladelocks and War Wizards of Cormyr are called out as using them. So I wouldn't worry too much on that front.

[bid]

Archfey fits best with Archer. The fear/charm matches perfectly.

[Gastronomie]

If you want the Gilgamesh feel, ask your DM if he will let you add Conjure Volley to your spell list (perhaps at a price). Would be certainly thematic.

[CaptainSarathai]

I should have given more context. In Faerun, the art of bladesinging is a magical archetype developed by the elves. They keep this art secret from the other races, believing that bladesinging is a sacred practice which only elves should perform. That's why a common sorcerer or non-elf wizard shouldn't know spells like "Sword Storm" or "Green-flame Blade."

I read this in The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

Those spells are not racially limited like the Bladesinger - they're just generic Sorcerer/Wizard/Warlock spells. If they wanted them to be "hidden art", they could have at least restricted it to Wizard only.

Otherwise, yeah - you're building a straight BlastLock, most likely. Going BladeLock is pretty subpar unless you hardcore multiclass.

[Trabian]

For Pact I would go with Fiend or Undying. Fiend if you're trying to fluff as if you're learning to summon a fiery sword just like certain fiends would.
Undying it could be a long and forgotten king reaching down from the mists of history to let you borrow his sword. Think of a Ghostly King Arthur lending you Excalibur.


Fey pact would also be possible if the pact would involve the sword itself. You get a shiny sword and powers, in return you do stuff for them.

[Grayfigure]

As an idea for spells, Conjure Volley (for a price) would really be thematically inlne with Gilgamesh, as someone said. A VERY unpopular spell to consider also, is Cloud of Daggers. I will be the first to admit, it really doesn't carry the power associated with the Archer of the War of Kings (4th Holy Grail War, heh), but with a bit of sculpting and DM imput, could suit very nicely. I think Conjure volley though would work better in this case, saving Cloud of Daggers for Archer EMIYA (who can be made as a Warlock/Wizard with surprising accuracy....... *whistles innocently*).

If in need of a Patron, Definitely Great Old One. ArchFey and Hellish just doesn't carry the same alienness and mystery-within-mystery feel as a Homebrew'd spirit of Humanity/the World/Throne of 'Heroes' (though ArchFey can come close!).

[Arm of God]

These are some great suggestions; I'll definately talk to my DM about getting some of those ranger spells. I'm still having difficulty finding a suitable patron, though. I've looked into Gods of crafts, smithing, and war, but none seem to fit the warlock domain. Any ideas for a homebrew bladelock patron?

Level 1: Some sort of daily ability, passive effect, or daily spell
Level 6: Daily spell
Level 10: Passive effect or daily spell
Level 14: Great spell (High damage, amazing effect, great benefit, etc)

[Arm of God]

An idea that I had for this patron:

Pact of the blade lord:
level 1: Your patron grants you a personal armory that has great capacity, but bears no weight. By whispering a chant to an object deemed worthy to be a weapon, your patron will store that object. The armory can hold an amount of weapons that collectively weigh your charisma mod×20 (minimum of 20). In addition, the armory can hold an amount of magical weapons equal to your charisma mod (minimum of 1). Magic weapons do not add weight to the armory. You call upon these weapons using your bonus action, retrieving as many of them as you wish. Spells from this pact that use weapons must have enough weapons to select from in order to cast the spell. For example, in order to cast weapon thrust (eldritch blast) with four beams, you must have at least 4 weapons in your armory.

[Nishant]

An idea that I had for this patron:

Pact of the blade lord:
level 1: Your patron grants you a personal armory that has great capacity, but bears no weight. By whispering a chant to an object deemed worthy to be a weapon, your patron will store that object. The armory can hold an amount of weapons that collectively weigh your charisma mod×20 (minimum of 20). In addition, the armory can hold an amount of magical weapons equal to your charisma mod (minimum of 1). Magic weapons do not add weight to the armory. You call upon these weapons using your bonus action, retrieving as many of them as you wish. Spells from this pact that use weapons must have enough weapons to select from in order to cast the spell. For example, in order to cast weapon thrust (eldritch blast) with four beams, you must have at least 4 weapons in your armory.

This is an interesting idea for sure, but does that change the damage type of the spells when used? further, the weapons have a tendency to disappear after a time in certain battles; do they return to the vault? now, that being said, I like the idea of a pocket Bag of Holding; perhaps even allowing it to hold wealth (It was meant to be a treasure vault, after all.)

[Davemeddlehed]

Why not just give the UA Mystic class a try?

http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/Psionics_and_Mystic_V2.pdf

[Arm of God]

My group experimented with the mystic for a campaign. The guy who used the mystic class was a bit of a whiny power player, so due to that experience, we chose not to use the mystic for future games. The blade meld and buffs were cool, though!

[Davemeddlehed]

My group experimented with the mystic for a campaign. The guy who used the mystic class was a bit of a whiny power player, so due to that experience, we chose not to use the mystic for future games. The blade meld and buffs were cool, though!

You could always go with something like the Warmage from the middle finger of vecna:

www.middlefingerofvecna.com/2015/11/warmage.html

Lot's of utility, and the ability to elementally craft your own weaponry on the spot. As well as the magic dagger trick to summon throwing weapons, etc etc etc.