Greywander
2017-12-01, 02:31 AM
My favorite class is probably wizard for the versatility and expansive spell list, but warlock seems like a fun class with lots of customization. I seem to find myself drawn to the Pact of the Tome over the other pacts, probably for similar reasons to why I like wizards. Now, the interpretation of the pact that seems to be most common, and certainly my own interpretation, is that when you choose the tome pact you just get to choose 3 cantrips from any spell list, end of story. However, I think there's an argument to be made that you might be able to switch out your cantrips, or even add new ones. Here's some relevant excerpts from the PHB:
Your patron gives you a grimoire called a Book of Shadows. 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.
If you lose your Book of Shadows, 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 book. The book turns to ash when you die.
While it doesn't explicitly say that the cantrips are in the Book of Shadows, it does seem to imply that this is the case. You can't cast the cantrips without the book, and you can request a replacement. I don't see a reason aside from game balance why you couldn't request a different book with different cantrips. Granted, continually requesting replacements from your patron might not make them too happy, but it would be pretty interesting if tomelocks could choose 3 cantrips to "prepare" every time they do a short or long rest.
Let's see if we can ratchet this up to a more absurd level, though.
At 1st level, you have a spellbook containing six 1st- level wizard spells of your choice. Your spellbook is the repository of the wizard spells you know, except your cantrips, which are fixed in your mind.
...
On your adventures, you might find other spells that you can add to your spellbook (see “Your Spellbook”).
For wizards, it is made explicitly clear that your spellbook does not contain cantrips, and thus you can't add cantrips to your spellbook. (However, I've seen the suggestion to allow wizards, and possibly other casters, to cast cantrips they don't know using a 1st level spell slot.) As was implied above, your tome cantrips are probably written in your Book of Shadows; that said, it's likely far different from a spellbook and not as simple as finding a cantrip scroll and copying it into the book. But if you can't add cantrips to your tome, then you need to find someone else who can. Someone like, say, a powerful entity that would be interested in cutting a deal with you to sell you power in exchange for some service. You know, the thing that makes a warlock a warlock. It wouldn't have to be your own patron, per se, but any entity that is able and willing to sell you the power. Of course, at some point you have to wonder why you need to put it in the tome at all when you could just straight up gain an extra cantrip.
I think this would give an interesting reason for a warlock to actually RP as a warlock, while also providing new quests for the party to fulfill their part of the bargain in order to get the power. Not just for cantrips, but for any kind of power. What about an extra pact magic spell slot? Or raising your pact magic to 6th level? Or more invocations? Spells from a different spell list? Lead your players by the nose with a promise of a reward.
And for cantrips specifically, as with many "choose a few out of many" character options, you get diminishing returns as you'll always pick the most valuable ones first.
Thoughts? Would you allow either of these at your table?
Your patron gives you a grimoire called a Book of Shadows. 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.
If you lose your Book of Shadows, 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 book. The book turns to ash when you die.
While it doesn't explicitly say that the cantrips are in the Book of Shadows, it does seem to imply that this is the case. You can't cast the cantrips without the book, and you can request a replacement. I don't see a reason aside from game balance why you couldn't request a different book with different cantrips. Granted, continually requesting replacements from your patron might not make them too happy, but it would be pretty interesting if tomelocks could choose 3 cantrips to "prepare" every time they do a short or long rest.
Let's see if we can ratchet this up to a more absurd level, though.
At 1st level, you have a spellbook containing six 1st- level wizard spells of your choice. Your spellbook is the repository of the wizard spells you know, except your cantrips, which are fixed in your mind.
...
On your adventures, you might find other spells that you can add to your spellbook (see “Your Spellbook”).
For wizards, it is made explicitly clear that your spellbook does not contain cantrips, and thus you can't add cantrips to your spellbook. (However, I've seen the suggestion to allow wizards, and possibly other casters, to cast cantrips they don't know using a 1st level spell slot.) As was implied above, your tome cantrips are probably written in your Book of Shadows; that said, it's likely far different from a spellbook and not as simple as finding a cantrip scroll and copying it into the book. But if you can't add cantrips to your tome, then you need to find someone else who can. Someone like, say, a powerful entity that would be interested in cutting a deal with you to sell you power in exchange for some service. You know, the thing that makes a warlock a warlock. It wouldn't have to be your own patron, per se, but any entity that is able and willing to sell you the power. Of course, at some point you have to wonder why you need to put it in the tome at all when you could just straight up gain an extra cantrip.
I think this would give an interesting reason for a warlock to actually RP as a warlock, while also providing new quests for the party to fulfill their part of the bargain in order to get the power. Not just for cantrips, but for any kind of power. What about an extra pact magic spell slot? Or raising your pact magic to 6th level? Or more invocations? Spells from a different spell list? Lead your players by the nose with a promise of a reward.
And for cantrips specifically, as with many "choose a few out of many" character options, you get diminishing returns as you'll always pick the most valuable ones first.
Thoughts? Would you allow either of these at your table?