Giegue
2018-01-22, 05:36 PM
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I always felt it odd that Warlocks, as the "Dark Magic" class where piss poor Necromancers. Granted, their chassis is really hard to get a hoard-master style character working off of, but I have tried to do it none the less. However, rather than make the hoard-lock into a patron, I felt it more fitting to make it into invocations and a pact boon since I can see undead of multible patrons being good at raising the dead. (A fiend patron is fitting for a necromancer who serves Orcus, while the Undying fits for obvious reasons. I could even see a GOO warlock running with these, and since they already get a bit of Necromancy already it also seems fitting for a Hexblade)
Now, all these are VERY rough, so any and all help with them would be most appreciated, especially when it comes to making them balanced, paticularly against the Necromancer wizard. The idea behind them is the Warlock Necromancer should be slightly better at minions than the wizard one, due to how limited a warlock is as a caster as compared to a wizard and the fact that your spending almost all your invocations and your pact boon to be good at it. So, yes, you should be better at it than a wizard who gets to be good virtually for free and has better casting then you'll ever hope to. However, it should not be so strong that it can never see play/will be flat out banned at most tables due to being too OP, and thats where you come in. Any and all balance help with these would be very much appreciated!
While any warlock who wants to can specalize in the necromantic arts, some are so obsessed with it that the pact boon bestowed upon them reflects their dark desire to control the undead. The following Pact Boon is added to those that a Warlock can select from at 3rd level:
Pact of the Thrall
Once per-long rest, you can raise a single skeleton with the following benefits as a bonus action:
Its hit points (and hit point maximum) equal 2 x your proficiency bonus d8 + your Warlock level.
It adds your proficiency bonus to its weapon damage rolls.
You can command skeletons you create this way as if they where created by an Animate Dead spell cast by you, and they remain reanimated for 24 hours, or until you finish a long rest (whichever comes first) Starting at 4th level, you can raise a number of skeletons equal to your proficiency bonus when you use this feature instead. However, when you do this, they gain none of the additional benefits this feature grants normally. (So their hit points are not increased and they do not recieve a damage bonus).
While Necromancer wizards may study the undead, Warlocks are their true masters. Warlocks who serve vile patrons with sway over the undead, such as Orcus (represented by the fiend patron) or powerful archliches (represented by the undying patron) often are gifted with powers of undead reanimation that match or in some cases even surpass that of necromancy specialist wizards and Oathbreaker paladins, wielding their patron's authority over the walking dead. Add the following invocations to the list of Invocations Warlocks can choose from.
Dominate the Dead
Prerequisites: Pact of the Thrall, 3rd level
Benefits: As an action, you target one undead you can see within 30ft and invoke your patron’s authority over it. It must make a Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, it must obey your commands for the next 24 hours, or until you use this Invocation again. Undead who's CR are equal to or greater than your Warlock level are immune to this Invocation. Once you use this invocation, you cannot do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
The Dead Walk
Prerequisites: Pact of the Thrall, 5th level
Benefits: You can use your warlock spell slots to cast Animate Dead once per long rest. When you cast Animate Dead this way, it can target 1 additional corpse or bone pile and create 1 additional skeleton or zombie. Additionally, undead you create with Warlock spells and Mystic Arcanum add your Warlock level to their hit point maximums and use your proficiency bonus in place of their own on weapon attack rolls. Also, their weapon attacks count as magical.
Undead Mastery
Prerequisites: The Dead Walk, 7th level
Benefits: Once after each long rest, you can reassert control over undead created by a single Animate Dead spell you cast using a Warlock spell slot without re-casting that spell. (So you will never re-assert control of the undead created by more than one Animate Dead spell this way.) You can still reassert control over any undead beyond this limit by re-casting the spells that created them as normal.
Ghoulcaller
Prerequisites: Pact of the Thrall, 11th level
Benefits: You can use your mystic arcanum to cast undead creation spells. You can expend a mystic arcanum of at least 6th level to cast Create Undead at the level of the expended mystic arcanum. (when you do this, the you do not also cast the mystic arcanum you expended.) You can also cast Create Undead this way to reassert control over undead created by Create Undead spells you cast in this way. (Including ones cast at levels higher than 6th.)
I always felt it odd that Warlocks, as the "Dark Magic" class where piss poor Necromancers. Granted, their chassis is really hard to get a hoard-master style character working off of, but I have tried to do it none the less. However, rather than make the hoard-lock into a patron, I felt it more fitting to make it into invocations and a pact boon since I can see undead of multible patrons being good at raising the dead. (A fiend patron is fitting for a necromancer who serves Orcus, while the Undying fits for obvious reasons. I could even see a GOO warlock running with these, and since they already get a bit of Necromancy already it also seems fitting for a Hexblade)
Now, all these are VERY rough, so any and all help with them would be most appreciated, especially when it comes to making them balanced, paticularly against the Necromancer wizard. The idea behind them is the Warlock Necromancer should be slightly better at minions than the wizard one, due to how limited a warlock is as a caster as compared to a wizard and the fact that your spending almost all your invocations and your pact boon to be good at it. So, yes, you should be better at it than a wizard who gets to be good virtually for free and has better casting then you'll ever hope to. However, it should not be so strong that it can never see play/will be flat out banned at most tables due to being too OP, and thats where you come in. Any and all balance help with these would be very much appreciated!
While any warlock who wants to can specalize in the necromantic arts, some are so obsessed with it that the pact boon bestowed upon them reflects their dark desire to control the undead. The following Pact Boon is added to those that a Warlock can select from at 3rd level:
Pact of the Thrall
Once per-long rest, you can raise a single skeleton with the following benefits as a bonus action:
Its hit points (and hit point maximum) equal 2 x your proficiency bonus d8 + your Warlock level.
It adds your proficiency bonus to its weapon damage rolls.
You can command skeletons you create this way as if they where created by an Animate Dead spell cast by you, and they remain reanimated for 24 hours, or until you finish a long rest (whichever comes first) Starting at 4th level, you can raise a number of skeletons equal to your proficiency bonus when you use this feature instead. However, when you do this, they gain none of the additional benefits this feature grants normally. (So their hit points are not increased and they do not recieve a damage bonus).
While Necromancer wizards may study the undead, Warlocks are their true masters. Warlocks who serve vile patrons with sway over the undead, such as Orcus (represented by the fiend patron) or powerful archliches (represented by the undying patron) often are gifted with powers of undead reanimation that match or in some cases even surpass that of necromancy specialist wizards and Oathbreaker paladins, wielding their patron's authority over the walking dead. Add the following invocations to the list of Invocations Warlocks can choose from.
Dominate the Dead
Prerequisites: Pact of the Thrall, 3rd level
Benefits: As an action, you target one undead you can see within 30ft and invoke your patron’s authority over it. It must make a Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, it must obey your commands for the next 24 hours, or until you use this Invocation again. Undead who's CR are equal to or greater than your Warlock level are immune to this Invocation. Once you use this invocation, you cannot do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
The Dead Walk
Prerequisites: Pact of the Thrall, 5th level
Benefits: You can use your warlock spell slots to cast Animate Dead once per long rest. When you cast Animate Dead this way, it can target 1 additional corpse or bone pile and create 1 additional skeleton or zombie. Additionally, undead you create with Warlock spells and Mystic Arcanum add your Warlock level to their hit point maximums and use your proficiency bonus in place of their own on weapon attack rolls. Also, their weapon attacks count as magical.
Undead Mastery
Prerequisites: The Dead Walk, 7th level
Benefits: Once after each long rest, you can reassert control over undead created by a single Animate Dead spell you cast using a Warlock spell slot without re-casting that spell. (So you will never re-assert control of the undead created by more than one Animate Dead spell this way.) You can still reassert control over any undead beyond this limit by re-casting the spells that created them as normal.
Ghoulcaller
Prerequisites: Pact of the Thrall, 11th level
Benefits: You can use your mystic arcanum to cast undead creation spells. You can expend a mystic arcanum of at least 6th level to cast Create Undead at the level of the expended mystic arcanum. (when you do this, the you do not also cast the mystic arcanum you expended.) You can also cast Create Undead this way to reassert control over undead created by Create Undead spells you cast in this way. (Including ones cast at levels higher than 6th.)