Some lighthearted ideas about warlock pact boon buffs

[whateew]

These are some homebrew changes I've been thinking of implementing - I wanted to give the warlock some gentle buffs (in particular the pact of the blade), and I'd love to hear your thoughts n feedback. I know warlocks don't really need buffs generally, but I thought these were fairly light...

Pact of the blade:
I'm thinking of adding that you can use your CHA modifier instead of your DEX mod for AC calculations.

My thoughts here are that pact of the blade is combat focused in nature - it makes sense that it would give a bladelock an edge over other boons. Further, this doesn't really buff the hexblade, but doesn't steal its identity either - in medium armour, they might as well have +2 DEX for initiative - but the average warlock is stuck in light armour, for whom this could help in combat a fair amount.

Pact of the Tome:
I'm considering adding an expertise / advantage in one of the following - arcana, religion, nature or history (depending on your pact), as long as you have your tome open to consult

While already strong, I wanted to lean into the arcane knowledge vibe here. Warlocks get a lot of intelligence skills they cant really use, and I think it'd be nice to open them up a bit more, albeit in a limited capacity. Given that arcana clerics get more, earlier, and so does a rogue multiclass, I figured this wouldn't break anything.

Pact of the Chain:
I'm considering adding: whenever you receive an ASI, your familiar can receive one too.

Having a familiar that doesn't grow alongside you is a bit sad to me, and I thought this was a relatively tame way of bolstering them. However, the concept of a pixie sharpshooter is somewhat scary, so perhaps this might be a bit too bold.


What are your thoughts?
Is the pact of the blade idea too outlandish, either conceptually or mechanically? And should I add that you can use CHA for your attack and damage rolls too?
Is the tome idea too strong? Should I have the expertise replace one cantrip (possibly allowing you multiple expertises the more cantrips you sacrifice?)
And would the chain idea have any OP combos? Should the ASI be lost when the familiar dies, or should it stick around with reincarnations since it's tied to the warlocks power?

[Mastikator]

A Hexblade using CHA instead of DEX for AC calculations is a bit too much if you ask me. Hexblades are already really good.

[Amnestic]

Pact of the blade:
I'm thinking of adding that you can use your CHA modifier instead of your DEX mod for AC calculations.

My thoughts here are that pact of the blade is combat focused in nature - it makes sense that it would give a bladelock an edge over other boons. Further, this doesn't really buff the hexblade, but doesn't steal its identity either - in medium armour, they might as well have +2 DEX for initiative - but the average warlock is stuck in light armour, for whom this could help in combat a fair amount.

If I'm a warlock who likes eldritch blast and isn't particularly enamoured with the other two pacts this lets me dump dex and just focus on Cha+Con while playing a beamspammer, which is a perfectly viable build if I'm dropping a nice concentration spell like a summon or something.

While not necessarily a problem balance wise, it doesn't make much sense for a pact of the blade focused around special weapon bonds to give an incentive that has nothing to do with actually wielding weapons, and arguably works 'better' if you're not a hexblade (since you're getting more cha to AC otherwise). Mechanically it's probably fine. Narratively it's iffy, to me at least.



Pact of the Tome:

Seems fine to me. I wouldn't base it on patron though, just let the player pick when they take the tomepact.



Pact of the Chain:
I'm considering adding: whenever you receive an ASI, your familiar can receive one too.

Having a familiar that doesn't grow alongside you is a bit sad to me, and I thought this was a relatively tame way of bolstering them. However, the concept of a pixie sharpshooter is somewhat scary, so perhaps this might be a bit too bold.

ASI feels weird, I'd probably give it extra HP equal to your warlock level and your profbonus as bonus damage on attacks (like the wildfire druid wildfire elemental). Just a little boost so that they're not quite as squishy and hit a little harder. Synergises fine with the Investment of the Chain Master invocation from tasha's too.

You could also add a When your familiar attacks, it uses either its own attack modifier or your spell attack modifier for the attack roll whichever is higher as well? Chances are it'll always be your spell attack modifier but accounts for weird edge cases I suppose.