Timebender - Time Lord Warlock Patron

[iTookUrNick]

The Time Lord

Not that kind of doctor...

Foreword
I came up with this for a very specific campaign that involves heists and time loops, pushing storytelling in new, possibly recursive, directions. I thought the Playground could help me complete this class and refine it, as well as point out any glaring inconsistencies and pitfalls both with it and with a time-travel campaign.
Please note: the first level ability is not 'balanced' against other available options. In fact, it is way better than any other I can think of, and it would make a fine 14th level 'capstone' ability usable once per long rest with a single 'rewind'. It was originally devised as a single ability for a key NPC, but then decided it was better to cut the 'middleman' and give it to one of the PCs. It might be worth it to make a separate 'balanced' version for regular play, if such a thing is even possible.

The Time Lord
You have gained access to the powers of an entity of incommensurate stature, capable of encompassing all the infinite realities within itself. The Time Lord is an uncaring patron, more cosmic force than wilful being, and those who learn to harness its power are called Timebenders.

Expanded Spell List
The Time Lord lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.

1st	?,?
2nd	?,?
3rd	Haste, Slow
4th	?,?
5th	?,?

Bend Time
Starting at 1st level, you gain the ability to bend time. As an action that provokes attacks of opportunity, you can set up a time beacon. While you concentrate, you explore a possible reality for up to 10 minutes per warlock level. At any point during this duration, you can use an action to confirm your current situation, collapsing the probability wave function into reality. If at any point you lose concentration, your subjective reality reverts to the time beacon. If that happens, this ability is not 'spent', but can be used again with the same beacon.
Only you and any number of willing creatures you touch while setting up the time beacon remain automatically aware of what happened in an unconfirmed reality. However, there is a low chance for this awareness to 'bleed through' to other creatures, possibly affecting their behaviour. This chances increases with multiple parallel uses of this ability and with longer contacts with designated creatures.
This power registers as a Divination effect when using detect magic or similar abilities.

Timeskip
Starting at 6th level, you can use your patron's powers to hurl a creature forward in time. As a standard action, you can target one creature you can see within 30 feet of you. That creature disappears for 1d4 rounds; any effect active on that creature is suspended for the duration. Unwilling creature can make a Wisom saving throw to negate this effect. You can use this feature on yourself, but doing so breaks your concentration.

In the nick of time
At 10th level, your control over your timeskip ability increases, becoming almost second nature to you. You can use your timeskip ability on yourself as a reaction, for example to avoid an attack.

Still Time
Starting at 14th level, you can channel the Time Lord’s power to slow time to a standstill, at least for you. You can cast Time Stop, except it only last 1d4 rounds. After you cast the spell with this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest. You can't use this feature while bending time.

Eldritch Invocations
Time and Again
Prerequisite: Time Lord Patron, bend time ability
You can use the bend time ability one extra time per short rest.

Back in Time
Prerequisite: Time Lord Patron
As a bonus action, you can teleport to any place you've been to that you can see and that is within 30ft of your current position.

Eldritch Timing
Prerequisite: Time Lord Patron, timeskip ability, eldritch blast cantrip
As a bonus action, you can affect one creature you hit with your eldritch blast with your timeskip ability.

Double Time
Prerequisite: Time Lord Patron, back in time invocation, level 15
When collapsing a given reality, you can decide to go back an explore another one, then merge the two. Subjectively, you and the people you designated when you started bending time return to the time beacon one round after your former selves. You and your 'other selves' cannot interact directly in any way: you are invisible to your other selves, and they appear as faint outlines to you. Any attempt to drastically change events you witnessed during the first reality automatically fail. Minor changes, such as deflected blows, might carry over and affect your current selves. You need not follow your own footsteps and might in fact have more leeway in your actions away from your other selves. As you are simply catching up with time, you do not need to maintain concentration or collapse the reality wave function when you are done; however, you cannot bend time any further and all other restrictions regarding time bending still apply. You need to complete a long rest before using this ability again.

[JeenLeen]

Could you write an example of Bend Time in action? I'm seeing a few ways it could be interpreted.

It sounds something like
1) use action to establish the time beacon and now
2) for X minutes, you and the party can explore as if it was real life (and likewise, things can make you lose concentration)*. This exploration is effectively imaginary at this point. If concentration is lost (including by dropping concentration), you revert back to the beacon like nothing happened (but retain memories)**
3) if you spend an action, you can make the time spent exploring into real life. (Doing so nullifies the beacon.)

*one big question is, can you lose concentration if an ogre hits you while this is just exploration, not reality? Would being killed revert to the beacon?\
**at DM discretion, NPCs may retain memories if you time-loop a lot, to prevent players from taking advantage

[iTookUrNick]

I think you got it quite right, which makes me quite happy.

As for your comments:
* Yes, absolutely: I expect taking damage and status effects such as being knocked unconscious will be the most likely ways for the time bending effect to break. As for Death... well, since it is an exercise of imagination, it should work the same way. We can think it as the ultimate status effect. In order not to trivialise it, experiencing could make you Shaken on a Wisdom save, or might get you in trouble with the Inevitables...
** Indeed. I do expect to have PCs to make multiple 'runs' whenever they use the ability for something 'big' (that's the intended use, not abuse), but I would not have them replay things over and over until they get a perfect run. This way they are incentivised to do it right the first few times.

[Red Bear]

To complete the list of spells that deal with time manipulation I wanted to link you a thread where someone was asking advice on a build for time police officers NPCs but I can't find it anywhere :( anyway really cool concept :)

[Twizzly513]

I made a time cleric subclass, and here's what I used for the domain spells:

1st level spells: feather fall, zephyr strike (zephyr is in XGtE)
2nd level spells: hold person, mirror image
3rd level spells: slow, haste (obviously )
4th level spells: confusion, dimension door
5th level spells: hold monster, banishing smite