4E Warlock- War Pact

[chronoplasm]

War Pact
You have forged a bargain with war itself.
Hungry Steel: You know the hungry steel at-will spell.
Wicked Weapon: You have the Wicked Weapon pact boon. When an enemy under your Warlock's Curse is reduced to 0 hit points or fewer, your weapon gets a +3 bonus to attack and damage on your next attack.

Hungry Steel Warlock (War) Attack 1
"I can't taste your blood from all the way back there."
At-Will. Arcane, Weapon, Implement, Teleportation
Standard Action, Ranged 10
Target: One creature
Attack: Constitution vs. AC
Hit: 1[W]+Constitution modifier damage and you teleport to any square adjacent to the target.

Psychotic Grasp Warlock (War) Attack 1
Encounter. Arcane, Weapon, Implement
Standard Action, Ranged 10
Target: One creature of size Large or smaller
Attack: Constitution vs. Fortitude.
Hit: 2d8+Intelligence modifier damage, and you pull the target 2 squares.
War Pact: Your weapon gets +3 to attack and damage the next time you attack.

Armor of Otiv Warlock (War) Attack 1
Daily. Arcane, Weapon.
Standard Action, Personal
Effect: You gain temporary hit points equal to 10+your intelligence modifier. Until the end of the encounter, an enemy that starts its turn adjacent to you takes 1[W] damage.


...that's all I have at the moment. What do you think so far?

[NecroRebel]

War Pact
You have forged a bargain with war itself.
Hungry Steel: You know the hungry steel at-will spell.
Wicked Weapon: You have the Wicked Weapon pact boon. When an enemy under your Warlock's Curse is reduced to 0 hit points or fewer, your weapon gets a +3 bonus to attack and damage on your next attack.

Way, WAY too powerful. Compare the Star Pact boon, which gives +1 to a d20 roll during your next turn for each cursed foe that drops. Yours gives the equivalent of 3 Star-cursed enemies dropping, plus a +3 damage boost, for each creature you kill, and as written it lasts until it is used. Make it +1 to attack and damage to your next attack until the end of your next turn and it might be balanced.

Hungry Steel Warlock (War) Attack 1
"I can't taste your blood from all the way back there."
At-Will. Arcane, Weapon, Implement, Teleportation
Standard Action, Ranged 10
Target: One creature
Attack: Constitution vs. AC
Hit: 1[W]+Constitution modifier damage and you teleport to any square adjacent to the target.

Weapon or implement. Not both. As written, if you have a +1 Pact Dagger, you would get Con mod + 1/2 level +3 proficiency +1 weapon enhancement +1 implement enhancement. Not a good thing, as that scales far faster than enemy AC; I'd suggest dropping the Weapon keyword and making it target Reflex or Fortitude.

Psychotic Grasp Warlock (War) Attack 1
Encounter. Arcane, Weapon, Implement
Standard Action, Ranged 10
Target: One creature of size Large or smaller
Attack: Constitution vs. Fortitude.
Hit: 2d8+Intelligence modifier damage, and you pull the target 2 squares.
War Pact: Your weapon gets +3 to attack and damage the next time you attack.

+3 attack is far, far too much. Also, Weapon Implement powers are a no-no, as layed out above. Other than that, it's essentially a slightly weaker form of the Infernal power Diabolic Grasp, so maybe change the War Pact bonus to +(one of your non-Con attribute modifiers) damage and otherwise keep it the same. Generally, pact bonuses to specific powers rely on one of your otherwise non-essential attributes, particularly Intelligence. Scratch that, always Intelligence, at least in the PHB.

Armor of Otiv Warlock (War) Attack 1
Daily. Arcane, Weapon.
Standard Action, Personal
Effect: You gain temporary hit points equal to 10+your intelligence modifier. Until the end of the encounter, an enemy that starts its turn adjacent to you takes 1[W] damage.

This reminds me strongly of the Fighter power Reaper's Stance... Reaper's Stance also deals 1W damage to enemies that start their turn adjacent to you (though also 10 ongoing, but only if you're capable of making opportunity attacks). Reaper's Stance is a level 25 daily. This is not a level 1 power.

...that's all I have at the moment. What do you think so far?

Balance issues. Balance issues, balance issues, balance issues. Rebalance, heavily, and your good ideas might just be implemented well and so usable in a normal game. As is, the War Pact is a no-brainer for any Warlock who wants to be effective in battle, as its power absolutely crushes all the other pacts.

[Enlong]

So, we have:
Infernlocks,
Feylocks,
Starlocks,
Darklocks,
and now..
...
Warlocks.

[Optimystik]

So, we have:
Infernlocks,
Feylocks,
Starlocks,
Darklocks,
and now..
...
Warlocks.

Pactlocks?

Or maybe... Warwarlocks!

[Mewtarthio]

How does one forge a pact with war itself? I'm currently picturing an epic, raging battle, with some random guy in glasses wandering around in the chaos, asking in a small voice, "Excuse me? Excuse me? Would anybody like my soul?"

[Enlong]

Great... now we need a Peace pact, whose rites include a lot of... "alchemical herbs"...
"Peace man!"

[Mewtarthio]

Great... now we need a Peace pact, whose rites include a lot of... "alchemical herbs"...
"Peace man!"

How would that work out with a Twofold Pact? "I rebelled against my dark and brooding ancestors by selling my soul to the concept of Peace itself! Then I realized that peace is ridiculously boring, so I tried reselling my soul to War. Now I have to please both masters by destroying entire nations, then apologizing and rebuilding everything. It's very confusing."

[Enlong]

How would that work out with a Twofold Pact? "I rebelled against my dark and brooding ancestors by selling my soul to the concept of Peace itself! Then I realized that peace is ridiculously boring, so I tried reselling my soul to War. Now I have to please both masters by destroying entire nations, then apologizing and rebuilding everything. It's very confusing."

"dude... Did I just, break your city? Sorry man; musta had too much peace-weed. Tell ya what, I'll rebuild it for ya. Let's see"*zow!*"come to think of it, a finger-gun aint' exactly the best thing for a warrior of peace"
What is this "twofold pact? I can't find it in the PHB under feats"

[chronoplasm]

Heh.
This was done partly as just a joke, but partly because I want to make a warlock pact that focuses on weapons and melee attacks.

Heres an idea though... what if your powers with this pact focus on materializing magical weapons and armor out of pure malice.

STEEL PACT
You have made a pact with the Iron Witch, giving you the power to forge weapons and armor from the souls of your enemies.

Soul Sword: When an enemy under your warlock's curse is reduced to 0 hit points, you gain +2 to your next attack until the end of your next turn and that attack gains the brutal keyword.

Fire Brand Warlock (Steel) Attack 1
"You shape fire in your hands to create a flaming sword."
At-Will. Arcane, Implement, Fire
Standard Action
Target: One creature
Attack: Constitution vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d8+Constitution modifier fire damage and the target gets a -2 penalty to AC until the end of your next turn.

[Mewtarthio]

What is this "twofold pact? I can't find it in the PHB under feats"

I recall in showing up in a preview (I think it was the Forgotten Realms PHB). It's a Tiefling Paragon Racial Feat that does pretty much what the name implies.

[KKL]

I recall in showing up in a preview (I think it was the Forgotten Realms PHB). It's a Tiefling Paragon Racial Feat that does pretty much what the name implies.

It's in a Dragon article, errataed to require being an actual Warlock, not multiclassed into a Warlock. There's also a trivial stat requirement, I think.

[Siegel]

So, we have:
Infernlocks,
Feylocks,
Starlocks,
Darklocks,
and now..
...
Warlocks.

The next one is Dreadlocks

[thisisaspace]

The next one is Dreadlocks

does that... make a pact with the eternal turmoils of the universe? that sounds prtty cool, actually.

[YPU]

And deadlocks...

to the OP, its not that your original powers were wrong, they however had balancing problems. the powers you sugested later are more balanced but a lot les interesting, 4e does seem to loose coolnes in order to get balance ofthen enough (no, were not going to get into 4e good/bad here) I think that you should stick to the old power, but nerf it, the new pact boon seems cool, but does it stack with a brutal weapon?

[Lord Herman]

Gridlocks, who wield the power of really bad traffic? Or possibly warlocks that have forged a pact with time itself: the dreaded c-locks?

[YPU]

Wedlocks, that does actually have some merit to it I suppose. Hm, I think this one would be good to have some ability to use any weapon as a implement, much like the spellblade. But that’s really a powerful ability. Perhaps that would be a good pact boon?
Soul weapon: When an enemy under your warlock's curse is reduced to 0 hit points, you may use your weapon as an implement until the end of your next turn, your weapon also gains the brutal 1 ability, this does not increase or decrease the stats of a weapon that already has the brutal ability.

This way you can use your old at will power and make it only implement. Perhaps that power should be 1d6 + con and special: [w]+con when pact boon is in effect.

[KKL]

Wedlocks, that does actually have some merit to it I suppose. Hm, I think this one would be good to have some ability to use any weapon as a implement, much like the spellblade. But that’s really a powerful ability. Perhaps that would be a good pact boon?
Soul weapon: When an enemy under your warlock's curse is reduced to 0 hit points, you may use your weapon as an implement until the end of your next turn, your weapon also gains the brutal 1 ability, this does not increase or decrease the stats of a weapon that already has the brutal ability.

This way you can use your old at will power and make it only implement. Perhaps that power should be 1d6 + con and special: [w]+con when pact boon is in effect.

Actually, the ability to make any weapon an implement would be an extremely interesting ability if done right. Just remove the proficiency bonus if you're going to stick to the Warlock's targetting of the non AC defenses.

to the OP, its not that your original powers were wrong, they however had balancing problems. the powers you sugested later are more balanced but a lot les interesting, 4e does seem to loose coolnes in order to get balance ofthen enough (no, were not going to get into 4e good/bad here) I think that you should stick to the old power, but nerf it, the new pact boon seems cool, but does it stack with a brutal weapon?

Yes, 4e rather steps a bit on the toes of creativity for balance. Sad, but it had to be done to a degree. Although about the brutal part, no, brutal does not stack. ie, somehow applying brutal 1 on a weapon twice would render it STILL brutal 1, instead of brutal 2.

[Roderick_BR]

How would that work out with a Twofold Pact? "I rebelled against my dark and brooding ancestors by selling my soul to the concept of Peace itself! Then I realized that peace is ridiculously boring, so I tried reselling my soul to War. Now I have to please both masters by destroying entire nations, then apologizing and rebuilding everything. It's very confusing."

Fight for ever-lasting peace!

To the OP: I actually like the Hungry Steel power, as it allows you to quickly close in to an enemy.

[chronoplasm]

Soul weapon: When an enemy under your warlock's curse is reduced to 0 hit points, you may use your weapon as an implement until the end of your next turn, your weapon also gains the brutal 1 ability, this does not increase or decrease the stats of a weapon that already has the brutal ability.

Now that I like.

What do you guys think of this?

Lesson in Pain Warlock (War) Attack 1
Encounter. Fear, Fire, Implement, Brutal 2
Target: One creature
Attack: Constitution vs. Will
Hit: 1d6+Constitution modifier fear damage and the target gets -2 to attacks against you until the end of encounter.

[Shadow_Elf]

Now that I like.

What do you guys think of this?

Lesson in Pain Warlock (War) Attack 1
Encounter. Fear, Fire, Implement, Brutal 2
Target: One creature
Attack: Constitution vs. Will
Hit: 1d6+Constitution modifier fear damage and the target gets -2 to attacks against you until the end of encounter.

Powers don't get Brutal 2 (and even if they did, it would not be a keyword)
It is a weapon feature described in the AV, and much like a spell cannot be "off-hand" or "high crit", a spell cannot have "brutal 2" as a keyword.

[NecroRebel]

Now that I like.

What do you guys think of this?

Lesson in Pain Warlock (War) Attack 1
Encounter. Fear, Fire, Implement, Brutal 2
Target: One creature
Attack: Constitution vs. Will
Hit: 1d6+Constitution modifier fear damage and the target gets -2 to attacks against you until the end of encounter.

As Shadow Elf says, "Brutal 2" is not a power keyword. I feel I should also point out that there is no such thing as "Fear" damage, so far there are no Fire-keyword powers that do not deal fire damage that I am aware of, and there are no encounter powers that give a penalty until the end of the encounter that I am aware of. Drop the Fire and Brutal 2 keywords, make the damage type psychic, make the penalty to attacks until the end of your next turn, and mimic the wording of the Brutal weapon property as an add-on to your power's effect so that you reroll 1s or 2s on damage rolls, and it will have proper formatting and abilities.

At that point, it may also be better to increase the damage to 1d8+Con or maybe even 1d10+Con; 1d6+Con, even 1d6+Con reroll1-2, is weak compared to the other Warlock 1 Encounter powers, which all deal 2d6 or 2d8 +Con or Cha. Compare Witchfire, which deals 2d6+Cha and gives -2 to attack rolls (or -2+Int for feylocks) until end next turn. Yours gives -2 to attack rolls against you until end next turn, and with 1d10+Con reroll1-2 would average 6.5 damage if I remember my probability mathematics correctly to Witchfire's 7... OK, yours is a bit weak then. Hard to say what to do with it without making a Witchfire clone.

In general, it seems to me that you aren't really comparing the powers you make to the other same-level PHB or WotC powers, and it's throwing your balance way off. That's why making classes, or even just a variant warlock pact, is so insanely difficult: you have to compare and contrast everything with everything to make sure things are roughly the same power level. If there is ever a case where you say to yourself, "given the choice between this power I made and one of the powers in the book, I would always choose the power I made," then that tells you that the power you made is too strong and needs to be toned down.