The Warlock is maybe my favorite class in terms of flavor. While you're free to come up with a character who has already fulfilled their end of the Pact, you can also make one who still has some duties to perform, and given that Warlocks often make deals with extremely dangerous and potentially evil patrons, such pacts can create big conflicts. When looking at subclasses, we're going to be specifically talking about Patrons, as opposed to Pact Boons, which I think tend to have a smaller impact on the character.
Warlocks are also a very customizable class, thanks to Eldritch Invocations, so some options can play very differently. It's also a very weird kind of pure caster, thanks to the tiny number of spell slots you get. At later levels, the Mystic Arcana ironically start to work more like traditional casting (even a Wizard never gets more than one 8th or 9th level spell slot.)
The subclass-associated spells are also a bit weird, as unlike basically every other class that gives additional spells based on subclass, these are simply added as options for you, and not just granted to you automatically.
Before we even get started, I'll mention that I think of all classes, Warlocks suffer from having one subclass that is overshadowingly powerful. The Hexblade (which we're going to cover in the next post) brings so much to the table at level 1 that I think just about every Warlock character I've seen on any streaming show, and most that I encounter while playing, pick this subclass, which also has, in my mind, the least-defined flavor. It sort of becomes just anything that you want, which is a shame, because I think having a dedicated Shadowfell patron (which the Hexblade kind of hints at) would be really cool (though the Undying and Undead patrons both can fit this as well.) Were I to redesign the class, I'd give the Hexblade's Hex Warrior features (specifically being able to use charisma for attacks with your chosen weapon and getting Medium Armor and Shields) to anyone who takes Pact of the Blade. But that's neither here nor there. Let's start with the early Warlock patrons.
The Archfey:
From the get-go, the Archfey gives you a possibility for a more benign patron, but on the other hand, Fey can be extremely nasty - not only can your patron be a coven of hags, but you could also just have a traditionally handsome elf-prince who just has a 100% alien sense of morals. (The Gentleman with the Thistle-Down Hair from the novel Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel is the best example of this I can think of.) Anyway:
Your expanded spell list has faerie fire, sleep, calm emotions, phantasmal force, blink, plant growth, dominate beast, greater invisibility, dominate person, and seeming. There are some really good ones in here, and I'd highly recommend grabbing faerie fire from the get go.
You also get Fey Presence at level 1. As an action, you can make each creature in a 10 foot cube surrounding you make a wisdom save or become charmed or frightened by you until the end of your next turn (you choose the charm or fear effect). You can do this once per short or long rest. A tad underwhelming, but you are only level 1 when you get this.
At level 6, you get Misty Escape. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to turn invisible (which prevents opportunity attacks) and teleport 60 feet to an unoccupied space you see, staying invisible until the start of your next turn or until you attack or cast a spell (which you're unlikely to do, given that you just used your reaction.) You can use this once per short or long rest. Honestly, this is a pretty good survival ability that can get you out of trouble in a pinch. Pretty good.
At 10, you get Beguiling Defenses. You're immune to the charmed condition, and when another creature attempts to charm you, you can use your reaction to charm them back, forcing a Wisdom save. This lasts 1 minute or until the creature takes damage. Clearly this is situational, but could be hilarious.
Finally, at level 14, you get Dark Delirium. As an action, you force a creature you can see within 60 feet to make a Wisdom save, charming or frightening them (your choice) for one minute on a failure as long as you concentrate, or if they take any damage. Until the illuson ends, the creature thinks it's lost in a misty realm whose appearance you choose. The creature can only see and hear itself and the illusion. While flavorfully amazing, this feels kind of redundant with just about all your other subclass features, though I guess that means you can use each of them once per rest.
There's a lot of repetition here, and if you encounter foes that can't be charmed or frightened, nearly all of your subclass features are worthless. So it's a bit underwhelming.
Next, we have the Fiend - the ultimate, classic Warlock, who has made a quite literally Faustian deal (though I suppose you could have a Yugoloth, Demon, or other non-Devil fiend as your patron.)
Your expanded spell list has burning hands, command, blindness/deafness, scorching ray, fireball, stinking cloud, fire shield, wall of fire, flame strike, and hallow. I mean... you get fireball. Hard to argue.
At level 1 you get Dark One's Blessing. When you reduce a hostile creature to 0 hit points, you get temp HP equal to your Charisma modifier plus your Warlock level (minimum of 1 hit point.) With no limit on this, this could potentially give you a nice big shield consistently.
At level 6, you get Dark One's Own Luck. If you make an ability check or saving throw, you can add 1d10 to the roll after you see the roll but before you hear whether it succeeded or not. And you can use this once per short or long rest. Adding on average 5.5 to a roll of this kind could be a lifesaver, though once per rest is a bit marginal.
At 10, you get Fiendish Resilience. On a short or long rest, you can choose a damage type and get resistance to it until you choose a different one with this feature. Damage from magical or silvered weapons ignores this resistance. Setting aside that many monsters have nonmagical weapons, this could also be fantastic as preparation for a dragon fight (just choose the appropriate damage type,) and can even be useful in environmental challenges, picking fire resistance to avoid exhaustion in extreme heat or cold resistance in extreme cold. Versatile and easily changed, this is quite good.
At 14, you get Hurl Through Hell, which is maybe the most metal class feature name (and ability). When you hit a creature with an attack, you can use the feature to instantly transport it to the lower planes, and it then hurtles through a nightmare landscape. At the end of your next turn, the target returns to the space it previously occupied, or the nearest one if that space is full, and if it's not a fiend, it takes 10d10 psychic damage. You get this once per long rest. But this is both great crowd control (which can also set up your party to ready a bunch of attacks) and great damage, cool as hell (literally.) Even if the target's a fiend, getting rid of them for a round can be huge.
So, honestly, Fiendish warlocks are actually pretty damn good, and I'm shocked that we don't see more of them.
Now, the Great Old One.
I'll confess that I have a soft spot for this one - my first ever D&D character was/is a Great Old One Warlock. And while I think the flavor of the GOOlock is maybe my favorite, my general sense is that, mechanically, it is severely lacking.
Your expanded spell list has dissonant whispers, Tahsa's hideous laughter, detect thoughts, phantasmal force, clairvoyance, sending, dominate beast, Evard's black tentacles, dominate person and telekinesis. I actually kind of love that they get Sending, and there's a lot that makes sense flavorfully here, but I don't know that any of these spells are real powerhouses.
At level 1, you get Awakened Mind, which lets you telepathically communicate to a creature you can see within 30 feet, as long as that creature understands at least one language. Bafflingly, this technically only works one way, which means that while you get explain what the party wants to that Bugbear, you can't actually understand what they say in response unless you speak Goblin. And that's it at level 1.
At level 6, you get Entropic Ward. When a creature makes an attack roll against you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack. If that then misses, you get advantage on your next attack roll against that creature if you make it before the end of your next turn. And you can use this once per short or long rest. This is...frustratingly weak utility that only conditionally gives you advantage on a single attack.
At level 10, you get Thought Shield. Your thoughts cannot be read by telepathy or other means unless you allow it. You also have resistance to psychic damage and if you take psychic damage, the creature that dealt it takes the same amount that you do. This, I actually think is very cool, if a bit niche. I like the idea of scaring the crap out of the big bad wizard who is trying to read your thoughts ("Oh, no. I'm afraid that those thoughts would be far too much for your weak mind to handle.")
Finally, at level 14, you get Create Thrall. As an action, you can touch an incapacitated humanoid. The creature is charmed by you until removed with remove curse or some other charm-breaking spell, or until you use the feature again. You can also communicate telepathically with the charmed person if you're on the same plane of existence. I have mixed feelings about this: on one hand, a no-save permanent charm on a person is pretty insane. But charmed is not dominated or even the same as suggestion. I like the idea of turning a foe into a spy for you, or but it's a niche situation, and not as flashy as the other patrons' ultimates.
Overall, I really wish the Great Old One patron was better. We get some of the same ideas tried again in the Aberrant Mind Sorcerer, which I think mostly does it better, though I think I might prefer the mechanics and flavor of the warlock better.
Finally, we come to the Undying Patron. This oft-overlooked SCAG-only patron is... weird. It's clearly meant to represent some kind of undead being like a lich, but it goes out of its way not to say that - allowing it to be just any long-lived being that has evaded death, which could even include a wizard who just uses clone spells to regenerate if they get old. The release of the Undead patron with Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft sort of cements this subclass as a "deep cut," but let's look at it on its own terms, shall we?
Your expanded spell list includes false life, ray of sickness, blindness/deafness, silence, feign death, speak with dead, aura of life, death ward, contagion, and legend lore. There's actually some solid utility here, but nothing super flashy.
At level 1, you get Among the Dead. First, you learn spare the dying, which counts as a warlock cantrip for you (there's no mention of this not counting against your cantrip limit, which they usually include, but it's possible SCAG was just not up to the same editorial standards.) Secondly, undead have to succeed on a Wisdom save in order to attack you, though they become immune to this effect for 24 hours if they succeed or if you target them with an attack or harmful spell (does blindness count as harmful?) Obviously, the sanctuary-like effect is useless if you're not fighting undead, but they are also a pretty common creature type.
At level 6, you can, once per long rest, regain hit points equal to 1d8 plus your Con modifier (minimum of 1) when you either succeed on a death save or stabilize a creature with spare the dying. Being able to pop back into the fight after you go unconscious without needing someone to heal you can be really big, though of course you generally don't want anyone going unconscious in the first place.
At 10, you get Undying Nature. You can hold your breath indefinitely and no longer need food, water, or sleep (though you still need to at least rest to avoid exhaustion and can benefit from a rest). You also age 10 times slower (similar to the druid feature) and cannot be aged magically. This is nearly entirely flavorful, though in any tough wilderness survival scenario the lack of need for food or water could be very helpful - plus, you're ideal for keeping watch without the need for sleep (there's an entire eldritch invocation you're nearly getting for free.)
Finally, at level 14, you get Indestructible Life. Once per short or long rest, you can use a bonus action to regain hit points equal to 1d8 plus your warlock level. Also, if you put a severed body part in place when you heal in this way, it reattaches. Which is... super gross and only very marginally useful, but cool. Basically this is just Warlock Second Wind, which is a very nice feature for Fighters.
I'll admit that Undying is not as terrible as I had remembered it being. I think in part I wanted it to be bad to make the Great Old One patron not dead last. I think the Undead patron from Van Richten's is probably better, but still - this isn't that terrible.
I do think that these subclasses demonstrate a bit of the conservative design philosophy in the early stages of 5th Edition. Next post, we'll confront the insane overpoweredness of the level 1 Hexblade, while also going over the Celestial (which is actually quite good as well!) I think we'll cover the Tasha's and Van Richten's one in the post after that. Of these four oldest ones, I still think the Fiend is the one that comes out strongest, mechanically, and can probably hold its own against some of the newer subclasses. One could argue that the Fathomless patron in Tasha's is a bit like the Undead patron, giving you another option for a Cthulhu-like patron. I guess I don't think it 100% fits because not all Great Old Ones are pelagic monstrosities beneath the waves - I like the more otherworldly, beyond the stars, madness-induing theme of the GOO, and just wish that it was more mechanically interesting and good.
No comments:
Post a Comment