I missed warlocks when they were introduced in 3.5, and I skipped 4e entirely, so I have no idea what these spell casters are about.  I assume that they are 'arcane' casters of some kind?  If so, what distinguishes them from mages (or wizards, or magic-users, or whatever the default quasi-Vancian class is called these days) and sorcerers?

Thanks!

They actually changed the lore between 3.5 and 4e. In 3.5 they were demon spawn. In 4e they were arcanists who received their powers in pacts with otherwordly beings. That's what they are sticking with.

So:

Wizards - Learned magic
Sorcerer - Was born with magic (or fell into a magic fountain or whatever)
Warlock - Traded for magic.

Well, the 5e version from March is this.  I imagine the feel is the same, but there may be some changes on the final version.


Spellcasting:  They could cast spells like mages, however they only had a few total slots, even up to high level.  And the level of the slots didn't vary like a mage.  I.e., they didn't have 4 1st level, 3 second level, etc spells.  A 7th level warlock knew 8 total spells, only had 2 slots, and both slots were cast as 4th level spells (regardless if the spell being cast was a 1st level through 4th level).

However, they also had 3 invocations, which are like class special abilities that don't take up slots at all.  Some invocations increased your at-will eldritch blast, some allowed mage armor at will, some gave other at-will spells, etc.

And then they also had a pact, which gave special abilities depending on the type of pact you made (with a demon, with an ancient fey creature, or "old one" (Cthulhu for example)

Yeah, invocations are the traditional warlock stuff: At-will abilities. Warlocks were the at-will casters in 3.5. The standard evocations every warlock had was Eldritch Blast, that is magic pew-pew.

Now, in 5e everybody has some at-will cantrips, but we can assume that warlocks are better in that regard.

We can also assume some spell slots for usual casting. If so, they will either be half or full casters.That's necessary to make multiclassing work.

In Legend&Lore mearls explained that warlocks will make two choices within their class: The kind and type of the pact. Kind as in, is your sponsor a demon or fey, and type as in: Are you a primary caster, a gish or do you have a pet?

Quote from: 1of3;770779Yeah, invocations are the traditional warlock stuff: At-will abilities. Warlocks were the at-will casters in 3.5. The standard evocations every warlock had was Eldritch Blast, that is magic pew-pew.

Now, in 5e everybody has some at-will cantrips, but we can assume that warlocks are better in that regard.

We can also assume some spell slots for usual casting. If so, they will either be half or full casters.That's necessary to make multiclassing work.

In Legend&Lore mearls explained that warlocks will make two choices within their class: The kind and type of the pact. Kind as in, is your sponsor a demon or fey, and type as in: Are you a primary caster, a gish or do you have a pet?

Book, blade or chain to be exact.

Morlocks were humans who had degenerated into cannibals that maintained a technological society in HG Well's classic The Time Machine. Feeding upon the pastorial hippie communes of the Eloi like savage....

What?

With a "W"?

Oh, that's something else entirely.

*Ahem* Carry on.

Thanks for the answers.  Warlocks sound pretty cool, actually, though I don't understand why they're 'arcane' casters, since they receive their magic from a 'higher power' like clerics (albeit not traditional deities).

Quote from: Marleycat;770807Book, blade or chain to be exact.

What does this mean?

Quote from: Akrasia;770810Thanks for the answers.  Warlocks sound pretty cool, actually, though I don't understand why they're 'arcane' casters, since they receive their magic from a 'higher power' like clerics (albeit not traditional deities).

It's more like scraps of ancient knowledge and forbidden lore than actual invested powers, I reckon. Although elements of that could work too.

Quote from: Akrasia;770811What does this mean?

Pact of the Chain give you access to Find Familiar and a few warlock specific selections (imp, quasit, pseudodragon, pixie), Blade Pact lets you summon a magical melee weapon, and Pact of the Tome buffs your spellcasting with three extra at will cantrips.

Those can all be expanded upon with invocations, and when combined with choice of patron type (Archfey, Fiend, or Great Old One) allows for a pretty wide variety of character gimmicks.

Keep in mind this is all from the leaked phb doc so may not make the final cut.

yep, tomb is more of a specialty that emulates magic users, chain is your traditional warlock with his imp familiar, and blade allows more of a melee warlock

They covered it but expect changes from the playtest version.

That sounds really cool.

Quote from: Akrasia;770810Thanks for the answers.  Warlocks sound pretty cool, actually, though I don't understand why they're 'arcane' casters, since they receive their magic from a 'higher power' like clerics (albeit not traditional deities).

That's in fact a very interesting question. What makes a god a god. Why is Odin a god and Titania is not, even though both can offer the mojo?

If you want a clear distinction, you can make gods much more impersonal. More like cosmic concepts than indiviuduals. Of course, that doesn't really jive with Forgotten Realms.

Quote from: 1of3;770862That's in fact a very interesting question. What makes a god a god. Why is Odin a god and Titania is not, even though both can offer the mojo?

If you want a clear distinction, you can make gods much more impersonal. More like cosmic concepts than indiviuduals. Of course, that doesn't really jive with Forgotten Realms.

Better question might be... Why is Odin directly investing this priest? But this warlock is being taught, instructed and enhanced?

Quote from: Akrasia;770810Thanks for the answers.  Warlocks sound pretty cool, actually, though I don't understand why they're 'arcane' casters, since they receive their magic from a 'higher power' like clerics (albeit not traditional deities).

The best parallel is probably medieval grimoires: more or less all the magic in those books and their descendants involve acquiring magical abilities not directly but through the action of angels and demons and so forth. The distinction between a saint accomplishing these things through faith and a heretic accomplishing them through magic is that the saint is putting himself at the service of god, whilst the wizard is either taking a more transactional approach to the higher powers or outright demanding that the demons and angels put themselves at his service.

So I guess there are two potential answers to "Why aren't Titania and Oberon gods when Minerva and Jupiter are?":

- "Gods" are defined as entities which are the legitimate and rightful recipients of mortal worship. As such, they are able to empower their worshippers in return (or perhaps their worshippers are empowered by the simple act of praying to a rightful god without any further action on the part of the deity in question), whereas Oberon and Titania, because for some cosmic reason they are not rightful recipients of worship, couldn't reward worshippers for the simple act of worship even if they wanted to and have to grant powers by other means.

- "Gods" are defined as entities which grant power in return for prayer and worship. Minerva and Jupiter like worship and give power in exchange, therefore they are recognised as gods. Oberon and Titania are indifferent to the worship of mortals, therefore they are not recognised as gods and if you want them to give you a treat you need to take a different tack. Belial and Lilith actively hold mortal worshippers in contempt and give them just enough rope to hang themselves with, therefore they are seen as demons because over time people have realised that folks who worship those two usually end up doing bad things and coming to bad ends.