Warlock

A Warlock preparing to do battle

### Subclasses

Pact with an Archfey, Pact with a Fiend, Pact with a Great Old One, Pact with a Celestial, Pact with the Hexblade, Pact with the Undying.

## Overview

A warlock is an arcane spellcaster who gains power through pacts with powerful entities, most commonly devils, elder evils of the Far Realm, fey, or demons. These pacts allow warlocks to channel powerful abilities of arcane might that would otherwise be closed to them. The can call upon invocations to unleash magical abilities without pause. Most warlocks are also skilled fighters, trained in some form of melee combat, though not nearly as strong as a dedicated fighter.

The Warlock's primary ability is *Charisma*, followed by *Constitution*.

## Class Stats

**Hit/Hp Dice:** d8

**Saving Throws:** Wisdom, Charisma

### Proficiencies

**Armor:** Light

**Weapons:** Simple

**Tools:** None

**Skills:** 2 from Arcana, Deception, History, Intimidation, Investigation, Nature or Religion

## Key Abilities

Warlocks are able to make use of the following skills that define their ability as Warlocks

* *Eldritch Invocations*, ancient and mostly forgotten scraps of knowledge that allow the Warlock to cast spells and create effects at will or at no cost.
* *Pact Boon*, a gift from the pact patron that imparts effects like controlling a familiar, bonding with a magical weapon or a spell book readable only by the Warlock.
* *Mystic Arcanum*, a powerful spell gifted to the Warlock by their patron and imbued with powerful related effects.
* *Eldritch Master*, the Warlock can receive restorative blessing from their patron in order to cast spells once more without rest.

## Pacts (Subclasses)

Warlocks gain their powers from a deal with a powerful being. This being can be a being of good, such as a Fey creature, of evil, such as a demon/devil or one of unknown origin.

### Pact with an Archfey

Fey pact warlocks, which are among the fewest in number of all warlocks, forgo the obvious dangers of dealing with devils or the forbidding mystery that surrounds the star pact but instead deal with powerful, supernatural forces of the Feywild. Such spirits of the natural world may be menacing or simply capricious in their dealings with mortals of the Material Plane. Some might be faerie-like dryads or sylphs while others are less easily defined, more like incarnations of nature than anything else. Many of the sponsors of warlocks seeking the fey pact are dangerous archfey, such as the Queen of Air and Darkness or other such Unseelie fey, although a few receive their powers from the more benevolent Seelie fey.
The magic bestowed upon fey pact warlocks can be enchanting, while retaining the savage lethality common to the Feywild. Typical spells may charm a foe or burn them alive, reflecting the often fickle nature of the fey. Often such invocations require the wielder to have a high level of natural presence and charm, with which they can hold their own in negotiations with the wily and often deceptive beings. Additionally, fey pact warlocks with a measure of fey blood may also demonstrate a natural affinity for flora and fauna, allowing them to locate hidden wildlife with relative ease.

### Pact with a Fiend

Warlocks of the infernal pact, the most commonly sworn of all the pacts, are those arcanists who forge dealings with the devils of the Nine Hells, often exchanging their souls to a powerful devil in exchange for temporal power. Other warlocks of the infernal pact seek forbidden knowledge given to the mortal world by devils but since forgotten over time.
Infernal pact warlocks may lose much from their literal bargain with the devil, but what they gain is vast. Warlocks who successfully learn how to wield the powers of the Nine Hells can turn the life force of enemies against them, and can master the fires of Baator for their own purposes. These powers include tormenting foes with visions of hell and gaining resistance to particular types of damage. Additionally, infernal warlocks with fiendish heritage may find their spells may be unusually effective against celestials or other truly good creatures.

### Pact with a Great Old One

So-called star pact warlocks forge their arcane alliances with the unknowable and alien forces of the Far Realm. Star pact warlocks often form these deals without a direct connection, interacting with the elder evils through the intermediary of ancient stars of the void, learning the secret names of those celestial objects that act as doorways into the Far Realm.

In some cases, star pact warlocks are unaware of how strongly these stars are connected to the dark powers of the Far Realm and are guided to their pact through haunting nightmares. Such warlocks might view the source of their powers as innocent or at the very least under their control. Others are fully aware of the connection and exploit it anyway, either due to insanity or sheer ambition. Still others view these pacts, if they're even aware of them, with an even higher degree of suspicion than normal warlocks warrant, since the aberrant powers of the Far Realm are more horrific than any devil or fey spirit.

Regardless of their motivations or even awareness about the nature of their powers, star pact warlocks gain much from such dalliances, including degrees of prescience and powerful spells infused with radiant energy that inspire fear in the arcanist's enemies.

### Pact with a Celestial

Your patron is a powerful being of the Upper Planes. You have bound yourself to an ancient empyrean, solar, kirin, or unicorn or to another entity that resides in the planes of everlasting bliss. Your pact with that being allows you to experience the barest touch of the holy light that illuminates the multiverse. Being connected to such power can cause changes in your behavior and beliefs. You might find yourself driven to annihilate the undead, to defeat fiends, and to protect the innocent. At times, your heart might also be filled with a longing for the celestial realm of your patron, a desire to wander that paradise for the rest of your days. But you know that your mission is among mortals for now and that your pact binds you to bring light to the dark places of the world.

Bound to a Celestial being, the warlock can call upon divine light to heal allies with a touch, resist radiant damage and even deal bonus damage with radiant light and fire magic, give temporary life to allies and themselves with every rest and even spring back to life and damage foes in a burst of light when on the brink of death.

### Pact with the Hexblade

You have made your pact with a mysterious entity from the
 Shadowfell – a force that manifests in sentient magic weapons carved
from the stuff of shadow. The mighty sword *Blackrazor* is the most
notable of these weapons, which have been spread across the multiverse
over the ages. The shadowy force behind these weapons can offer power to
 warlocks who form pacts with it. Many hexblade warlocks create weapons
that emulate those formed in the Shadowfell. Others forgo such arms,
content to weave the dark magic of that plane into their spellcasting.
Being linked to the mysterious Hexblade, the warlock can curse enemies which grants them heightened combat powers against them, gain proficiency with additional weapons and armors, use their charisma modifiers on their weapon attacks instead of strength/dexterity, bind specters of slain foes to their service, avoid attacks from cursed targets altogether and even move the curse from enemy to enemy as needed.

### Pact with the Undying

Death holds no sway over your patron, who has unlocked
the secrets of everlasting life, although such a prize – like all power –
 comes at a price. Once immortal, the Undying has seen mortal lifetimes
pass like the seasons, like the flicker of endless days and nights. It
has the secrets of the ages to share, secrets of life and death.

Holding this pact, the warlock can resist disease, force undead to avoid targeting them, heal themselves or allies on sucessful death saving throws, immunity to magical aging and naturally age at tenth speed, they no longer need to eat, drink or breath to survive and even reattach severed limbs plus regenerate health.

## Notable Warlocks

* Griffon Lamora, a Warlock bound with a Great Old One, and a performer of the lute.