Warlock

The lure of power is a siren call, singing to the downtrodden and oppressed, the outcast and the exiled. The dregs of society hunger for power; the power to destroy their oppressors, to take vengeance upon those who cast them out, and make a new, better place for themselves in the world. Yet those who have it are not immune to its wiles. Men of wealth and stature, already of great power, ever crave more. They seek the power to subjugate, to dominate and control beyond their wildest dreams. Others seek power for a nobler cause, looking to protect and heal the innocent and defenseless. Whatever the goal, the result is always the same when a man seeks to take a shortcut on the road to power. Dreadful entities seek mortal vessels to spread their agendas, and they offer incredible power in exchange for obedience, a price many mortals are all too willing to pay.

**Role**: The warlock serves a unique role in a party, as he is similar to a traditional spellcaster and yet altogether something else. A warlock’s invocations offer some out of combat utility, but most lend themselves for use on the battlefield. Warlocks specialize in abilities that allow them to deal damage over time and over a wide area, as well as debilitating foes with status effects. Their eldritch blast is also able to deliver consistent, if moderate for their level, damage to single foes, and can be altered to inflict status effects and hit multiple foes.

**Alignment**: Any. Most of the forces that grant a warlock power are evil, and those that aren’t are too alien and capricious to be considered good, but a creature of any alignment may swear to any pact; though more than a few pure souls have been corrupted by dark powers they thought they could control.

**Hit Die**: d6.

**Class skills**

The warlock’s class skills are Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (planes) (Int), Perception (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Stealth (Dex), Use Magic Device (Cha)

**Skill Ranks** per Level: 4 + Int modifier

## **Class Features**

The following are class features of the warlock.

### **Weapon and Armor Proficiency**

Warlocks are proficient with all simple weapons as well as light armor and shields.

### **Pact**

A warlock comes into his power by forging a pact with a dark and mysterious entity, binding himself to its will in exchange for arcane might. A warlock’s pact has several effects:

• A warlock’s pact determines the type of damage dealt by his eldritch blast.

• It determines the warlock’s elemental resistances and the type of his damage reduction.

• Each pact has a number of invocations only available to warlocks who have taken that pact.

• Each pact has a particular alignment. The warlock does not have to match this alignment, but no matter what his actual alignment, only the alignment of his pact can be detected, and is affected by alignment-based effects as if that were his true alignment. Finally, a warlock begins play with a bonus invocation based on his chosen pact. This initial invocation is in addition to the 1 invocation known at first level.

### **Fetish (Su)**

A warlock begins play with a special bond to an item called a fetish. Objects that are the subject of this dark bond must fall into one of the following categories: amulet, ring, staff, wand, or weapon. These objects are always masterwork quality. Weapons acquired at 1st level are not made of any special material. If the object is an amulet or ring, it must be worn to have effect, while staves, wands, and weapons must be held in one hand. If the object is a ring or amulet, it occupies the ring or neck slot accordingly.

If the warlock’s fetish is damaged, it returns to its full hit points the next time the warlock rests for 8 hours. If it is lost or destroyed (perhaps fallen into a great chasm, or cast into a planar portal; or otherwise taken where the warlock has no means to follow), the warlock is sickened and staggered for 1d3 rounds as his soul is shocked by the loss. The fetish can be replaced after one week with a special ritual that costs 200 gp per warlock level plus the cost of the masterwork item. This ritual takes 8 hours to complete, and the warlock must replace the fetish with one of the same type. Items replaced in this way retain none of the magical properties of the previous item.

A Warlock may add magical properties to his Fetish as though he possessed the required item crafting feats, as long as he meets the level requirements for those feats. The magic properties for a Fetish, including magic properties added to it, only function for its bonded Warlock. A Warlock can designate an existing magic item as his Fetish through the aforementioned ritual. Finally, if a Warlock makes his Fetish intelligent, it can automatically speak with him telepathically; he does not have to pay for this ability, however, it can only speak telepathically to the warlock, and only while on his person, unless he pays for telepathy normally.

The form of a Warlock’s Fetish confers special benefits upon its master:

**Amulet**- This fetish is a masterwork amulet of a gemstone worth 50gp in value. It grants its master +1 hit point per level of Warlock. While it is worn, any Invocations the warlock casts on himself are cast as if his Warlock level is one higher.

**Ring**- This fetish is a masterwork ring worth 50gp in value. It grants its master +1 deflection bonus to AC +1 per 4 levels of Warlock to a max of 5 at level 16.

**Staff**- This fetish is a masterwork Quarterstaff. The one that the Warlock begins play with may be made of wood or iron. The master of this Fetish increases the DC of his Invocations and special effects of his Eldritch Blast by 1. It may be enchanted as a stave or a magic weapon, or both.

**Wand**- This fetish is made of masterwork quality wood. While holding the wand, a Warlock gains a +1 bonus on attack rolls with his invocations. This fetish may be a magical wand but returns to a mundane wand once all charges are used.

**Weapon**- This fetish is a masterwork weapon. The weapon that the Warlock begins play with can be made of ordinary metal. A Warlock with a weapon fetish gains a +1 bonus on initiative checks. While the Fetish is in hand, the Warlock gains a +1 bonus on attack rolls with his Eldritch Blast. The fetish weapon can be enchanted like any other weapon

### **Invocations (Sp)**

A Warlock begins play with a Lesser invocation of his choice and the initial invocation of his pact. As the Warlock gains levels, he learns additional invocations at level 2 and every 2 levels thereafter. Each time a Warlock learns a new invocation, he may also exchange one Invocation he already knows for a single other invocation of its level or lower.

At first level, a Warlock is limited to those Invocations noted as Lesser Invocations. At 6th level, the Warlock gains access to those Invocations noted as Minor Invocations. At 12th level, the Warlock gains access to those Invocations noted as Major Invocations. Finally at 18th level, the Warlock gains access to those Invocations noted as Fell Invocations.

While all Invocations are different, they all share some characteristics: First, and most importantly, a Warlock is not limited in his use of Invocations like a Wizard or a Cleric is. Each Invocation known to the Warlock is usable at will. All Invocations are Spell-Like Abilities (Unless otherwise noted). They function in all ways like spell-like abilities; they cannot be used for Counterspelling or be counterspelled, they do not function in an antimagic field, they are subject to dispel magic and spell resistance. Using an Invocation is a Standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity, unless otherwise noted. An Invocation’s effective spell level is noted in its description. The Warlock’s caster level for his invocations and his Eldritch Blast is equal to his warlock level. A Warlock’s Invocations do not benefit from metamagic or spell focus; however they can benefit from ability focus (Each Invocation is a separate ability) and feats that emulate metamagic for spell-like abilities, such as Quicken Spell-Like Ability.

An Invocation can be identified as it is being cast with a successful spellcraft check; however if the person identifying it is not a Warlock, the DC of the check is increased by 5. The DC of a Warlock’s Invocation is equal to 10 + ½ the Warlock’s level + the Warlock’s Charisma modifier. A Warlock can dismiss any of his invocations before the end of their duration as a standard action unless otherwise noted.

### **Aura (Su)**

A Warlock has a strong aura, as a Cleric of his level. His Aura exactly matches the alignment of his Pact.

### **Eldritch Blast (Su)**

A Warlock is able to call upon the dark power of his pact to form a terrible weapon of arcane energy. At 1st level, a warlock’s eldritch blast deals 1dx\* points of damage plus his Charisma modifier. Every other level thereafter, this damage increases by 1dx, to a maximum of 10dx at 19th level. A Warlock’s Eldritch Blast has the following properties: It is a Supernatural ability, usable at will as a Standard Action. Eldritch Blast is a ranged touch attack with a range of 60 feet. The damage type is determined by the Warlock’s Pact. Eldritch Blast’s effective spell level is equal to half the Warlock’s Class level. It is treated as a Ray for the purpose of feats like Weapon Focus, spell effects, and other effects that mention rays. Unlike a normal ray, a damaging Eldritch Blast can be used in conjunction with Deadly Aim. As Eldritch Blast requires a Ranged Touch Attack, it can critically hit; it has a critical threat range of 20 with a times 2 multiplier. A Warlock may fire an additional ray at level 6 and every 5 levels thereafter.

One important thing to note: each pact decides the eldritch blast’s damage type as well as the dice used, and adds a special effect; for example, the Infernal Eldritch Blast deals fire damage, and half of its damage ignores fire resistance and immunity. These special abilities (for instance here, the ability to ignore fire resistance) only function while the Eldritch Blast is dealing with the damage type decided by the pact. In other words, if the damage type changes; due to a spell effect or a Metablast feat, the blast loses that special ability for that attack

### **Arcane Knowledge (Su)**

The Warlock’s pact has given him a greater understanding of magic and how it affects the world around him. At 2nd level, a Warlock can choose one of the below skills. He can use his Charisma mod in place of the skills associated ability. At 6th level, and every 4 levels thereafter, the Warlock can select an additional skill to substitute the ability score.

Appraise, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Local), Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Planes), Knowledge (Religion), Linguistics, Sense Motive, or Sleight of Hand.

### **Metablast Studies**

At 3rd level, and every 3 levels thereafter, the Warlock may select a single Metablast Studies that he meets the prerequisites for as a study. A study cannot be selected more than once. Once a metablast study has been selected, it cannot be changed. Most Metablast Study require a cost that changes and shapes their blast.. Unless otherwise noted, the saving throw DC for a metablast study is equal to 10 + 1/2 the warlock’s level + the warlock’s Charisma modifier

### **Dark Resistance (Su)**

At 5th level, the Warlock gains DR determined by their pact. This DR is equal to 5, increasing by 5 for every 5 warlock levels thereafter to a max of 15 at level 15. At 5th level, the Warlock gains energy resistance equal to 10 as determined by the Warlock's Pact. They gain an additional 10 energy resistance for every 5 levels thereafter to a max of 30 at level 15.

### **Dark Ascension (Ex)**

At 20th level, the Warlock reaches the pinnacle of his power, transforming body and soul into a creature of arcane might. He stops aging and his type changes to one determined by his Pact; He is forevermore treated as an his pact type rather than as a humanoid (or whatever the Warlock’s creature type was) for the purpose of spells and magical effects. Unlike other creatures of their new type, the Warlock can still be brought back from the dead as if he were a member of his previous creature type. The Warlock no longer takes penalties to his ability scores for aging and cannot be magically aged. Any such penalties that he has already taken, however, remain in place. Age bonuses still accrue, and the warlock still dies of old age when his time is up. In addition, his elemental resistance becomes immunity. Finally, three times per day he may manifest an Invocation as a swift action.

## **Supporting Material**

### **Available Archetypes**

Oathblade

Pactbound Crusader

### **Available Feats**

Extra Invocation

Extra Metablast Study

Eldritch Master

Potent Blast

Improved Potent Blast