Shadow Pact Warlock (3.5e Class)

Author: Havvy (talk) Date Created: August 24th, 2011 Status: Initial Steps Editing: Clarity edits only please

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ToB Warlock

ToB stands for Tome of Battle. Any reference to the original Warlock class will be called CA Warlock, for Complete Arcane.

Warlocks gain their powers from pacts with powerful creatures of the shadow plane.

Making a Warlock

Like other maneuver-using classes, and much like the CA warlock itself, a warlock can fight all day. Unlike the CA warlock, a warlock isn't stuck spamming the same abilities all day long.

Abilities: Charisma determines saving throws and damage. Dexterity determines attack rolls, and gives some defense. Constitution gives extra hit points.

Races: Humans, elves, tieflings, and aasimars are the the most likely to become warlocks. Feytouched also have a tendency to make the required pacts with the plane of shadow. Eiji-kun's Kitsune race probably has a good number of warlocks. Any race that favors enchanters or beguilers will not be short on ToB Warlocks. Drow and gnomes have their fair share.

Alignment: Any. Unlike the CA warlock, a ToB warlock can be of any alignment. Abilities come from pacts with the plane of shadow instead of fey or demons or devils. Still, it is rare for there to be lawful good warlocks, since few creatures understand that darkness is not evil.

Starting Gold: 4d8×10 gp (165 gp).

Starting Age: Simple (As rogue)

Table: The ToB Warlock

Hit Die: d6

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	ManeuversToB
		Fort	Ref	Will		Maneuvers Known	Maneuvers Readied	Stances Known
1st	+0	+0	+2	+2	Eldritch Blast, Detect Magic	1	1	1
2nd	+1	+0	+3	+3		2	1	1
3rd	+2	+1	+3	+3		3	2	1
4th	+3	+1	+4	+4	Shadow Wounds	4	2	1
5th	+3	+1	+4	+4	Arcane Sight	5	3	2
6th	+4	+2	+5	+5		6	3	2
7th	+5	+2	+5	+5		7	4	2
8th	+6/+1	+2	+6	+6		8	4	2
9th	+6/+1	+3	+6	+6	Flight	9	5	3
10th	+7/+2	+3	+7	+7		10	5	3
11th	+8/+3	+3	+7	+7		11	6	3
12th	+9/+4	+4	+8	+8		12	6	3
13th	+9/+4	+4	+8	+8		13	7	4
14th	+10/+5	+4	+9	+9		14	7	4
15th	+11/+6/+1	+5	+9	+9		15	8	4
16th	+12/+7/+2	+5	+10	+10		16	8	4
17th	+13/+8/+3	+5	+10	+10		17	9	5
18th	+13/+8/+3	+6	+11	+11		18	9	5
19th	+14/+9/+4	+6	+11	+11		19	10	5
20th	+15/+10/+5	+6	+12	+12		20	10	5
Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level. Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Tumble (Dex), Use Magic Device (Cha), Use Psionic Device (Cha).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the ToB Warlock.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Simple weapons and light armor.

Maneuvers: At each level, you gain a new maneuver known from the Mystic Warlock discipline. You must meet a maneuver’s prerequisite to learn it. You add your full Warlock levels to your initiator level to determine your total initiator level and your highest-level maneuvers known. At every odd level, you gain an additional maneuver readied per day.

Unlike most initiators, warlocks are subject to spell-failure chance for armor heavier than light armor. Furthermore, certain maneuvers provoke attacks of opportunity as if they were spells. A concentration check must be made from these attacks of opportunities, or the maneuver is expended.

A ToB warlock may refresh its maneuvers by spending a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity chanting whispers that cause darkness to foam from his mouth. He is considered to be fighting defensively for this round.

Stances Known: At level one and every four levels afterwards, you learn a new martial stance from Mystic Warlock. You must meet a stance’s prerequisite to learn it.

Eldritch Blast (Su): Ranged or melee attack option with range of 30 feet. Deals 1d6 + Charisma piercing Damage. May use maneuvers in Mystic Warlock at EB range, even if maneuver range is Melee attack. Not a touch attack. Enhancement bonus equal to one half level. Treated as a magical weapon at third level. May treat as silver or cold iron at level 5. Treated as adamantine at level 9. Treated as all alignments (UMD flavor) at level 13. Overcomes typeless DR at level 17.

Detect Magic (Sp): As detect magic. Requires concentration to use. At fifth level, this upgrades arcane sight.

Shadow Wounds (Ex): Your body becomes a receptacle for the plane of shadow. Parts of your body are illusory, granting you DR/- equivalent to one-fourth of your warlock levels.

Flight (Su): You gain a fly speed of 30 feet with average maneuverability. The plane of shadow is always shifting, and you are, in effect, standing on the plane of shadow as you fly.

Human Warlock Starting Package

Weapons: Dagger.

Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 4 + Int modifier.

Skill	Ranks	Ability	Armor Check Penalty
Bluff	4	Cha	—
Concentration	4	Con	—
Diplomacy	4	Cha	—
Intimidate	4	Cha	—
Knowledge (the arcana)	4	Int	—
Knowledge (the planes)	4	Int	—
Spot	2	Wis	—
Use Magic Device	4	Cha	—

Feat: Point Blank Shot.

Bonus Feats: Precise Shot.

Maneuver: Fear of The Other

Stance: Darkball

Gear: Backpack with waterskin, 1 day's trail rations, bedroll, sack, and flint and steel.

Gold: <-Starting gold using this package.->.

Campaign Information

Playing a Warlock

Religion: Warlocks typically worship deities of darkness, whether the misunderstood Good deities or one of the truly evil deities trying to blanket the material in void.

It is rare, but not unheard of, to have a warlock worship a deity of the sun, such as Pelor or Lathander, for without light, there is no shadow. Most warlocks consider this fact, and move on, thinking the deities of the sun would scorn them.

Other Classes: Warlocks cannot coexist with CA Warlocks in the same setting. They fill the same flavor niche.

Paladins and other classes of light will be uncomfortable around warlocks, though warlocks will be unphased by their existence. Since many can remove wounds, many warlocks travel with classes of light to see what it is about light that makes it so potent, trying to learn how to get the healing effects themselves. Classes that combine light and darkness, such as the illuminamancer do not receive the same treatment, especially if they shoot rays of energy.

They usually have a neutral disposition towards elementalists, such as fire mages or elemental blades. They see them much as they see themselves: dabblers in a grand force of nature. But that doesn't stop the many arguments over which element is most important.

While using the initiator chassis, warlocks are not sublime. This does not stop them from treating them as trusted allies. Warlocks are especially likely to become friends with initiators that use mostly extraordinary maneuvers.

Those who toy with darkness are often jealous of those who toy with existence. Pseudonaughts are downright disliked for their power. Summoners and Necromancers are also looked upon with jealousy, and over a majority have qualms with raising the undead from their eternal darkness.

Combat: The damage of a warlock is not high, but his ability to control the battlefield is a counterpoint to the bard. Where the bard assists his teammates, a warlock debuffs or makes favorable actions not-so-favorable for enemies.

Advancement: Warlocks often go through this entire class entirely. There will be prestige classes for turning a warlock into a striker. Probably a Shadowfire Incarnate.

Warlocks in the Game

Adaptation: Their eldritch blast can be reflavored in quite a few ways. For example, if you have seen Full Metal Alchemist, it is possible to reflavor the blast as Lust's long sharp nails (also called an Ultimate Spear). The eldritch blast could be a ray of light emanating out of darkness, dealing damage with its stark contrast to the rest of the warlocks ability. If you want to go a natural route, like a druid, the eldritch blast could shoot out razer sharp plant material, though reflavoring maneuvers becomes difficult.

It also should not be difficult to flavor the maneuvers to be granted from chaotic or evil creatures, like the original warlock. I chose to flavor them as getting their pact from the plane of shadow to spice up the plane while allowing all alignments to be warlocks.

Changes: Eldritch blast was changed so that it becomes an attack option, and also so that it does a flat amount of damage. Because you can make a full round attack with eldritch blast, I removed the touch attack quality of it. It could be that not having full BAB is bad balance, and some actual playtesting would be useful with this. Also, it has to keep up with magic weapons now. So it has many of the soulblade qualities.

The invocations have been changed so that they make sense as maneuvers, and where possible, they have an additional small effect or a rename. Darkness being changed to Darkball for example.

Flight is just given to you at ninth level. It really wasn't economical to spend an invocation slot on it in the first place. You can get a better unlimited duration flight for 20,000 gp in the SRD with a 5ft by 5ft Carpet of Flying. If you want practically unlimited, a wand of flight is 11,250 gp. Since a warlock did not need to buy a weapon, one of these can replace them.

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