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The warlock is an enigma, a person so infused with magic that he manifests power with no training. While his repertoire of effects is small, he has little or no limits on the amount of times he can use them. Warlocks are chaotic creatures at heart, perhaps as a result of the wild magical energy that courses through their veins. They tend to be selfish and don’t work well in a rigid command structure. While understanding the need to stay within a group, the warlock won’t hesitate to leave the group to pursue something interesting. Warlocks generally adventure for curiosity or profit. A warlock's infusion with magical power often manifests in minor cosmetic changes to their appearance that fosters a sense of wrongness about them. A human warlock might have catlike eyes, while a dwarven warlock may be hairless. Warlocks tend to be solitary, preferring to be left alone rather than join in camaraderie. Warlocks come from varied backgrounds. It is not known how or why the magic picks them; it just does. A common thought is that the warlock has aberration, elemental, fey, or outsider blood in his veins. Many warlocks are driven out of their communities and left to fend for themselves (leading to many scholarly debates about “nature v s . nurture” in regards to the warlock’s allegiance to chaos). Warlocks are found amongst all races, but are most common in races that produce sorcerers. This lends some credence to the “alien ancestor” theory. Most warlocks are human or half-elf, although there are large numbers of gnomish and half-orcish warlocks as well. Role: The warlock is a support class. He only has a few arcane tricks up his sleeve, but he can be relied on to provide them on a regular basis. While not a good substitute for a sorcerer or wizard, the warlock is a great supplement to one. Alignment: Any chaotic. Hit Die: d8. Class SkillsThe warlock’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Disguise (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Use Magic Device (Cha). Skill Ranks per Level: 2 + Int modifier. Table: Warlock
Class FeaturesAll of the following are class features of the warlock. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Warlocks are proficient with all simple weapons and light armor. Arcane Armor MasteryAs the warlock increases in level, his school abilities are less subject to arcane failure while the warlock is wearing armor. At 1st level, the warlock does not suffer an arcane failure penalty when using a school ability while wearing light armor. This extends to medium armor at 5th level and heavy armor at 9th level. The warlock may still select feats to reduce the arcane failure chance when wearing armor that he has yet to master. CantripsAt 1st level, the warlock learns a number of cantrips equal to their Cha modifier. Errata
Cantrips now reads: “At 1st level, the warlock learns a number of cantrips equal to their CHA modifier.”
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School AbilityThe warlock does not cast spells. Instead, he is infused with supernatural energy that allows him to perform magical powers at will. At 1st level, the warlock may select two school abilities; he also gains new school abilities at higher levels (see the warlock table). School abilities come from the arcane school lists. In addition, the warlock may learn additional school abilities listed in this section. The warlock does not gain any specialist bonuses or bonus spells. The warlock may only take a school ability less than or equal to his warlock level. He may also take a cantrip in place of a school ability. For example, a 2nd level warlock gets a new school ability. Since he is not yet fourth level, he must select a 1st level ability or cantrip. The warlock does not need to take a lower level school ability in order to select a higher one. For example, a 4th level warlock can select summon monster even if he doesn’t have acid dart. In addition, the warlock may swap school abilities whenever he is able to take a new school ability, but he must replace the old one with a school ability of equal or lesser value (cantrips can only be swapped for other cantrips). The warlock’s level is used to determine the caster level for school abilities. The DC for any save is equal to 10 + the spell’s level + the caster’s Charisma modifier. School abilities are not spells and thus cannot be affected by metamagic feats. Using a school ability is a standard action. Errata
School Abilities -- added to the fifth paragraph: “Using a school ability is a standard action.”
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Damage ReductionAs the warlock increases in level, he becomes resistant to certain effects. At 3rd level, the warlock receives damage reduction 2 against physical attacks. The warlock must also choose three effects from the following list: cold, cold iron, electricity, fire, or silver. The damage reduction does not count against the three chosen effects. At higher levels the damage reduction increases. In lieu of an increase, the warlock can remove one of the three effects from his list. He may only do this twice; at least one effect must always be able to overcome his damage reduction. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
