Welcome back to the weekly Tabletop Games thread! This thread is where we can talk about all kinds of RPGs, card games, board games, etc. Whether you gather around a physical table in the real world, or use a virtual space to play with friends who may live far away from you, this is where you can discuss your favorites, ask for and/or receive recommendations, recap your recent adventures, or even find some people to play games with!
Discussion Prompt: This week I’m taking a look at the 5.5e Warlock class.
The Warlock got some pretty big changes in 5.5e, most notably in that the choice of subclass has moved from level 1 to level 3. Some folks argue that it doesn’t make sense that your level 1 Warlock wouldn’t know their Patron. Personally, this doesn’t bother me. You could certainly choose to role-play that way–I imagine some patrons are happy to hide their identity at first. Or you can assume that the first couple levels represent a Patron testing a character a bit before bestowing them with greater powers.
Because subclass choice was moved to level 3, the old Pact Boon feature has been moved to level 1 in its place; however, the Pact Boons have been re-tooled a bit and are now considered Eldritch Invocations. Now you can choose Pact of the Blade, Pact of the Tome, or Pact of the Chain (or a handful of other invocations) right away at level 1, and you can take any of the others later on if you choose. Many of the Eldritch Invocations have been tweaked as well; for instance the Invocations that used to require the Eldritch Blast cantrip can now be used to modify any damage-dealing cantrip (though Eldritch Blast is probably still the best choice most of the time). Also many of the Invocations allowed you cast specific spells with your Pact Magic slots have either been removed or retooled to not require the expended spell slot.
Pact Magic spell slots are still limited in number, though they recover on a short rest. At 2nd level, Warlocks also gain the Magical Cunning feature, which allows them to regain half of their Pact Magic slots in only 1 minute, so you can cast your spells a little more often during the day. Another new feature is level 9’s Contact Patron, which lets you cast the Contact Other Plane spell once a day for free to talk to your Patron directly.
But the biggest changes to the Warlock come through the various subclass options. Each subclass comes with a list of spells that you now get automatically prepared each day. It used to be that these spells were added to the overall class list and you had to actively choose to learn them in place of any other spell when you leveled up. The Archfey Patron has been completely redesigned, and now lets you teleport around the battlefield causing a multitude of different effects. The Celestial Patron gives you healing and radiant magic, while the Fiend Patron focuses on fire damage and stealing life from creatures that fall near you. Finally the Great Old One grants telepathic and psychic abilities, including the ability to cast Enchantment and Illusion spells without needing the verbal or somatic components.
Share your thoughts about Warlocks in any edition of D&D, or similar characters from other games, in the comments!
If you would like to suggest a prompt or contribute a write-up or discussion topic of your own, let me know in the comments!