Knowledge Keeper Pact Warlock Preview
Added 2019-01-13 02:29:47 +0000 UTCPreview to Knowledge Keeper Warlock. Like School of Innovation, this is a subclass that can leverage a lot of player depth, but ultimately is probably not as insane as it might seem at first pass. Warlocks only get 2 spells / short rest, and cannot cast their Ancient Secrets as rituals, so they have to invest heavily in the flexibility inherent.
Still, we'll see if further fine tuning is needed.
Regarding Intelligence Variant... it's something I've always really liked, as I dont think it takes a lot to implement. I think it's a really simple change that can be quite positive. Intelligence being the casting stat does not break anything, and broadens the pool of Intelligence classes.
Comments
Sorry this took awhile to get back to; I read this when it was posted, but didn't get a chance to follow up. I think this is all good feedback, and in part why this one has not seen a more general release of the concept (reddit post and what not). I am fully aware Ancient Secrets is a bit controversial, but as that's sort of the point of the subclass I don't know that I want to change it. A Warlock is usually so hard-locked out of being a utility caster that its my opinion they need something a bit mind-breaking to really allow them to do this. Is this going to make a Warlock dethrone a Wizard as a utility caster? I really don't think so. Yes, they can pull some some spells straight out of their arse that will fix problems, but spells like Feather Fall or Water Walk are the sort of things I expect players to solve with magic, and the consequences for doing so or not doing so are usually simply convenience (and frequently more convenient for me as the DM anyway, as it solves them 15 minutes of debating how to use a rope ;) ). I guess I will continue to consider if there's a way to nerf it that makes sense to me, as again - I'm aware that a lot of people aren't going to like that one. That said, it's one of those ones where I sort of view that ability as "the point" of the subclass; I'm not so attached to it that I will keep it no matter what, but if I scrap it, I would probably scrap the subclass, as while the rest of the ideas are mechanically interesting, they don't fit into a Warlocks framework without it really (as a Warlock is primarily a blaster/striker, not a utility caster without it). Regarding Magical Mechanics, well; they do have to give up their chance to counterspell to use it, as it takes their reaction. Fleeting Omniscience is another that I know will get a lot of flak, but is ultimately significantly less powerful than Portent, a level 2 ability that can be used far more often. It gives you basically 1 spell that is almost impossible to naturally resist, but things have Legednary Resistance still, and there aren't that many Save or Suck (or Save or Die) that a high level Warlock even has.
KibblesTasty
2019-02-02 17:06:58 +0000 UTC1st Level Ancient Secrets (Note, this was written before reading your above note. You've had actual playtesting which I trust more than my musings. That being said, I still have my thoughts and concerns) After creating a build of this, this feature felt weird. I believe that changing it to once a long rest would be beneficial for the following reasons. 1. 3-5 uses per long rest vs once per short rest is a pretty power neutral change. 2. Having a DM expect to be answered perfectly by the Warlocks breadth of obscure spells (feather fall, stone shape, water walk, shield, etc.) is a lot less punishing feeling to the DM on a once per encounter schedule than potentially 3 times in a row encounter shut down. 3. Perhaps the most nitpicky one, the feature incentiveses the player not to prep Divination, Abjuration, and Transmutation spells. On a long rest schedule, this leaves them casting their signature flavor spells in one half of the adventure and avoiding the casting or being unable to cast for the other half. Not ideal in my mind. On a short rest schedule, the very flavorful signiture spells will likely be seen throughout the day, which I like better. 6th level Magical Mechanics I like it flavor wise, and the mechanics support the flavor well. I'm guessing it's on the strong side, but that's not my main concern. My main concern is the potential interruption of flow on a consistent basis. One DM I had for a very long time liked to ask us to make saving throws before he would describe what was happening or why he asked us to make the save. If I followed his natural way of doing things, this feature would hardly be used. Otherwise this feature is probably fine for flow, though it will break up the flow a little even in the most ideal of circumstances. 10th single minded focus Cool. Flavorful and feels like you're an awesome master of spells. 10th seeped in ancient knowledge Really nice but unusual 18th Fleeting Omniscience I like the flavor and balance of this, though I can see players and DMs feeling like this is OP until they get reminded that it's once per long rest. Unfortunately, the may need reminders of this every long rest, but what do you do? Anyway, l'm sorry about spamming the comments here. I realized that I lost myself in excitement as this fits a backburner character that I have been creating with a buddy of mine for the last several months. As always, thank you so much for your time in creating this and sharing!
2019-01-30 00:03:17 +0000 UTCFeedback is always relevant, and here is fine, or anywhere else. This one hasn't done a Reddit cycle yet (and may or may not in the future; haven't decided) so this would be logical place for feedback I guess.
KibblesTasty
2019-01-29 22:39:20 +0000 UTC
