Playing a warlock ... as I see it

[Lady Crankenstein]

Sent from my i Phone so this may be a bit rough:
I chose the warlock class for very different reasons than I have seen anyone mentioning any of the posts... Excellent role-play.
It seems that everyone compares what all other spell casters can do, to what they expect a warlock to do...
Here is the major difference as I see and I Rp.
A warlock draws power from a wicked evil spirits such as a demon. This is totally different from drawing your powers from Divine sources or God's...
For me the warlock has a constant inner struggle against the demon and a contest of will always is in play.
Because of this it warlock does not have access, rP wise, to the powers. All other casters can At will , anytime, thro any spell they desire at any target no matter what their mood may be. To properly RP A warlock this is not the same.
There needs to be RP reason for the demon to surface its power, at least in the earlier stages of development. Perhaps is the character gains experience and time with the demon some mutual usage may occur, but until then to RP it properly the warlock cannot simply at will throw whatever it wants, and because of that is actually handicapped compared to call other spell casters.
To make this RP even more viable, I prefer that the DM will be the inner voice of the demon and that each of us has to roll to see which nature predominates in this particular scene.
This is making for excellent RP
please do not judge me or my character based upon what "could", " should", " might", happen with some crazy power gamer ... which I am not.
Rp wise, I am just a little girl seeking friendship and acceptance... Who does not really understand what a demon is... And can only appreciate the power that comes from having it... Which can be intoxicating with low self-esteem... Which is exactly what my character has and how the demon got to her in the first place.
Rp wise, you cannot react to my character class without in game, in character reasons... Or you will be guilty of the worst meta-gaming ever.
I hope this helps folks to understand, and leads us to some great fun together.
Lady Crankenstein

[Lady Crankenstein]

Because a warlock has their source of power directly inside their body, it makes perfect RP sence for spells such as beguiling influence , and leaps and bounds , to be long-lasting, and very different from buffs that are cast such as what I bard or a cleric might do.
Just the presence of something that power inside you would change you.
Please do not change those spells. They do not benefit a power gamer in any real way, they did however serve to enhance the RP the character,
thank you

Lady Crankenstein

[Zelknolf]

It is of note that the canonical power of Leaps and Bounds is a long-duration "internal source" power, too. It just provides bonuses to movement-related skills, instead of making Cat's Grace look like garbage while being available to lower-level characters.

Also, +2 AC, +2 to hit, and +2 to one of the class' weak saving throws without ever depleting the ability is a huge benefit, and is easily/ regularly used by powergamers to bolster their stats.

[Lady Crankenstein]

I appreciate what you're saying... But in my case, role-play and Dm interplay is the only reason I am here.
While there're many things that might happen or could happen, what "will" happen is what I'm concerned about .
I never see this character being a toe to toe fighter, So the "to hit " bonus to mise meaningless to me.
The armor class however I admit helped me survive long enough to keep this character alive and develop her personality and relationships ... Both of which are yet to be determined by RP.
I love the extra dimension of RP that she has to struggle with inside ( Dm as the demon)
And RP outside with other characters... For me this is like an RP balancing act... 2 tons of fun !
And hey who's to say that she can't one day be converted? If you really have an issue with this class get involved with her and see what you can do , just don't met game kill me for nothing.
LC

[Blindhamsterman]

lots of good points - hopefully someone will have the inclination to fix the class, I know we had a pretty good list of actual powers that needed fixing, and I heard at least one person say they could fix a lot of them pretty easily.

I also know Ronan had been working on fixing a few of the other issues the class has, so who knows, if the TA and DMA and whichever other %As need to agree, might see the class return in a more appropriate version.

p.s. if you or any caster or warlock use any spell or invocation, and any other person is able to ID the spell or invocation - then they know what you are, with a spell its harder as some spells cross over multiple classes. with invocations, that's not the case. Note that to ID the spells or invocations the one trying to ID them needs a reasonable spellcraft skill anyway.

[SwordSaintMusashi]

For note, they need to roll a Spellcraft Check DC 15 + Level of the Spell.

A warlock power counts as a spell equal to 1/2 the level of the Warlock (Cap 9).

So a fair DC, and the better you become at being a warlock, the harder it is for a low level caster to identify you. But it is still possible and not "meta" to discover a warlock that way.

[Ronan]

Leaps and bounds is trivial to fix. The main holdup would be admin telling us exactly what they want fixed, though adding AoOs to base Eldritch Blasts might be tricky.

I for one would prefer Warlocks require exceptional character approval.

For the record, invisibility is broken both for and against the caster in CvC: an invis character is always visible to everyone until he ATs, after which he's never visible.

[Lady Crankenstein]

might be interesting to note,.... so far .. almost level 3.... I have not invoked a single Eldtich Blast.. not even once.

RP has not called for it, nor brought it up.

I am trying to be the girl who has connnected with something far larger than she understands... not the other way around....

... Beguiling Influence is actually to beat the Dm rolls... not a power gamer trick but a RP tool... the Dm is the demon trying to get her to do something CE.... and she is trying not to.... so... ironically, I am using the demonic power back against it.

YOu see how much fun this can be? please try not to ruin it by over compensating the class.

LC

[SwordSaintMusashi]

Its not being ruined. No one's even talking about touching Beguiling Influence.

Leaps and Bounds is greatly overpowered and not like its PnP counter part. That's going to be fixed, as an example.

[Sidhe]

I for one would prefer Warlocks require exceptional character approval.

+1

[Lady Crankenstein]

[quote="Zelknolf"]It is of note that the canonical power of Leaps and Bounds is a long-duration "internal source" power, too. It just provides bonuses to movement-related skills, instead of making Cat's Grace look like garbage while being available to lower-level characters.



I am in agreement that the presence of such an internal power would be evident in outwardly ways .... Not as a buff, but a serious sign of that demon being there.
Once again , when played well with a Dm , is not an evil super hero... But a person struggling to maintain their will against a temptation from within... Your classic good vs evil , all done in secrecy, hidden from other players as it goes...
Unless the demon makes a complete and utter take over, there is no way such a struggling character could act as evil super hero... And... Assuming the worst happens and the demon rises to dominance ... There are plenty of good chars to come cut the unfortunate possessedone to pieces ... So , I still don't see the problems... Assuming a good Rp 'r is playing the warlock.
LC

[mr duncan]

I still don't see the problems... Assuming a good Rp 'r is playing the warlock.

The problem is that the power is not what the Warlock has in PnP. No one has told you that you must retire your Warlock, nor have they said people who play them are not RPing well

Also, there are other sources for a Warlocks powers than the lower planes

[Blindhamsterman]

yup, what Mr D said, its literally a case of Warlocks needing to be made to work as they were meant to work, not as OE half assed did...

[Brokenbone]

Warlocks aren't literally "possessed" or have an evil little devil (or demon) on their shoulder counseling rotten deeds... there's a bunch of vague stuff about a pact between either fiends or fey that grants power, often from "some number of generations back" so no one has to administer what exactly the pact is. Like fey saying "I'll give you power if you stick your first born in a reed boat along the sacred river" , or a fiend saying "I'll give you undreamt of power in exchange for your soul upon death", it could've been a long time ago, and is not expected to be a constant source of like, 1 on 1 DM attention to see if you're "holding up your end of the pact."

If you wanted that worship Garagos.

[kid]

Warlocks aren't literally "possessed" or have an evil little devil (or demon) on their shoulder counseling rotten deeds... there's a bunch of vague stuff about a pact between either fiends or fey that grants power, often from "some number of generations back" so no one has to administer what exactly the pact is. Like fey saying "I'll give you power if you stick your first born in a reed boat along the sacred river" , or a fiend saying "I'll give you undreamt of power in exchange for your soul upon death", it could've been a long time ago, and is not expected to be a constant source of like, 1 on 1 DM attention to see if you're "holding up your end of the pact."

If you wanted that worship Garagos.

True BB. though... I'd say there is nothing to say Lady C's Idea is wrong.
It /could/ be as she says it and if she gets a DM to RP it with her
it can be lots of fun I bet.
So no, no need for that, but its a nice touch if you can do it. Imho.