Warlock

Warlocks enter into compacts with Greater Powers that are, nevertheless, not deities. This pact grants
them both pact boons and a limited mastery of spellcasting, though as they often lack the formalized
training of clergy or true wizards, the spells at their command can be quite unusual. In the past,
warlocks have entered into pacts with the High Lords of the Fey, the Powers of Hell, the Abominations
(archmages driven mad and warped to horror by traveling to the five planets), and the dead powers of
the Ghostlands.

Creating a Warlock
Background: Charlatan
Equipment: Leather armor, light crossbow, dagger, rod, adventurer's kit, and 90 gp

THE WARLOCK
Level Proficiency Bonus Spells Known Features
1 +1 -- Forbidden Knowledge, Pact, Eldritch Force
2 +1 2 Spellcasting
3 +2 3 Pact Boon, Pact Spell
4 +2 3 Ability Score Improvement
5 +2 4 Pact Spell
6 +2 4 Pact Boon
7 +3 5 Counter Curse
8 +3 5 Improved Eldritch Force
9 +3 6
10 +3 6 Ability Score Improvement

Class Features
As a warlock, you gain the following class features.

Hit Dice: 1d6 per warlock level

Hit Points at first level: 6 + your Constitution modifier

Proficiencies
Armor: Light armor
Weapons: Simple weapons, hand crossbows, light crossbows, short swords, rapiers, long swords
Tools: None

Saving Throws: Intelligence, and see below

Skills: Choose two of: Arcana, History, Nature, Religion, Insight, Deception, Intimidation, Persuasion.

Forbidden Knowledge: You have learned things that many others would prefer you not know -
whether those are royal censors, the Inquisition, the Arcane Order, or the oppressive and ruthless
forces of academia. When you make an Arcana, History, Nature, or Religion check, you have
advantage on that check. When performing research, you can lower the DC of any relevant skill check
by 5 in exchange for taking 1d6 points of Suspicion (rolled secretly); the DM decides when and how
Suspicion affects you, but it is primarily a penalty to Deception and Persuasion, and increases your
cost of living by 10% per point. Suspicion decreases as a reward for successful adventures, or by
paying substantial bribes to relevant authorities. There may be other means of reducing Suspicion as
well.

Pact: Choose one of the available pact options: Verenestra of the Fey, Khirix Drael of Hell, Zinguloth
the Abomination, or the Nightwalker of the Ghostlands. (Content to be expanded as it is convenient.) It
may be possible, if inadvisable, to change this pact during the course of play. You gain proficiency in
one additional saving throw as a result of this pact choice. The Fey grant Charisma, Hell grants
Constitution, Abominations grant Wisdom, and the Ghostlands grant Wisdom.

Starting at third level, your pact grants you pact boons, which cost a favor to use. You start out
knowing two pact boons: one from your pact, and the Warlock's Curse. You only have one favor at a
time, and may regain it with a minor ritual offering that takes about 10 minutes. It is possible to gain
additional, non-renewable favors from your patron through service.

Warlock's Curse: By expending a favor and either pointing to an opponent you can see or naming an
opponent who can hear you, you place a curse of destruction upon your opponent. Until you revoke
the curse or the creature dies, the target takes an additional 1d6 damage from all attacks and spells
(though not from ongoing damage). This increases to 1d8 at 6th level, 1d10 at 9th level, 1d12 at 13th
level, and 2d8 at 17th level. You cannot refresh this favor while your Curse remains active. You may
revoke your Curse as a free action at any time. The remove curse spell also ends your Curse.

Eldritch Force: When you learn this ability, you gain one primary force and one secondary force.
Primary Forces:

 Eldritch Blast: Make a magical attack against a creature within 50 feet of you. If you hit, the
target takes 1d10+4 force damage.
 Eldritch Blade: You manifest a blade of crackling eldritch energy. It is a one-handed finesse
weapon that deals 1d8 piercing damage. You are proficient in its use, and you apply your
Intelligence modifier to attack and damage.
Secondary Forces:

 Eldritch Chain: Make a magical attack against a creature within 15 feet of you. If you hit, the
target takes 1d6+2 force damage, is pulled to a square adjacent to you, and ends any
invisibility effects.
 Eldritch Ram: Make a magical attack against a creature within 50 feet of you. If you hit, the
target takes 1d6+2 force damage and is pushed 5 feet away from the direction of the attack
(typically in a straight line from you). Prone creatures take 2d6+2 damage instead, but cannot
be pushed; a creature may choose to fall prone as a reaction after a hit but before damage is
applied. On a critical hit, the push is doubled.
 Eldritch Bands: Make a magical attack against a creature within 50 feet of you. If you hit, the
target takes 1d8+2 force damage and its speed is reduced by 10 feet until the end of its next
turn.
 Eldritch Shatterblade: Make a weapon attack against an adjacent creature with your eldritch
blade. If you hit, your eldritch blade shatters, its shards piercing your target. Your target takes
1d6 piercing damage every round until it receives at least five points of magical healing. The
creature can also end the effect with an act of will by making a Wisdom saving throw against
your normal saving throw DC.
 Eldritch Curseblade: Make a weapon attack with your eldritch blade targeting an adjacent
creature against whom you have advantage, but not disadvantage. You may give up the
advantage to cause your opponent to have disadvantage on all saving throws for one minute,
in addition to taking normal weapon damage.
 Eldritch Defender: You manifest a shield-like force from your offhand. It grants a +1 bonus to
AC that does not stack with an actual hand-held shield.

Spellcasting:
 You use the same spellcasting progression as the bard, paladin, and ranger.
 Two cantrips from the warlock list
 You know two 1st-level spells, which you choose from the warlock spell list. You learn more
spells as you gain levels, as detailed on the Warlock table. The spells you learn must be of a
level that you can cast, or a cantrip.
 Saving Throw DC: 8 + Intelligence modifier.
 Spellcasting Bonus: If you are holding a rod, staff, spellbook, or component pouch, you can
add your proficiency bonus to the spell's saving throw DC.
 Ritual Casting, etc.
Pact Spells:
Each time you receive a new Pact Spell, you may pick one spell from your pact's spell list and add it to
your own. This counts as a warlock spell for you. You may pick a spell up to the highest spell level you
can currently cast.

Counter Curse:
You and your allies gain resistance to all forms of curses, through your own knowledge of that
dangerous art. Whenever you or an ally within 30 feet would be affected by a curse, you may spend
your reaction to counter it. Make an Intelligence (Arcana, Religion, or Nature) check against the spell's
saving throw DC; if the effect has no obvious saving throw DC, treat the DC as 16.

Improved Eldritch Force:

Your eldritch force grows more potent. Whenever you deal damage with any primary or secondary
eldritch force, you deal an additional die of damage of that force's type.

Warlock Spell List

Cantrips
Chill Touch
Dancing Lights
Light
Mage Hand
Prestidigitation
Read Magic

First Level
Alarm
Cause Fear
Charm Person
Comprehend Languages
Detect Magic
Disguise Self
Find Familiar
Identify
Thunderwave

Second Level
Blur
Darkness
Darkvision
Hold Person
Invisibility
Levitate
Magic Weapon
Melf's Acid Arrow
Spider Climb
Suggestion
Web

Third Level
Aura of Invisibility
Dispel Magic
 Haste
Protection from Energy
Remove Curse
Slow
Stinking Cloud

Fourth Level
Arcane Eye
Blight
Confusion
Dimension Door
Evard's Black Tentacles
Wall of Fire

Fifth Level
Cloudkill
Contact Other Plane
Dominate Person
Feeblemind
Hold Monster
Scrying
Telekinesis
Teleportation Circle

Pacts
Verenestra, Princess of Oak
PACT FEATURES
Level Feature
3 Grace of the Lady, New Skill Proficiency, Pact Spell List
6 Passage of the Hidden World

Grace of the Lady: When speaking to a creature that can understand you, you can spend your
patron's favor to gain greater influence over the creature, provided it understands your language. If the
target fails a Charisma saving throw, you impose the charmed condition on the creature. You can
sustain this charm as long as the creature can see and hear you, and you can end this effect at any
time. Until you end this effect, you cannot refresh the patron's favor that you expended on this ability. If
you or any of your companions harms the charmed creature in any way, the charm ends, and you
cannot use this power on the creature again for 24 hours.

New Skill Proficiency: You gain proficiency in one of the following skills: Nature, Deception,
Persuasion, Performance. If you are already proficient in all of these skills, you may gain another skill
or tool proficiency granted by your class(es) or background.

Passage of the Hidden World: Use this ability as part of your movement in a round. You teleport up
to 30 feet. If you spend your action to hustle, you may teleport 120 feet instead. You do not need line
of sight to your target, but if you cannot see the target, it must be someplace you have been before. If
you attempt to teleport into a solid object, your teleportation fails and you may not refresh this favor for
24 hours, as your patron spares you from a messy death.
Pact Spell List:
First Level:
Entangle
Faerie Fire
Longstrider

Second Level:
Animal Messenger
Heat Metal
Pass Without Trace

Third Level:
Daylight
Elemental Mantle (Air only)
Plant Growth

Fourth Level:
Air Walk
Dominate Beast
Freedom of Movement

Fifth Level:
Awaken
Commune
Plant Door

Wizards article about the Warlock

Since its first appearance in 3rd Edition's Complete Arcane, the warlock has evolved in terms of both
its background and its magical abilities. The original warlock stood out for its ability to use magic at
will. A warlock could unleash an eldritch blast again and again, climb walls like a spider, or see
through invisibility or magical darkness without running out of spells for the day. In terms of its
background, the class was similar to the sorcerer, gaining power through a distant ancestor. But where
sorcerers were tied to dragons, warlocks could trace the origin of their power back to planar fiends.

With 4th Edition, the class evolved to make its background more distinct, gaining elements of the
binder character class from Tome of Magic. Rather than drawing from a bloodline, the warlock gained
arcane power by entering into a pact with a planar or otherworldly patron. Eventually, new warlock
options came to incorporate elements of the hexblade character class from Complete Warrior. This
allowed a warlock to create a mystical weapon used to deliver powerful melee attacks fueled by
arcane magic.

For D&D Next, we've gone back and fully integrated these approaches into the core class. A warlock
chooses a patron—a powerful being from the outer planes or beyond—that supplies the character with
arcane secrets. In return, the warlock grants something in trade or acts as the patron's agent in the
world.

The nature of the warlock's pact shapes the class's magic. A warlock might enter into a pact based on
the blade, the book, or the chain. The pact of the blade allows a warlock to forge a weapon of pure
arcane power. Drawing inspiration from the hexblade, a blade pact warlock can serve as a ferocious
warrior in close combat.
The pact of the book unlocks ancient secrets and mystic knowledge. A warlock that has this pact calls
upon arcane magic and shapes it into a variety of effects, based on the character's patron. The pact of
the book focuses more on spells than the other pacts.

The pact of the chain deals with summoning and binding a planar creature to serve as the warlock's
minion. This creature is a powerful ally capable of wading into battle at a warlock's command or
serving as a conduit for the character's magic.

In addition, the warlock is notable for its ability to channel spells again and again. A warlock masters
the secrets of spells to use them repeatedly, though compared to a wizard, a warlock has a much
smaller spell list.

The overall approach to the warlock for D&D Next aims to cover the bases of what we've done before,
while also adding some new wrinkles. As the class design firms up, we'll have more details on its
progress.