Warlock (Dungeons & Dragons)
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Barbarian |
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Archivist |
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The warlock is one of the non-core character classes in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. It was introduced in the supplemental book Complete Arcane for the 3.5 edition of Dungeons & Dragons.
Unlike sorcerers and wizards, who approach arcane magic through their draconic lineage or a book of learned magic, a warlock invokes magic through their darkened soul. By harnessing their innate magical gift, warlocks can perform spell-like feats and abilities; since they are not users of true spells in the traditional sense, they can use their invocations while wearing light armor. Warlocks must be evil or chaotic in alignment.
Warlocks in Dungeons & Dragons receive their abilities through the influence of some unearthly being such as a Demon or Fey. They are either born with these powers or receive them through a fell pact, which turns their soul into a dark font of eldritch powers. Warlocks do not cast spells, but instead use spell-like abilities called "invocations", which represent the tapping of the power granted the warlock. The most important of these abilities is the "eldritch blast" which is the warlock's main offensive ability, firing a blast of magical energy at the target. The blast deals 1d6 damage at first level and improves by 1d6 at each odd-numbered level after first. The blast is a ranged touch attack requiring a standard action and is a spell-like ability. Warlocks also have other minor, non-invocation abilities as they progress in level: energy resistance, inhumanly tough skin, unnaturally fast healing, and the ability to force magical items to do their bidding, to name a few.
The major difference that Warlocks have from all other Dungeons & Dragons casters is their ability to use their invocations "at will," without a limit on the number of times an invocation can be cast. In contrast, a wizard or sorcerer can cast a set number of spells every day from a wider selection of spells than a warlock. This aspect of the class has led some players to feel it is possibly overpowered, while others feel that the limited selection of abilities and the lack of many party-enhancing abilities more than make up for this. Also the Warlock has a caster level, not a spellcaster level, limiting prestige class choices. However, some newer releases such as Complete Mage have provided additional materials for Warlock characters to build upon, greatly benefitting this unique class.
Invocations come in four power levels: least, lesser, greater, and dark. There are three categories of invocations as well: blast shape invocations, which modify the range and area of effect of the eldritch blast, essence invocations, which grant effects or modify the damage type of the eldritch blast, and general invocations which provide utility abilities such as flight and invisibility.
