Alternate Warlock - Elderitch Blade (Arcane version of Soulknife?) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Alternate Warlock - Elderitch Blade (Arcane version of Soulknife?) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Noria Merfolk Mage
10-05-06, 12:38 PM This is something I've had rattling around in my skull for a while, based off various things. I've always liked warlocks, but the blasting versions wasn't quite enough, elderitch blast was good but you kinda wanted the extra options. I really liked the Elderitch Glaive invocation from Dragon Magic, but it was'nt quite enough. So I got the idea for replacing the Elderitch Blast with a similar, but less restricted melee invocation.

I'm thinking something very like the Soulknife has in psionics:

Start with an at-will 1d6-damage weapon much like the Soulknife. Whenever the Elderitch Blast would improve, instead it would improve: I'm thinking a +1 Enhancement bonus at levels 3, 7, 11, 15, and 19, with base damage increasing to d8 at level 5 (Perhaps giving the bastard sword option that a soulknife gets) and each of the other levels having an option for special Elderitch Essences for the blade, like the Breath Effects a Dragonfire Adept gets. Much like the Blast Warlock can choose Hideous Blow, I think it might be prudent to give the Blade Warlock the option to regain the Elderitch Blast by taking it as a Least Invocation choice.

What do people think? Could I have something here?
hisnamehere
10-05-06, 04:18 PM Why make it so complicated: just houserule that a warlock has the choice of either an Eldritch Blast or an Eldritch Touch at first level.
TheGnomishWizard
10-05-06, 04:24 PM Does hideous blow kinda cover what you are trying to do? I mean, it applies blast damage to a melee attack, which is better than having a 1d6 melee blast anyway, minus that it isn't a touch attack, isn't it?

This brings to mind playing a soulknife/warlock though. That would be pretty sick I think.
Noria Merfolk Mage
10-06-06, 06:59 AM No, hideous blow isn't really what I'm looking for, because it's just the blast delivered in a different way. It's not a weapon and doesn't have the versatility of a weapon: Different ways of wielding it, combat maneuvers, multiple attacks, spring attacks, that sort of thing. It would add a lot of depth to the warlock, in my opinion.

Of course it would be optional, that's why it's an alternate class feature and not a new class.

And a soulknife/warlock multiclass would blow, because there's no synergy, and no way to compensate for the lost class features (no Practised Spellcaster type feats).
Generic Poster
10-06-06, 08:21 AM personally I would take a different tack towards making a melee warlock in the spirit of the soulknife. I would simply combine the Warlock with the Soulknife into a 10 level prestige class that advances both soulknife and warlock abilities.

Having this Prc would add on eldritch blast damage and blast effects to your soulblade, and would advance eldritch blast damage, psychic strike damage and mindblade bonuses to your character. You would now have a reason to take the soulknife and an interesting new way to melee with your warlock.
okaynowa
10-06-06, 08:55 AM Couldn't you just take the Soul Knife, strip out the psionics references (like the Wild Talent feat and the psionic weapon enhancements), and replace them with arcane versions? Instead of Wild Talent, some minor spell casting; instead of the psychic burst, some eldritch burst. You still get the ability to throw the blade (there's your ranged blast), split it, reshape it, all the fun stuff... it's reimaging the class, rather than reinventing class mechanics.

If you'd prefer approaching it from the warlock angle (Eldritch Glaive is pretty neat), perhaps you could nerf the Glaive invocation somehow so it's available at 1st level. (Removing the glaive's reach would be the easiest way.)
Noria Merfolk Mage
10-06-06, 09:07 AM personally I would take a different tack towards making a melee warlock in the spirit of the soulknife. I would simply combine the Warlock with the Soulknife into a 10 level prestige class that advances both soulknife and warlock abilities.

Having this Prc would add on eldritch blast damage and blast effects to your soulblade, and would advance eldritch blast damage, psychic strike damage and mindblade bonuses to your character. You would now have a reason to take the soulknife and an interesting new way to melee with your warlock.

This is certainly an option, but not what I'm looking for. I wish anyone who tries it all the best, because it does sound pretty damn cool.
Noria Merfolk Mage
10-06-06, 10:58 AM Couldn't you just take the Soul Knife, strip out the psionics references (like the Wild Talent feat and the psionic weapon enhancements), and replace them with arcane versions? Instead of Wild Talent, some minor spell casting; instead of the psychic burst, some eldritch burst. You still get the ability to throw the blade (there's your ranged blast), split it, reshape it, all the fun stuff... it's reimaging the class, rather than reinventing class mechanics.

If you'd prefer approaching it from the warlock angle (Eldritch Glaive is pretty neat), perhaps you could nerf the Glaive invocation somehow so it's available at 1st level. (Removing the glaive's reach would be the easiest way.)

The first one is another option, but I like Warlocks a lot more than I like Soulknives mechanically. I have no issues with changing mechanics as long as you keep the same power level more or less.
As for the 2nd suggestion, Elderitch Glaive is nice, but it's very clunky. I supposed that makes sense, because if you just made it a melee attack with that much damage it'd be too good. But I'm willing to give up the damage for versatility, and want to work for that direction.
okaynowa
10-06-06, 12:50 PM Said NMM:if you just made it a melee attack with that much damage it'd be too good.Possibly, but the warlock also has lousy hit points and Armor Class for a front-line fighter. I like the warlock mechanics too, but those mechanics are designed for a ranged blaster, not a melee combatant. Start changing the class's combat role, and you're going to encounter rules weirdness. That's the only reason I suggest patterning an eldritch blade after a class that's already designed to go hand-to-hand.
Noria Merfolk Mage
10-06-06, 03:45 PM Maybe I should make this clearer, but I like rules wierdness. I want to go over every aspect of the class, and work it through to create the desired effect. And I'm asking on here to see if anyone else feels the same.
TheGnomishWizard
10-06-06, 06:19 PM Maybe I've misread something somewhere but are you talking about being able to use the eldritch blast as a melee weapon (I got this part) including being able to make multiple attacks per round and doing things like trip and disarm with it? Because I think you would have to nerf the blast damage if you did this. Level 10 Warlock with 2 attacks (touch attacks nonetheless) that deal 5d6 damage a peice?
Noria Merfolk Mage
10-07-06, 06:20 PM I already stated in my first post I was planning to replace the constant damage boosts with enhancement bonuses and minor abilities.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Noria Merfolk Mage 10-05-06, 12:38 PM	This is something I've had rattling around in my skull for a while, based off various things. I've always liked warlocks, but the blasting versions wasn't quite enough, elderitch blast was good but you kinda wanted the extra options. I really liked the Elderitch Glaive invocation from Dragon Magic, but it was'nt quite enough. So I got the idea for replacing the Elderitch Blast with a similar, but less restricted melee invocation. I'm thinking something very like the Soulknife has in psionics: Start with an at-will 1d6-damage weapon much like the Soulknife. Whenever the Elderitch Blast would improve, instead it would improve: I'm thinking a +1 Enhancement bonus at levels 3, 7, 11, 15, and 19, with base damage increasing to d8 at level 5 (Perhaps giving the bastard sword option that a soulknife gets) and each of the other levels having an option for special Elderitch Essences for the blade, like the Breath Effects a Dragonfire Adept gets. Much like the Blast Warlock can choose Hideous Blow, I think it might be prudent to give the Blade Warlock the option to regain the Elderitch Blast by taking it as a Least Invocation choice. What do people think? Could I have something here?
hisnamehere 10-05-06, 04:18 PM	Why make it so complicated: just houserule that a warlock has the choice of either an Eldritch Blast or an Eldritch Touch at first level.
TheGnomishWizard 10-05-06, 04:24 PM	Does hideous blow kinda cover what you are trying to do? I mean, it applies blast damage to a melee attack, which is better than having a 1d6 melee blast anyway, minus that it isn't a touch attack, isn't it? This brings to mind playing a soulknife/warlock though. That would be pretty sick I think.
Noria Merfolk Mage 10-06-06, 06:59 AM	No, hideous blow isn't really what I'm looking for, because it's just the blast delivered in a different way. It's not a weapon and doesn't have the versatility of a weapon: Different ways of wielding it, combat maneuvers, multiple attacks, spring attacks, that sort of thing. It would add a lot of depth to the warlock, in my opinion. Of course it would be optional, that's why it's an alternate class feature and not a new class. And a soulknife/warlock multiclass would blow, because there's no synergy, and no way to compensate for the lost class features (no Practised Spellcaster type feats).
Generic Poster 10-06-06, 08:21 AM	personally I would take a different tack towards making a melee warlock in the spirit of the soulknife. I would simply combine the Warlock with the Soulknife into a 10 level prestige class that advances both soulknife and warlock abilities. Having this Prc would add on eldritch blast damage and blast effects to your soulblade, and would advance eldritch blast damage, psychic strike damage and mindblade bonuses to your character. You would now have a reason to take the soulknife and an interesting new way to melee with your warlock.
okaynowa 10-06-06, 08:55 AM	Couldn't you just take the Soul Knife, strip out the psionics references (like the Wild Talent feat and the psionic weapon enhancements), and replace them with arcane versions? Instead of Wild Talent, some minor spell casting; instead of the psychic burst, some eldritch burst. You still get the ability to throw the blade (there's your ranged blast), split it, reshape it, all the fun stuff... it's reimaging the class, rather than reinventing class mechanics. If you'd prefer approaching it from the warlock angle (Eldritch Glaive is pretty neat), perhaps you could nerf the Glaive invocation somehow so it's available at 1st level. (Removing the glaive's reach would be the easiest way.)
Noria Merfolk Mage 10-06-06, 09:07 AM	personally I would take a different tack towards making a melee warlock in the spirit of the soulknife. I would simply combine the Warlock with the Soulknife into a 10 level prestige class that advances both soulknife and warlock abilities. Having this Prc would add on eldritch blast damage and blast effects to your soulblade, and would advance eldritch blast damage, psychic strike damage and mindblade bonuses to your character. You would now have a reason to take the soulknife and an interesting new way to melee with your warlock. This is certainly an option, but not what I'm looking for. I wish anyone who tries it all the best, because it does sound pretty damn cool.
Noria Merfolk Mage 10-06-06, 10:58 AM	Couldn't you just take the Soul Knife, strip out the psionics references (like the Wild Talent feat and the psionic weapon enhancements), and replace them with arcane versions? Instead of Wild Talent, some minor spell casting; instead of the psychic burst, some eldritch burst. You still get the ability to throw the blade (there's your ranged blast), split it, reshape it, all the fun stuff... it's reimaging the class, rather than reinventing class mechanics. If you'd prefer approaching it from the warlock angle (Eldritch Glaive is pretty neat), perhaps you could nerf the Glaive invocation somehow so it's available at 1st level. (Removing the glaive's reach would be the easiest way.) The first one is another option, but I like Warlocks a lot more than I like Soulknives mechanically. I have no issues with changing mechanics as long as you keep the same power level more or less. As for the 2nd suggestion, Elderitch Glaive is nice, but it's very clunky. I supposed that makes sense, because if you just made it a melee attack with that much damage it'd be too good. But I'm willing to give up the damage for versatility, and want to work for that direction.
okaynowa 10-06-06, 12:50 PM	Said NMM:if you just made it a melee attack with that much damage it'd be too good.Possibly, but the warlock also has lousy hit points and Armor Class for a front-line fighter. I like the warlock mechanics too, but those mechanics are designed for a ranged blaster, not a melee combatant. Start changing the class's combat role, and you're going to encounter rules weirdness. That's the only reason I suggest patterning an eldritch blade after a class that's already designed to go hand-to-hand.
Noria Merfolk Mage 10-06-06, 03:45 PM	Maybe I should make this clearer, but I like rules wierdness. I want to go over every aspect of the class, and work it through to create the desired effect. And I'm asking on here to see if anyone else feels the same.
TheGnomishWizard 10-06-06, 06:19 PM	Maybe I've misread something somewhere but are you talking about being able to use the eldritch blast as a melee weapon (I got this part) including being able to make multiple attacks per round and doing things like trip and disarm with it? Because I think you would have to nerf the blast damage if you did this. Level 10 Warlock with 2 attacks (touch attacks nonetheless) that deal 5d6 damage a peice?
Noria Merfolk Mage 10-07-06, 06:20 PM	I already stated in my first post I was planning to replace the constant damage boosts with enhancement bonuses and minor abilities.