Ankh Warlock - What do you Think?

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The Ankh Warlock requires an ankh of white gold, as a talsman, to
cast all eight arcane schools of magic, gains a +15%/+3 as a research
bonus but has one spell/level than a standard wizard of the same level.
Furthermore, an Ankh Warlock must be invited to enter a home or
community as a supernatural Drawback that cannot be dismissed. He(she)
gets 8 base skill points instead of 2. Otherwise they are Wizards.
At 4th Lvl, the Warlock gains the ability to cast spells in leather,
studded leather, or brigandine with no penalty to his spells.
At 11th Lvl, the Warlock gains the talent to backstab as a rogue of
first level, advancing normally afterwards (Rog Lvl-10). If the Warlock
builds a Stonghold, he gains the Leadership feat for free and gradually
gains followers and eventually must quest for his cohort. Some of these
followers will be Warlocks.

So what do you think?
-Dragonkat

 

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Are they Evil? The part where they must be invited in sounds odd
otherwise.

 

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Ankh Warlocks can be of any alignment, but NPC ones are 20% Good/30%
Neutral/50% Evil.
The drawback is a supernatual backlash (boomerang) from the
initiation that can get the superstious worried about the Warlock, can
be used Against him as a sub-plot, and is designed to keep the Warlock
in balance. However, look at the morals of them- half are evil! half
are not! Perhaps the tempation of a wizard in armor or the sneak attack
as they grow in power draws power hungry folk.
The research bonus and skill point increase and the spell reduction,
offset by Int bonus, doesn't cover over-balencing issues. The talisman
requirement does that, but not enough to cover the Leadership at 11th
level gained for 'free', only conditionally.

 

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I don't see why an unnatural initiation should give very mundane social
and physical abilities to spellcasters or advanced spellcasting to
thieves; an explanation of how the Ankh warlock is different from a
wizard/thief multiclass combination and what it is would be
interesting.

I would put the proposed abilities (except the extra spell) in a
3-level prestige class meant as drastic thief-like diversification for
wizards.
- no spells, not even stacking ECL; d6 or d8 hit points, all good saves
and medium or good attack bonus instead.
- all levels: the research bonus (maybe reduced) should balance the
ankh, invitation and social disadvantages.
- 1st level: spellcasting in leather etc. and skil points
- 2nd level: backstab (stacking with other backstabbing)
- 3rd level: free Leadership with stronghold



Lorenzo Gatti

 

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In article <1110385873.803436.28270@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>,
"Dragonkat" <dragonkat2flame@yahoo.com> wrote:

> The Ankh Warlock requires an ankh of white gold, as a talsman, to
> cast all eight arcane schools of magic, gains a +15%/+3 as a research
> bonus but has one spell/level than a standard wizard of the same level.

One less or one more? I guess one more, which is damn powerful.

> Furthermore, an Ankh Warlock must be invited to enter a home or
> community as a supernatural Drawback that cannot be dismissed.

Cool, but not exactly important.

> He(she)
> gets 8 base skill points instead of 2.

They're better than wizards at being wizards, and they get as many skill
points as rogues? That needs some kind of really serious drawback to
balance.

> Otherwise they are Wizards.
> At 4th Lvl, the Warlock gains the ability to cast spells in leather,
> studded leather, or brigandine with no penalty to his spells.

The advantage of this over supernatural "armour bonus" effects is not
vast, but it's there, so this too requires balancing.

> At 11th Lvl, the Warlock gains the talent to backstab as a rogue of
> first level, advancing normally afterwards (Rog Lvl-10).

Pretty trivial really, since wizards do not do a lot of melee attacking
and don't hit much when they do. However the advancement system is
weirdly non-linear. I'd probably make it +1d6 every 6 levels or
something like that.

> If the Warlock
> builds a Stonghold, he gains the Leadership feat for free and gradually
> gains followers and eventually must quest for his cohort. Some of these
> followers will be Warlocks.
>
> So what do you think?

If the only weaknesses are needing a fancy material component and not
being able to enter buildings uninvited (roleplaying stuff really), and
they get an assortment of significant advantages over core wizards, they
are too powerful.

Possibly you should rethink this as a Prestige class that is best
approached with rogue levels and wizards levels, or possibly the
Warlocks should not advance their spellcasting abilities at certain
levels (I'd pick 2nd, 5th, 8th, 11th). That way they are behind wizards
significantly in their core abilities, to a degree consistent with
similar builds like the Arcane Trickster.

Kevin Lowe,
Tasmania.

 

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One spell/lvl less! Int bonuses still count...Int 12+
The initiate isn't trained until the talisman/invitation ceremony takes
place, stacking with the adept ceremony at 4th & the master's at 11th.
The use of armor is not to be taken lighty, nor does the Warlock gain a
rudimentary backstab until 11th lvl.
The skill points only use the Wizard class skill list except for
Bluff...which is a nescessity.
The Warlock is a secretive Wizard-like Arcanist, d4!
And is a seperate class on its own, not a PrC.

Although a PrC might be more viable.

Any other Thoughts? -Dragonkat

 

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Dragonkat <dragonkat2flame@yahoo.com> wrote:
> The Ankh Warlock requires an ankh of white gold, as a talsman, to
> cast all eight arcane schools of magic, gains a +15%/+3 as a research
> bonus but has one spell/level than a standard wizard of the same level.
> Furthermore, an Ankh Warlock must be invited to enter a home or
> community as a supernatural Drawback that cannot be dismissed. He(she)
> gets 8 base skill points instead of 2. Otherwise they are Wizards.
> At 4th Lvl, the Warlock gains the ability to cast spells in leather,
> studded leather, or brigandine with no penalty to his spells.
> At 11th Lvl, the Warlock gains the talent to backstab as a rogue of
> first level, advancing normally afterwards (Rog Lvl-10). If the Warlock
> builds a Stonghold, he gains the Leadership feat for free and gradually
> gains followers and eventually must quest for his cohort. Some of these
> followers will be Warlocks.
>
> So what do you think?

I think you should stop posting while you're drunk.
--
Bradd W. Szonye
http://www.szonye.com/bradd

 

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I Don't Drink!

 

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It has been brought to my attention that "Dragonkat"
<dragonkat2flame@yahoo.com> wrote:

> The Ankh Warlock requires an ankh of white gold, as a talsman, to
>cast all eight arcane schools of magic, gains a +15%/+3 as a research
>bonus but has one spell/level than a standard wizard of the same level.
>Furthermore, an Ankh Warlock must be invited to enter a home or
>community as a supernatural Drawback that cannot be dismissed. He(she)
>gets 8 base skill points instead of 2. Otherwise they are Wizards.
> At 4th Lvl, the Warlock gains the ability to cast spells in leather,
>studded leather, or brigandine with no penalty to his spells.
> At 11th Lvl, the Warlock gains the talent to backstab as a rogue of
>first level, advancing normally afterwards (Rog Lvl-10). If the Warlock
>builds a Stonghold, he gains the Leadership feat for free and gradually
>gains followers and eventually must quest for his cohort. Some of these
>followers will be Warlocks.

Maybe if it was based on the Bard rather than the Wizard, with those
class abilities and a better spell list? But as it stands, it's
basically strictly better than the wizard.

 

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The Talisman restriction- you can't hide a second one on an ally or in
the boot -is ment to be replaced only after a week in perfect
conditions, back at bace.
So much for just a fancy spell component...
The Invitation Requirement- you can't walk into the local tavern, a
home, or the next hamlet, village, or city WITHOUT an invitation,
period. This has to be roleplayed to the hilt.
Spell list- As wizard minus one (Base), zeros mean only those spells
granted by INT are advailable.
Not a better spell list, better at researching spells for their
spellbooks...