[v1.72] Warlock Mod
TheArtisan
Member Posts: 3,277
This mod adds my version of the Warlock as a kit/pseudo-unique class.
WARLOCK: Born of a supernatural bloodline, a warlock seeks to master the perilous magic that suffuses his soul. Unlike sorcerers and wizards, who approach arcane magic through the medium of spells, a warlock invokes powerful magic through nothing more than an effort of will. The font of dark magic burning in their souls makes them resistant to many forms of attack and arms them with dangerous power. Warlocks learn to harness their power to perform a small number of specific attacks and tricks called invocations. Warlocks make up for their lack of versatility by being tougher and more resilient than sorcerers or wizards. By harnessing his innate magical gift through fearsome determination and willpower, a warlock can perform feats of supernatural stealth, beguile the weak-minded, or scour his foes with blasts of Eldritch power.
CLASS FEATURES:
– May not wear armor heavier than chain mail.
– May not equip shields larger than bucklers.
– May only become Proficient (one slot) in any weapon class.
– May only become Proficient (one slot) in any fighting style.
– Thieving abilities: Pick Pockets.
– Eldritch Lore: The warlock gains 10 base Lore per level.
– May cast Invocations.
INVOCATIONS: A Warlock does not prepare or cast spells as other wielders of arcane magic do. Instead, he possesses a repertoire of attacks, defenses, and abilities known as invocations that require him to focus the wild energy that suffuses his soul. A Warlock can use any invocation he knows at will. The four grades of invocation, in order of their relative power, are least, lesser, greater and dark.
– May use the Eldritch Blast ability at will.
ELDRITCH BLAST: A warlock attacks his foes with Eldritch power, using baleful magical energy to deal damage and sometimes impart other debilitating effects. An Eldritch Blast deals 1d6 points of magical damage at 1st level and increases by 1d6 in power for every three levels gained (up to 14d6 at 40th level). The default blast shape has a casting time of 1, while advanced blast shapes have longer casting times but decrease by 1 per 4 caster levels post-acquisition. There is no Saving Throw against this attack, but Magic Resistance can negate it.
As the warlock gains in levels, he is able to shape his Eldritch Blast into different forms.
3rd level: HIDEOUS BLOW: The first melee attack each round channels an Eldritch Blast.
7th level: ELDRITCH SPEAR: Eldritch Blast penetrates through all enemies in its path. Increases casting time by 1.
11th level: ELDRITCH CHAIN: Eldritch Blast chains to one extra target per 3 levels, dealing 1d6 reduced damage per target. Increases casting time by 2.
15th level: ELDRITCH CONE: Eldritch Blast takes the shape of a 90-degree cone. Increases casting time by 4.
19th level: ELDRITCH DOOM: Eldritch Blast affects all enemies within a 30 ft. radius. Increases casting time by 6.
– 5th level: Gains 10% resistance to crushing, slashing, piercing, and missile damage. An additional 5% is gained at levels 15, 25 and 35.
– 8th level: The warlock regenerates one hit point per three rounds.
– 10th level: Gains 10% resistance to acid, cold, electrical, fire and magical damage. An additional 10% is gained at levels 20, 30 and 40.
– 12th level: Deceive Item: The warlock gains the ability to use Mage scrolls.
– 16th level: Regeneration rate increased to one hit point per two rounds.
– 22nd level: Becomes immune to non-magical weapons.
– 24th level: Regeneration rate increased to one hit point per round.
– Alignment restricted to chaotic good, chaotic neutral, lawful evil, neutral evil and chaotic evil.
– Hit Die: d6
Invocations & High Level Activities
Notes:
Darkfire Gauntlets (BG)
Frozen Ring of Stygian Winds (BG)
Hellfire Blade of Azythanoth +2 (BG, may be upgraded by Cromwell)
Demonic Ring of Reconstruction (IWD)
Chain Mail of Abaddon (IWD)
WARLOCK: Born of a supernatural bloodline, a warlock seeks to master the perilous magic that suffuses his soul. Unlike sorcerers and wizards, who approach arcane magic through the medium of spells, a warlock invokes powerful magic through nothing more than an effort of will. The font of dark magic burning in their souls makes them resistant to many forms of attack and arms them with dangerous power. Warlocks learn to harness their power to perform a small number of specific attacks and tricks called invocations. Warlocks make up for their lack of versatility by being tougher and more resilient than sorcerers or wizards. By harnessing his innate magical gift through fearsome determination and willpower, a warlock can perform feats of supernatural stealth, beguile the weak-minded, or scour his foes with blasts of Eldritch power.
CLASS FEATURES:
– May not wear armor heavier than chain mail.
– May not equip shields larger than bucklers.
– May only become Proficient (one slot) in any weapon class.
– May only become Proficient (one slot) in any fighting style.
– Thieving abilities: Pick Pockets.
– Eldritch Lore: The warlock gains 10 base Lore per level.
– May cast Invocations.
INVOCATIONS: A Warlock does not prepare or cast spells as other wielders of arcane magic do. Instead, he possesses a repertoire of attacks, defenses, and abilities known as invocations that require him to focus the wild energy that suffuses his soul. A Warlock can use any invocation he knows at will. The four grades of invocation, in order of their relative power, are least, lesser, greater and dark.
– May use the Eldritch Blast ability at will.
ELDRITCH BLAST: A warlock attacks his foes with Eldritch power, using baleful magical energy to deal damage and sometimes impart other debilitating effects. An Eldritch Blast deals 1d6 points of magical damage at 1st level and increases by 1d6 in power for every three levels gained (up to 14d6 at 40th level). The default blast shape has a casting time of 1, while advanced blast shapes have longer casting times but decrease by 1 per 4 caster levels post-acquisition. There is no Saving Throw against this attack, but Magic Resistance can negate it.
As the warlock gains in levels, he is able to shape his Eldritch Blast into different forms.
3rd level: HIDEOUS BLOW: The first melee attack each round channels an Eldritch Blast.
7th level: ELDRITCH SPEAR: Eldritch Blast penetrates through all enemies in its path. Increases casting time by 1.
11th level: ELDRITCH CHAIN: Eldritch Blast chains to one extra target per 3 levels, dealing 1d6 reduced damage per target. Increases casting time by 2.
15th level: ELDRITCH CONE: Eldritch Blast takes the shape of a 90-degree cone. Increases casting time by 4.
19th level: ELDRITCH DOOM: Eldritch Blast affects all enemies within a 30 ft. radius. Increases casting time by 6.
– 5th level: Gains 10% resistance to crushing, slashing, piercing, and missile damage. An additional 5% is gained at levels 15, 25 and 35.
– 8th level: The warlock regenerates one hit point per three rounds.
– 10th level: Gains 10% resistance to acid, cold, electrical, fire and magical damage. An additional 10% is gained at levels 20, 30 and 40.
– 12th level: Deceive Item: The warlock gains the ability to use Mage scrolls.
– 16th level: Regeneration rate increased to one hit point per two rounds.
– 22nd level: Becomes immune to non-magical weapons.
– 24th level: Regeneration rate increased to one hit point per round.
– Alignment restricted to chaotic good, chaotic neutral, lawful evil, neutral evil and chaotic evil.
– Hit Die: d6
Invocations & High Level Activities
Notes:
- The warlock is a 'bard kit' but obviously shares little resemblance with the bard. Invocations are added to the arcane spellbook but you do not have spell slots. Instead, you gain an 'Invocations' ability which essentially functions as a version of Nahal's Reckless Dweomer without the wild magic.
- You gain blast shapes innately rather than through spell selection. This is sort of a limitation I made in order to make the essences work with blast shape. I'm sure it's possible to implement it another way, but this was the easier path.
- The warlock can use invocations while wearing armor.
- The warlock gets the Planar Sphere as a stronghold instead of the playhouse.
- You may exchange one of your invocations for another of the same tier, once per level up. I felt this provides some interesting balance as invocations that become less useful later can be exchanged for better ones.
- The quick spell button doesn't work. Believe me, I wish it did. I tried and tried, but the game does not recognize it when innates are refreshed via "remove/add" and your ability will remain at '0 casts' even though it is refreshed. As great as it would be to key your Eldritch Blast or Invocations there, it's sadly not possible.
- Several spells (e.g. Voracious Dispelling) are not great representations of their original incarnations due to either balance reasons or engine limitations.
- The Eldritch Pact (non-evil) and Hellfire Pact (non-good) HLAs and their branch abilities are mutually exclusive. NOTE: In IWDEE, due to the lack of the HLA system, the warlock gains their standard HLAs innately. While neutral warlocks typically have the option to select either pact, in IWDEE they default to Eldritch Pact.
- The warlock cannot use vanilla bard-exclusive items. Mod items are still allowed due to limitations... for the moment..
- I can't give too many thoughts regarding balance yet, but so far, trying to balance infinite casting is extremely difficult and the kit will probably swing between underpowered and overpowered depending on the stage of the game. This was mostly done for fun, as well as an experiment for certain mechanics and coding.
NEW ITEMS
Three new items usable by warlocks only are added to Baldur's Gate. In BG1, they can be found in various parts of the Sword Coast, while in BG2 they can be bought from Ribald at a high price.Darkfire Gauntlets (BG)
This pair of black iron gauntlets was enchanted by a powerful warlock, using infernal magics to combine the contradictory elements of fire and ice. Those same enchantment prevent its magic from being accessed by anyone other than a warlock.
STATISTICS:
Charge abilities:
– Darkfire Shield (Fire Shield Blue and Red) once per day
Range: Self
Duration: 1 turn
Equipped abilities:
– Casting Time: +1
– Fire Resistance: +20%
– Cold Resistance: +20%
Weight: 2
Location in BG1: Sorcerous Sundries
STATISTICS:
Charge abilities:
– Darkfire Shield (Fire Shield Blue and Red) once per day
Range: Self
Duration: 1 turn
Equipped abilities:
– Casting Time: +1
– Fire Resistance: +20%
– Cold Resistance: +20%
Weight: 2
Location in BG1: Sorcerous Sundries
Frozen Ring of Stygian Winds (BG)
The frozen sea of Stygia is a deathly cold place. Once, eons ago, the archdevil Asmodeus imprisoned the Prince of Stygia, Levistus, within a tomb of impenetrable ice as punishment for a slight against him. The Lord of the Fifth's icy prison was reinforced by the cold winds of his plane, and although the devil's minions chip away at the ice without rest, for every inch they break, two more inches build from the sleet and snow constantly blowing across its surface. This ring is suggested to be chiseled from a piece of the Prince of Stygia's prison, and contains significant power of its own.
STATISTICS:
Equipped abilities:
– Cold Resistance: +50%
– Physical Resistance: -15%
– All cold damage inflicted by the wearer is increased by 40%
– May only be removed with a Remove Curse spell
Weight: 0
Location in BG1: Dezkiel in Ice Islands
STATISTICS:
Equipped abilities:
– Cold Resistance: +50%
– Physical Resistance: -15%
– All cold damage inflicted by the wearer is increased by 40%
– May only be removed with a Remove Curse spell
Weight: 0
Location in BG1: Dezkiel in Ice Islands
Hellfire Blade of Azythanoth +2 (BG, may be upgraded by Cromwell)
The blade of this weapon appears dull and useless in the hands of a regular wielder. When drawn from its sheath by a warlock, however, it becomes engulfed in a blazing hot tongue of flame, impossible to extinguish by any normal means short of resheathing it. The markings on the weapon's hilt are words in the Abyssal language, suggesting its origin from the Nine Hells. The raging hellfire that empowers this blade burns through metal and flesh, and maims even those resistant to regular fire. Even being close to the flames makes one feel drained and weak.
STATISTICS:
Equipped abilities:
– All fire damage inflicted by the wielder is increased by 20%
– Constitution: -2
Combat abilities:
– Deals an additional 2 points of unmitigated fire damage per round for 3 rounds on a failed Save vs. Death at -2
THAC0: +2
Damage: 2d4, +2d6+2 unmitigated fire damage
Damage type: slashing
Speed Factor: 6
Proficiency Type: Bastard Sword
Type: One-handed
Requires:
11 Strength
Weight: 7
Location in BG1: Death Knight in Durlag's Tower
STATISTICS:
Equipped abilities:
– All fire damage inflicted by the wielder is increased by 20%
– Constitution: -2
Combat abilities:
– Deals an additional 2 points of unmitigated fire damage per round for 3 rounds on a failed Save vs. Death at -2
THAC0: +2
Damage: 2d4, +2d6+2 unmitigated fire damage
Damage type: slashing
Speed Factor: 6
Proficiency Type: Bastard Sword
Type: One-handed
Requires:
11 Strength
Weight: 7
Location in BG1: Death Knight in Durlag's Tower
Demonic Ring of Reconstruction (IWD)
This ring was once the possession of Zz'thaen, a powerful dark elven warlock. It is believed that Zz'thaen once performed an act which angered his demonic patron, the tanar'ri Bo'atha. Yet in an audacious turn of events, Zz'thaen was able to strike back against his patron's retribution and cleaved a finger from his ex-patron's hand. This ring was supposedly carved from the tanar'ri's knucklebone, and carries with it some amount of demonic power... though it will only submit to one who is similarly empowered.
STATISTICS:
Equipped abilities:
– Maximum Hit Points: +10
– Regenerate 2 Hit Points per round
Weight: 0
Location: Yxunomei's Throne Room
STATISTICS:
Equipped abilities:
– Maximum Hit Points: +10
– Regenerate 2 Hit Points per round
Weight: 0
Location: Yxunomei's Throne Room
Chain Mail of Abaddon (IWD)
This suit of pitch-black chainmail is unusually light, silent and carries the acrid scent of ash. Despite its ancient and ragged appearance, the magic that enhances it is undeniably powerful – yet there is something strange, something otherworldly, about it... the armor almost seems alive, its obsidian links falling away when one attempts to wear it, save for those whose souls are bound to supernatural pacts.
STATISTICS:
Equipped Abilities:
– Magic Resistance: +20%
– Luck: +2
– Save vs. Death: +5
Armor Class: 0 (-2 vs. slashing, 2 vs. crushing)
Requires:
8 Strength
Weight: 12
Location: Kieran Nye's store
STATISTICS:
Equipped Abilities:
– Magic Resistance: +20%
– Luck: +2
– Save vs. Death: +5
Armor Class: 0 (-2 vs. slashing, 2 vs. crushing)
Requires:
8 Strength
Weight: 12
Location: Kieran Nye's store
Post edited by TheArtisan on
25
Comments
Thanks!
In combat, it aggros perfectly and goes after enemies.
Cannot reproduce for the nabassu and pit fiend, can reproduce for the glabrezu. Before I update, can you confirm this is only an issue for the glabrezu and not the other two?
The statline for the bard (Hit Dice, THAC0, lore, etc.) is preferable over the mage, the only other feasible base class. The main reason however is item usability. To a lesser extent, the rogue experience table and Pick Pockets as well.
Also - not sure if this is desired behaviour.....if you target a friendly with an eldritch chain, it doesn't do anything. The spell will fire but no feedback in the combat log and it doesn't bounce to anything else.
The summoned devil is random. I've confirmed that the glabrezu is the only one bugged and fixed it though.
Eldritch Chain is ally-friendly, yes. Ideally, it'd only chain to a limited number of targets but that's impossible to implement so it's arguably the strongest shape due to AoE and no save for half damage.
Technically it's not the warlock itself that's race-locked but the bard base class. I can add a patch to make bards available to more classes in the next update.
Did you by any Chance add a unique biography for the Warlock CHARNAME? Also, does he use the mage stronghold?
Not very long, but I didn't have the creativity to come up with something better at the time.
As for the stronghold:
Not my field of expertise. My experience tells me that kit mods generally don’t have major issues with EET since they don’t have chapter or script dependencies, but I could be wrong. If there are issues they won’t have to do with EET.
All my kits have these, you can take a look if you wish.
Sigh. I'm an moron.
Don't download v0.5 for the moment. I'll get it fixed right now.
Thank you. The major balance issue I faced was how to implement disabling effects like stuns, slows, etc. so that they can’t be abused via infinite casting to permanently cripple targets. In the end I settled for low durations and relatively forgiving saving throws but I’m still not certain how balanced it is. I hope you’ve had a good experience with the mod.