5th edition Warlock

If it doesn't fit into a category above, then inscribe it here, O Mighty One...

Moderators: DJ LaBoss, finarvyn, michaelcurtis, Harley Stroh

Post Reply
User avatar
Blood Axe
Cold-Blooded Diabolist
Posts: 530
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 10:58 am
FLGS: The Portal
Location: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

5th edition Warlock

Post by Blood Axe »

I was looking at my new 5th ed. Players Handbook and read the Warlock. Seems a bit familiar. A spell-casting character who gains his powers from a patron. You make a bargain with a Fey Lord/lady, Demon Prince or even Cthulhu. Hmmmm......patrons......wonder where I saw that before.
To defend: This is the Pact.
But when life loses its value,
and is taken for naught -
then the Pact is to Avenge.
User avatar
GnomeBoy
Tyrant Master (Administrator)
Posts: 4127
Joined: Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:46 pm
FLGS: Bizarro World
Location: Left Coast, USA
Contact:

Re: 5th edition Warlock

Post by GnomeBoy »

Blood Axe wrote:I was looking at my new 5th ed. Players Handbook and read the Warlock. Seems a bit familiar. A spell-casting character who gains his powers from a patron. You make a bargain with a Fey Lord/lady, Demon Prince or even Cthulhu. Hmmmm......patrons......wonder where I saw that before.
4th Edition, pehaps...? :wink:
...
Gnome Boy • DCC playtester @ DDC 35 Feb '11. • Beta DL 2111, 7AM PT, 8 June 11.
Playing RPGs since '77 • Quasi-occasional member of the Legion of 8th-Level Fighters.

Link: Here Be 100+ DCC Monsters

bygrinstow.com - The Home of Inner Ham
User avatar
Blood Axe
Cold-Blooded Diabolist
Posts: 530
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 10:58 am
FLGS: The Portal
Location: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Re: 5th edition Warlock

Post by Blood Axe »

GnomeBoy wrote:
Blood Axe wrote:I was looking at my new 5th ed. Players Handbook and read the Warlock. Seems a bit familiar. A spell-casting character who gains his powers from a patron. You make a bargain with a Fey Lord/lady, Demon Prince or even Cthulhu. Hmmmm......patrons......wonder where I saw that before.
4th Edition, pehaps...? :wink:
The Warlock was like that in 4th? Never played 4th. Avoided it.
To defend: This is the Pact.
But when life loses its value,
and is taken for naught -
then the Pact is to Avenge.
User avatar
Ravenheart87
Tight-Lipped Warlock
Posts: 903
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:34 pm
Location: Győr, Hungary
Contact:

Re: 5th edition Warlock

Post by Ravenheart87 »

Blood Axe wrote:The Warlock was like that in 4th? Never played 4th. Avoided it.
It was, although far less exciting compared to the DCC wizard.
Vorpal Mace: a humble rpg blog with some DCC-related stuff.
User avatar
GlassEye
Wild-Eyed Zealot
Posts: 85
Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 8:06 am
Location: Columbia, MO

Re: 5th edition Warlock

Post by GlassEye »

Blood Axe wrote:The Warlock was like that in 4th? Never played 4th. Avoided it.
And before that, D&D 3.5. Before that, 2e Player's Options. It's definitely not a new idea though I don't think any of them have quite the panache that the DCC wizard has.
User avatar
Blood Axe
Cold-Blooded Diabolist
Posts: 530
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 10:58 am
FLGS: The Portal
Location: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Re: 5th edition Warlock

Post by Blood Axe »

GlassEye wrote:
Blood Axe wrote:The Warlock was like that in 4th? Never played 4th. Avoided it.
And before that, D&D 3.5. Before that, 2e Player's Options. It's definitely not a new idea though I don't think any of them have quite the panache that the DCC wizard has.
Thanks for the info.
Never noticed a Warlock with Patrons before and Ive been playing since Moldvay. (skipped 4th) The 5thed Warlock seems interesting .
To defend: This is the Pact.
But when life loses its value,
and is taken for naught -
then the Pact is to Avenge.
User avatar
finarvyn
Cold-Hearted Immortal
Posts: 2599
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 3:42 am
FLGS: Fair Game, Downers Grove IL
Location: Chicago suburbs
Contact:

Re: 5th edition Warlock

Post by finarvyn »

GlassEye wrote:I don't think any of them have quite the panache that the DCC wizard has.
Well said. Having a character with a patron does not mean it's as exciting a character as found in DCC. I think DCC nailed it.
Marv / Finarvyn
DCC Minister of Propaganda; Deputized 6/8/11 (over 11 years of SPAM bustin'!)
DCC RPG playtester 2011, DCC Lankhmar trivia contest winner 2015; OD&D player since 1975

"The worthy GM never purposely kills players' PCs, He presents opportunities for the rash and unthinking players to do that all on their own."
-- Gary Gygax
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!"
-- Dave Arneson
"Misinterpreting the rules is a shared memory for many of us"
-- Joseph Goodman
User avatar
Aplus
Hard-Bitten Adventurer
Posts: 141
Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2011 7:06 pm

Re: 5th edition Warlock

Post by Aplus »

There's nothing new under the sun
Check out my DCC Resources Page for cool stuff!
Ddogwood
Far-Sighted Wanderer
Posts: 23
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:21 pm

Re: 5th edition Warlock

Post by Ddogwood »

I remember reading some stories a while back about some albino dude with a magic sword who made a pact with a patron, too. Probably hardly anyone has ever read it though. It was by some guy named "Heath-rooster" or something.
User avatar
Blood Axe
Cold-Blooded Diabolist
Posts: 530
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 10:58 am
FLGS: The Portal
Location: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Re: 5th edition Warlock

Post by Blood Axe »

Ddogwood wrote:I remember reading some stories a while back about some albino dude with a magic sword who made a pact with a patron, too. Probably hardly anyone has ever read it though. It was by some guy named "Heath-rooster" or something.
Elric? Never read them. But that wasn't a RPG game. Many stick to the basic "wizard" type. Its a pretty new concept tor D&D. It hasn't been in any main rulebooks before. Except maybe 4th which I didn't play.
To defend: This is the Pact.
But when life loses its value,
and is taken for naught -
then the Pact is to Avenge.
User avatar
cjoepar
Hard-Bitten Adventurer
Posts: 185
Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2012 8:27 am
Location: Ohio
Contact:

Re: 5th edition Warlock

Post by cjoepar »

Blood Axe wrote:
Ddogwood wrote:I remember reading some stories a while back about some albino dude with a magic sword who made a pact with a patron, too. Probably hardly anyone has ever read it though. It was by some guy named "Heath-rooster" or something.
Elric? Never read them. But that wasn't a RPG game. Many stick to the basic "wizard" type. Its a pretty new concept tor D&D. It hasn't been in any main rulebooks before. Except maybe 4th which I didn't play.
mmm, if you decide to read them, don't set your expectations too high. Great ideas, great characters, great stories, all pulled together with writing that probably wouldn't even get a call back from a literary agent today. Still, they're short, so they move quickly and are worth a read if you aren't expecting too much. Especially the first book which has a couple of great scenes with Patron interaction, including one where Elric makes his pact with his Patron.

As for the existence of the idea in D&D, I don't have a photographic memory but I don't recall ever seeing it included as part of actual gameplay - just the idea mentioned as a descriptive explanation for some of the character classes.

Also, from what I've seen, since 5E was developed based on player input, it seems like it is basically just the better parts of the previous 4 editions all pulled together with some new stuff borrowed from other systems, which I guess is what you would expect.
Ddogwood
Far-Sighted Wanderer
Posts: 23
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:21 pm

Re: 5th edition Warlock

Post by Ddogwood »

Blood Axe wrote:
Elric? Never read them. But that wasn't a RPG game.
Well, not until 1981 it wasn't.

At any rate, the point is that nobody is "stealing" ideas from anyone here. The DCC RPG takes inspiration from the same sources as D&D, so it's not surprising that some similar concepts come up. I still like DCC's implementation the best, but it's also nice to be able to port rules, adventures, and ideas from one game to another.
User avatar
Ogrepuppy
Tight-Lipped Warlock
Posts: 921
Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2006 11:26 pm
Location: the Towers of Carcosa

Re: 5th edition Warlock

Post by Ogrepuppy »

Ddogwood wrote: it's not surprising that some similar concepts come up.
Indeed. Everyone's favorite "new" rules concept from 5th edition, Advantage/Disadvantage, is certainly not new: Barbarians of Lemuria featured a similar idea, and apparently it was originally a rule concept from J. Tweet's Over the Edge rpg.
User avatar
cjoepar
Hard-Bitten Adventurer
Posts: 185
Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2012 8:27 am
Location: Ohio
Contact:

Re: 5th edition Warlock

Post by cjoepar »

Ogrepuppy wrote:
Ddogwood wrote: it's not surprising that some similar concepts come up.
Indeed. Everyone's favorite "new" rules concept from 5th edition, Advantage/Disadvantage, is certainly not new: Barbarians of Lemuria featured a similar idea, and apparently it was originally a rule concept from J. Tweet's Over the Edge rpg.
It's also similar to the Roll X, Keep Y system in Legend of Five Rings. Where as your skills increase with certain weapons, or other proficiencies, you gain increasing numbers of dice to roll and increasing numbers of dice to keep for reaching a target number to succeed.
User avatar
GnomeBoy
Tyrant Master (Administrator)
Posts: 4127
Joined: Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:46 pm
FLGS: Bizarro World
Location: Left Coast, USA
Contact:

Re: 5th edition Warlock

Post by GnomeBoy »

Aplus wrote:There's nothing new under the sun
I just checked, and there's nothing new over the sun either.
...
Gnome Boy • DCC playtester @ DDC 35 Feb '11. • Beta DL 2111, 7AM PT, 8 June 11.
Playing RPGs since '77 • Quasi-occasional member of the Legion of 8th-Level Fighters.

Link: Here Be 100+ DCC Monsters

bygrinstow.com - The Home of Inner Ham
Post Reply

Return to “DCC RPG General”