6.12 Warlock

Rank (Level)	Blessings of the Abyss ✨	Keeper of Forbidden Knowledge ✨	Pact Magic ✨	Pact Spell Mastery ✨	Soulkeeper’s Chosen ✨
1 (1)	Abyssal rebuke	Eldritch secret, reader of hidden tomes	Pact spells, survival pact	Metamagic	Possession
2 (4)	Abyssal magic, resist the dark call	Unnatural insight	Pact spells+	Desperate pact	Empowering whispers
3 (7)	Banish to the abyss	Lore of corrupting power	Survival pact+	Spell-trained mind	Exchange soul fragment
4 (10)	Hellfire	Eldritch secret+	Pact spells+	Metamagic+	Unwavering possession
5 (13)	Abyssal magic+, resist the dark call+	Unnatural insight+		Attunement point	Exchange vitality
6 (16)	Abyssal curse	Lore of corrupting power+	Survival pact+	Experienced spellcaster	Empowering whispers+
7 (19)	Hellfire+	Eldritch secret+	Pact spells+	Metamagic+	Soul fountain

Warlocks are pact spellcasters who draw power from a sinister deal made with infernal creatures. Their soulkeeper grants them access to great magical power. However, they must content with the whispers of demonic influence throughout their life, and they risk losing their immortal soul.

Most people view warlocks with suspicion, if not outright hostility. Few warlocks are noble individuals who undertook their pact out of some self-sacrificing necessity. Instead, warlocks are often power-hungry individuals who willingly fall under demonic influence to serve their own ends. Even warlocks who start out with good intentions can be led astray over the years. It takes great wisdom and mental fortitude to resist the constant pressure of a soulkeeper’s twisted advice.

Warlocks are typically self-taught, or more accurately, educated by their soulkeeper in the use of their powers. It is not uncommon for warlocks to search for warlock mentors so they can master their powers without completely trusting their soulkeeper. These relationships are typically based on contracts and expectations of future services from the apprentice once their training is complete, just like a soul pact. A certain level of mistrust is common, and apprentices sometimes successfully betray their mentors, just like they hope to escape their soulkeeper’s clutches. To minimize the danger of these relationships, warlock mentors almost never take more than a single apprentice at a time.

Clerics and warlocks have a complicated relationship. From a certain perspective, they both gain power in exchange for their service to a powerful extraplanar entity. Warlocks often enjoy emphasizing the similarity, which can be a useful rhetorical tool to mitigate anti-warlock prejudice. For their part, clerics tend to strongly disagree with this analogy.

Rogues tend to get along better with warlocks than most classes do. Many rogues have a “do whatever works” attitude that helps them understand why warlocks would make a soul pact, even if they might not make the same pact themselves. In addition, rogues are generally flexible about their companions, and wouldn’t begrudge having a warlock in a group as long as the warlock doesn’t cause problems.

Alignment: Any.

Archetypes: Warlocks have the Blessings of the Abyss, Keeper of Forbidden Knowledge, Pact Magic, Pact Spell Mastery, and Soulkeeper’s Chosen archetypes.

6.12.1 Base Class Effects

If you choose warlock as your base class, you gain the following benefits.

Attributes

You gain a +1 bonus to your Willpower. In addition, you gain a +1 bonus to either your Intelligence or your Perception.

Hit Points

You have 6 hit points + your Constitution, plus 1 hit points per level beyond 1. This increases as your level increases, as indicated below.

• Level 7: 14 hit points + twice your Constitution, plus 2 hit points per level beyond 7.
• Level 13: 30 hit points + four times your Constitution, plus 4 hit points per level beyond 13.
• Level 19: 60 hit points + eight times your Constitution, plus 8 hit points per level beyond 19.

Resources

You learn three trained skills from among your class skills (see Skills). You also gain two additional attunement points and an additional insight point.

Weapon Proficiencies

You are proficient with simple weapons.

Armor Proficiencies

You are proficient with light and medium armor.

Class Skills

You have the following class skills:

• Dexterity: Ride.

• Intelligence: Deduction, Disguise, Knowledge (arcana, items, planes, religion).

• Perception: Awareness, Deception, Persuasion, Social Insight.

• Other: Intimidate.

6.12.2 Special Class Abilities

Soul Pact ✨

To become a warlock, you must make a pact with a creature capable of sharing its power with you. Such a creature must be 21st level, and must be a planeforged from a plane other than your own. You must make a sacrifice, the details of which are subject to negotiation, and offer a part of your immortal soul. In exchange, you gain the powers of a warlock. The creature you make the pact with is called your soulkeeper. Almost all warlocks make pacts with demons, though other soulkeepers are possible.

Offering your soul to an entity in this way grants it the ability to communicate with you in limited ways. This communication typically manifests as unnatural emotional urges or whispered voices audible only to you. Many soulkeepers use this influence to tempt their warlocks into greater evils, though the skill and subtlety of this influence can vary drastically between different soulkeepers.

Your pact specifies how much of your soul is granted to your soulkeeper, and the circumstances of the transfer. The most common arrangement is for a soulkeeper to gain possession of your soul immediately after you die. It will keep the soul for one decade per year of your life that you spend as a warlock. During that time, it will not prevent you from being resurrected. At the end of that time, if your soul remains intact, your soul will pass on to its intended afterlife. However, other arrangements are possible, and each warlock’s pact can be unique.

The longer you spend in an afterlife that is not your own, the more likely you are to lose your sense of self and become subsumed by the plane you are on. Only a soul of extraordinary strength can maintain its integrity after decades or centuries in any plane. Of course, soulkeepers generally try to accelerate this process as much as possible with various forms of torture. Many warlocks seek power zealously while mortal to gain the mental fortitude necessary to keep their soul intact after death.

Whispers of the Lost ✨

[ ✨] You hear the voices of souls that inhabit your soulkeeper’s plane, linked to you through your soulkeeper. Choose one of the following types of whispers that you hear.

Mentoring Whispers: You hear the voice of a dead warlock whose soul is bound to the same soulkeeper as yours.

Spiteful Whispers: You hear the voices of cruel souls who berate you for your flaws and mistakes.

Sycophantic Whispers: You hear the voices of adoring souls who praise your talents and everything you do.

Warning Whispers: You hear the voices of paranoid and fearful souls warning you of danger, both real and imagined.

Whispers of the Mighty: Your soulkeeper forges the connection to your soul into a boon granted to any soul in the Abyss strong enough to claim it in battle. You hear the voice of whatever soul currently possesses the boon, which may change suddenly and unexpectedly.

6.12.3 Blessings of the Abyss ✨

You can only choose this archetype if your soulkeeper is a demon. This archetype enhances your connection to the Abyss and allows you to channel its sinister power more directly. All abilities from this archetype are magical ✨.

Rank 1 – Abyssal Rebuke ✨

Rank 2 – Abyssal Magic ✨

If you have access to pact magic, choose one of the following mystic spheres: astromancy, enchantment, pyromancy, or summoning. You gain access to that mystic sphere.

Rank 2 – Resist the Dark Call ✨

If you do not have access to pact magic, you gain a +1 bonus to your Willpower.

Rank 3 – Banish to the Abyss ✨

Rank 4 – Hellfire ✨

You gain a +1 bonus to your magical power. In addition, whenever you use a Fire ability, you can choose to remove the Fire tag from it. This can allow it to have its normal effect on creatures that resist fire effects. Any other aspects of the ability remain unchanged.

Rank 5 – Abyssal Magic+ ✨

If you have access to pact magic, you learn an additional pact spell.

Rank 5 – Resist the Dark Call+ ✨

If you do not have access to pact magic, you become immune to Compulsion and Emotion attacks.

Rank 6 – Abyssal Curse ✨

Rank 7 – Hellfire+ ✨

The power bonus increases to +3. Any other aspects of the ability remain unchanged.

6.12.4 Keeper of Forbidden Knowledge ✨

This archetype grants you access to dangerous secrets revealed to you by your soulkeeper. All abilities from this archetype are magical ✨.

Rank 1 – Eldritch Secret ✨

You learn one secret of your choice from the following list. Each secret grants great power at a cost.

Secret of Bloodforging: While you are not wearing other body armor, your blood flows to the surface of your skin, manifesting a carapace around you. This functions like light body armor that provides a +4 bonus to your Armor defense and has no encumbrance. It also provides a +1 bonus to your vital rolls and a bonus equal to five times your rank in this archetype to your damage resistance. However, the recover ability no longer causes you to recover hit points or damage resistance (see Recover).

Secret of Bloodsharing: At the end of each round, if you dealt damage to a creature that caused it to lose hit points during that round, you regain hit points equal to 1d4 +1 per two power. You cannot regain more hit points in this way than the target lost from your attack. However, whenever you take damage, half of that damage is applied to your hit points directly, ignoring your damage resistance.

Secret of Soulcursing: Whenever you would inflict a condition on a creature that is not already under the effects of a Curse, that effect becomes a Curse on it instead of a condition. It is removed when the creature finishes a short rest. However, whenever you would gain a condition that you are not immune to, that effect becomes a Curse on you instead of a condition. If you were already affected by a Curse from this ability, the old Curse becomes a condition instead. Whenever you finish a short rest, you remove any Curse affecting you as a result of this ability.

Rank 1 – Reader of Hidden Tomes ✨

You treat all Knowledge skills as class skills for you.

Rank 2 – Unnatural Insight ✨

You gain up to two additional insight points. For each insight point you gain in this way, you take a -1 penalty to all skills other than Knowledge skills. For each insight point you choose not to gain in this way, you gain a +1 bonus to all Knowledge skills.

Rank 3 – Lore of Corrupting Power ✨

You can choose to gain a +2 bonus to your power with all abilities. If you do, you take a -2 penalty to your Fortitude and Mental defenses. Otherwise, you gain a +2 bonus to your Mental defense.

Rank 4 – Eldritch Secret+ ✨

The effect of your chosen secret improves.

Secret of Bloodforging: The bonus to damage resistance from the armor increases to seven times your rank in this archetype.

Secret of Bloodsharing: The healing increases to 1d6 +1 per power.

Secret of Soulcursing: You can convert conditions into Curse effects against creatures that already have a single Curse effect active on them.

Rank 5 – Unnatural Insight+ ✨

The maximum number of insight points you can gain with this ability increases to four.

Rank 6 – Lore of Corrupting Power+ ✨

If you chose the power bonus, it increases to +3. Otherwise, the defense bonus increases to +4.

Rank 7 – Eldritch Secret+ ✨

Your understanding of your chosen secret reaches its full potential.

Secret of Bloodforging: The bonus to damage resistance from the armor increases to ten times your rank in this archetype. In addition, the defense bonus increases to +5.

Secret of Bloodsharing: The healing increases to 1d6 plus 1d6 per 2 power.

Secret of Soulcursing: You can convert conditions into Curse effects with this ability regardless of the number of Curse effects active on the target.

6.12.5 Pact Magic ✨

This archetype grants you the ability to cast pact spells. All abilities from this archetype are magical ✨.

Rank 1 – Pact Spells ✨

Your soulkeeper grants you the ability to use pact magic. You gain access to one pact mystic sphere, plus the universal mystic sphere (see Pact Mystic Spheres). You may spend insight points to gain access to one additional pact mystic sphere per two insight points. You can only learn pact spells from pact mystic spheres that you have access to.

You automatically learn all cantrips from each of your mystic spheres. In addition, you learn two rank 1 pact spells. You can also spend insight points to learn one additional rank 1 spell per insight point.

Pact spells require both verbal components and somatic components to cast (see ??). For details about mystic spheres and casting spells, see ?? .

When you gain access to a new mystic sphere or spell rank, you can forget any number of spells you know to learn that many new spells in exchange, including spells of the higher rank.

Advancement: The maximum rank of pact spells that you can learn is equal to your rank in this archetype. Pact spells also increase in power in unique ways based on your rank in this archetype, as indicated in their descriptions.

Rank 1 – Survival Pact ✨

You gain a bonus to your damage resistance equal to your rank in this archetype.

Rank 2 – Pact Spells+ ✨

You learn an additional pact spell.

Rank 3 – Survival Pact+ ✨

The bonus increases to twice your rank in this archetype.

Rank 4 – Pact Spells+ ✨

You learn an additional pact spell.

Rank 6 – Survival Pact+ ✨

The bonus increases to three times your rank in this archetype.

Rank 7 – Pact Spells+ ✨

You learn an additional pact spell.

6.12.6 Pact Spell Mastery ✨

This archetype improves your ability to cast spells with the power of your dark pact. You must have the Pact Magic archetype to gain the abilities from this archetype. All abilities from this archetype are magical ✨.

Rank 1 – Metamagic ✨

You learn how to further refine your spellcasting abilities. Choose two metamagic abilities from the list below.

Some metamagic abilities affect specific spells. You can only choose spells with a rank no higher than your rank in this archetype. In addition, you cannot choose the same spell with more than two metamagic abilities. Whenever you learn a new spell, you may change which specific spells your metamagic abilities affect.

Desperate Spell: Choose a pact spell you know. When you cast the spell, you may choose to increase your fatigue level by one. If you do, you gain a +2 accuracy bonus with the spell that round and roll accuracy twice, keeping the higher result. However, you cannot use the desperate exertion ability to affect the spell that round. You can choose this ability multiple times, choosing a different spell each time.

Distant Spell: Choose a pact spell you know with a standard range: Short (30 ft.), Medium (60 ft.), Long (90 ft.), Distant (120 ft.), or Extreme (180 ft.). You increase that spell’s range to the next standard range category, to a maximum of Extreme range. You can choose this ability multiple times, choosing a different spell each time.

Powerful Spell: Choose a pact spell you know. You gain a +2 bonus to your magical power with that spell. You can choose this ability multiple times, choosing a different spell each time.

Rituals: You gain the ability to perform pact rituals to create unique magical effects (see Spells and Rituals). The maximum rank of pact ritual you can learn or perform is equal to the maximum rank of pact spell that you can cast. In addition, you automatically learn one free pact ritual of each rank you have access to, including new ranks as you gain access to them. You cannot choose this ability multiple times.

Widened Spell: Choose a pact spell you know with a standard area: Small (15 ft.), Medium (30 ft.), Large (60 ft.), Huge (90 ft.), or Gargantuan (120 ft.). You increase that spell’s area to the next standard area category, to a maximum of a Gargantuan area. You can choose this ability multiple times, choosing a different spell each time.

Rank 2 – Desperate Pact ✨

You can use the desperate exertion ability without increasing your fatigue level. When you do, you suffer no immediate negative consequences. After 10 minutes, your maximum hit points are be reduced to three-quarters of normal until you complete a long rest. Each time this penalty takes effect, your hit points are reduced by an additional quarter, so using it four times would reduce your maximum hit points to 0. If your hit points are reduced below 0 in this way, you die.

Rank 3 – Spell-Trained Mind ✨

You gain a +1 bonus to your Willpower.

Rank 4 – Metamagic+ ✨

You gain an additional metamagic ability.

Rank 5 – Attunement Point ✨

You gain an additional attunement point.

Rank 6 – Experienced Spellcaster ✨

You gain a +1 accuracy bonus with spells.

Rank 7 – Metamagic+ ✨

You gain two additional metamagic abilities.

6.12.7 Soulkeeper’s Chosen ✨

This archetype enhances your connection to your soulkeeper, granting you abilities relating to your pact. All abilities from this archetype are magical ✨.

Rank 1 – Possession ✨

Your can allow your soulkeeper to possess you temporarily. This increases your power, but pushing yourself too hard can allow your soulkeeper to control you directly.

Rank 2 – Empowering Whispers ✨

You gain an ability based on the type of whispers you hear with your whispers of the lost ability.

Mentoring Whispers: You gain an additional insight point (see Trained Skills).

Spiteful Whispers: Whenever you miss a creature with an attack, you briefly gain a +2 bonus to accuracy against that creature. As normal, this bonus does not stack with itself, even if you miss the same creature multiple times.

Sycophantic Whispers: You gain a +2 bonus to your Mental defense.

Warning Whispers: You gain a +2 bonus to your Reflex defense.

Whispers of the Mighty: You gain a +2 bonus to your Fortitude defense.

Rank 3 – Exchange Soul Fragment ✨

Your connection to your soulkeeper deepens, allowing you to send a fragment of your soul through the link in exchange for aid.

Rank 4 – Unwavering Possession ✨

You are immune to being stunned (-2 defenses) and confused (-2 defenses, randomly attack or defend) during your possession ability.

Rank 5 – Exchange Vitality ✨

Your connection to your soulkeeper deepens, allowing you to send a larger fragment of your soul through the link fragment in exchange for greater aid.

Rank 6 – Empowering Whispers+ ✨

The effect of the whispers you hear improves.

Mentoring Whispers: You gain a +1 bonus to your Intelligence.

Spiteful Whispers: The accuracy bonus increases to +4.

Sycophantic Whispers: You are immune to being frightened (-2 Mental, -2 accuracy vs. source) and panicked (-4 Mental, cannot attack source).

Warning Whispers: You gain a +1 bonus to your Perception.

Whispers of the Mighty: You gain a +1 bonus to your Constitution.

Rank 7 – Soul Fountain ✨

You reduce the fatigue you gain from using your exchange soul fragment and exchange vitality abilities by one.