Warlock
Note: This page represents a class abstract which needs rewritten for the setting's specifics.
Please note: The following class write-up is for a class that is in a beta-testing state and is incomplete on Time of Unparalleled Darkness; expect that it will be changed before it is finalized.
Born of a supernatural bloodline, a warlock seeks to master the perilous magic that suffuses his soul. Unlike sorcerers or wizards, who approach arcane magic through the medium of spells, a warlock invokes powerful magic through nothing more than an effort of will. By harnessing his innate magical gift through fearsome determination and force of will, a warlock can perform feats of supernatural stealth, beguile the weak-minded, or scour his foes with blasts of eldritch power.
Many warlocks are champions of dark and chaotic powers. Long ago, they (or in some cases, their ancestors) forged grim pacts with dangerous extraplanar powers, trading portions of their souls in exchange for supernatural power. While many warlocks have turned away from evil, seeking to undo the wrongs of their former colleagues, they are still chained by the old pacts through which they acquired their powers. The demand to further the designs of their dark patrons, or to resist them, drives most warlocks to seek the opportunities for power, wealth, and great deeds (for good or ill) offered by adventuring.
Warlocks harbor great reserves of mystical energy. The font of dark magic burning in their souls makes them resistant to many forms of attack and arms them with dangerous power. Warlocks do not wield spells, but they do 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.
Warlocks are often chaotic or evil (and more than a few are both). The powers they serve can be cruel, capricious, and wild, unbound by conventional views of right and wrong. However, even warlocks who derive their powers from the most sinister of patrons have been known to turn the black powers at their command against evil. A good-aligned warlock is a grim and fearsome enemy of evil. All too familiar with the darkness lurking in his heart, he gazes unflinchingly on the evil in others and battles the foulest of foes without fear.
Warlocks know firsthand the power of supernatural beings, so they do not scorn religion. Evil warlocks sometimes seek the favor of cruel and bloodthirsty deities, while good warlocks often turn to the worship of noble and true deities for the strength to win the battle raging in their tortured souls.
Warlocks are born, not made. Some are the descendants of people who trafficked with demons and devils long ago. Some seek out the dark powers as youths, driven by ambition or the desire for power, but a few blameless individuals are simply marked out by the supernatural forces as conduits and tools. The exact nature of a warlock's origin is up to the player to decide; just as a sorcerer is not beholden to the magic-wielding ancestor that bequeathed his bloodline with arcane power, a warlock is not bound to follow the source that gifted him with magic.
Warlocks are not half-fiends or tieflings by default (although many creatures of those kinds become some of the most powerful and terrifying representatives of the class). The mark that the supernatural powers leave on their servants is often a mark in the soul, not the flesh. In fact, many warlocks are created by nonevil powers - wild or fey forces that can be every bit as dangerous as demons or devils. Whatever their origin, warlocks are widely feared and misunderstood. Most are wanderers who rarely stay in one place for long.
Ambitious and often unprincipled, humans are the most likely to seek out the dangerous shortcuts to power that lead to life as warlocks. Half-orcs are common as warlocks as well, since they often find that the powers that create warlocks do not discriminate against individuals of mixed heritage. Warlocks of other races are rare at best.
The warlock views sorcerers and wizards as bitter rivals. He values the strength and cleverness of resourceful fighters and rogues but rarely gets along with clerics or paladins. Of course, most warlocks understand that it's a bad idea to antagonize their comrades (especially those who hold the key to healing magic), and so they work out an uneasy truce with characters who otherwise might ostracize them.
A warlock serves much the same role in an adventuring party as a sorcerer or wizard would. He is much more limited in his abilities compared to the spell selection of spellcasters, and he must rely on his eldritch blast in place of the spell power of an arcane caster. Like a bard, he often fits best in a party that already has another spellcaster or two, since his unique abilities provide him with little magic to use for his companions' benefit.
