Since I got such good feedback on my barbarian class for LL yesterday, I thought I would float this one across to see what you all think; since my setting is humans-only as far as characters are concerned, this is my human version of the elf racial class:

Warlock Class for Labyrinth Lord

Requirements: INT 9, CHA 9
Prime Requisites: INT, CHA
Hit Dice: 1d6 through 9th level, +2 per level thereafter
Maximum Level: none
Experience Chart: Elf
Attacks/Saves: Fighter
Weapons/Armor: Any

Warlocks are the daredevils of the occult world; they barter their souls and sanity away with otherworldly entities in return for arcane power.  A warlock might be a shaman who attains magical powers from primal spirits, a demonologist who bargains with infernal intelligences, a petitioner of the fey, or a cultist who borrows the eldritch might of the strange beings who exist beyond the stars.

Special Abilities:

Class abilities as per the elf racial class.  See magic-user for changes in the way spells are flavored.  Because a warlock barters for his or her spells with an otherworldly source (such as a demon, an archfey, a voodoo spirit, a terror from beyond space and time, etc.), they only get to choose half their spells per day; as with the cleric, the GM chooses the other half of their daily allotment of spells with the patron entity's agenda in mind.  Also, warlocks gain bonus spells as per the cleric's bonus spells chart; simply substitute Charisma for Wisdom when consulting the chart.  Warlocks may have some sort of familiar at the start of play.  However, if a warlock discovers a new magic-user spell in a grimoire or scroll, they may opt to swap out a spell of the appropriate level that is given to them by their patron to instead take that spell.

So, it's essentially a reflavoring of the fighter-magic user aspect of the elf class?  I think it works for someone who wants it all without being related to fairies.  Mechanically, it doesn't stray far enough away to really worry about balance or anything.  I assume that they can cast in armor as an elf?
 
I'm not certain I understand spell memorization.  Are you saying that they have access to all spells without needing to learn them or put them in a book at the cost of DM picking half?  But that they can sub out 1 of the DM picked ones if they have a spellbook or scroll?

Quote from: Nicephorus;523437I'm not certain I understand spell memorization.  Are you saying that they have access to all spells without needing to learn them or put them in a book at the cost of DM picking half?  But that they can sub out 1 of the DM picked ones if they have a spellbook or scroll?[/QUOTEYes, that's it exactly.  I see the warlock as battering with an entity for power; the entity gets it's way half of the time and the DM (in the guise of the entity) gets to pick half the spells.  The character gets his or her way the other half the time and gets to pick the other 50%.

However, if a character has discovered a scroll or spellbook they get a pick more leverage with the entity and can swap out the entity's spell picks for the magic they've discovered.

(Following this idea, clerics and druids get their spells assigned to them by their deities and don't get to choose spells as per normal.)

Interesting, I like the half/half spell thing, I think ...just to clarify you mean spells picked for your overall list or actual daily use?  And would this class progression be the one in the Rules Cylepedia?

Quote from: Marleycat;523563Interesting, I like the half/half spell thing, I think ...just to clarify you mean spells picked for your overall list or actual daily use?  And would this class progression be the one in the Rules Cylepedia?

I mean actual daily use.  Of course, I expect the DM not to screw the player over with spell picks--it's more to get in some thematic spells related to the kind of entity the warlock does business with.

I'm not sure how close the Rules Cyclopedia is to Labyrinth Lord, but it's probably really close if not the same.

Well then I would feel more comfortable with 1 GM pick per spell level, I don't want the workload of picking half their daily loadout and from the player side 1 spell per level not in my control is like a variable specialist or changeable domains, that would be fun to me.

Never saw LL but the RC elf class was a full 1e/2e Gish with 5th level spells iirc. Of course it had class features that improved all the way to level 36, they maxed their spell level at 20th iirc.

I'd just determine the spells randomly.

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Quote from: RPGPundit;523655I'd just determine the spells randomly.

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I might do that if their patron entity was particularly chaotic, I suppose.

Its the only way I'd run something like this. Otherwise the workload for the GM is just stupid.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;523800Its the only way I'd run something like this. Otherwise the workload for the GM is just stupid.

RPGPundit

Really?  Dude, look at how few spells a low-to-mid level magic-user gets.  Now halve that.  It's not hard.

Trust me, it's not a workload at all; I am the laziest DM ever.

Quote from: misterguignol;523831Trust me, it's not a workload at all; I am the laziest DM ever.

Evidently not.

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