Talk:Eldritch Secrecy (5e Subclass)

"Why'd you give this subclass X?"/"Why didn't you give this subclass X?"

Hiya! As you probably guessed, I created this subclass to be to warlocks what theurgy is to clerics. But what might not be obvious is how closely I modeled this after theurgy to choose exactly which features to give to this subclass.

Basically, my first step was to map exactly which features the Theurgy subclass gives to wizards, which remain exclusive to clerics, and which are given partially. The results are:

• Theurgy gets divine domain spells, Channel Divinity, first-level subclass features, sixth-level subclass features, and seventeenth-level subclass features. (5)
• Clerics keep exclusive access to Destroy Undead, Divine Intervention, cleric cantrips, usage of weapons and armor, and eighth-level subclass features. (5)
• Theurgists have partial access to the 1st-9th level cleric spell list, and Divine Arcana as a direct alternative to Turn Undead. (2)

Warlocks get more features than clerics do, so this was inevitably going to shake out a little differently. But I had the above in mind, wrote down all the warlock features, and then sifted them into piles similarly. Like so:

• This subclass gets the pact boon, expanded spell list, warlock cantrips, 1st level subclass features, and two of 6th/10th/14th level subclass features. (6)
• Warlocks keep their leveled spell list, system of spell slots, Mystic Arcanum, Eldritch Mastery, light armor proficiency, and access to all subclass features. (6)
• This subclass gets a very restricted version of the Eldritch Invocation feature, and conditional weapon proficiency based on patron and/or pact boon. (2)

I felt that this kept the subclass at the same power level as other wizard subclasses, and prevented it from overshadowing warlocks as a whole. In particular, the nerfed list of available invocations+fewer invocations learned makes a big difference, since their flexibility is such a huge part of what makes warlocks good. I also gave these wizards Eldritch Blast while keeping them from accessing Armor of Agathys and other leveled warlock exclusives, keeping the fullcasting fundamentally wizard-y.

That said, I'm happy to take constructive criticism here! --Ctenochaetus (talk) 20:20, 3 June 2019 (MDT)