Base Requirements

• Races: Any (male only)
• Sub-Classes: Wild Mage
• Ability Requirements: None
• Alignments: Non-Lawful
• Starting Cash: By class

Weapon Proficiencies

• Weapon Slots: By class
• Bonus Weapon Proficiencies: Specialization (any one)
• Required Weapon Proficiencies: none
• Allowed Weapons: Spear (any), Club (any), Mace (any), Dagger (any), Bow (any)
• Allowed Armors: By class

Non-Weapon Proficiencies:

• Non-weapon Slots: By class
• Available Categories: By class, plus Martial
• Bonus Non-weapon Proficiencies: Disguise, Netherworld Knowledge, Spellcraft
• Required Proficiencies: none
• Recommended Proficiencies: Alertness, Astrology, Blind-Fighting, Bowyer/Fletcher, Cooking, Direction Sense, Endurance, Fire-building, Herbalism, Hunting, Intimidation, Netherworld Knowledge, Planes Lore, Psionic Mimicry, Set Snares, Singing, Somatic Concealment, Sorcerous Dueling, Tracking, Weaponsmithing
• Forbidden Proficiencies: none

Overview: A warlock is a sorcerer who uses dangerous magic without the aid of the gods’ wisdom. Warlocks learn spells and are granted the power to cast them by the Orish-Nla, the evil denizens of the underworld (fiends, in other words). Their magic is unpredictable and despised by their countrymen. Mages who take this kit are almost exclusively male (exceptions might be made, but they are few).

Like their female counterparts, the Witch, warlocks are primarily concerned with the lore and appeasement of their aspect of the netherworld. They serve and appease the angry, hostile, aggressive, and destructive natures of the Orish-Nla. They will promote a war if that is what a spirit wants, or if the warlock, for their own purposes, desire it and can convince their followers that it is the spirits’ will. Of course, such deception depends on the warlock’s alignment.

Description: Warlocks go out of their way to disguise their nature, and dress in whatever fashion is appropriate to their current situation. However, all warlocks are afflicted with the curse of changing form. This curse causes the warlock to change his shape to that of another creature every night at midnight, the change lasting until the next night. No known magic, or even death, can prevent this change. Because these forms are often monstrous (trolls, ogres, or worse), the warlock usually keeps himself away from society in general.

Role-Playing: The rare good-aligned warlock may serve the Orish-Nla unknowingly or unwillingly. They still do the will of the Orish-Nla simply by their existence, but attempt to subvert that will to do as little harm as possible, attempting to protect their communities from the predations of these evil spirits.

Warlocks are homeless wanderers, who study their art to gain power. Good or no, the warlock is hunted by his countrymen, not out of hatred of the warlock but because they fear the wrath of the gods, the elements, and all other spirits who desire the warlock’s destruction.

Special Abilities:

• Warlocks may learn and cast priest spells from the Chaos and Necromantic spheres as wizard spells. They treat these spheres as bonus Paths (they do not count against the warlock’s number of paths known). The warlock must abide by the normal restrictions regarding spells that belong to multiple spheres, race-specific spells, and religion-specific spells.
• Warlocks treat all spells from the Chaos priest sphere as belonging to the school of Wild Magic for the purpose of their specialization bonuses. Thus they gain a bonus to their chance to learn spells from the Chaos sphere and can prepare Chaos sphere spells in their bonus specialist spell slots.
• Warlocks are hardier than other wizards. They use six-sided dice for hit points instead of four-sided dice.
• When a warlock reaches 4th level, he gains the power to summon massive magical energies that allow him to cast any one spell at maximum effect once per day. The spell must be at least one level lower than the highest spell level he can cast. The spell automatically has maximum range, duration, and effect.

Special Disadvantages:

• The Warlock must sacrifice the equivalent of one large domestic animal to the denizens of the underworld per level each time he increases a level. Non-hostile, non-combatant humanoids (either PC or NPC) may be sacrificed in place of animal sacrifices, in which case the sacrificed humanoids must have a number of levels or HD equal to the Warlock’s level.
• The Orish-Nla, because of their chaotic nature, often place strange demands on a warlock. Each warlock must abide by certain taboos, though the taboos may seem trivial or even ridiculous to other characters, the warlock takes them quite seriously-violating a taboo causes the warlock to lose levels of ability, lose spells, become ill, or even die (the DM decides the exact penalty). A 1st-level a warlock has one taboo and gains an additional taboo every five levels thereafter. The player should develop his character’s taboos in concert with the DM. Some suggestions might include:
  • Can’t eat meat or animal products (including milk, eggs, and cheese).
  • Can’t sleep within 20 yards of a member of the opposite sex.
  • Can’t wear a certain color.
  • Can’t carry gold (or other specific precious metal) on his person.
  • Can’t bathe or must bathe frequently.
  • Can’t cut his hair or fingernails.
  • Can’t intentionally take the life of an insect.
  • Can’t drink alcoholic beverages (or the reverse).
  • Can’t sit facing the north (or other direction).
  • Can’t speak after sunset (except to cast spells).
• The elements themselves abhor the art of the warlock. He cannot learn or cast any elemental spell-that is any spell that belongs to the Elemental Air, Elemental Earth, Elemental Fire, or Elemental Water schools of magic (see Tome of Magic or consult your DM to see whether a spell is forbidden).
• The Curse of Changing Form: Every day, the warlock must roll randomly to determine what form he takes that day. The table of available forms is different for each warlock, and it includes the warlock’s true form plus random forms chosen from the reincarnation spell table in the Complete Book of Humanoids. A warlock has a number of forms equal to his level plus one (thus a 1st-level warlock has only two possible forms). Each time the warlock gains a new level, he rolls again on the Reincarnation table to determine what new form he may assume. Some distinguishing feature (chosen by the player) is common to all forms. The warlock can always speak and cast spells in all forms (even those assumed by other means). In other respects, this curse acts as a polymorph self spell.
  For example, a 3rd-level warlock would have to roll 1d4 each day. On a roll of 1, he would maintain his true form, but rolls of 2 through 4 could correspond to gnoll, kobold, and troll forms respectively. He might have a white streak of hair in all forms.
• The Curse of Death’s Refusal: Death has refused to allow the warlock entry to the realm of the dead, so all warlocks become undead upon their deaths. The exact form that an undead warlock assumes depends on the level that the warlock attained in life, according to the table below. In addition to the abilities based on his undead form, the warlock retains his intelligence, personality, and all skills, spells, and abilities he possessed in life, and may exhibit additional capabilities and weaknesses, as per the rules for Athasian Undead.
  • Despite the character’s new status, the Curse of Changing Form is still in effect. As a result, the undead character may be a skeletal, zombie, or ghostly troll, orc, etc., on any given day. The character retains his undead abilities and immunities in any form.
  • A Warlock who has returned as an undead continues to gain experience and levels as a Warlock, but cannot change his undead form as a result of these increased levels. Regardless of his level, the Warlock can be turned or destroyed as an undead of his type (not HD).
  • A Warlock whose undead form has been destroyed is destroyed utterly. He cannot be recovered by any means.
  • A Warlock of at least 10th level may freely choose what undead form he returns as, as a boon from the Orish-Nla, selecting from the forms for his level or any lower level.
• If a warlock’s true profession is known, the warlock suffers a -2 penalty on all NPC reaction rolls (even against other warlocks).

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Curse of Death’s Refusal

Warlock Level	Undead Forms
1st	Skeleton or Zombie (depending on body decay)
2nd	Cannibal Zombie, Crystal Skeleton, or Ghoul (d3)
3rd	Dhaot, Horde Ghost, or Shadow (d3)
4th	Ghast, Racked Spirit, or Slow Shadow (d3)
5th	Baneguard, Thinking Zombie, or Wight (d3)
6th	Arch-Shadow, Fael, or Wraith (d3)
7th	Ghoul-Lord, Greater Shadowrath, or Mummy (d3)
8th	Raaig, Spectre, or Spectral Wizard (d3)
9th	Vampire (type based on original race) or Zombie Lord (d2)
10th	Ghost or any Lower-level option
11th	Demishade, Lich, or any Lower-level option
12th+	Shadow Fiend, or any Lower-level option

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