Warlocks
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"A warlock is an arcanist who gains power through pacts with powerful entities, most commonly devils, elder evils of the Far Realm, fey, or demons."
Here, the Warlock is not a base class, but a template that can be applied over any class. The only requirement is to get the patronage of an entity capable of granting you power. You will get several inherent supernatural abilities as you progress, called invocations.
Some guidelines:-
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Do not apply. This is purely earned in game. No applications will be entertained whatsoever, no matter how amazing it is.
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Once you have, the team will have certain expectations of the PC in return for the power granted. If our expectations aren't met, it will be removed. However, it is not impossible to regain it if the right paths are chosen.
Everything else is best learned in game. The announcement is to inform you that the system exists for players who would like to pursue it.
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In order to spare my poor inbox some strain, I'm compiling an FAQ here- most questions essentially asked the same things.
I don't get what a warlock is. Please explain?
"Warlock" is an FR term for individuals who gain spells by pacts, rather than by study (wizard), inborn magic (sorcerer) or Gods (cleric/paladin/ranger). Individuals who attract the attention of powerful entities can make a bargain to fulfill something in return for arcane powers.
In CoA, these spells (or invocations, as they are known) are considerably more powerful than what would normally be accessible to other casters (keeping the level range in mind). In canon, warlocks are a base class. In CoA, they are a template, giving you additional abilities along with regular class progression, since we found it made more sense; Making a pact does not depend on what's written in your class field. Anyone can make a pact.
Are the invocations the same as canon?
Nope. We built our own ones, so don't bother trying to figure out what they are. Much more powerful than what you'd find in canon, though (Again, keeping the level range in mind). This is because we wanted to represent the seductive lure of evil. These pacts, despite their horrendous implications, are so attractive precisely because they offer much more than what the standard paths to magic do.
What's the point? It's going to be impossible to earn.
I wouldn't have spent days making them if I wanted them to be impossible to earn! I think this comes from a misconception of what "earning in game" really means. No one's expecting you to take over the world before you qualify (if you did, why would you even need it?). People turn to pacts to get the power to accomplish some goal, not as a reward for having already done everything they wanted to do.
Remember, the entities that gift pacts desperately want to make deals. They are willing to give you power if you will but advance their cause in this world. To earn this, all you really need to do is attract the attention of an entity that can provide you with power, and convince it that giving it to you will work out very well for it.
No, it's not going to be as easy as "lulz I summoned an imp now gimme pax pls", but it's not at all impossible or even difficult if you have a good story going on. Some players have done so already.
Why's it so hard if you are just going to take it away after it's earned?
Huge misconception probably brought on by the recent application expectation posts. When we say we will remove perks when the player is not using them to tell a good story, we're talking about a timeline of weeks of not doing anything to further a story, not hours or days (Note, I said further a story. It doesn't have to be an accomplishment, but we definitely want to see people trying to use the perks we give them to entertain other players).
Even then, the team will discuss and arrive at a consensus whether or not to remove the perk. No drive by stripping is going to happen.
