From: "Larry Hunsaker" Warlock/Summoner Description: A warlock or summoner as they are also known, are mages or priests devoted to the study of and interaction with the Outworld(outer/inner planes). Because they devote so much time studying this vast subject, they have gained abilities to deal with creatures from this realm. Much of their time is devoted to research and discovery of the "true names" of various Outworld beings, for only with these names do they have any power to summon and control these creatures. Simply knowing the name is not enough, however, it must be truly understood and mastered, its pitch, tone and intonation as well as inner meaning must be expressed when used to have any effect. Much like spells, warlocks must learn these names and have a limit to how many they can understand at a time. Special Powers: Warlocks can have a number of true names he understands equal to his level. His mind simply cannot handle more than this. Once a name is found, the warlock checks his % to learn a spell to see if he understands the name. Failure means he must research it from scratch. Any name a warlock researches is automatically understood by him, he does not need to check it. He may still only have a number of names equal to his level, however. If he wishes to replace a name he knows with another, he may, but he must research it in order to do so, he cannot simply make his learn spell check. To research such a name requires the same time and cost, in addition to the same initial library size, as researching a spell. The HD of the creature replaces the spell level for this purpose, making high HD creature's names very tough to discover. Warlocks can use those true names he understands to summon the being and try to bond with it. Warlocks have learned the ritual required for summoning from the study of the name itself. The first contact requires a special ritual, which is not needed once bonding occurs. To summon an unbonded creature, aside from needing to know the true name, the warlock must prepare the area to receive it. He must trace a circle of protection large enough to hold the creature. It must be outlined with powdered silver or iron, whichever the creature is most vulnerable to. If the being is not vulnerable to either silver or iron, then powdered diamond must be used. This circle can be made permanent by inscribing it into a solid surface and inlaying with the appropriate material. The cost is up to the DM, but a 1 foot length of powdered costs about 10 silver pieces. While a foot of diamond dust costs about 100 silver pieces. So a 10 foot radius circle has a circumference of about 63 feet, costing 630 silver for powdered silver and 6300 silver for diamond dust. After the circle of protection is made, an offering at least 10,000 silver pieces in value per HD of the creature to be summoned must be placed within the circle. It should be something the creature finds valuable. Finally, the summoning can begin. The warlock speaks the name and expends 1 spell point per HD of the being called, the process requires 1 turn per HD of the being. At the end, the being has a one way, single use gate opened to him. He does not have to take it, and if he does not enter within 1 turn, the summoning fails. The offering remains as does the circle, so the warlock could try again, but will usually use a spell of some kind to force or lure unwilling beings into the circle. In any case, once a being enters the gate he is transported to the circle, and can take the offering, but is trapped inside the circle. The being cannot use any of its power as long as it is held by the circle and the warlock's knowledge of its true name, so for a while, the warlock is safe. Every turn in such captivity forces the warlock to make an INT check, failure means the protection fails and the being is free to act as he chooses. The being can remain in this free state for 1 turn per HD before the summon gate ends and the being is sent back to his plane. During this first contact, the warlock can make a deal with the being. In exchange for the offering, the being will perform 1 service or answer 1 question for the warlock. If it refuses, the offering remains but the being returns to his plane. If it accepts, it must keep its word, as the knowledge of its name binds it. The service cannot last over a day, and cannot be likely to destroy the being(DM must determine what is likely to destroy the being in this case). The warlock can ask a question instead. The 3rd thing the warlock can do is bond with the being. The being can accept the offer, take the offering, and the warlock and being become bonded. The being can refuse and leave the offering, returning to his plane. There is a third option. The being can demand ritual combat. If this is chosen, the offering is not taken, but a ritual combat takes place in its stead. This combat can range from a riddle contest, to a full out battle, both warlock and being must agree. The warlock gets the bond if he wins. The being gets to choose 1 of 3 options if it wins. It can kill the warlock and take the offering, enslave him by taking him back to his plane but leave the offering behind, or possess him, leaving both warlock and offering behind. In either case the being must return home. In the case of possession, the creature has a domination power over the warlock. The creature can choose to control him and the warlock must save. vs. spells, adjusted for WIS, or be totally under the creatures control. This save is modified by the difference in power between warlock and creature, every HD over the warlock's level the creature is imposes a -1 to the save, while every level over the creature the warlock is gives him a +1 bonus. This save must be made every round to fight off the possession. If the warlock critically fails his save, rolls a 1-3 and fails the save by 5 or more, the creature gains uncontested control for 1 day per HD over the warlock's level he has, if he has equal or lesser HD than the warlock's level, the control lasts 1 day. If the warlock rolls an 18-20 on his save and made his save by 5 or more, he breaks free for 1 day per level over the creatures HD he has, or 1 day if he has equal or fewer levels than the creature has HD. This continues until the warlock finds a way to eject the possessing creature. Warlocks in this state are, needless to say, very dangerous! The Bond: Once a being is bonded to the warlock, summoning it becomes much easier and less costly. The summoning requires speaking its name and spending 1 spell point per HD of the being. This takes 1 round per HD of the creature to finish. Once done, the creature can choose to respond. If it ignores the summons, the warlock's attempt fails, though he can always try again, and probably will use some form of magical coercion this next time. If the creature responds, it appears next to the warlock, and the bond prevents it from harming the warlock in any way, even indirectly, the creature must obey the spirit of the bond, not just the letter. The bond also prevents the warlock from harming the creature also. This mutual non-aggression pact only applies during the summoning, if they encounter each other elsewhere, the bond does not bind either of them. The warlock then asks for a service like the service he can ask when the creature is first summoned. Or the warlock can ask questions, not just 1 but as many as he likes. The creature must answer truthfully, and may say "I don't know." In return for this service or answer, the warlock must give the creature a gift equal to its HD times 100 gold pieces in value. This will keep the creature for 1 turn before it is send back. Every multiple of this amount given keeps the creature another 1 turn. Thus, a 4 HD creature costs 400 gold pieces per turn of service. This gift must be paid in advance. Of course, the creature does not have to accept the gift, but this is a rare case. Every time the bond is used and a creature accepts the summons, its strength increases 1 level. All bonds start out at level 1, and grow from their. As the bond becomes stronger, the link between the warlock and creature becomes closer. There are 3 effects a strong bond can have: Control: This occurs when the bond strength becomes high enough that 1 of the bonded can exert greater control over the other. Each of the bonded has an EGO rating. This is equal to the (INT + WIS + CHA + LEVEL)/2 rounded off. DM must determine these statistics for creatures. The one able to exert a higher EGO power is in control of the bond. Each of the bonded can only exert an amount of his EGO up to and equaling the bond strength. So low bond strengths usually mean neither can exert more EGO that the other. When the bond strength allows one to exert more EGO than the other, the higher EGO gains control. This control works differently for the warlock than it does for the creature. If the warlock is in control, every EGO point he can exert above the creature reduces the needed gift size by 100 gold pieces. This may mean free service for the first turn or more. The second benefit is that the creature cannot ignore the summons, but must respond every time. Thus, if the warlock can exert 10 EGO points more than the creature, he gets 1000 gold pieces of free service. If the creature has 6 HD, this means the 1st turn is free and the 2nd turn only costs 200 gold pieces. If the creature is in control, he can force the warlock to summon him, and when he arrives, get to act freely for 1 turn per EGO point the creature exerts above the warlock. The warlock does not have to pay for this, and the creature can only get 1 turn of free action per EGO point he exerts above the warlock per day. Thus, a creature with 3 EGO points exertion above the warlock can force the warlock to summon him 1 time for 3 turns that day, or 3 separate times for 1 turn each that day, or some such combo. The warlock must have enough spell points to actually summon of course. Influence: When the bond strength exceeds the combined level + HD of the warlock and creature the one with the highest EGO, regardless of current bond strength, can influence the other. Equal Egos mean no influence occurs. If the warlock is highest, he influences the creature to risk more for him in service. Normally, the creature will not perform a task that has about a 20% chance or more of destroying it. Every EGO point over the creature increases this risk level by 5%. Thus, a warlock with 16 or more EGO points over the creature can cause it to serve fearlessly. If the creature has a higher EGO, then the warlock will begin to assume the being's alignment and experience his desires/emotions/passions. Every 5 points of EGO over the warlock shifts the warlock's alignment 1 step closer to the being's. Thus, if the warlock is lawful/neutral and the creature chaotic/evil, 1 step would by true neutral or lawful/evil. Also, every point of EGO over the warlock has a 5% chance that the warlock experiences the beings passions/desires and emotions. This can make the warlock angry for no reason, or drive him to murder if that is the desire of the creature, etc. The influence is checked every day. Fatelinked: When the bond strength exceeds the combined EGO scores of both warlock and creature, each becomes so closely linked that they are fatelinked to each other as the psionic power. This does not only apply during summoning, but at all times. Bond Breaking/Control: If 2 or more creatures have control over the warlock through a bond, then the one with highest EGO exertion has priority, the others must wait until this one is finished before they can use the warlock. If a tie results then the most powerful creature has priority. If 2 or more creatures influence the same warlock, the most powerful EGO wins out with the others having no influence at all. If a tie in EGO results, the most powerful creature wins. If 2 or more creatures are fatelinked with the warlock, all links remain active, this means all the linked creatures are connected, so what happens to 1 happens to all! Finally, if the caster has a familiar, the familiar may be somewhat effected by the bonds his master makes(DM must decide what this is). Only a limited wish or full wish can affect bonds. A limited wish can reduce the strength of a bond to « of its full strength rounded up. A wish can do this to 2d4 bonds, or completely destroy 1 bond. If a bond is destroyed, both the warlock and the creature suffer its current strength in hitpoints of damage, no save. Both bonded individuals must agree for these spells to work on the bond. If 1 resists the attack on the bond, the bond receives that persons magic resistance and saving throw vs. spells. If the bond saves successfully, the limited wish or wish has only « effect. If the magic resistance works, the spell has no effect. Disadvantages: Because warlocks spend so much time devoted to their art, they can only be single classed and only normal mages, no specialists. The only other disadvantages a warlock has are those inherent in his art. Requirements: Warlocks require wisdom to use their art and not lose control of it. They also need intellect to understand the knowledge they gain. Finally, they need to be excellent negotiators, being able to both convince reluctant creatures to cooperate, and deal successfully with them. Thus, a warlock requires a minimum of 14 WIS, 14 INT and 14 CHA. As far as alignment goes, any will suit a warlock.