Bardic Warlock (3.5e Alternate Class Feature)
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Bardic Warlock
A mashup of bard and warlock using warlock as the main chassis.
Class: Warlock
Level: 1-20
Replaces: Weapon and Armor Proficiency, Skills, Eldritch Blast, Damage Reduction, Fiendish Resilience, Energy Resistance
Benefit: This class grants bardic music abilities along with invocations and a sonic based combat role.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Bardic warlocks are proficient with all simple weapons, plus the longsword, rapier, sap, short sword, shortbow, and whip. They are proficient with light armor and shields (except tower shields).
Because the somatic components required for bardic warlock invocations are relatively simple, a bardic warlock can use any of their invocations while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. However, like arcane spellcasters, a bardic warlock wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure (all invocations, including discordant blast, have a somatic component). A multiclass bardic warlock still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from levels in other classes.
Skills: The bardic warlock gains 6 + int modifier skill points per level as a bard, and has the class skill list of a bard.
Combat Performance: The bardic warlock may initiate a bardic performance (or bardic music, if you like) as part of an attack action, and may continue to perform while wielding a weapon by simultaneously using it as a component of their musical instrument or as a prop for their performance, if they can make it seem remotely plausible. Examples may include using a bludgeoning weapon with drums, using the flat of a blade to play a string instrument such as a violin or fiddle, dancing with a staff, juggling knives, etc. Outlandish custom weapons including but not limited to a harpbow or blowgun flute are of course applicable weapons for this use.
Bardic Performance: As the bard ability with exceptions noted below.
A bardic warlock is trained to use the Perform skill to create magical effects on those around them, including themself if desired. They can use this ability for a number of rounds per day equal to 4 + his Charisma modifier. At each level after 1st a bardic warlock can use bardic performance for 2 additional rounds per day. Each round, the bardic warlock can produce any one of the types of bardic performance that they have mastered, as indicated by their level.
Starting a bardic performance is a standard action, but it can be maintained each round as a free action. Changing a bardic performance from one effect to another requires the bard to stop the previous performance and start a new one as a standard action. A bardic performance cannot be disrupted, but it ends immediately if the bardic warlock is killed, paralyzed, stunned, knocked unconscious, or otherwise prevented from taking a free action to maintain it each round. A bardic warlock cannot have more than one bardic performance in effect at one time.
At 7th level, a bardic warlock can start a bardic performance as a move action instead of a standard action. At 13th level, a bardic warlock can start a bardic performance as a swift action.
Each bardic performance has audible components, visual components, or both.
If a bardic performance has audible components, the targets must be able to hear the bard for the performance to have any effect, and many such performances are language dependent (as noted in the description). A deaf bardic warlock has a 20% chance to fail when attempting to use a bardic performance with an audible component. If they fail this check, the attempt still counts against his daily limit. Deaf creatures are immune to bardic performances with audible components.
If a bardic performance has a visual component, the targets must have line of sight to the bard for the performance to have any effect. A blind bardic warlock has a 50% chance to fail when attempting to use a bardic performance with a visual component. If they fail this check, the attempt still counts against his daily limit. Blind creatures are immune to bardic performances with visual components.
Bardic warlock levels stack with bard levels for the purpose of calculating progression of bardic performances or bardic music.
Bardic Performances:
Countersong: As bard. Available with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill.
Fascinate: As bard. Available with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill.
Inspire Courage: Available with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill. As bard, except the bonuses granted by inspire courage increases by +1 at 5th level and +1 at every 5 levels thereafter.
Inspire Menace: A 2nd level bardic warlock with 5 or more ranks in a perform skill can use their performance to be extremely threatening. Each round they maintain inspire menace they can attempt to use demoralize opponent as a free action once per round per class level (although each attempt must target a different creature). They may make a perform check instead of a intimidate check for demoralizing her opponent.
Gather Crowd: A 3rd level bardic warlock with 6 or more ranks in a Perform skill can amass a crowd with a 10 minute performance. The size of the crowd depends on the local population and venue, but is dense enough to be considered difficult terrain.
Inspire Competence (Su): As bard. Available with 6 or more ranks in a Perform skill.
Suggestion: As bard. Available with 9 or more ranks in a Perform skill.
Inspire Greatness: As bard, except this effects all allies within 30 ft. Available with 12 or more ranks in a Perform skill.
Song of Freedom: As bard. Available with 15 or more ranks in a Perform skill.
Inspire Heroics (Su): As bard, except this effects all allies within 30 ft. Available with 18 or more ranks in a Perform skill.
Mass Suggestion: As bard. Available with 21 or more ranks in a Perform skill.
Discordant Blast: The discordant blast is the primary attack that a bardic warlock uses, projecting sonic magical energy to deal damage and sometimes impart other debilitating effects. The discordant blast may be improved or altered by any ability as it would alter an eldritch blast.
A discordant blast is a ray with a range of 60 feet. It is a ranged touch attack that affects a single target, allowing no saving throw. A discordant blast deals 1d6 points of sonic damage at 1st level and increases in power by +1d6 damage at every 2 additional levels. A discordant blast is the equivalent of a 1st-level spell. If you apply a blast shape or eldritch essence invocation to your discordant blast, your discordant blast uses the level equivalent of the shape or essence.
A discordant blast is subject to spell resistance, although the Spell Penetration feat and other effects that improve caster level checks to overcome spell resistance also apply to eldritch blast. A discordant blast deals full damage to objects. Metamagic feats cannot improve a bardic warlock's discordant blast (because it is a spell-like ability, not a spell). However, the feat Ability Focus (discordant blast) increases the DC for all saving throws (if any) associated with a bardic warlock's discordant blast by 2.
A bardic warlock can use discordant blast at will.
Bardic Knowledge: A bardic warlock gains bardic knowledge as a bard of their level.
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