D&D: Elemental, My Dear Warlock – The Primordial Patron Playtest
The Primordial Patron Warlock unleashes the ancient power of the Elemental Evils, which turns out to be a sort of floating d6 damage zone.
In the D&D cosmology, the Elemental Evils were ancient, primordial forces that represented the untrammeled chaos of the elements bent towards the destruction of everything. Now, this might be because of the influence of the Elder Elemental Eye, aka Tharizdun, an insane deity of madness, entropy, decay, and destruction. But whatever the case, ancient Elemental Evils like Ogremoch or Kossuth or Yan-C-Bin (don’t look at me, I didn’t name them) represent some of the most destructive power out there.
As it turns out, this phenomenal destructive power is best expressed as a zone that does d6 damage whenever channeled through a Warlock. At least that’s what the Primordial Patron Warlock seems to indicate. Maybe it’s just me, but I sort of expected more from a Warlock who seeks out power from and makes a pact with some of the most powerful evil beings in all of D&D’s existence.
They’re so powerful there’s a whole temple to ’em or something…
Although there’s nothing stopping you from making a force with the Elemental Goods (or if you want to be pedantic, the Princes of Elemental Good) like Zaaman Rul or Sunnis. It even says so in the text description. Which feels like a cop out for something included in the “Villainous Options 2” Unearthed Arcana. But hey, your mileage may vary.
The Primordial Patron Warlock – Get Ready To Learn About Elemental Nodes
As previously mentioned, the fantastically destructive power of these ancient evil beings is made manifest in the form of a zone of elemental power called an Elemental Node. It’s also the name of your 3rd-level feature, and it’s going to be the primary way you get to do any Primordial Patron Warlock things. Most of your subclass features are going to involve interacting with the Elemental Node in some way, so let’s take a look.
As a Magic Action, your Primordial Patron Warlock conjures forth an Elemental Node; this is a 5-foot-radius Sphere of elemental magic. You can center it anywhere within 60 feet of yourself, including on yourself, and you can move it as a Bonus Action on later turns. Why would you want to move it?
Because within this sphere is the mighty power of the Elemental Evils. Any creature other than you (which means friendly fire is on for this feature) that enters the zone, ends its turn in the zone, or has the zone move onto its space takes 1d6 damage of the type specified by your Primordial Patron, though they can make a Dex save for half damage. You can conjure the Elemental Node once per Short Rest, though you can spend one of your precious Pact Magic spell slots to conjure it again.
And that’s all the Elemental Node does – for now. Though at later levels, you’ll unlock more abilities that play off of it. In the meantime, there’s also Elemental Spells, which is a surprisingly flexible list of bonus spells that come with Primordial Spells and a different “elemental theme spell” for each of the four elements.
Of all the features, I think this one really explores some neat ideas. Because every Primordial Patron has the same baseline, but you get flavor from your choice of Element. So it still matters. I honestly wish that more of the subclass was like this.
Did You Think We Were Done With Nodes?
Higher levels double down on the Elemental Node functionality instead. At level 6, Elemental Haven makes your Elemental Node function as a source of defense. Whenever you’re in its area, you can add your Charisma bonus to your AC (even if you’re wearing armor). And now, instead of just moving it as a Bonus Action, you can teleport yourself to the Node (or the nearest empty space next to it) up to your Charisma modifier times per Long Rest.
Level 10 upgrades your resilience a little more, thanks to Primeval Protection. This feature grants you Resistance to whatever type of elemental damage you picked, and whenever you’re within the Elemental Node, it is Immunity instead. Which is pretty huge for a defensive feature, I will say. Especially since the other benefit of this feature is that your Elemental Node is now a 10-foot radius sphere – although this is a double-edged sword.
At level 14, you unlock the Primordial Patron’s capstone Warlock feature: Elemental Harbinger. This feature transforms your Elemental Node into a bastion of power with several benefits as long as you’re standing in it. For one, whenever you use a Pact Magic spell slot within the Node, you can try to pull a creature up to 15 feet towards it – they don’t even have to be the original target of the spell. Two, it lasts for up to an hour now. And three, while you’re within the node, you can cast Planar Ally without spending a spell slot; although this ability is usable only once every 2d4 Long Rests.
I have to say, of all the different subclasses in the Villainous Options 2 Unearthed Arcana, this one’s probably the one that needs the most time back at the drawing board. There are a couple of reasons for this: for one, the Elemental Node feature is a little tricky to use. Especially since Friendly Fire is on, as your Elemental Node gets bigger, your allies are going to have a much, much harder time getting around wherever you happen to be on the battlefield. Also, having to make a save for half of 1, 2, or 3d6 damage any time someone gets pushed into the zone is going to slow down gameplay a ton. If you thought Bless gunked up the works, this will be a momentum killer. That said, I like the idea, just not the execution.
Of course WotC would much rather know what YOU think of the Primordial Patron Warlock! You can let them know by taking the survey at the link below.
