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Gunlock (D&D 5e)

By player request, inspired by the Gungeon final boss – The Lich


GUNLOCK 

Gunesis 1:1
In the beginning, the Gungeon was formless and void, and bullets moved over the face of the deep.

Studying the mystical arts takes a lot of time and effort. Some find this overly onerous or lack the means to learn, so take a shortcut to gain magical power by making a pact with a powerful outsider, becoming their pawn in exchange for powerful abilities.  You have made a pact with The Lich – the first creature to awaken the power of Kalibar – the Goddess of Guns and Bullets. 

Level XP Proficiency Bonus Hit Dice Features Level Title Cantrips Known Spells Known Spell Slots Slot Level Invocations

Known

1st          0 +2 1d8 + CON Otherworldly Patron (The Lich), Pact Magic Gunslinger 2 2 1 1st
2nd  2,251 +2 1d8 + CON Eldritch Invocations Gunslinger 2 3 2 1st 2
3rd  4,501 +2 1d8 + CON Pact Boon Gunslinger 2 4 2 2nd 2
4th 9,001 +2 1d8 + CON Ability Score Improvement Gunslinger 3 5 2 2nd 2
5th    18,001 +3 1d8 + CON  – Gunslinger 3 6 2 3rd 3
6th   35,001 +3 1d8 + CON Otherworldly Patron Feature Gunslinger 3 7 2 3rd 3
7th   60,001 +3 1d8 + CON  – Gunslinger 3 8 2 4th 4
8th   95,001 +3 1d8 + CON Ability Score Improvement Gunslinger 3 9 2 4th 4
9th   145,001 +4 1d8 + CON  – Gun-Mage 4 10 2 5th 5
10th   220,001 +4 1d8 + CON Otherworldly Patron Feature Supreme Warlock/Witch 4 10 2 5th 5
11th 440,001 +4 +1 Mystic Arcanum (6th level) Supreme Warlock/Witch (11th level) 4 11 3 5th 5
12th  660,001  +4 +2  Ability Score Improvement Supreme Warlock/Witch (12th level) 4  11 3 5th 6
13th 880,001  +5 +3 Mystic Arcanum (7th level) Supreme Warlock/Witch (etc) 4  12 3 5th  6
14th  1,320,001  +5 +4 Otherworldly Patron Feature Supreme Warlock/Witch 4  12 3 5th 6
15th  1,540,001  +5 +5 Mystic Arcanum (8th level) Supreme Warlock/Witch 4  13 3 5th 7
16th  1,100,001  +5 +6  Ability Score Improvement Supreme Warlock/Witch 4  13 3 5th 7
17th  1,320,001  +6 +7 Mystic Arcanum (9th level) Supreme Warlock/Witch 4  14 4 5th 7
18th  1,540,001  +6 +8  – Supreme Warlock/Witch 4  14 4 5th 8
19th  2,200,001  +6 +9 Ability Score Improvement Supreme Warlock/Witch 4  15 4 5th  8
20th  2,420,001  +6 +10 Eldritch Master Supreme Warlock/Witch 4  15 4 5th 8
220,000 experience points per level of experience beyond the 20th.  

PACT OF THE GUN LICH

The Gun Lich is an entity that resides in the depth of the Gungeon – a sacred place dedicated to Kalibar, the Goddess of Guns and Bullets. You seek to gain knowledge from your patron’s countless lifetimes of experience, while The Lich seeks to extend the (almost) forgotten power and worship of Kalibar – a pawn in a centuries-long plan.

Gunlock Expanded Spells

The gunlock lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you and all do radiation damage (where applicable):

Spell Level Spells
1st  banefalse life, detect radiation
2nd   blindness/deafness, phantasmal force
3rd   phantom steed, discharge
4th   death ward,  magic circle against arcana (technology)
5th   antilife shell, destroy robot

Pact Magic

When a warlock casts a spell he makes a spell check to see if he is able to hit the target and manifest the spell correctly.  On a natural 1, the warlock loses the use of the spell for the day.  The warlock otherwise unlimited use of his spells.  When rolling a natural 1, the warlock not only loses the spell but must roll a d6, on a 1 or 6 he also gains patron taint specific to his patron.  Patron taint initially starts as a disadvantage but longer-term becomes a positive change as the warlock slowly becomes like his master. This otherwise works identically as outlined in the 5e PHB.

Patron Features

1st Level – Gunsmith

You gain proficiency in single type of firearm of your choice (or an equivalent proficiency for your setting).  This allows you to be proficient in the use of this type of gun. This otherwise functions identically to the Pact of the Blade, except, it only applies to guns. All normal firearm rules apply to your weapons, for example, on a natural 1 your weapon breaks (if its a primitive firearm) or is out of ammo/charges (for more futuristic weapons).  However, for your pact weapon this is only ever a temporary affair and your weapons recharge or are fixed after a short rest.

6th Level – Gunslinger

You may duel wield pistols allowing you to shoot twice a round (for simplicity’s sake if you hit with your primary attack you can automatically apply an additional die of damage to the same target or another target within range without rolling to-hit again).

10th Level – Imbue

You may channel a single invocation, eldritch blast, or touch spell through your guns. This is an additional effect to the damage done by the weapon itself.

10th Level – True Grit

You make mark upon the world with daring deeds. Some gunlocks claim they belong to a mystical way of the gun, but it’s more likely that the volatile nature of firearms simply prunes the unlucky and careless from their ranks. Whatever the reason, all gunlocks have grit. In game terms, grit is a fluctuating measure of a gunslinger’s ability to perform amazing actions in combat. At the start of each day, a gunslinger gains a number of grit points equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum 1).  You use grit to fuel Deeds (see below).  You can regain a used grit whenever you score a critical hit or land the killing blow and all deeds cost 1 grit and must be performed with your gun of choice and all actions are Bonus actions unless otherwise stated.

  • Deadeye. You may cancel disadvantage for long-range ranged attacks
  • Gun Kata.  You have an uncanny knack for getting out of the way of ranged attacks. When a ranged attack is made against you, you 5 feet as a reaction; doing so grants you a +2 bonus to AC against the triggering attack. Alternatively, you can drop prone to gain a +4 bonus to AC against the triggering attack.
  • This is my Gun. If for any reason your gun is unable to shoot – runs out of charges, runs out of bullets, breaks etc – you may spend a grit to “clear the chamber” and it starts working again.
  • Kalibar’s Quickdraw.  You may spend grit to go first in the turn or cancel surprise for yourself.
  • Pistol-Whip. You can make a surprise melee attack with the butt or handle of your firearm. You do 1d6 bludegoning damage and may add your CHA as bonus damage.
  • Blast Lock. You make an attack roll against the DC of a lock, if you hit, you destroy the lock.  Against magical locks, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. You may only attempt this once per lock.
  • Stop the Bleeding.  You make a firearm attack and then press the hot barrel against yourself or an adjacent creature to staunch a bleeding wound. Instead of dealing damage, the shot heels the target of 1d6 + CHA damage.
  • Dead Shot. You make an attack roll against a target and continue to make attack rolls at -2 until you miss. The -2 is accumulative per attack after the first. Once you miss you can roll this many die of damage against the target.
  • Bullet Hell. You consume all your grit to make that many attacks against targets in range.
14th Level – Invoke Patron

Once per day you may summon The Lich.  Make a CHA ability check adding 1/2 your level to the roll.  Consult the table below to see if your invocation was successful. It takes one round to invoke the Gun Lich and you may select a lower level option based on your roll.

  • 1 (Natural) Lost, failure, and patron taint!
  • 2-20 Failure. If you use invoke patron within the next 24 hours you do so with a bane.
  • 21-23 THE LICH does not have the time/bandwidth to be personally bothered with such a minor request. The warlock is granted a temporary boost in CHA of 1d6, and these added points may be mana burned. The added CHA points last for 1 hour.
  • 24-27 THE LICH grants 1d6 holographic duplicates of the warlock. These holographic duplicates are under the direct control of the warlock. While the duplicates are immaterial constructs of light and cannot touch or be touched, additional spells or range attacks always appear to originate from one of the duplicates, not the warlock. Attackers have disadvantage to hit the warlock. The holographic duplicates last until the end of combat.
  • 28-29 THE LICH greatly amplifies the neural functions of the warlock, speeding up their reaction time to super-human levels. Attacks directed at the shaman appear to be happening in slow motion and are thus easily avoided. The warlock gains +5 AC, double movement, and an additional action. These effects last until the end of combat.
  • 30-33 THE LICH manipulates and directs the planet’s electro- magnetic field in such a way as to cause a 50’ radius EMP to radiate outward from the warlock, shutting down all non-shielded magical (technological) devices for 1d6 rounds. Items or creatures that are shielded immediately lose their shields. Any items carried on the warlock’s person are unaffected.
  • 34-37 THE LICH transmits advanced magical knowledge to the warlock, allowing the warlock to quickly master any AI and to command the AI for up to one 24-hour period. Optionally, THE LICH transmits advanced technological data to the warlock, allowing the warlock to instantly understand and master any one magical item or device. In either case, all transferred knowledge is not retained by the warlock and is completely forgotten within 24 hours.
  • 38-39 THE LICH uses a sophisticated global network of ancient orbiting transmat devices to teleport a Security-Bot under the shaman’s control directly to the warlock’s locale. The Security-Bot will fight for and defend the warlock until the end of combat, at which point it is transmatted back to its original location.
  • 40-41 THE LICH activates an orbiting artificially intelligent war satellite equipped with long-range transmat projectors connected to a genetic database. The war satellite immediately locks onto the warlock and rewrites their DNA to create a super-soldier “one man army.” The warlock becomes 7’ tall, and his Strength, Dexterity, and Con scores are immediately raised to 24, AC is increased to 20 (ignoring Agility AC modifiers caused by the change), and the warlock gains 100 hit points. This change lasts until the end of combat.
  • 42+ THE LICH’s approval of the warlock’s actions is evident as he personally manifests as 1d100 hard-light holographic copies of himself, destroying all enemies of the warlock by blasting them with massive and concentrated gunfire. Each holographic copy of THE LICH has 3 actions, and does 1d12+6 of damage per shot. These hard-light holograms last until the end of combat. The shaman takes automatic patron taint when this result is rolled.

 


Revolvations 22:12
As with all things, the Gun must eventually end; the final Bullet will leave the chamber, and all will be reloaded.

Posted in 5e, Adventurer's Vault, Class, Dungeons & Dragons, OSR 5e, The Ninth World

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