Wizards and sorcerers most often become sun warlocks, but sometimes a cleric of a sun god will become a sun warlock. Classes that cannot cast at least 3rd level arcane spells or access to the sun domain cannot become sun warlocks. Paladins and rangers very rarely become sun warlocks.
Hit Dice: d4.
Requirements
To qualify to become a sun warlock, a character must fulfill the following criteria:
Spellcasting: Ability to cast at least 3rd level arcane spellcaster or 3rd level clerical spells from the Sun Domain.
Knowledge Skill (Nature, the Sun): 10 ranks.
Concentration: 5 ranks.
Feats: Any two metamagic feats and Iron Will.
Special: Spellcasters must undergo a special ceremony to become a sun warlock. This involves enduring sunlight much more intense than one is normally exposed to, breathing gases toxic to humans, and intensely studying a large fire body (at least size G) for at least a year. The process forever changes the individual, imparting them with the power of the sun. Sponsorship by a sun warlock greatly eases the process, but not entirely necessary.
Class Skills
The sun warlock's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Alchemy (Int), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Int), Craft (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Intuit Direction (Wis), Knowledge (All, Int), Profession (Any, Wis), Scry (Int), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis).
Skill Points at each level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Sun warlocks are proficient with simple weapons, but do no gain any proficiency with armor or shield.
Solar Marking: Sun warlocks are touched by the power of the sun in surprising ways. Their physical features change by the power they tap. Such changes might be brilliantly glowing eyes, hair color that changes to that of the nearest fire body, skin that is unusually warm to touch, or a soft glow that never quite disappears.
Solar Powers: Every other level the sun warlock may choose one of the following powers. No power can be taken more than once.
Gravity Well: Once per day, the sun warlock can cause gravity to change for one or more individuals or objects weighing no more than 20 lbs. per character level. This ability has the effects of a slow spell cast as per the level of the sun warlock if cast on an individual and the warlock increases gravity. If he chooses to decrease the gravity a person, he is gains the same benefits as if a jump spell had been cast on him. If used on an object, the weight of the object is either doubled or halved, the warlock's choice. This ability counts as a standard action.
Photosphere: Once a week, the sun warlock can enwrap himself in a sphere of light. The warlock enters a status-like trance that preserves him from lack of food, water, and air. The sphere remains so long as it is in the light of a sun or other large fire body. In this capacity the photosphere can serve as a lifeboat for the warlock. If the warlock can plot a course before entering the photosphere, the photosphere can travel through wildspace at the rate of 10 million miles per day. Once the warlock has entered his trance, he cannot adjust his course or make any corrections, so if his calculations are off, he could be thrown off course by billions of miles and drift for centuries before being discovered or falling into the gravity of a planet. If the photosphere encounters a planet, it slowly drifts to the surface before vanishing. This could drop a warlock on an airless moon to perish or dunk him in the middle of an ocean. Because the sun warlock does not age, he could leave a world and return decades or even centuries later, perhaps to escape a powerful foe or to escape some pending disaster. The most common use of a photosphere is as a lifeboat in case the warlock is thrown overboard from a spelljammer and rescue is not immediate.
Solar Brilliance: Once per day, the sun warlock can summon a sphere of brilliant light. This ability has the effects of a daylight spell as per the level of warlock. The warlock need not be in the light of the sun to make use of this ability, and can summon it anywhere. This ability counts as a standard action.
Solar Flare: This ability increases the maximum damage dice of fire spells by three. Thus, a 15th level wizard/sun warlock that can cast a fireball that inflicts 13d6 rather than 10d6. This is a supernatural ability and is a free action.
Song of the Sun: Once per day, a sun warlock may try to contact one of his peers. By saying the name of the sun warlock he wishes to contact, the warlock can send a message up to 25 words long. The message is received 6d10 minutes later. If the warlock is asleep, the message comes in a dream, while an awaken warlock hears it as a whisper. Both the warlock sending the message and the receiving warlock must be in sunlight for the message to be sent and received, but either can be anywhere in the sphere so long as they are in the light of the sun. The sending warlock will know instinctively if the warlock he is trying to communicate with is in sunlight or not. This is a spell-like ability and using it counts as a standard action.
Summon Sun Beast: Once a day, a sun warlock may summon a fire elemental as if he had cast a monster summoning III spell, using his class level as the level of caster. The warlock must be in the light of the sun to make use of this power. This is a spell-like ability and using it counts as a standard action.
Sunlight Dance: Once a day per every character level the warlock has achieved, the sun warlock can create a play of light that has the effects of silent image spell. The warlock must either be in sunlight or within 40' of the daylight spell. This ability counts as a standard action.
Touch of the Sun: Once a day for every other class level the warlock has achieved, rounding down, the sun warlock's touch can heat metal to be searing hot to the touch. The warlock need not be in the light of the sun to make use of this power. This ability has the effects of a heat metal spell and counts as a standard action.
Solar Wind: A sun warlock, when operating a spelljamming helm, can draw upon the power of a nearby fire body to increase the speed the ship travels. When piloting a spelljammer, the warlock can increase the spelljamming speed by 10% and tactical speeds by +1 to ship's rating. Thus, a ship powered by a sun warlock can travel 110 million miles a day, or about 4.6 million miles per hour. This extra speed does not transfer to the next helm user, so the spelljammer will not travel a full 110 million miles a day unless it has two sun warlocks
as a helmsmen.
Solar Endurance: A sun warlock gains the ability to endure heat that would normally damage or kill a normal creature. The effect of this is that the sun warlock gains the benefits of a permanent endure elements spell tuned for fire/heat. Every round, any heat or fire damage that the warlock suffers is reduced by 5 points. A warlock can still die from smoke or lack of oxygen.
Eternal Light: By unlocking the secrets of the sun and touching its power, the warlock can extend his own natural life span by 50%. All age increments are increased by 50%, but a sun warlock cannot regain the advantages of youth if this makes him younger than his current age increment. Thus a 60-year-old human will not become middle aged instead of old.
Nova: The most powerful ability of the sun warlock is the ability to sacrifice his spells to detonate a fireball centered on the sun sorcerer. For each spell level the sun warlock sacrifices to a maximum of 1 per character level the warlock has achieved, the fireball causes d8 points of damage to everyone within 40' of the warlock. The warlock does not take damage from using this attack. This is a standard ability and counts as a standard action. Using this ability renders the sun warlock unable to cast spells for one hour.
The Sun Warlock
| Base | Fortitude | Reflex | Will | |||
| Level | Attack Bonus | Save | Save | Save | Special | Spells per Day |
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +0 | +2 | Solar Marking | +1 level of existing class |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +0 | +3 | Solar Power | +1 level of existing class |
| 3rd | +1 | +1 | +1 | +3 | Solar Wind | +1 level of existing class |
| 4th | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Solar Power | +1 level of existing class |
| 5th | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Solar Endurance | +1 level of existing class |
| 6th | +3 | +2 | +2 | +5 | Solar Power | +1 level of existing class |
| 7th | +3 | +2 | +2 | +5 | Eternal Light | +1 level of existing class |
| 8th | +4 | +2 | +2 | +6 | Solar Power | +1 level of existing class |
| 9th | +4 | +3 | +3 | +6 | Nova | +1 level of existing class |
| 10th | +5 | +3 | +3 | +7 | Solar Power | +1 level of existing class |
Into the Realms
Sun warlocks are very rare in the Forgotten Realms. The sect was much more powerful during the time of Nethril, when worshippers of Amaunator were strong. As Nethril declined, dozens, perhaps hundreds of warlocks enwrapped themselves in photospheres and hurled themselves into orbit about the sun. At Nethril's fall, the temporary loss of magic killed many of the warlocks too close to the sun, but just as many were able to reactivate their photospheres and continue their long exiles. Since then, several have returned to Faerun only to learn that the empire they long ago abandoned had fallen. At least one powerful sun warlock wanders the Anauroch, looking to plunder lost temples to Amaunator and perhaps find something that will help him restore his patron god. In the Shining South, a sect of sun warlocks, perhaps as many as seven, are found in the nation of Halruaa. The six junior members of the sect follow Ambra, who splashed down on Toril near Mazteca and made her way to Halruaa. They have had many conflicts with the Malaugrym and have become great foes of everything shadowy and dark. A final powerful sun warlock migrated west from Shou Lung and wanders the Great Dale, having been driven north by the Wizards of Thay and west by the Witches of Rasheman. He seeks to build a seat of power somewhere, possibly in a port city on the Sea of Fallen Stars or Vaasa.
Notes on this Prestige Class: Finally, the 1st prestige class I ever wrote, the Sun Warlocks. Wrote this because of all the shadow junk I've seen infect almost every book I've seen lately, so why not make something that involves sunlight to be different?
Rich Baker, the WotC writer, really liked it, too
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