Is this Forest Gnome Warlock character build legal?

Question

I'm playing a DnD-5e campaign with some co-workers; it's my first role-playing in, oh, decades and something like my 4th character ever. I know when to ask for help. Help!

I'm instructed to create a 4th-level character to join an existing party, and I had in mind to create a very, very old female Forest Gnome Warlock; something akin to a wizened medicine woman. I'm using the PHB as a reference, as well as roll20 and other online resources and the Android app "Fight Club 5".

I feel this character is quite powerful for its level, so please tell me all the mistakes I did in interpreting the build rules.

(Note: I've made edits as I received feedback; as a consequence, answers may seem inaccurate but were actually quite the opposite.)

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For the warlock, I chose the Archfey patron. I didn't mention this at first because it doesn't, by itself, seem to add any modifiers (but it allows picking specific items/abilities which might add modifiers).

Looking at cantrips, a forest gnome gets two right out of the gate; Minor Illusion and Speak with Small Beasts (which refers to Beast Speech, which refers to Speak with Animals -- if accurate, I'm still going to limit it to tiny creatures). As for the warlock, at 4th level she'd have 3 cantrip slots; adding Pact of the Tome is said to yield three additional cantrip slots. The total comes to 2+3+3 = 8 cantrips for a 4th-level forest gnome warlock. Really?

Looking at spells, at 4th level a warlock would have two 2nd-level spell slots and five slots for "known spells" (which, I gather, can only be swapped out when you gain a level).

Looking at invocations, at 4th level a warlock would have two invocation slots. I'm not quite sure about the difference between invocations and cantrips; for my character I have chosen Agonizing Blast (which functions as a permanent booster for a separate cantrip) and Mask of Many Faces (which, it seems, might as well be a cantrip?).

Then, stats. My base stats are:

STR: 8
DEX: 12
CON: 14
INT: 10
WIS: 13
CHA: 15

but then I can add:

• +1 DEX from Forest Gnome race,
• +2 INT from Gnome race,
• +2 from Warlock Level 4, which I have split between CON and CHA,

so my final stat block becomes:

STR: 8
DEX: 12+1 = 13
CON: 14+1 = 15
INT: 10+2 = 12
WIS: 13
CHA: 15+1 = 16

and for Hit Points that should give me 8 (base) +2 (CON modifier) + 3x(5+CONmod) (fixed increase from each level above 1st) = 31 HP.

Does this all seem reasonable, or am I way off base here? I really don't intend to be a munchkin; I had this person in mind before I looked into its construction.

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That is the core of my question. For additional information, here are the spells I thought I could be choosing:

• Cantrips:
  • Blade Ward
  • Eldritch Blast (with Agonizing Blast)
  • Mage Hand
  • Minor Illusion (comes with Forest Gnome)
  • Message (free with Tome)
  • Fire Bolt (free with Tome)
  • Spare the Dying (free with Tome)
• Spells slots:
  • 2x spell level 2
• Spells known:
  • Hellish Rebuke (SL1, but gains an additional 1d10 in a SL2-slot)
  • Unseen Servant
  • Mending
  • Misty Step
  • Spider Climb
• Invocations:
  • Agonizing Blast
  • Mask of Many Faces
• Misc. abilities:
  • Eldritch Blast
  • Speak with Small Animals (comes with Forest Gnome)

I extend to you most humble and sincere thanks.

Answer 1

Looking at cantrips, a forest gnome gets two right out of the gate; Minor Illusion and Speak with Small Beasts (which refers to Beast Speech, which refers to Speak with Animals -- if accurate, I'm still going to limit it to tiny creatures).

Speak with Small Beasts isn't a cantrip, or even a spell. It's just an ability that forest gnomes have. It's also technically unrelated to the speak with animals spell, though a DM would be well within their rights to say that the interactions you can have with an animal using Speak with Small Beasts are limited in the same way as described for speak with animals ("The knowledge and awareness of many beasts is limited by their intelligence, but at minimum, beasts can give you information about nearby locations and monsters," etc.).

Looking at spells, at 4th level a warlock would have two 2nd-level spell slots and five slots for "known spells" (which, I gather, can only be swapped out when you gain a level).

Judging by your list of "Spells" and "Spells known" at the end of your post, you seem to have misunderstood the meaning of "spell slots." Spell slots represent how many non-cantrip spells you can cast before you need to recover your slots via resting. At fourth level, you would know five spells of first and/or second level, but you would only be able to cast one of those spells and then cast either that spell again or cast another spell you know, after which you would only be able to cast cantrips until you took a short rest. Also, eldritch blast, being a cantrip, is counted under your "Cantrips Known" rather than "Spells Known", so you need to fix your Spells Known by adding in another first- or second-level spell.

I'm not quite sure about the difference between invocations and cantrips ... Mask of Many Faces (which, it seems, might as well be a cantrip?).

Some invocations are like cantrips in that they let you cast a spell without limit, but the spells you cast via them are not actually cantrips. For example, Mask of Many Faces lets you cast disguise self, which is a 1st-level spell, and it will be treated as a 1st-level spell by any effects that care about spell level.

Most invocations are just constant static effects or give you non-spell options; those are definitely not like cantrips.

for Hit Points that should give me 8 (base) +2 (CON modifier) + 3x5 (fixed increase from each level above 1st) = 25 HP.

Not quite. With a Con score of 12 or 13, your Con modifier is +1, and you add it to your HP on every level, so your HP at fourth level would be 8 + 1 + 3×(5+1) = 27 HP.

Also, you can't get cure wounds through Pact of the Tome, as that spell is 1st-level rather than a cantrip (Cantrips are effectively "0th level").

Everything else looks accurate, though I do note you failed to specify a Warlock Patron (Archfey, Fiend, or Great Old One). You have to pick one when you create a warlock.

Answer 2

Ability Scores

It looks like you're using the standard array and you've applied your racial bonuses correctly. Intelligence doesn't do a whole lot for you as a Warlock, so you might want to redistribute that good score to someplace potentially more beneficial (like Constitution).

The same goes with your Level 4 ASI. Having two odd stats (Dex and Con) in your configuration doesn't do you any good. You should be looking for even numbers, because that's where the bonuses change.

Patron

You don't appear to have selected one. It grants a feature at first level. It's not the same thing as the Pact Boon you picked at third level.

Cantrips - 7, not 8

Track your cantrips separately. The one you get from Gnome will have a different save DC (based on Intelligence) than the ones you get from Warlock (based on Charisma). The forest gnome's ability to speak speak with small creatures is not a cantrip and should not be counted among them.

Your total from Warlock at L4 with Pact of the Tome will be 6 - 3 from the class base, 3 from the tome.

Spells

Spell Slots (you have two, each of second level) are effectively the magical energy a Warlock can muster between each short rests, typically an hour. Other classes get more slots, but only recharge them at the end of an eight-hour long rest.

Spells Known (you have five) is the number of ways the character has to use that magical energy. You can swap them out at each level, so it's possible to have as many as three second level spells (if you swap a first for a second at level 3 and again at level 4), with the remainder being first level spells.

Invocations

Invocations are the way two warlocks with the same patron and pact boon to distinguish themselves. Some are static abilities, some add additional spells. They're all unique, so read them closely.

Your Choices

You have the right number of Cantrips, but Cure Wounds is not a cantrip. You'll need to pick something else. And again, Speak with Small Animals is not a cantrip.

You don't need to assign spells to slots in advance. You pick which of your known spells to use in a slot at the time you cast it, not before.

As for those spells known, you have listed Eldritch Blast among them. It's a cantrip. Otherwise, you appear okay - you have four spells known.