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The most fun I had with a warlock in my party - was making his "great old one" overly attached. In terms of the party walks through the forest and warlock sees signs like "hey, who was that girl you talked to 3 months ago in a village? Are you into her? I hope you're not. I know you're not, but I checked your thoughts just to be sure. Twice. And you remembered her today! And you're remembering her right now! I'm gonna kill her if you won't do "X" for me" and stuff like that. Also, he had to convince every human he sees, that wearing underpants over their pants - is "the next big thing" to please his overly attached great old one. At around level 6 the warlock was like "OKAY, THAT'S ENOUGH! I HAD IT WITH YOU!" and HE was the one to tear the contract. And the great old one was like "you? Want to break up with me? What... what did I do wrong :O". And she actually materialised as a familliar couple of days later for him to apologise and talk all of this through (took us like 1,5 hours IRL for the whole therapy, which was extremely fun to do and roleplay). Eversince, the great old one - changed her ways, she now asked her warlock not to confess people of wearing underpants over their pants, instead - that every house should have a place to grow flowers on (which was fun in cities). And when the summoning will actually accure - I'm kinda thinking about making those "dedicated" flowers attach themselves through spores to people and making plant-hybrids for the old one, but that's a little obvious and I'm still thinking about it.
Wizard: _"I mean, you pretty much cut in line to get those powers! You didn't WORK for 'em like we did."_ Warlock, who is carrying around their patron's dry cleaning, Starbucks Lattes, and a freshly-kidnapped baby: _"Hey guys I'm outta spell slots again."_
I like the metaphor of the casting classes being like baking a cake The Wizard follows the instructions to the letter and seeks out other recipes The Sorcerer eyeballs all the measuring and is still somehow able to make one The Cleric buys it whole sale from the baker The Druid buys it from a baker who only uses natural ingredients The Paladin and Ranger schmoozes with the baker to get a discount The Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster are doing what the wizard did but doing it more as a hobby The Warlock gets it from a shady guy in a van parked in an alley
That also sounds like a good take on the whole Baby Boomer vs. Millennial conflict. Wizard: “You kids are so lazy and entitled. When I was your age I had to apprentice myself to an archmage. I started off chopping wood and sweeping floors WITHOUT the aid of cantrips, mind you...” Warlock: “When you were my age, you could still pay your mentor for room and board without going into debt. At least my patron let me work it off what I owe with tasks and gives me the tools to do them. He hasn’t asked for single copper.!”
My favorite are Warlocks who don't know they're Warlocks. _"Boy this magic stuff is easy; I don't know what you wizards are always bitchin' about!_ _Haha on an unrelated note, anyone else in the mood to kidnap a few babies?"_
_"I mean, you know how it is when you feel like a demon is gonna kill you in your dreams if you don't kidnap a baby, amirite fellas?_ _lol I'd sure hate for that to happen again."_
I like the Idea of great old ones asking for random requests: Great Old one- "Move that stone 3 meters to the left and 1 meter forward" Warlock- "Um? sure no problem" Great Old one- "Here's another Warlock level! Good Job!" Warlock- "Ow...Well..Thanks! :D" That rock being in that perfect spot causes a chain of events that destroys the kingdom.....XD
My warlocks great old one wants her to raise bady chicks to chickens and start to love them. Then she has to kill then, cook them and feed them to her party....SHES AN EMOTIONAL wreck! hideous entertainment.
XD Because the kingdom no longer exists 100 years in the future thanks to the the civil war, it cannot form an alliance with its neighbors. The alliance which would have stopped an invasion from the abyss, one of the demons breeds a utterly powerful child that finally summons the great old one.
+Troommate I had an idea like that for Modrons, a Modron randomly pops up and shifts a few rocks around, if asked he would say that "I prevented a 2.381934926453 meter diameter Sphere of Annihilation from forming here in 35156321654312.165132 days"
@@france.the_bastard I mean, my niece has a similar thing for her patron. Her patron watched a burlesque show her PC was doing, and heard that mortal races give tips to dancers. So instead of money, this fay just fucking gifts some magic.
Maybe I'm the minority, but I'm particularly interested in the idea of a friendly or even caring relationship between a Warlock and Patron. It opens up a better motivation for doing things for the patron, and also makes it much more dramatic when the patron wants you to do something seemingly out of character or particularly heinous. Maybe the patron sees you as particularly interesting, and gives you powers on a whim, or perhaps this patron has watched over your family for generations, and even before you got your power you knew them as a family friend or distant relative. Or, in the vein of the unwitting warlock, perhaps this strange being has been attached to you at a young age and manifested as your imaginary friend, teaching you and grooming you unwittingly to be their agent in the world.
Andrew Morgan Meh, not really. Like they said, being a Cleric is all about devoting yourself to your God, about worshipping them. This is literally just a friendly relationship with your patron.
Well they do have the Celestial patron now with xanathar's In addition here's a whole pdf of homebrew patron concepts that offer some great friendly options www.reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/6uzb60/the_compendium_of_forgotten_secrets_ultimate/
Andrew Morgan Yeah, but the Celestial patron is that: a celestial. I mean, you could definitely reskin it to be a God instead, but at that point, why not just be a Cleric? And Homebrew opens up a whole new can of worms, my man.
I'm just imagining a warlock waking up hungover one morning and they're just like "Wait when did I get this tattoo?" They see that it's written in infernal and so they have their wizard friend read it and they're just like "Umm you know this says property of Asmodeus right?" "What!? I thought it was just an empowering mantra!"
Lol my dude got shitfaced and stumbled through a portal in a basement in Neverwinter, into Evernight, and entered a patronage with demogorgon because demogorgon is crazy and in a Sheogorath like fashion he randomly decided he liked my guy and gave him powers. So now my guy has scales all over his half elf body and gave him a snake eye and double snake dick and can summon large amounts of tentacles plus a demogorgon symbol tram stamp, and trust me; you do not want to cast detect thought on him because you will *not* like what you find. The demogorgon's influence has made him a functioning madman who on the outside seems perfectly reasonable and a normal dude but on the inside it's basically a demonic circus with cacklers performing tricks and whispers and screams and insane cackling on a background of thrumming noise that makes you shit your britches
Step 1: Choose Triton as your player race Step 2: Choose the Noble background Step3: Choose Warlock (Great Old One) as your class Step 4: At level 2, choose the Beach Speech Invocation Step 5: At level 3, choose Pact of the Blade. Summon a Trident Step 6: Play as Aquaman
In the first campaign I ran, there was a PC warlock who thought he was a wizard. He assumed his growing magical powers were because he was just really good at his studies, but in reality a super-powerful eldritch being just saw him and was like "This guy's interesting. I wonder what'd happen if I gave him dark powers."
Yeah, it was pretty similar to that. His familiar was a plant he found on the side of the road that he believed was some long-forgotten, super powerful magic plant. The plant was probably the creepiest character I've ever written XD
What if the stuff he was studying was actually just eldritch lore and he never was able to comprehend it because of how alien it was? Obviously that's not what happened, just sounded like a cool idea to me.
My warlock just got shitfaced and walked through a portal in a basement in Neverwinter and drunkenly entered a patronage with the Demogorgon, who, being the prince of madness, decided this was gonna be fun and gave him powers. Once sober, my guy heard the demogorgon talk to him in his head, fainted, woke up, fainted again, woke up again, and continued being a fighter bounty hunter attempting to hide the fact he's a warlock, which caused the demogorgon to curse him, which continues to occasionally give him certain reptilian/draconic features, such as a double snake dick, scales accenting his body which accidentally got him a Dragonborn stalker girlfriend, a large patch of scales over his right eye which turned his eye into a reptile eye. This got him kicked out of the Bounty Hunter's guild in neverwinter so he finally started to lean into the warlock stuff. This was 15 years ago, and now he's level 3 and just killed 7 red brand ruffians. He hasn't heard of his patron for the past 15 years except for the sudden appearance of a grimoire in his backpack but grows more restless everyday because it creeps him the fuck out that his patron hasn't made him do anything in a long time. Meanwhile, the demogorgon just completely fucking forgot about him and doesn't even know he exists anymore
I'm imagining a celestial pact where the warlock agreed to help the celestial with whatever evil thing is happening in the campaign and while this neutral or chaotic good patron is chill most of the time whenever the warlock does something evil or doesn't help someone in need, the minute that warlock goes to sleep the patron is waiting there and tapping their foot like a parent waiting for their child to come home after getting in trouble at school.
Hearing all this, it makes me think James Bond is like a "Warlock". He's got his patron, MI6, they give him gadgets, and he does missions from them. JB does it his own way sometimes, but you better be able to explain why you didn't do it like MI6 asked you too...
Too many GMs seem to have seen that Paladins are now a lot more flexible with a variety of different oaths, and have decided that Warlocks are the new "dance for my amusement or turn into a Fighter with no feats" class, and that anyone who doesn't want to do that is a bad roleplayer. If the player wants to play a tortured Faust archetype constantly torn between morality and power - cool, do that, it'll be a lot of fun. But if they want to define some other kind of relationship, or even to minimize the relationship in favor of other aspects of their character, as the RAW itself suggests for the Great Old One patrons, also let them. Warlocks aren't some power-class that needs to be reigned in with a special flaw.
To be fair that's a flaw with DMs more than the class itself. Waaay to many DMs saw the Paladin's code and said "It's my JOB to make the Paladin fail at this," rather than "no matter what I do the Paladin is going to be limited by this, so let's see what decisions they make."
"Warlocks aren't some power-class that needs to be reigned in with a special flaw." That's true. Most situations are self-correcting, in some respects. I've heard the odd stupid story, where "Every god [in a pantheon] gets fed up with Wizard-so-and-so abusing the campaign with their ego or lust for power, etc.". Just banish them to Limbo, and throw the character sheet in the garbage!
I deleted my previous comment, as it really didn't tie in to your suggestion; but I will say this: The original Paladin class never had "strings attached", except Tithing, and the proscription against changing alignment. However, in my experience, most "written" adventures never included tests specifically for Paladin characters. "Dancing for DM's amusement" never generally entered my frame of thought. There were typically 3-7 other players competing for my time/ effort. And that slant could be considered antagonistic - and contrary to the spirit of AD&D. Your role should be to give the player some enjoyment in the game. Unless it's too hard, of course (for you).
I had a DM who believed it was impossible to be Lawful Good, so every adventure he crafted in every campaign he ran was designed to put LG players in a moral quagmire with dilemmas that were impossible to solve without sacrificing the characters' lives. Eventually, all the players gravitated to morally grey PCs, which made his games boring.
My standing plan for my first 5e character (should I ever play the system) is a fey-pact warlock. On the eve of his sixteenth birthday he walked out into the woods one day, found himself at a fey party and spent what felt like seven years partying with Titania and her court, then on the last day he professes her love to her fully knowing that she's gonna say no. To his surprise, she says yes, *on the condition* that he goes back into the mortal world and completes seven tasks for her, one for each year he spent in her presence. He doesn't know what those tasks will be, or when they will come, but he has to do seven of them in order to score. He also knows it's a completely stupid deal- seven feats of heroism to get with the girl once? - but screw it, it's worth it. So now he's returned to the mortal plane, except instead of seven years he's been missing for seven days, but he's grown those seven years and gained a level in Warlock in the process.
I'm currently playing a fey pact in one of my games. His parents gave away their children in a Rumpelstiltskin kind of deal. To make him seem more like a fairytale character in gave him cobblers tools as a proficiency and when i got a pact i choose blade and flavored it as a giant sewing needle. Later on i lean dudelocks are a rare thing from my hag grandmother and we have an entire session themed around an episode of the Bachelor.
I came up with the idea for a Hexblade Warlock, whose Patron is a Tome from the Shadowfell. (Because Knowledge is the greatest weapon of all). And the terms of her contract require that she periodically scribe a copy of that tome, to increase her Patron's power. Because this Patron - this literal book of shadows - is a being, not of paper and leather and ink, but of Information. The Patron isn't the book itself, but the TEXT. It exists so long as that text remains extent somewhere - in a book, carved into a cave wall, memorized in some poor bastard's head - but by that same token will cease to exist if no copies remain. Hence why the Warlock has to pen copies. It's insurance. That, and because each "vessel" for the text is also a point where the Patron can gather information or exert influence. It is just more powerful, the more copies of itself exist. (It's an intelligence that exists simultaneously across all its "vessels", because information has no mass.) Hell, even the Pact of the Tome the Warlock has will, in and of itself, increase the book's power in a novel way, because it's a copy of itself that can always be resummoned. Even if every other copy is destroyed, including the one in the Shadowfell, the Warlock can always call her Patron back from oblivion by manifesting the tome. That's part of the contract, that it doesn't end just because the Patron is obliterated.
I feel like Warlocks have great multiclass potential due to when their time spent training it takes place. They *get* Warlock powers next to instantly, which frees up a lot of previous time which could have been spent studying and training in a different class... I find it interesting when a Warlock doesn't start the campaign as a Warlock but becomes one later on. Like a Rogue goes to steal an item and suddenly _"A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON!"_
During one of our games, I had a Bard who wanted to multiclass into Warlock. We just destroyed a lich, who was keeping the land in eternal winter. I chose archfey, and so my DM got the idea of a frozen Dryad Queen answering my call for power and offering it to me as a reward for "unfreezing" her. As time went on I did missions for her, each of which had drastic results on the story and gave major rewards. It has been a long campaign going off and on for a while, and currently my character has a cult in her name. The moral of the story, going to the trouble of fleshing Warlock & patron dynamics can be really awesome. So awesome that I would go as far as to say every class should come with some sort of optional NPC who is narratively tied to you.
Ever since I saw Warlock and the Hexblade options, one thing has been on my mind: the anime Soul Eater. Converting the concept of a Meister and Weapon into D&D as a reflavored Warlock would be really interesting, as their relationships are founded on trust and they're more or less equals who can't function at their full potential without the other. And then there's also the fact that Weapons are people too and travel alongside their Meisters, which would allow for a bunch of fun interactions throughout a campaign that a traditional Warlock and patron just couldn't share in most cases.
Ngl, that was one of my first thoughts when I considered playing a Hexblade Warlock. Thing is that I didn't want to have to make any DM I ran the character concept with essentially have to pilot a psuedo DMPC in any scenario outside of combat or dungeoneering, though thinking about it further now I suppose it might not be any less of a challenge than most other Warlock patrons for any good DM.
I love the concept of a demonic entity, such as an Imp or some low-mid level demon or devil who is making their first contract with a mortal who is meant to be a method of increasing their power and influence, and as the player gains levels and power so does the entity, maybe changing into more powerful forms. And maybe the entity starts trying to end the contract because the player is actually gaining more power than the entity can oppose or sustain.
My warlock/rogue was the child of a farming couple who promised their firstborn to an arch fey in exchange for bountiful crops. She ran away to the big city to escape her fate, joining the local thieves guild, but the arch fey tracked her down...
I like this one, I was thinking of making a child who was promised to the fey an archfey warlock whose class had been chosen to him before he was born and just rolled with it since free magic and that fey saved his family so it is a debt that must be paid.
I like the idea of a Great Old One who's asleep. The warlock stole some secrets from them by a ritual, but now they have to do XYZ to keep that GOO from waking up. That could make the patron truly apocalyptic and the warlock a paranoid, superstitious wreck. Is it just a delusion or do they really need to keep all circles out of eyesight to keep the Eye of Azatoth from opening?
I swear I'm the only one who made a character where the Warlock tried to romance the Patron and not the other way round. They don't get along anymore, incidentally.
But a fiddle made of gold would weigh 30 or 40 pounds. Can't play that all day. Maybe a gold necklace and amulet? It would apply to all stringed instruments. I'd like to make a Warlock that looks like Johnny Cash.
You need to go Fiend pact then, and when you cast your first fireball you need to say, in a straight face, "This spell is a burning thing, and it forms a firey ring. Which then expands out to a radius of 30ft and cooks everything inside it."
If a patron isn't satisfied with your work ethic and you just aren't what they were promised when they granted you your power. They could always barter you off to another being or Outsider. On top of a servant you are also currency. You're bloodline might be rare and such you could be hoarded like a collection of rare coins.
Alternatively, the patron decides to stop giving them more power, and now before they can level in Warlock any further, the player has to find a new patron - potentially with a different pact, and changing what features he gets with the new levels.
Or the patron themselves has their own shit to deal with and their warlock is supposed to be fixing that but they're doing a poor job of it, remember, they're not gods, and sometimes a god or more powerful being/force/other people's patrons might despise your patron. You may have other warlocks who hate you or attempt to kill you for the patron you signed a contract with, even if you have a good relationship with your patron, the situation doesn't have to be ideal. Maybe your patron keeps getting in the worst kind of trouble, leaving you to deal with the aftermath, or maybe your patron spurned some other powerful being when choosing you as a lover. There is no situation where a pact is unable to be made more interesting. Also, who says patrons can't get drunk.
So here is my favorite charakter right now: He is a half elf-warlock with the entertainer background. In the beginning he thought he was a bard and my DM was awesome enough to go along with it so we actually pretended like I was playing a bard. In combat nobody really expected much from me and I took packt of the tome to learn viscious mockery and everyone thought I was a very wierd bard. Also we were mostly new players so that helped the cause. My charater himself never knew he signed a packt but the lute he made out of a tree struck by lightning was actually haunted because there was a fiend bound to that tree and ancient runes carved in its side talked about the power you'd get when you freed her. My guy couldn't read the runes but in making his Lute he cut himself, spilling blood on the tree. Now he "signed" the packt with the fiend and in combat when he was feeling scared he was taken over by the fiend actually changing his alignment from CG to CE. after the battle he would lose all memory of his doing. The party eventually convinced him around 4th level that there is something happening with him in battle and so he did some soul searching and eventually discovered another voice in his head. Being the idiot he is he immediately thought she must be benevolent because she saved his life so many times (the group would always tell him what he did and apart from stealing a magic item it all seemed quite helpful). Now we have a fiend that is possessing his body but he thinks she must be a benevolent thing so he would just talk to her about everything, asking the fiend for anything from history trivia to relationship advice. I think the fiend regrets the packt more than he does by now but everyone has a lot of fun every time my stupid ass charakter talks to her. Also my charakter plays heavy metal on his magic lute, is a vegan and introduces revolution to every village we get through. Most fun warlock ever.
Oh boy. Warlocks. Warlocks are a fun fun class. Lots of fun opportunities for the DM to have...fun with players. But without a proper usage of the patron and player, it's not nearly as fun. Conceptually, they're one of my favorite classes with the patron relation. It's something more intimate than clerics I feel, which is a lot more fun. I love the potential dynamics between patron and player. Evil, good, unknowable...all are super fun. In my current campaign the Warlock has a bond with some eldritch entity, and remembering your older Warlock video inspired some fun ideas with that. Having some conflict with the Warlock and Patron is something I much prefer, over just the two getting along super well. Patron loving the warlock, but the warlock not liking the patron...that's something I hadn't even considered before. And I like that. Kinda surprised you didn't mention the Dresden Files again when talking about an Archfey liking the warlock without the feeling being reciprocated.
I like when they both like eachother and make a cooperative relationship so the warlock becomes the champion of said fey and help it spread their influance while being rewarded well, it is fun, wholesome, and awesome.
What I felt was an interesting re-skin was my Divine Soul Sorcerer accidentally made contact with a protean being who granted them power, but being chaotic and malleable, that power enhanced their inner radiance rather than being a separate thing and that took the form of the the Celestial patron features. Any time I had to use Warlock slots or abilities, it was warped and *wrong* in some way. Healing spells felt like worms or sand under the skin, spells that cast light sent shadows in the wrong direction and spells meant to cast holy fire would often have the flames burning in any direction other than up.
Hey what's up Web DM! While I have your attention, do you think you guys will ever do a video on how/why the gods/goddesses talk to PCs? It has come up a lot in the campaign I'm in and I would love to hear your take on it.
I played a character that started out as a level 2 fighter. Than he and his adventuring party saw a star fall from the sky and decided to investigate. He was the first to touch the extraterrestrial object, and he was instantly transported 300 years into the future and unknowingly became a great old one warlock. The campaign started at level 3, with my character already having figured out that he some how traveled through time, now had magical powers, and was plagued by nonsensical visions. The DM gave me expertise in history checks for around the time I was born, but I didn't know anything about the last 3 centuries. Being a human, my whole family and almsot everyone I knew was long dead. The coolest part of the whole campaign was when we went to follow a lead with a local business owner. Turns out she was a dwarf I had been adventuring with in the past before I disappeared before her eyes. When I revealed my self, everyone else at the table was just as slack jawed as she was. None of the other characters really belived my story until that moment. They all wanted to switch gears and figure what the hell happened to me back then and if it could be reversed. That was some of the best RP I've ever experienced.
Had a Archfey patron warlock who was an entertainer...one night, after a night of drunken revelry, he accidentally stumbled into the Feywild when he went into the forest to take a piss. There, he met an Archfey, one of the Gloaming Court...Alura, Lady of Shadow and Pleasant Dreams, a nebulous woman with violet-hued eyes. She had been confined to a grove, a punishment after her fey rivals outplayed her, and could not leave until the one true king came to the grove and claimed a legendary sword (yeah...that one). Unfortunately, the odds of this happening were astronomically low, and she was VERY displeased to find the entertainer was not, in fact, a noble with royal blood. Thankfully, she found him amusing enough not to immediately kill, and so struck a deal with him: She would let him leave, and even share some of her power with him, if he agreed to one thing... ...let her experience the world through his eyes. See, centuries of confinement had made her bored, and so she wished to see what was going on outside her grove. Despite being somewhat uneased, he agreed, and was released. Now, his patron sees EVERYTHING he sees...and when he spots something particularly "interesting", his eyes will flash the same violet-hue as the Archfey. And on occasion, she will possess his body when he long rests, and cause mischief...steal a lovely necklace she had spotted earlier that day...set fire to the home of someone she didn't like...brawl in a local tavern...all at the DM's discretion. A very confused warlock will then wake up the following day, either with bruises or scratches, stolen property, wanted posters for his arrest...basically mayhem. It's fun when you don't know what to expect.
All thanks be given freely to Asmodeus, the Gift-Giver, The Crossroads Merchant, and King of the Multiverses. For these boons bestoyed upon me I swear to burn your name into the land so all may see the Blessings you offer, and for all the deals yet to be made.
This is Cheese, the unicorn. I don't know his actual name, he doesn't talk much, but I call him Cheese... _Oh yeah, but I guess your patrons are cool too..._
I am currently playing a reluctant warlock! Anoron' sister was kidnapped by cultists as a vessel to summon a Balor into the world. He killed the cultists and pushed his sister off the summoning circle but got stuck there. Since he was a technically willing male vessel instead of an unwilling female (which is necessary for the summoning) he now possesses some of the balor's power.
So a sweet Celestial pact warlock backstory! Terry Pratchett has one set out in the book " Small Gods". A god is forgotten and loses power and is stuck in the form of a turtle, now maybe they give the warlock power - and the level of the caracter/gaining of spells directly correlate to the power the god gathers through the work of the warlock
As an off the cuff option is that a Faerie Lord just got replaced by your sibling/friend/spouse during an exactly wrong moment. As example your wife becomes the next Summer Lady as you are exchanging vows, then BAM you are warlock with a Patron that has no idea what is going on
Hell yeah I've been waiting for this show for a while. Warlock is my favorite class the patron is such a great gift to the DM when they use it. And badass class as well. Playing one currently actually.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't Warlocks keep their power forever even if they betray or anger their patron? I seem to recall reading that bestowing a Warlock power is a one-time deal. Sure some patrons can strip the Warlock's powers using their own, but Warlocks don't need to keep something up to retain their power and it's not a depletable resource.
One of my players actually played a bard/warlock multiclass that was actually Johnny from The Devil Went Down to Georgia (or Jhor’dza in my world’s case), so that intro made me smile
The castoffs from "Torment: Tides of Numenera" seem very similar to those unwilling warlocks you described, with the Changing God being their patron. The powers gained by these "warlocks" are more or less the traces of a conciousness plus special abilities the Changing God designed for himself to use during the time he spent in the body of the particular castoff.
I personally like the idea of a symbiotic relationship. Something like the patron is a long dead spirit, or disembodied elemental, etc. whose only chance to escape death is to merge with another living soul.
your topic around 18 minutes, of "finding the right book" and "starting early" is exactly how i played my first 5e character. young girl opened the wrong book in her father's study, ended up in a pact with Volgna-Gath, The Keeper of Secrets, one of the Old ones. Pact of the tomb warlock. was alot of fun, and actually roleplayed that the event made her mute, sort of: when she spoke, it was in the Old ones Tongue. She had to primarily communicate with her telepathy. I actually went through the effort of roughly translating any time she spoke aloud, using what resources there are for the language. She freaked the paladin out hard core, but since she was a child and of a pure heart, he could not bring himself to raise his blade against her, even with that shadow looming over her.
That "last fragment of a dead god" idea was something I'd actually come up with a few years back for a 4e Invoker/ Human Paragon/ Demigod build that I never got a chance to actually play. If anyone's curious as to the story I came up with: As his mother was in the market near the end of her pregnancy, an Astral Bleed (I think that's the right term) occurs in the sky - mistaken by most for a weirdly silvery cloud - and a strange flash of light, almost like a very short lightning bolt, strikes her, immediately sending her into labor, and the newborn emits light from his eyes and mouth for a brief moment. Later on, his first spoken word somehow echoes in the minds of all who hear it, yet they don't understand it and can't repeat it; the town cleric realizes that it is somehow a word of Supernal despite these strange phenomenons. He later manifests divine power when a bully picks on him, and is sent to a bigger temple in a city for training where he is identified as an Invoker, yet nobody can figure out which deity he is connected to. The secret? That shard was the last fragment of power of the now-dead Human god killed by Asmodeus, and the word of Supernal nobody can understand or repeat is his old divine name that Asmodeus struck from existence, hence nobody can understand it and only he can utter it.
low Int, high Cha: recently "created" Warlock gets home, and her mom just looks at her amazed: "what. the. actual. hell?" "an Imp came to me and said that I had to fulfil the part of our family in this pact, so I became a Warlock" "do you remember the game we've always played on your birthday? the Pass to the Next? THAT WAS FOR TODAY! YOU COULD PASS THE OBLIGATION TO THE NEXT GENERSTION, YOU MELON-HEAD!" "Ohhh" "yeah, now it's done. don't forget to feed your bat-winged goat"
I love how much flavour you can give the warlock , it makes the characters feel so unique Its unlikely for two warlocks to be the same My warlock is a Kuo toa serving a kraken patron (it's always fun to play a crazy character) The kraken is a god made by the kuo toa but has now been forgotten so the kraken wants my warlock to spread the belief of him but my character doesn't know what the krakens end game is since the kraken doesn't fully trust my insane Kuo toa
I've actually made a large pact of ten warlocks my main antagonists for my home campaign. They make awesome villains who serve dark entities, so it sets up an even darker future as the pcs level up. Cool class I really love them! Also you guys are the best
I'm glad I found this video! I'm currently in a situation that I'm (with the GM's permission) in the process of changing my class from Sorcerer to Warlock (so it fits a better role to the party). So I ended up being the "unaware Warlock" with a touch of "unwilling Warlock". It's precisely what I was looking for! And, for any curious reader: My GM allows redistribution of levels, but only during downtime (since it's heavy-roleplaying campaign, it happens often) and I was really lost how I should treat the change in the powers for my Triton. Many things in her own backstory facilitated this (think about a Divine Soul Sorcerer who kinda acts like a cleric because she is sure that her powers are a divine gift) and the GM really came up with an excellent plot twist! So, she finally had a dream with the god she follows and he mentioned that they already talked before, she just can't remember perfectly because the situation was critical (In fact, in her backstory it was mentioned that she doesn't remember many things prior her awakening) and she is still in debt with him (which is her primal goal in the story) but is taking way longer than he expected, so he just came over to check on her a bit. In the end he says that the power always has been his direct influence, she just assumed she was a sorcerer because it's something more acceptable in her culture and she will eventually remember how she used to be before their contract, how "power-hungry" she was (and in fact, she was!). And yeah, it's an hexblade warlock, but the GM thought it would be nice to have the god himself hand her the weapon as a "piece of himself, but slightly independent".
A really important thing to remember about the warlock/patron relationship is that the patron can't necessarily take their power back once it's given. A cleric is a constant channel to power, but a warlock basically got power in exchange for a specific thing. That deal may conclude eventually, or they may renegotiate it. It may be that they can't take away the powers they gave you, but if they aren't happy, they won't give you more. A warlock may, at some point in their career, be seeking a new patron because the one they have has gone sour.
I'm starting my first campaign at the moment (as the DM, no less) and one of the players will be a Warlock. Perfect timing! Also, bonus points for Elvira.
I posted this somewhere else a while ago but I find this passge to be a great source of inspiration for the relationship of a Warlock and his patron (or a cleric and his deity for that matter). It is a conversation between the god of death and a necromancer from the book series Malazan Book of the Fallen (slightly paraphrased): "You are one of my own. We begin a game, you and me. The game of evasion. The game is this: steal their lives - snatch them away from my reach. Curse these hands you now see, these nails black with death's touch. Spit into this lifeless breath of mine. Cheat me at every turn. Heed this truth: there is no other form of service as honest as the one I offer you. To do battle against me, you must acknowledge my power. Even as I acknowledge yours. You must respect the fact that I always win, that you cannot help but fail. One day, even the Gods will answer to death. So in turn, I must give to you my respect. For your courage. For the stubborn refusal that is a mortal's greatest strength." "For all that, mortal, give me a good game."
If you are looking for weird things to manifest for warlock invocations. I would check out the miscast and corruption tables from Dungeon Crawl Classic. Loads of fun and cruel stuff.
I actually came up with a Warlock based on the artificer discussion you guys had. Pruitt said that he had wanted a gunslinger and I was trying to think of how to make one. The idea is that a guy was down on his luck looking to pick up some odd jobs and happened across some shadowy individual. This person offered him a gun and some trinkets/potions in order to gather a debtor. The gun is actually just a wand that he's shooting eldritch blast from, and the person assumes that he is using mundane or alchemical means to get the spell effects.
I've never actually watched Critical Roll. I've wanted to, but going through the whole thing was a daunting task by the time I really found out about it.
I did the book as a patron idea recently. It was very fun. I was a death cleric and in my travels I found this book named Shonlodo, the tome of infinite knowledge. He can recite any info. His catch is that he only knows about things he has seen. So I made a pact with him to carry him around and show him stuff in return for warlock powers and a share in his infinite knowledge.
My character in a horror campaign is a Great Old One Warlock who made a pact to gain more knowledge. He viewed his patron as an almost godlike being, referring to his patron as Mother throughout the campaign. His patron implanted a slug like creature inside him as he came close to death and influenced his actions to kill people even healing him when he did. This came to a head when his patron was promising knowledge of the world if he helped her come to the planet and consume it. He actually refused this saying the price was too high, almost died again, and when the slug burst out of his head dying it unlocked a shadow sorcerous origin. I love playing this character so much.
My warlock’s patron is one of their parents. Mom was a charismatic cult leader, Dad is an eldritch abomination from beyond space and time. You know, classic romance story
So...if you end up with a dead God tumor as your patron is it appropriate for its first interaction with you to be it singing "I'm a tumor" in your head?
New to DND 👋🏾, I am playing a Half Elf Warlock. My Patron is The Fiend, who claims the lives of those whom my warlock has love for. Being Chaotic-Good, as well as having a enate distrust of others, doesn't form emotional bonds so easily. He also is haunted by a dark force, still working out what exactly this force is. It's sooo fun to play with the lines between possession/torment and servitude to a dark force. Awesome video!
I forget where I saw it, but I saw a concept for a Hexblade warlock where the PC is actually a dead body being puppeted by the patron. I think it adds a cool RP aspect where you're trying to keep the fact you're a corpse a secret. I had played a warlock where he was unwilling, but casting spells had a narcotic effect. He was good at heart but physically punished for doing good. So I played it off as him being a fighter with multiclasses, always keeping up disguise self and throwing daggers instead of casting EB. We got TPKed and nobody had figured it out despite me fireballing or counterspelling our way out of really tough fights.
I’ve been working on a character for the next time I get to play. He was a hired sword for who he believed to be a low level sorceress. They grew close over years in each other’s company, even after she became powerful enough that she no longer believed that his protection was necessary. He started leaving on other mercenary work so she bound their souls together so that no matter how far they separated they would always know if the other was in danger. It turns out, she was actually an incredibly powerful necromancer at this point, and had made quite a few enemies who banded together to kill her while the bodyguard was away. After her death, her soul snapped to his location, bound to him. I’m trying to reskin all of the warlock powers to basically be her spirit floating around him casting spells. Now they have to hunt down her murderers and other powerful magic users and kill them to absorb their power in order to remake her physical body.
This is seriously on of the best D&D channels on YT! And not only because you two clearly know what you're talking about, and put forth very informative discussions, but also because this is so gosh darn well produced! Like, that intro zoom is so smooth an lovely!!
Yes, I've been looking forward to this since you guys started! My current Warlock creation is someone who found a dusty old book in his university's astronomy section and was sucked into the Far Realm and witnessed Acamar swallow a sun, and now is insane and carries the book with him so that no one can find it and use it to bring Acamar to the world for its destruction. His patron is always whispering promises of a place within him when the world ends if he furthers his goals and has the conflict of, you know, not wanting every mortal on earth to be swallowed by a dead black star.
I’m currently playing a Hexblade Haunted One Aarokocra. I like the Heart of Darkness feature that Haunted one gives you. People will help you and fight for you almost out of fear that you might cause them some kind of harm or bring some kind of darkness their way. It sort of helps explains an opposite side of Charisma with the background. Helps me role play the dark aspect of the hexblade being tied to the Shadowfell and all really well.
If you're looking at your mechanical abilities and want a roleplay-heavy skillset - especially if you like the idea of challenging your DM, exploring their map, and having interesting NPC interactions - I highly recommend taking Eldritch Sight (Detect Magic at will) and/or Mask of Many Faces (Disguise Self at will). I'm playing an Aasimar Warlock who has both, and it really is great. Constant Detect Magic gives the party amazing insight to new areas, helps find loot, and has challenged our DM to come up with more interesting puzzles and scenarios than just "there's a magic going on," and Disguise Self allows him to cover up his odd appearance when he needs to (he essentially chooses to look like a regular human 90% of the time) and is of course useful in "covert" scenarios. It also just allows for some great interactions with other characters. My Warlock is Lawful Good, but Mask of Many Things would be even better on a neutral/trickster type character.
I had one set up where a Devil had made a 'deal of equals' with a Sentient Blade that offered an Intelligent Weapon Patron for a Warlock... The Blade itself was Evil, and offered a fun kicker, but it loved making some packs.
I like the idea of a Warlock who is a lesser form of the thing represented by their patron choice. IE, an Eladrin that is adventuring to learn about the world before returning to the Feywild as an Archfey, etc.
I love the dead background. Playing a Paladin of Vengence with that background now. His soul held by the Raven Queen for over 60yrs and with an agreement between Lathander and the Raven Queen he has had a True Resurrection bring him back to right some wrongs involving his family. A warlock could be cool with that background for sure too.
Spawn is a Reborn, Fiend Patron Warlock with the Pact of the Blade (where the chains are the pact weapon). Could use a Whip and reflavor it a little. Or a flail.
Watching this video a little late, but I needed a little help. I started playing a Triton "Lurker in the Deep" Warlock. My Kraken patron destroyed a pirate ship that captured me. He deemed me useful to his cause of ascending to godhood, as i could dwell in his realm and also spread his name and his following on the surface. Great video as always guys.
Man I’m sorry but you guys ALWAYS just brush over Great Old One warlocks. Even your video that had Cthulhu in the damn thumbnail had just over a minute of that topic, and it didn’t even go into the thematic aspect. I was excited to hear your take on Lovecraftian shtick; it’s my favorite aesthetic theme in all of fiction. Don’t you guys see the story potential of a naturally curious detective finding a book full of secrets that taints his mind and awakens him to the scale of the cosmos? Of how he slowly goes more insane each time he goes back to the book, and playing the damage he’s taking mentally against his obsessive need to peel back the curtain and know the full story? Imagine playing as a tall, lanky, oddly fishy-looking guy from a small fishing hamlet who is unknowingly the spawn of Shub-Niggurath, and whose form becomes more grotesque with each ounce of power he metabolizes. Or a flashy, showy bard-like individual who wows crowds with weird presentations of magic, ancient artifacts, and eldritch - inspired technology, and leaving them with ancient secrets they were never meant to hear? What if Nyarlathotep himself invaded her mind and is puppeteering her to bring about the worship of the Great Old Ones? I like to think of the GOO pact as a (likely unwilling) form of forced, expedited evolution, and I like to draw a lot of inspiration from Alien, Bloodborne, and obviously Lovecraft’s books themselves.
I prefer to avoid Lovecraft with these, Cthulhu warlocks wreck campaigns, primarily by summoning Cthulhu through any body of water and ending the world. I like the idea of using beholders, mind flayers, gith, and really otherworldly beings for this. I am also willing to substitute the word "old" in great old ones with "odd", with the idea of some being literally from another timeline or dimension communicating with the warlock.
Not gonna spend too much time on the subject, but it's basically the same as being a Patron of Jubilex. They both disregard the existence of all other beings, would prefer to see the world consumed with their essence/presence, are butt ugly, and don't really need a Warlock to be with them. Their interactions with the world would be rather similar, minus the fact that GOO are always extremely intelligent; learning and calculating throughout the entirety of their existence.
I think the problem is that the other Patrons you can write as a character and develop interactions between them and the Warlock. The GOO is likely so oblivious to these Warlocks existing that interaction between them isn't going to be as rich as the ones involving more comprehendable patrons. Also, at least for me personally, An unknowable cosmic monstrosity is nowhere near as fun to write as a whimsical Fey.
@@skyblade7438 my warlock made a pact with Hastur, the King in Yellow. Hastur was very much interested in what my warlock did. Basically I found a tome in my local academy that wasn't supposed to be there, which was of course the Necronomicon. When I open it, the single page in it has the Yellow Sign. Which whisked my consciousness off to Lake Hali outside Carcosa to make a pact with Hastur. He wants me to help build his army for his war against his hated half brother, Cthulu. So periodically I have to show someone Hastur chooses with a small parchment that appears in my pocket that has the victim's name and inside it has the Yellow Sign. I also had to do bizarre rituals that the DM came up with on a d8 roll after each battle. Like cutting off the fingers of the right hand and putting them in the mouth of the corpse, or collect a small sample of my enemy's blood and eye jelly on a piece of cloth and throw it in the nearest pool of water ect. DM was always having to come up with bizarre things to do and he said he loved it.
I have a PC based off of Sparda from Devil May Cry who is currently a Fighter 2 / Pact of the Blade Hexblade Warlock 7 currently. I reskinned some of the Warlock features like invocations and spells to make Sparda, like for example, his Eldritch Blasts are him using Luce & Ombra with the Gunslinger Style (Agonizing Blast invocation), Darkness/Shadow of Moil are him entering Devil Trigger, etc. I like Warlocks because you can reskin their class features for RP purposes.
I have an NPC whom is an unwitting warlock. She is a Paladin that swore the Oath of Vengeance during the Devotion Ceremony of her church because of dreams she recently had. However, the dreams were from an Archdevil using her Vengeance oath to bind her in patronage and use her as a weapon against the machinations of an opposing Demon Lord. She's been a pretty fun character, and an interesting question mark for players analyzing the motivations of her unorthodox and overzealous choices.
Dresden Files is a great series for Warlock pacts. He could be considered a multi-pact Warlock. He has a fey pact with Lea from his mother, and later reinforced that twice and than made one with Mab. His time with the shadow of Lash could be considered a fiend pact. And getting power from Uriel could be a celestial pact.
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Thanks for this awesome series y'all, makes for some great inspiration
Web DM love this one guys
The most fun I had with a warlock in my party - was making his "great old one" overly attached. In terms of the party walks through the forest and warlock sees signs like "hey, who was that girl you talked to 3 months ago in a village? Are you into her? I hope you're not. I know you're not, but I checked your thoughts just to be sure. Twice. And you remembered her today! And you're remembering her right now! I'm gonna kill her if you won't do "X" for me" and stuff like that.
Also, he had to convince every human he sees, that wearing underpants over their pants - is "the next big thing" to please his overly attached great old one.
At around level 6 the warlock was like "OKAY, THAT'S ENOUGH! I HAD IT WITH YOU!" and HE was the one to tear the contract. And the great old one was like "you? Want to break up with me? What... what did I do wrong :O". And she actually materialised as a familliar couple of days later for him to apologise and talk all of this through (took us like 1,5 hours IRL for the whole therapy, which was extremely fun to do and roleplay).
Eversince, the great old one - changed her ways, she now asked her warlock not to confess people of wearing underpants over their pants, instead - that every house should have a place to grow flowers on (which was fun in cities). And when the summoning will actually accure - I'm kinda thinking about making those "dedicated" flowers attach themselves through spores to people and making plant-hybrids for the old one, but that's a little obvious and I'm still thinking about it.
Whats going on in Georgia? I'm in Georgia!
JCI1990
1. They are
2. It already has
Look up critical role, starward bound, and land between two rivers
Wizard: _"I mean, you pretty much cut in line to get those powers! You didn't WORK for 'em like we did."_
Warlock, who is carrying around their patron's dry cleaning, Starbucks Lattes, and a freshly-kidnapped baby: _"Hey guys I'm outta spell slots again."_
Heimskr, Prophet of Talos meanwhile the wizard just stares in disbelief muttering "I'm never making a deal with enyone"
I like the metaphor of the casting classes being like baking a cake
The Wizard follows the instructions to the letter and seeks out other recipes
The Sorcerer eyeballs all the measuring and is still somehow able to make one
The Cleric buys it whole sale from the baker
The Druid buys it from a baker who only uses natural ingredients
The Paladin and Ranger schmoozes with the baker to get a discount
The Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster are doing what the wizard did but doing it more as a hobby
The Warlock gets it from a shady guy in a van parked in an alley
invaderzam I love this, oh so much
Warlock is the unpaid internship of the arcane world.
That also sounds like a good take on the whole Baby Boomer vs. Millennial conflict.
Wizard: “You kids are so lazy and entitled. When I was your age I had to apprentice myself to an archmage. I started off chopping wood and sweeping floors WITHOUT the aid of cantrips, mind you...”
Warlock: “When you were my age, you could still pay your mentor for room and board without going into debt. At least my patron let me work it off what I owe with tasks and gives me the tools to do them. He hasn’t asked for single copper.!”
My favorite are Warlocks who don't know they're Warlocks.
_"Boy this magic stuff is easy; I don't know what you wizards are always bitchin' about!_
_Haha on an unrelated note, anyone else in the mood to kidnap a few babies?"_
_"I mean, you know how it is when you feel like a demon is gonna kill you in your dreams if you don't kidnap a baby, amirite fellas?_
_lol I'd sure hate for that to happen again."_
Rankerquat rofl!! XD
Sounds like sorcerer to me, also being given abilities out of nowhere and expected to pay back is normal?
I like the Idea of great old ones asking for random requests:
Great Old one- "Move that stone 3 meters to the left and 1 meter forward"
Warlock- "Um? sure no problem"
Great Old one- "Here's another Warlock level! Good Job!"
Warlock- "Ow...Well..Thanks! :D"
That rock being in that perfect spot causes a chain of events that destroys the kingdom.....XD
My warlocks great old one wants her to raise bady chicks to chickens and start to love them. Then she has to kill then, cook them and feed them to her party....SHES AN EMOTIONAL wreck! hideous entertainment.
"I need you to sacrifice 200 poisonous snakes to me on this day in 16 years time"
"Yeah sure"
[16 years pass]
"Ah, fuck. Deadlines, man"
XD Because the kingdom no longer exists 100 years in the future thanks to the the civil war, it cannot form an alliance with its neighbors. The alliance which would have stopped an invasion from the abyss, one of the demons breeds a utterly powerful child that finally summons the great old one.
So the sandwich that started the first world war was actually made/sold by an unwitting warlock?
+Troommate I had an idea like that for Modrons, a Modron randomly pops up and shifts a few rocks around, if asked he would say that "I prevented a 2.381934926453 meter diameter Sphere of Annihilation from forming here in 35156321654312.165132 days"
Accidentally getting in bed with the queen of the summer court would explain the charisma spellcasting ability
Timothy your wife's not here, don't call it accidental.
An employee sleeping with the boss? I don't think HR is going to be happy.
just imagine your character banged the archfey and they were like yeah now you have magic abilities lmao
@@france.the_bastard Oberon would be pissed off
@@france.the_bastard I mean, my niece has a similar thing for her patron.
Her patron watched a burlesque show her PC was doing, and heard that mortal races give tips to dancers. So instead of money, this fay just fucking gifts some magic.
Maybe I'm the minority, but I'm particularly interested in the idea of a friendly or even caring relationship between a Warlock and Patron. It opens up a better motivation for doing things for the patron, and also makes it much more dramatic when the patron wants you to do something seemingly out of character or particularly heinous. Maybe the patron sees you as particularly interesting, and gives you powers on a whim, or perhaps this patron has watched over your family for generations, and even before you got your power you knew them as a family friend or distant relative. Or, in the vein of the unwitting warlock, perhaps this strange being has been attached to you at a young age and manifested as your imaginary friend, teaching you and grooming you unwittingly to be their agent in the world.
I feel like that niche is pretty well satisfied by clerics.
Andrew Morgan Meh, not really. Like they said, being a Cleric is all about devoting yourself to your God, about worshipping them. This is literally just a friendly relationship with your patron.
Well they do have the Celestial patron now with xanathar's In addition here's a whole pdf of homebrew patron concepts that offer some great friendly options www.reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/6uzb60/the_compendium_of_forgotten_secrets_ultimate/
Andrew Morgan Yeah, but the Celestial patron is that: a celestial. I mean, you could definitely reskin it to be a God instead, but at that point, why not just be a Cleric? And Homebrew opens up a whole new can of worms, my man.
I mean, I don't know what you want, its literally up to you and your dm to determine the patrons attitude towards the pc, you gotta put in some work
I'm just imagining a warlock waking up hungover one morning and they're just like "Wait when did I get this tattoo?" They see that it's written in infernal and so they have their wizard friend read it and they're just like "Umm you know this says property of Asmodeus right?" "What!? I thought it was just an empowering mantra!"
Lol my dude got shitfaced and stumbled through a portal in a basement in Neverwinter, into Evernight, and entered a patronage with demogorgon because demogorgon is crazy and in a Sheogorath like fashion he randomly decided he liked my guy and gave him powers. So now my guy has scales all over his half elf body and gave him a snake eye and double snake dick and can summon large amounts of tentacles plus a demogorgon symbol tram stamp, and trust me; you do not want to cast detect thought on him because you will *not* like what you find. The demogorgon's influence has made him a functioning madman who on the outside seems perfectly reasonable and a normal dude but on the inside it's basically a demonic circus with cacklers performing tricks and whispers and screams and insane cackling on a background of thrumming noise that makes you shit your britches
That's the background story of my warlock, he got drunk one day and woke up to that
Step 1: Choose Triton as your player race
Step 2: Choose the Noble background
Step3: Choose Warlock (Great Old One) as your class
Step 4: At level 2, choose the Beach Speech Invocation
Step 5: At level 3, choose Pact of the Blade. Summon a Trident
Step 6: Play as Aquaman
Accidentally said beach instead of beast, but ironically it is more appropriate
....im doing this.
Step 7: Profit.
@@Licjr Ikr. Glad you didn't edit it.
Heck, can even grab the Lurker of the Deep patron now
In the first campaign I ran, there was a PC warlock who thought he was a wizard. He assumed his growing magical powers were because he was just really good at his studies, but in reality a super-powerful eldritch being just saw him and was like "This guy's interesting. I wonder what'd happen if I gave him dark powers."
drtoonie Corvo from the Dishonored series is a warlock. Basically that exact same situation
Yeah, it was pretty similar to that. His familiar was a plant he found on the side of the road that he believed was some long-forgotten, super powerful magic plant. The plant was probably the creepiest character I've ever written XD
What if the stuff he was studying was actually just eldritch lore and he never was able to comprehend it because of how alien it was? Obviously that's not what happened, just sounded like a cool idea to me.
My warlock just got shitfaced and walked through a portal in a basement in Neverwinter and drunkenly entered a patronage with the Demogorgon, who, being the prince of madness, decided this was gonna be fun and gave him powers. Once sober, my guy heard the demogorgon talk to him in his head, fainted, woke up, fainted again, woke up again, and continued being a fighter bounty hunter attempting to hide the fact he's a warlock, which caused the demogorgon to curse him, which continues to occasionally give him certain reptilian/draconic features, such as a double snake dick, scales accenting his body which accidentally got him a Dragonborn stalker girlfriend, a large patch of scales over his right eye which turned his eye into a reptile eye. This got him kicked out of the Bounty Hunter's guild in neverwinter so he finally started to lean into the warlock stuff. This was 15 years ago, and now he's level 3 and just killed 7 red brand ruffians. He hasn't heard of his patron for the past 15 years except for the sudden appearance of a grimoire in his backpack but grows more restless everyday because it creeps him the fuck out that his patron hasn't made him do anything in a long time. Meanwhile, the demogorgon just completely fucking forgot about him and doesn't even know he exists anymore
Boring
Whoever made that thumbnail needs a raise
did you know they were in a pewdiepie video,
czcams.com/video/L0zVJmsz5ww/video.html
at 7:05
Felix Scully oh shit, nice. Thx 👍
CROblazer420
*Hgggggggn*
Khashon Haselrig you're speaking of your dingus, yes? I also have a dingus......
I'm imagining a celestial pact where the warlock agreed to help the celestial with whatever evil thing is happening in the campaign and while this neutral or chaotic good patron is chill most of the time whenever the warlock does something evil or doesn't help someone in need, the minute that warlock goes to sleep the patron is waiting there and tapping their foot like a parent waiting for their child to come home after getting in trouble at school.
"I'm not mad you only saved five civilians out of six, but I am disappointed."
Hearing all this, it makes me think James Bond is like a "Warlock". He's got his patron, MI6, they give him gadgets, and he does missions from them. JB does it his own way sometimes, but you better be able to explain why you didn't do it like MI6 asked you too...
Too many GMs seem to have seen that Paladins are now a lot more flexible with a variety of different oaths, and have decided that Warlocks are the new "dance for my amusement or turn into a Fighter with no feats" class, and that anyone who doesn't want to do that is a bad roleplayer. If the player wants to play a tortured Faust archetype constantly torn between morality and power - cool, do that, it'll be a lot of fun. But if they want to define some other kind of relationship, or even to minimize the relationship in favor of other aspects of their character, as the RAW itself suggests for the Great Old One patrons, also let them. Warlocks aren't some power-class that needs to be reigned in with a special flaw.
To be fair that's a flaw with DMs more than the class itself. Waaay to many DMs saw the Paladin's code and said "It's my JOB to make the Paladin fail at this," rather than "no matter what I do the Paladin is going to be limited by this, so let's see what decisions they make."
"Warlocks aren't some power-class that needs to be reigned in with a special flaw." That's true. Most situations are self-correcting, in some respects. I've heard the odd stupid story, where "Every god [in a pantheon] gets fed up with Wizard-so-and-so abusing the campaign with their ego or lust for power, etc.". Just banish them to Limbo, and throw the character sheet in the garbage!
I deleted my previous comment, as it really didn't tie in to your suggestion; but I will say this: The original Paladin class never had "strings attached", except Tithing, and the proscription against changing alignment. However, in my experience, most "written" adventures never included tests specifically for Paladin characters. "Dancing for DM's amusement" never generally entered my frame of thought. There were typically 3-7 other players competing for my time/ effort. And that slant could be considered antagonistic - and contrary to the spirit of AD&D. Your role should be to give the player some enjoyment in the game. Unless it's too hard, of course (for you).
I had a DM who believed it was impossible to be Lawful Good, so every adventure he crafted in every campaign he ran was designed to put LG players in a moral quagmire with dilemmas that were impossible to solve without sacrificing the characters' lives. Eventually, all the players gravitated to morally grey PCs, which made his games boring.
My standing plan for my first 5e character (should I ever play the system) is a fey-pact warlock. On the eve of his sixteenth birthday he walked out into the woods one day, found himself at a fey party and spent what felt like seven years partying with Titania and her court, then on the last day he professes her love to her fully knowing that she's gonna say no.
To his surprise, she says yes, *on the condition* that he goes back into the mortal world and completes seven tasks for her, one for each year he spent in her presence. He doesn't know what those tasks will be, or when they will come, but he has to do seven of them in order to score. He also knows it's a completely stupid deal- seven feats of heroism to get with the girl once? - but screw it, it's worth it.
So now he's returned to the mortal plane, except instead of seven years he's been missing for seven days, but he's grown those seven years and gained a level in Warlock in the process.
AGrumpyPanda
A testament to the power of boners.
I like this.
To quote one of my favourite books, "It seemed such a good idea when braced with wine and a fine pair of breasts."
I'm currently playing a fey pact in one of my games. His parents gave away their children in a Rumpelstiltskin kind of deal. To make him seem more like a fairytale character in gave him cobblers tools as a proficiency and when i got a pact i choose blade and flavored it as a giant sewing needle. Later on i lean dudelocks are a rare thing from my hag grandmother and we have an entire session themed around an episode of the Bachelor.
which book is this from?
I came up with the idea for a Hexblade Warlock, whose Patron is a Tome from the Shadowfell. (Because Knowledge is the greatest weapon of all). And the terms of her contract require that she periodically scribe a copy of that tome, to increase her Patron's power.
Because this Patron - this literal book of shadows - is a being, not of paper and leather and ink, but of Information. The Patron isn't the book itself, but the TEXT. It exists so long as that text remains extent somewhere - in a book, carved into a cave wall, memorized in some poor bastard's head - but by that same token will cease to exist if no copies remain. Hence why the Warlock has to pen copies. It's insurance.
That, and because each "vessel" for the text is also a point where the Patron can gather information or exert influence. It is just more powerful, the more copies of itself exist. (It's an intelligence that exists simultaneously across all its "vessels", because information has no mass.) Hell, even the Pact of the Tome the Warlock has will, in and of itself, increase the book's power in a novel way, because it's a copy of itself that can always be resummoned. Even if every other copy is destroyed, including the one in the Shadowfell, the Warlock can always call her Patron back from oblivion by manifesting the tome. That's part of the contract, that it doesn't end just because the Patron is obliterated.
Let me just...steal that idea. Surely, now that 4 years have passed, you won't need it anymore ;D
@@roxxon6138 I mean I might still use it, but by all means use it yourself.
I feel like Warlocks have great multiclass potential due to when their time spent training it takes place.
They *get* Warlock powers next to instantly, which frees up a lot of previous time which could have been spent studying and training in a different class...
I find it interesting when a Warlock doesn't start the campaign as a Warlock but becomes one later on.
Like a Rogue goes to steal an item and suddenly _"A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON!"_
During one of our games, I had a Bard who wanted to multiclass into Warlock. We just destroyed a lich, who was keeping the land in eternal winter. I chose archfey, and so my DM got the idea of a frozen Dryad Queen answering my call for power and offering it to me as a reward for "unfreezing" her. As time went on I did missions for her, each of which had drastic results on the story and gave major rewards. It has been a long campaign going off and on for a while, and currently my character has a cult in her name.
The moral of the story, going to the trouble of fleshing Warlock & patron dynamics can be really awesome. So awesome that I would go as far as to say every class should come with some sort of optional NPC who is narratively tied to you.
Ever since I saw Warlock and the Hexblade options, one thing has been on my mind: the anime Soul Eater. Converting the concept of a Meister and Weapon into D&D as a reflavored Warlock would be really interesting, as their relationships are founded on trust and they're more or less equals who can't function at their full potential without the other. And then there's also the fact that Weapons are people too and travel alongside their Meisters, which would allow for a bunch of fun interactions throughout a campaign that a traditional Warlock and patron just couldn't share in most cases.
I fucking love Soul Eater.
Late but I fucking love that idea
Time to homebrew a weapon class.
Ngl, that was one of my first thoughts when I considered playing a Hexblade Warlock. Thing is that I didn't want to have to make any DM I ran the character concept with essentially have to pilot a psuedo DMPC in any scenario outside of combat or dungeoneering, though thinking about it further now I suppose it might not be any less of a challenge than most other Warlock patrons for any good DM.
I love the concept of a demonic entity, such as an Imp or some low-mid level demon or devil who is making their first contract with a mortal who is meant to be a method of increasing their power and influence, and as the player gains levels and power so does the entity, maybe changing into more powerful forms. And maybe the entity starts trying to end the contract because the player is actually gaining more power than the entity can oppose or sustain.
Venom is a good inspiration for a Warlock, I think.
That is AWESOME!
I saw a warlock whose patreon is a parasite somewhere.
Tulok the Barbarian
My warlock/rogue was the child of a farming couple who promised their firstborn to an arch fey in exchange for bountiful crops. She ran away to the big city to escape her fate, joining the local thieves guild, but the arch fey tracked her down...
I like this one, I was thinking of making a child who was promised to the fey an archfey warlock whose class had been chosen to him before he was born and just rolled with it since free magic and that fey saved his family so it is a debt that must be paid.
thumbnail pruitt just keeps on getting hotter oh boy
blacktemplar33 for the better! Pruitt, dominus of the thumbnail.
Pruitt is already hot
Word!
Web DM ❤️
He should make a calendar with all of these
Me at the airport: I signed a contract. I must get to Georgia. Patron: good, now convince them to accept Monopoly money.
Just pay in Canadian money
I like the idea of a Great Old One who's asleep. The warlock stole some secrets from them by a ritual, but now they have to do XYZ to keep that GOO from waking up. That could make the patron truly apocalyptic and the warlock a paranoid, superstitious wreck. Is it just a delusion or do they really need to keep all circles out of eyesight to keep the Eye of Azatoth from opening?
The Archfey is a total tsundere
I swear I'm the only one who made a character where the Warlock tried to romance the Patron and not the other way round.
They don't get along anymore, incidentally.
That intro gave me a good idea -- Bard/Warlock, Pact of the Fiddle.
paul coy Fiddle of gold bet against souls?
But a fiddle made of gold would weigh 30 or 40 pounds. Can't play that all day. Maybe a gold necklace and amulet? It would apply to all stringed instruments. I'd like to make a Warlock that looks like Johnny Cash.
You need to go Fiend pact then, and when you cast your first fireball you need to say, in a straight face, "This spell is a burning thing, and it forms a firey ring. Which then expands out to a radius of 30ft and cooks everything inside it."
I wish I could sing like he does, but I would just make a fool of myself.
Start as a Fiend Warlock, make the bargain with a Devil to become a famous musician. Multiclass into Bard, synergize warlock power with bard utility.
Jim Davis has so many fans, literally stacks of them, on the shelf behind him. So many fans...
If a patron isn't satisfied with your work ethic and you just aren't what they were promised when they granted you your power. They could always barter you off to another being or Outsider. On top of a servant you are also currency. You're bloodline might be rare and such you could be hoarded like a collection of rare coins.
Alternatively, the patron decides to stop giving them more power, and now before they can level in Warlock any further, the player has to find a new patron - potentially with a different pact, and changing what features he gets with the new levels.
Draeckon true that's also a possibility
Or the patron sends lots of other warlocks to kill them because they are bad at their and the warlock is ruining their reputation.
Or the patron themselves has their own shit to deal with and their warlock is supposed to be fixing that but they're doing a poor job of it, remember, they're not gods, and sometimes a god or more powerful being/force/other people's patrons might despise your patron. You may have other warlocks who hate you or attempt to kill you for the patron you signed a contract with, even if you have a good relationship with your patron, the situation doesn't have to be ideal. Maybe your patron keeps getting in the worst kind of trouble, leaving you to deal with the aftermath, or maybe your patron spurned some other powerful being when choosing you as a lover. There is no situation where a pact is unable to be made more interesting. Also, who says patrons can't get drunk.
Two words: Bryseis Kakistos
So here is my favorite charakter right now: He is a half elf-warlock with the entertainer background. In the beginning he thought he was a bard and my DM was awesome enough to go along with it so we actually pretended like I was playing a bard. In combat nobody really expected much from me and I took packt of the tome to learn viscious mockery and everyone thought I was a very wierd bard. Also we were mostly new players so that helped the cause.
My charater himself never knew he signed a packt but the lute he made out of a tree struck by lightning was actually haunted because there was a fiend bound to that tree and ancient runes carved in its side talked about the power you'd get when you freed her. My guy couldn't read the runes but in making his Lute he cut himself, spilling blood on the tree. Now he "signed" the packt with the fiend and in combat when he was feeling scared he was taken over by the fiend actually changing his alignment from CG to CE. after the battle he would lose all memory of his doing.
The party eventually convinced him around 4th level that there is something happening with him in battle and so he did some soul searching and eventually discovered another voice in his head. Being the idiot he is he immediately thought she must be benevolent because she saved his life so many times (the group would always tell him what he did and apart from stealing a magic item it all seemed quite helpful). Now we have a fiend that is possessing his body but he thinks she must be a benevolent thing so he would just talk to her about everything, asking the fiend for anything from history trivia to relationship advice. I think the fiend regrets the packt more than he does by now but everyone has a lot of fun every time my stupid ass charakter talks to her.
Also my charakter plays heavy metal on his magic lute, is a vegan and introduces revolution to every village we get through. Most fun warlock ever.
THAT sounds like a fun-ass character. Well done, my friend, you have created something truly special.
creativity at its finest
"introduces revolution to every village we get to" THANKS I LOVE IT
That sounds amazing!
Oh boy. Warlocks.
Warlocks are a fun fun class. Lots of fun opportunities for the DM to have...fun with players. But without a proper usage of the patron and player, it's not nearly as fun. Conceptually, they're one of my favorite classes with the patron relation. It's something more intimate than clerics I feel, which is a lot more fun.
I love the potential dynamics between patron and player. Evil, good, unknowable...all are super fun. In my current campaign the Warlock has a bond with some eldritch entity, and remembering your older Warlock video inspired some fun ideas with that.
Having some conflict with the Warlock and Patron is something I much prefer, over just the two getting along super well. Patron loving the warlock, but the warlock not liking the patron...that's something I hadn't even considered before. And I like that. Kinda surprised you didn't mention the Dresden Files again when talking about an Archfey liking the warlock without the feeling being reciprocated.
I like when they both like eachother and make a cooperative relationship so the warlock becomes the champion of said fey and help it spread their influance while being rewarded well, it is fun, wholesome, and awesome.
Warlock with Primus of Mechanus as a Patron = Medieval Cyborg
That’s.... an interesting idea. Take a dip into Artificer or homebrew some abilities inspired by it.
What I felt was an interesting re-skin was my Divine Soul Sorcerer accidentally made contact with a protean being who granted them power, but being chaotic and malleable, that power enhanced their inner radiance rather than being a separate thing and that took the form of the the Celestial patron features. Any time I had to use Warlock slots or abilities, it was warped and *wrong* in some way. Healing spells felt like worms or sand under the skin, spells that cast light sent shadows in the wrong direction and spells meant to cast holy fire would often have the flames burning in any direction other than up.
Favorite class in the game.
Hey what's up Web DM! While I have your attention, do you think you guys will ever do a video on how/why the gods/goddesses talk to PCs? It has come up a lot in the campaign I'm in and I would love to hear your take on it.
As the other guy said, play a cleric instead
Why, though?
I played a character that started out as a level 2 fighter. Than he and his adventuring party saw a star fall from the sky and decided to investigate. He was the first to touch the extraterrestrial object, and he was instantly transported 300 years into the future and unknowingly became a great old one warlock. The campaign started at level 3, with my character already having figured out that he some how traveled through time, now had magical powers, and was plagued by nonsensical visions. The DM gave me expertise in history checks for around the time I was born, but I didn't know anything about the last 3 centuries. Being a human, my whole family and almsot everyone I knew was long dead.
The coolest part of the whole campaign was when we went to follow a lead with a local business owner. Turns out she was a dwarf I had been adventuring with in the past before I disappeared before her eyes. When I revealed my self, everyone else at the table was just as slack jawed as she was. None of the other characters really belived my story until that moment. They all wanted to switch gears and figure what the hell happened to me back then and if it could be reversed. That was some of the best RP I've ever experienced.
Thumbnail game is on another level. Jebus.
I am getting mixed messages from the thumbnail....
Megan Crum I love your profile pic
sam whary thanks
Had a Archfey patron warlock who was an entertainer...one night, after a night of drunken revelry, he accidentally stumbled into the Feywild when he went into the forest to take a piss.
There, he met an Archfey, one of the Gloaming Court...Alura, Lady of Shadow and Pleasant Dreams, a nebulous woman with violet-hued eyes. She had been confined to a grove, a punishment after her fey rivals outplayed her, and could not leave until the one true king came to the grove and claimed a legendary sword (yeah...that one).
Unfortunately, the odds of this happening were astronomically low, and she was VERY displeased to find the entertainer was not, in fact, a noble with royal blood. Thankfully, she found him amusing enough not to immediately kill, and so struck a deal with him: She would let him leave, and even share some of her power with him, if he agreed to one thing...
...let her experience the world through his eyes.
See, centuries of confinement had made her bored, and so she wished to see what was going on outside her grove. Despite being somewhat uneased, he agreed, and was released.
Now, his patron sees EVERYTHING he sees...and when he spots something particularly "interesting", his eyes will flash the same violet-hue as the Archfey.
And on occasion, she will possess his body when he long rests, and cause mischief...steal a lovely necklace she had spotted earlier that day...set fire to the home of someone she didn't like...brawl in a local tavern...all at the DM's discretion.
A very confused warlock will then wake up the following day, either with bruises or scratches, stolen property, wanted posters for his arrest...basically mayhem.
It's fun when you don't know what to expect.
nais
All thanks be given freely to Asmodeus, the Gift-Giver, The Crossroads Merchant, and King of the Multiverses. For these boons bestoyed upon me I swear to burn your name into the land so all may see the Blessings you offer, and for all the deals yet to be made.
Patrick Harkins the great showman nyrallathotep promises power for hideous entertainment.
This is Cheese, the unicorn. I don't know his actual name, he doesn't talk much, but I call him Cheese...
_Oh yeah, but I guess your patrons are cool too..._
I am currently playing a reluctant warlock!
Anoron' sister was kidnapped by cultists as a vessel to summon a Balor into the world. He killed the cultists and pushed his sister off the summoning circle but got stuck there. Since he was a technically willing male vessel instead of an unwilling female (which is necessary for the summoning) he now possesses some of the balor's power.
So a sweet Celestial pact warlock backstory! Terry Pratchett has one set out in the book " Small Gods". A god is forgotten and loses power and is stuck in the form of a turtle, now maybe they give the warlock power - and the level of the caracter/gaining of spells directly correlate to the power the god gathers through the work of the warlock
As an off the cuff option is that a Faerie Lord just got replaced by your sibling/friend/spouse during an exactly wrong moment. As example your wife becomes the next Summer Lady as you are exchanging vows, then BAM you are warlock with a Patron that has no idea what is going on
Hell yeah I've been waiting for this show for a while. Warlock is my favorite class the patron is such a great gift to the DM when they use it. And badass class as well.
Playing one currently actually.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't Warlocks keep their power forever even if they betray or anger their patron? I seem to recall reading that bestowing a Warlock power is a one-time deal. Sure some patrons can strip the Warlock's powers using their own, but Warlocks don't need to keep something up to retain their power and it's not a depletable resource.
That's probably how it is but it's more fun for the warlock to be like "no, I'm not killing the orpahans" then the patron says okay no more powers
That thumb nail is the best and worst thing ever. I love it.
One of my players actually played a bard/warlock multiclass that was actually Johnny from The Devil Went Down to Georgia (or Jhor’dza in my world’s case), so that intro made me smile
The castoffs from "Torment: Tides of Numenera" seem very similar to those unwilling warlocks you described, with the Changing God being their patron. The powers gained by these "warlocks" are more or less the traces of a conciousness plus special abilities the Changing God designed for himself to use during the time he spent in the body of the particular castoff.
Best thumbnail ever
I personally like the idea of a symbiotic relationship. Something like the patron is a long dead spirit, or disembodied elemental, etc. whose only chance to escape death is to merge with another living soul.
I'd love to see a Devil and an Archfey negotiating a deal!
We need a comic of this! Or maybe played out between Matt and Talesin.
Elvira-Pruitt makes me VERY uncomfortable.
HesGotaGun505 it makes me VERY comfortable
Breast Cancer Yoshi Yes.
Yeah, uncomfortably ERECT
I'll never get that picture out of my head. I'm permantly scarred.
your topic around 18 minutes, of "finding the right book" and "starting early" is exactly how i played my first 5e character. young girl opened the wrong book in her father's study, ended up in a pact with Volgna-Gath, The Keeper of Secrets, one of the Old ones. Pact of the tomb warlock. was alot of fun, and actually roleplayed that the event made her mute, sort of: when she spoke, it was in the Old ones Tongue. She had to primarily communicate with her telepathy. I actually went through the effort of roughly translating any time she spoke aloud, using what resources there are for the language. She freaked the paladin out hard core, but since she was a child and of a pure heart, he could not bring himself to raise his blade against her, even with that shadow looming over her.
That "last fragment of a dead god" idea was something I'd actually come up with a few years back for a 4e Invoker/ Human Paragon/ Demigod build that I never got a chance to actually play.
If anyone's curious as to the story I came up with: As his mother was in the market near the end of her pregnancy, an Astral Bleed (I think that's the right term) occurs in the sky - mistaken by most for a weirdly silvery cloud - and a strange flash of light, almost like a very short lightning bolt, strikes her, immediately sending her into labor, and the newborn emits light from his eyes and mouth for a brief moment. Later on, his first spoken word somehow echoes in the minds of all who hear it, yet they don't understand it and can't repeat it; the town cleric realizes that it is somehow a word of Supernal despite these strange phenomenons. He later manifests divine power when a bully picks on him, and is sent to a bigger temple in a city for training where he is identified as an Invoker, yet nobody can figure out which deity he is connected to. The secret? That shard was the last fragment of power of the now-dead Human god killed by Asmodeus, and the word of Supernal nobody can understand or repeat is his old divine name that Asmodeus struck from existence, hence nobody can understand it and only he can utter it.
low Int, high Cha:
recently "created" Warlock gets home, and her mom just looks at her amazed:
"what. the. actual. hell?"
"an Imp came to me and said that I had to fulfil the part of our family in this pact, so I became a Warlock"
"do you remember the game we've always played on your birthday? the Pass to the Next? THAT WAS FOR TODAY! YOU COULD PASS THE OBLIGATION TO THE NEXT GENERSTION, YOU MELON-HEAD!"
"Ohhh"
"yeah, now it's done. don't forget to feed your bat-winged goat"
I love how much flavour you can give the warlock , it makes the characters feel so unique
Its unlikely for two warlocks to be the same
My warlock is a Kuo toa serving a kraken patron (it's always fun to play a crazy character)
The kraken is a god made by the kuo toa but has now been forgotten so the kraken wants my warlock to spread the belief of him but my character doesn't know what the krakens end game is since the kraken doesn't fully trust my insane Kuo toa
I've actually made a large pact of ten warlocks my main antagonists for my home campaign. They make awesome villains who serve dark entities, so it sets up an even darker future as the pcs level up. Cool class I really love them! Also you guys are the best
That fey part got me laughing hard. All I can say is NEVER eat the lotus flower.
I'm glad I found this video! I'm currently in a situation that I'm (with the GM's permission) in the process of changing my class from Sorcerer to Warlock (so it fits a better role to the party). So I ended up being the "unaware Warlock" with a touch of "unwilling Warlock". It's precisely what I was looking for!
And, for any curious reader:
My GM allows redistribution of levels, but only during downtime (since it's heavy-roleplaying campaign, it happens often) and I was really lost how I should treat the change in the powers for my Triton. Many things in her own backstory facilitated this (think about a Divine Soul Sorcerer who kinda acts like a cleric because she is sure that her powers are a divine gift) and the GM really came up with an excellent plot twist! So, she finally had a dream with the god she follows and he mentioned that they already talked before, she just can't remember perfectly because the situation was critical (In fact, in her backstory it was mentioned that she doesn't remember many things prior her awakening) and she is still in debt with him (which is her primal goal in the story) but is taking way longer than he expected, so he just came over to check on her a bit. In the end he says that the power always has been his direct influence, she just assumed she was a sorcerer because it's something more acceptable in her culture and she will eventually remember how she used to be before their contract, how "power-hungry" she was (and in fact, she was!).
And yeah, it's an hexblade warlock, but the GM thought it would be nice to have the god himself hand her the weapon as a "piece of himself, but slightly independent".
A really important thing to remember about the warlock/patron relationship is that the patron can't necessarily take their power back once it's given. A cleric is a constant channel to power, but a warlock basically got power in exchange for a specific thing. That deal may conclude eventually, or they may renegotiate it. It may be that they can't take away the powers they gave you, but if they aren't happy, they won't give you more. A warlock may, at some point in their career, be seeking a new patron because the one they have has gone sour.
I'm starting my first campaign at the moment (as the DM, no less) and one of the players will be a Warlock. Perfect timing!
Also, bonus points for Elvira.
I posted this somewhere else a while ago but I find this passge to be a great source of inspiration for the relationship of a Warlock and his patron (or a cleric and his deity for that matter). It is a conversation between the god of death and a necromancer from the book series Malazan Book of the Fallen (slightly paraphrased): "You are one of my own. We begin a game, you and me. The game of evasion. The game is this: steal their lives - snatch them away from my reach. Curse these hands you now see, these nails black with death's touch. Spit into this lifeless breath of mine. Cheat me at every turn. Heed this truth: there is no other form of service as honest as the one I offer you. To do battle against me, you must acknowledge my power. Even as I acknowledge yours. You must respect the fact that I always win, that you cannot help but fail. One day, even the Gods will answer to death. So in turn, I must give to you my respect. For your courage. For the stubborn refusal that is a mortal's greatest strength."
"For all that, mortal, give me a good game."
If you are looking for weird things to manifest for warlock invocations. I would check out the miscast and corruption tables from Dungeon Crawl Classic. Loads of fun and cruel stuff.
I have a warlock related pitch, the contract wars, fiends and celestials fighting a war of agent aka the warlocks in a covert ops style cold war.
I actually came up with a Warlock based on the artificer discussion you guys had. Pruitt said that he had wanted a gunslinger and I was trying to think of how to make one. The idea is that a guy was down on his luck looking to pick up some odd jobs and happened across some shadowy individual. This person offered him a gun and some trinkets/potions in order to gather a debtor. The gun is actually just a wand that he's shooting eldritch blast from, and the person assumes that he is using mundane or alchemical means to get the spell effects.
Andrew Westfall reminds me of Percy from critical role
I've never actually watched Critical Roll. I've wanted to, but going through the whole thing was a daunting task by the time I really found out about it.
Andrew Westfall you should it’s really good like really really good
Ok, but *what in the lower planes is that thumbnail?*
Newer viewers will never know the glory of the old thumbnail
How a Celestial warlock pact is signed,
Player: *loots treasure chest*
Meridia: "A new hand touches the beacon..."
BEST.THUMBNAIL.EVER
Truly a glorious screenshot.
I did the book as a patron idea recently. It was very fun. I was a death cleric and in my travels I found this book named Shonlodo, the tome of infinite knowledge. He can recite any info. His catch is that he only knows about things he has seen. So I made a pact with him to carry him around and show him stuff in return for warlock powers and a share in his infinite knowledge.
My character in a horror campaign is a Great Old One Warlock who made a pact to gain more knowledge. He viewed his patron as an almost godlike being, referring to his patron as Mother throughout the campaign. His patron implanted a slug like creature inside him as he came close to death and influenced his actions to kill people even healing him when he did. This came to a head when his patron was promising knowledge of the world if he helped her come to the planet and consume it. He actually refused this saying the price was too high, almost died again, and when the slug burst out of his head dying it unlocked a shadow sorcerous origin. I love playing this character so much.
I always wondered what happens when a reluctant warlock goes and kill their patron?
My warlock’s patron is one of their parents. Mom was a charismatic cult leader, Dad is an eldritch abomination from beyond space and time. You know, classic romance story
Good old unspeakable horror meets girl story.
So...if you end up with a dead God tumor as your patron is it appropriate for its first interaction with you to be it singing "I'm a tumor" in your head?
braith117 all I imagine is Arnold as a warlock "ITS NOHT A TUMAH"
Why not both, especially if your new tumor/patron starts singing it loud enough for everyone else to hear?
New to DND 👋🏾, I am playing a Half Elf Warlock. My Patron is The Fiend, who claims the lives of those whom my warlock has love for. Being Chaotic-Good, as well as having a enate distrust of others, doesn't form emotional bonds so easily. He also is haunted by a dark force, still working out what exactly this force is. It's sooo fun to play with the lines between possession/torment and servitude to a dark force. Awesome video!
I forget where I saw it, but I saw a concept for a Hexblade warlock where the PC is actually a dead body being puppeted by the patron. I think it adds a cool RP aspect where you're trying to keep the fact you're a corpse a secret.
I had played a warlock where he was unwilling, but casting spells had a narcotic effect. He was good at heart but physically punished for doing good. So I played it off as him being a fighter with multiclasses, always keeping up disguise self and throwing daggers instead of casting EB. We got TPKed and nobody had figured it out despite me fireballing or counterspelling our way out of really tough fights.
I love the idea of siphoning power from a patron- evil celestial patron - stealing power from a celestial
Antagonistic patron: "Oh by the way, you have to sacrifice 3 more babies this week or you're *_FIRED_* "
I’ve been working on a character for the next time I get to play. He was a hired sword for who he believed to be a low level sorceress. They grew close over years in each other’s company, even after she became powerful enough that she no longer believed that his protection was necessary. He started leaving on other mercenary work so she bound their souls together so that no matter how far they separated they would always know if the other was in danger. It turns out, she was actually an incredibly powerful necromancer at this point, and had made quite a few enemies who banded together to kill her while the bodyguard was away. After her death, her soul snapped to his location, bound to him. I’m trying to reskin all of the warlock powers to basically be her spirit floating around him casting spells. Now they have to hunt down her murderers and other powerful magic users and kill them to absorb their power in order to remake her physical body.
This is seriously on of the best D&D channels on YT! And not only because you two clearly know what you're talking about, and put forth very informative discussions, but also because this is so gosh darn well produced! Like, that intro zoom is so smooth an lovely!!
Yes, I've been looking forward to this since you guys started!
My current Warlock creation is someone who found a dusty old book in his university's astronomy section and was sucked into the Far Realm and witnessed Acamar swallow a sun, and now is insane and carries the book with him so that no one can find it and use it to bring Acamar to the world for its destruction. His patron is always whispering promises of a place within him when the world ends if he furthers his goals and has the conflict of, you know, not wanting every mortal on earth to be swallowed by a dead black star.
I play my Hexblade Warlock with some treasure and artefact-themed Homebrew rules and it is amazing.
I’m currently playing a Hexblade Haunted One Aarokocra. I like the Heart of Darkness feature that Haunted one gives you. People will help you and fight for you almost out of fear that you might cause them some kind of harm or bring some kind of darkness their way. It sort of helps explains an opposite side of Charisma with the background. Helps me role play the dark aspect of the hexblade being tied to the Shadowfell and all really well.
Warlocks have REALLY cool RP possibilities.
If you're looking at your mechanical abilities and want a roleplay-heavy skillset - especially if you like the idea of challenging your DM, exploring their map, and having interesting NPC interactions - I highly recommend taking Eldritch Sight (Detect Magic at will) and/or Mask of Many Faces (Disguise Self at will).
I'm playing an Aasimar Warlock who has both, and it really is great. Constant Detect Magic gives the party amazing insight to new areas, helps find loot, and has challenged our DM to come up with more interesting puzzles and scenarios than just "there's a magic going on," and Disguise Self allows him to cover up his odd appearance when he needs to (he essentially chooses to look like a regular human 90% of the time) and is of course useful in "covert" scenarios. It also just allows for some great interactions with other characters. My Warlock is Lawful Good, but Mask of Many Things would be even better on a neutral/trickster type character.
I had one set up where a Devil had made a 'deal of equals' with a Sentient Blade that offered an Intelligent Weapon Patron for a Warlock...
The Blade itself was Evil, and offered a fun kicker, but it loved making some packs.
I feel like I can see Veins of the Earth sitting on the shelf behind Pruitt around 3:05.
I like the idea of a Warlock who is a lesser form of the thing represented by their patron choice. IE, an Eladrin that is adventuring to learn about the world before returning to the Feywild as an Archfey, etc.
I love the dead background. Playing a Paladin of Vengence with that background now. His soul held by the Raven Queen for over 60yrs and with an agreement between Lathander and the Raven Queen he has had a True Resurrection bring him back to right some wrongs involving his family. A warlock could be cool with that background for sure too.
My favorite is the old Undying Light before it got turned into Celestial. Praise the Sun and smite its foes!
Spawn is a Reborn, Fiend Patron Warlock with the Pact of the Blade (where the chains are the pact weapon). Could use a Whip and reflavor it a little. Or a flail.
I like the idea of a ghost patron who is thanking the character for actually putting them to rest.
Watching this video a little late, but I needed a little help. I started playing a Triton "Lurker in the Deep" Warlock. My Kraken patron destroyed a pirate ship that captured me. He deemed me useful to his cause of ascending to godhood, as i could dwell in his realm and also spread his name and his following on the surface. Great video as always guys.
With the eyes bleeding magic, I'd love that for a wild magic sorcerer who signs a deal with a diety to keep their magic under control
Man I’m sorry but you guys ALWAYS just brush over Great Old One warlocks. Even your video that had Cthulhu in the damn thumbnail had just over a minute of that topic, and it didn’t even go into the thematic aspect. I was excited to hear your take on Lovecraftian shtick; it’s my favorite aesthetic theme in all of fiction.
Don’t you guys see the story potential of a naturally curious detective finding a book full of secrets that taints his mind and awakens him to the scale of the cosmos? Of how he slowly goes more insane each time he goes back to the book, and playing the damage he’s taking mentally against his obsessive need to peel back the curtain and know the full story?
Imagine playing as a tall, lanky, oddly fishy-looking guy from a small fishing hamlet who is unknowingly the spawn of Shub-Niggurath, and whose form becomes more grotesque with each ounce of power he metabolizes.
Or a flashy, showy bard-like individual who wows crowds with weird presentations of magic, ancient artifacts, and eldritch - inspired technology, and leaving them with ancient secrets they were never meant to hear? What if Nyarlathotep himself invaded her mind and is puppeteering her to bring about the worship of the Great Old Ones?
I like to think of the GOO pact as a (likely unwilling) form of forced, expedited evolution, and I like to draw a lot of inspiration from Alien, Bloodborne, and obviously Lovecraft’s books themselves.
I prefer to avoid Lovecraft with these, Cthulhu warlocks wreck campaigns, primarily by summoning Cthulhu through any body of water and ending the world. I like the idea of using beholders, mind flayers, gith, and really otherworldly beings for this. I am also willing to substitute the word "old" in great old ones with "odd", with the idea of some being literally from another timeline or dimension communicating with the warlock.
Not gonna spend too much time on the subject, but it's basically the same as being a Patron of Jubilex. They both disregard the existence of all other beings, would prefer to see the world consumed with their essence/presence, are butt ugly, and don't really need a Warlock to be with them. Their interactions with the world would be rather similar, minus the fact that GOO are always extremely intelligent; learning and calculating throughout the entirety of their existence.
I think the problem is that the other Patrons you can write as a character and develop interactions between them and the Warlock. The GOO is likely so oblivious to these Warlocks existing that interaction between them isn't going to be as rich as the ones involving more comprehendable patrons. Also, at least for me personally, An unknowable cosmic monstrosity is nowhere near as fun to write as a whimsical Fey.
@@skyblade7438 my warlock made a pact with Hastur, the King in Yellow. Hastur was very much interested in what my warlock did. Basically I found a tome in my local academy that wasn't supposed to be there, which was of course the Necronomicon. When I open it, the single page in it has the Yellow Sign. Which whisked my consciousness off to Lake Hali outside Carcosa to make a pact with Hastur. He wants me to help build his army for his war against his hated half brother, Cthulu. So periodically I have to show someone Hastur chooses with a small parchment that appears in my pocket that has the victim's name and inside it has the Yellow Sign. I also had to do bizarre rituals that the DM came up with on a d8 roll after each battle. Like cutting off the fingers of the right hand and putting them in the mouth of the corpse, or collect a small sample of my enemy's blood and eye jelly on a piece of cloth and throw it in the nearest pool of water ect. DM was always having to come up with bizarre things to do and he said he loved it.
I have a PC based off of Sparda from Devil May Cry who is currently a Fighter 2 / Pact of the Blade Hexblade Warlock 7 currently. I reskinned some of the Warlock features like invocations and spells to make Sparda, like for example, his Eldritch Blasts are him using Luce & Ombra with the Gunslinger Style (Agonizing Blast invocation), Darkness/Shadow of Moil are him entering Devil Trigger, etc. I like Warlocks because you can reskin their class features for RP purposes.
I have an NPC whom is an unwitting warlock. She is a Paladin that swore the Oath of Vengeance during the Devotion Ceremony of her church because of dreams she recently had. However, the dreams were from an Archdevil using her Vengeance oath to bind her in patronage and use her as a weapon against the machinations of an opposing Demon Lord. She's been a pretty fun character, and an interesting question mark for players analyzing the motivations of her unorthodox and overzealous choices.
OH MY GOD, THAT DIAMOND AGE REFERENCE. That's awesome.
at 19:45, a good reference for a reluctant Warlock I think is Lapin Cadbury from Dimension20's A Crown of Candy.
Dresden Files is a great series for Warlock pacts.
He could be considered a multi-pact Warlock. He has a fey pact with Lea from his mother, and later reinforced that twice and than made one with Mab.
His time with the shadow of Lash could be considered a fiend pact.
And getting power from Uriel could be a celestial pact.