So, one of my players is building a tiefling warlock and wants their patron to be Cthulhu. They also plan to have their flaw be that they must make a daily sacrifice. My question is, is this a good flaw?
I had an idea that maybe he's carrying an item that is "charged" by the sacrifices, and will eventually allow him to summon creatures from the beyond, or something along those lines.
A good flaw helps the player bring the character to life. Seems like a daily sacrifice requirement could work in that regard. Answering some of these questions, with the player, might help:
What is the nature of the sacrifice - material wealth, an animal, perhaps something weirder like a memory, or access to an emotion, or they loose access to a language or skill proficiency for the day - those last couple are pretty harsh but you are considering giving them a summon later as compensation.
How does the sacrifice need to be performed - must there be an extensive ritual? Material components? Or is it quick and unceremonious?
What happens if they fail to make the daily sacrifice?
How does the character feel about the sacrifice - are they pleased to offer up this daily gift, tormented by it? or conflicted?
If the answers to these questions end up sounding like they will enhance the character and the fun, then its a good flaw.
Wow, that's quite to flaw. Reminds me of Blackrazor lol.
Not all patrons require flaws BUT I can certainly imagine Cthulu demanding compensation for his power.
But his flaw could be worked into, "If the opportunity to kill an opponent presents itself, as opposed to leaving them alive. You must kill so that I may have the soul."
This prevents any concerns where sacrificing is detrimental to the party to such a degree that the party doesn't want that character around, but still satisfies a similar criteria.
Or maybe he wants magic items to be sacrificed to him because the magic tastes so good. That would also be horrible for the party but less evil, I suppose.
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You only lose if you die. Any time else, there's opportunity for a come back.
An interesting ruling my DM has made with my warlock has been a tweak of the Dark One's Blessing rule. When taking the temporary hit points, I have to make a wisdom saving throw. On a fail, I don't take the temporary hit points, to show that my patron was not satisfied by the kill, so isn't giving me the reward. Might be a good concept to play around with for this.
They get angry when they see someone eating calamari.
A character flaw doesn't have to be something related to their Patron. It could be something that lead them to the Patron in the first place.
Here's a example, I made a Tiefling Hexblade Warlock who's Patron was the Raven Queen, the one before the 5e revision. Her flaw was a phobia to fire that she got as a child when her orphanage was burned down by a group of necromancer. She survived, due to a Teifling's resistance to fire, and who found by a group of Hexblades that were hunting the previously mentioned necromancers. They adopted her and raised her in the beliefs of the Raven Queen. Because of her phobia to fire, she wouldn't use fire spells and I also chose to got the extra mile and rolled a frightened save anytime she saw a fire bigger than a cooking fire. Got real fun when our Druid kept rolling Flamming Sphere towards her.
I like the idea of sacrifices, but sometimes execution can be difficult. A blood sacrifice of an animals life can make other players uncomfortable. (I once bought in game a pig to use as bait to get around a giant spider. Think of the goat being fed to the T-Rex in Jurassic Park. Some people got ...weirded out by it.) Intelligent being sacrifices are probably out, unless you are playing in an anti-hero/evil campaign with a mature audience.
Now if the sacrifice is fluff, meaning it has no cost in materials/ethical concerns/loss of ability/players or DMs freaking out) then have at it. I'm thinking about Wu-Jen style of impairment like, can't wash your clothes, or bathe, or forbidden to use the verb "to be" for a day. For any old one, I would do weird, strange, creepy stuff, vs outright sacrifice. However, if it DOES have a cost, like losing a state, losing hp, disadvantage on types of rolls, 10gp cost that escalates as you level, or a debuff that hampers skills for an extended period, I wouldn't do that without a corresponding and meaningful buff to balance it. You shouldn't have to literally pay for your basic powers. Framing it as training fees/sacrifice per level, sure...as long as others are paying their fees when they level as a fairness question sure.
Probably the question I would ask as a DM is "What the fun or story do you want to tell?" And then I would likely randomize something for them to do at the beginning of a session. Random and weird. Lifting from a quick search on taboo's and Wu-Jen (found here)
May not wear shoes
Must never go unarmed, even when bathing or sleeping (this adds an extra disadvantage to being held captive)
Must never use a physical weapon
Vow of silence (or, may not speak the campaign equivalent of Common)
No [certain type of person] may see them eat
Must never kill (though rendering a creature 'dying' is alright)
Must wear a mask or veil at all times
Must not lie / tell the truth
May never tell a complete truth or pass on the entirety of their knowledge of a topic
May not consume garlic
Must fast one day per week
Must inscribe runes on their hand, and replace it every day .
May not acknowledge the existence of [certain person/group/type] (This'd be fun if one selected the class of another party member.)
May not accept surrender or otherwise take prisoners
Must keep a Significant Object like a Tree, (i.e. a particular bonsai) or a doll within 30' at all times, and care for it regularly.
Must drop everything and make an offering of food when it rains/or other event.
I like your idea of charging up an item to use for power...but that's an item's flaw, not a characters'. Great plot device though for an adventure.
First time DM here.
So, one of my players is building a tiefling warlock and wants their patron to be Cthulhu. They also plan to have their flaw be that they must make a daily sacrifice. My question is, is this a good flaw?
I had an idea that maybe he's carrying an item that is "charged" by the sacrifices, and will eventually allow him to summon creatures from the beyond, or something along those lines.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
A good flaw helps the player bring the character to life. Seems like a daily sacrifice requirement could work in that regard. Answering some of these questions, with the player, might help:
What is the nature of the sacrifice - material wealth, an animal, perhaps something weirder like a memory, or access to an emotion, or they loose access to a language or skill proficiency for the day - those last couple are pretty harsh but you are considering giving them a summon later as compensation.
How does the sacrifice need to be performed - must there be an extensive ritual? Material components? Or is it quick and unceremonious?
What happens if they fail to make the daily sacrifice?
How does the character feel about the sacrifice - are they pleased to offer up this daily gift, tormented by it? or conflicted?
If the answers to these questions end up sounding like they will enhance the character and the fun, then its a good flaw.
These are all good points. I will go over these questions with the player.
Thanks!
Wow, that's quite to flaw. Reminds me of Blackrazor lol.
Not all patrons require flaws BUT I can certainly imagine Cthulu demanding compensation for his power.
But his flaw could be worked into, "If the opportunity to kill an opponent presents itself, as opposed to leaving them alive. You must kill so that I may have the soul."
This prevents any concerns where sacrificing is detrimental to the party to such a degree that the party doesn't want that character around, but still satisfies a similar criteria.
Or maybe he wants magic items to be sacrificed to him because the magic tastes so good. That would also be horrible for the party but less evil, I suppose.
You only lose if you die. Any time else, there's opportunity for a come back.
An interesting ruling my DM has made with my warlock has been a tweak of the Dark One's Blessing rule. When taking the temporary hit points, I have to make a wisdom saving throw. On a fail, I don't take the temporary hit points, to show that my patron was not satisfied by the kill, so isn't giving me the reward. Might be a good concept to play around with for this.
They get angry when they see someone eating calamari.
A character flaw doesn't have to be something related to their Patron. It could be something that lead them to the Patron in the first place.
Here's a example, I made a Tiefling Hexblade Warlock who's Patron was the Raven Queen, the one before the 5e revision. Her flaw was a phobia to fire that she got as a child when her orphanage was burned down by a group of necromancer. She survived, due to a Teifling's resistance to fire, and who found by a group of Hexblades that were hunting the previously mentioned necromancers. They adopted her and raised her in the beliefs of the Raven Queen. Because of her phobia to fire, she wouldn't use fire spells and I also chose to got the extra mile and rolled a frightened save anytime she saw a fire bigger than a cooking fire. Got real fun when our Druid kept rolling Flamming Sphere towards her.
I like the idea of sacrifices, but sometimes execution can be difficult. A blood sacrifice of an animals life can make other players uncomfortable. (I once bought in game a pig to use as bait to get around a giant spider. Think of the goat being fed to the T-Rex in Jurassic Park. Some people got ...weirded out by it.) Intelligent being sacrifices are probably out, unless you are playing in an anti-hero/evil campaign with a mature audience.
Now if the sacrifice is fluff, meaning it has no cost in materials/ethical concerns/loss of ability/players or DMs freaking out) then have at it. I'm thinking about Wu-Jen style of impairment like, can't wash your clothes, or bathe, or forbidden to use the verb "to be" for a day. For any old one, I would do weird, strange, creepy stuff, vs outright sacrifice. However, if it DOES have a cost, like losing a state, losing hp, disadvantage on types of rolls, 10gp cost that escalates as you level, or a debuff that hampers skills for an extended period, I wouldn't do that without a corresponding and meaningful buff to balance it. You shouldn't have to literally pay for your basic powers. Framing it as training fees/sacrifice per level, sure...as long as others are paying their fees when they level as a fairness question sure.
Probably the question I would ask as a DM is "What the fun or story do you want to tell?" And then I would likely randomize something for them to do at the beginning of a session. Random and weird. Lifting from a quick search on taboo's and Wu-Jen (found here)
I like your idea of charging up an item to use for power...but that's an item's flaw, not a characters'. Great plot device though for an adventure.