I wanted to make a "criminal organization" Warlock subclass for a while now because I love the idea of a character getting their powers by committing criminal acts. This is also inspired by all of the memes about the Warlock who's Patron is "just some shady guy in an ally" or the Illuminati, as well as the Syndicate Rogue from Daggerheart.
I like the concept, not sure about some details, need to review longer to see if the negatives at 1st glance are actually negatives. The whoe vibe in reading makes this appear more like a guild vice a patron.
What is a black coin, never heard of it.
At level 10 you get a physical NPC being next to you vice the ability only?
The contract killer demands payment after the fact? Would those creatures actually want payment, and what would they do with payment? It seems better that you pay the "guild" or Patron 1st, then you get the contract Killer.
THANK YOU FOR THE FEEDBACK! I left out some detail to cut down on the text and allow the player to fill in with their own flavor. There's a lot of room for DM discretion and control as well, both with the Syndicate Agent and the Contract Killer.
The Black Coin is a "item" that you get from the Agent. Think of it like the Phantom Rogue's Soul Trinket. Like it's not an actual item, just a Subclass resource that has a physical form. It's only purpose is to refill an expended Pact Magic Spell Slot, which I thought was a decent alternative to having an NPC on demand to help you.
The Level 6 and Level 10 features are linked. The level 6 feature has you call on the help of a Syndicate Contact. The type of help you get depends on what you choose. HOW this contact actually helps you is up to you. Do they suddenly walk into the scene and do the job? Are they always there with you in the background ready to help? Are they summoned in by the Syndicate to answer your call? That's up to you, flavor is free. The Level 10 feature merely upgrades the Level 6 feature. The contact doesn't stick around, they leave after helping.
A Hit Man is typically not paid until the job is done. Just in case they fail. The Contract Killer Creatures don't want payment, the Syndicate does. The Creature is merely what the Syndicate summons using their Dark Magic. That's why it's a Fey, Fiend, or Undead. Those are all things that can be summoned with Dark Magic. So when you pay them, they take that payment back to the Syndicate. The DM has control over the Contract Killer, but the creature always acts to kill the marked target (to complete the contract). Keep in mind though that you do need to be in "Good Standing" with the Syndicate to even use the feature. That means you do essentially have to pay them first, and after.
I get the "guild" thing because of the payment mechanics, but the subclass doesn't get its powers from the Criminal Organization itself. IT gets its powers from the shadowy cabal of Dark Magic users that run the organization. Warlock Patrons are always magical beings, so the Syndicate fills that role but with multiple people instead of 1 powerful entity. The organization is just how that group of people (the Syndicate) influence the world. If there wasn't magic involved, then this could just be a Rogue Subclass.
Think "a bunch of people in black robes standing around a pentagram and controlling the criminal underground". What if that group vested a portion of their combined power into a single person? That's you. But those people are greedy (they're criminals) and want payment in exchange for extra power.
I wanted to make a "criminal organization" Warlock subclass for a while now because I love the idea of a character getting their powers by committing criminal acts. This is also inspired by all of the memes about the Warlock who's Patron is "just some shady guy in an ally" or the Illuminati, as well as the Syndicate Rogue from Daggerheart.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/2532508-syndicate-patron
Please give it a try and let me know what you think.
I like the concept, not sure about some details, need to review longer to see if the negatives at 1st glance are actually negatives. The whoe vibe in reading makes this appear more like a guild vice a patron.
What is a black coin, never heard of it.
At level 10 you get a physical NPC being next to you vice the ability only?
The contract killer demands payment after the fact? Would those creatures actually want payment, and what would they do with payment? It seems better that you pay the "guild" or Patron 1st, then you get the contract Killer.
THANK YOU FOR THE FEEDBACK! I left out some detail to cut down on the text and allow the player to fill in with their own flavor. There's a lot of room for DM discretion and control as well, both with the Syndicate Agent and the Contract Killer.
I get the "guild" thing because of the payment mechanics, but the subclass doesn't get its powers from the Criminal Organization itself. IT gets its powers from the shadowy cabal of Dark Magic users that run the organization. Warlock Patrons are always magical beings, so the Syndicate fills that role but with multiple people instead of 1 powerful entity. The organization is just how that group of people (the Syndicate) influence the world. If there wasn't magic involved, then this could just be a Rogue Subclass.
Think "a bunch of people in black robes standing around a pentagram and controlling the criminal underground". What if that group vested a portion of their combined power into a single person? That's you. But those people are greedy (they're criminals) and want payment in exchange for extra power.