So my game group is pretty RP heavy and I'm playing a Warlock for this campaign. I'm in the first stages of character creation and I know I want to do the pact of the chain. I like the Imp as a familiar for a lot of reasons(shapechange, invisibility, Stinger, cool factor etc.), but I'm running into the issue of why some patrons would give me one. Fiends are obvious, and a Great Old one would totally corrupt an imp for my service but I was leaning toward Archfey or Celestial for the game.
Both for the game and because I love warlocks, I'm open to any ideas on:
Lore reasons why an Archfey or a Celestial patron would give my character a technically fiendish familiar, or the other way (i.e. fiend patron with sprite familiar).
Ideas for similar or reskinned familiars that would be more appropriate to specific Patrons
A familiar summoned by Find Familiar is a spirit that can take many forms. The type (celestial, fey, or fiend) of spirits available aren't meant to be patron-specific, though you can certainly match some of them up if that's your thing. The particular form you give your familiar has no bearing on what they really are. A celestial spirit is still a celestial even if you give it an imp's form.
Since you don't need a reason to pick one familiar over the other, instead of struggling to come up with reasons that don't need to exist try exploring the consequences of your mismatched choices instead. Maybe your celestial or fey spirit isn't happy to be in an imp's form, but it's obligated to serve you. That's a great roleplaying opportunity. Is it resentful? Does it put up with it because it cares about you? Do you let it change forms every now and then - at your own expense - to make it happy? Their reactions to being in imp form can even be different by type. A celestial may despise being in imp form because fiends are evil, while a fey spirit might hate it because it's ugly, while a different fey spirit might think it suits their mischievous nature or like that you've given them what it perceives as the strongest form.
There is a difference between flavor and mechanics.
When they wrote Pact of the Chains there were fewer Pact and only offered 4 choices for improved familiars. While it's mechanically still technically a fiend.... describe it with feathered wings and celestial like.
A familiar summoned by Find Familiar is a spirit that can take many forms. The type (celestial, fey, or fiend) of spirits available aren't meant to be patron-specific, though you can certainly match some of them up if that's your thing. The particular form you give your familiar has no bearing on what they really are. A celestial spirit is still a celestial even if you give it an imp's form.
Since you don't need a reason to pick one familiar over the other, instead of struggling to come up with reasons that don't need to exist try exploring the consequences of your mismatched choices instead. Maybe your celestial or fey spirit isn't happy to be in an imp's form, but it's obligated to serve you. That's a great roleplaying opportunity. Is it resentful? Does it put up with it because it cares about you? Do you let it change forms every now and then - at your own expense - to make it happy? Their reactions to being in imp form can even be different by type. A celestial may despise being in imp form because fiends are evil, while a fey spirit might hate it because it's ugly, while a different fey spirit might think it suits their mischievous nature or like that you've given them what it perceives as the strongest form.
Wow, thanks. That's an angle I'd never considered.
I am vaguely familiar with the mechanics of the spirit, but I always interpreted it as the patron forming a familiar to assist you. While I (the player) thought of having a choice in the matter I never really thought of the character as making the choice. This is a pretty cool Idea and very different from what I've done before.
I would like to chime in with; the patron, is an extra planer/other worldly entity that has shown some penchant for influencing others and getting compliance. The warlock being the servant in this relationship, think of how a fiend patron might relish the opportunity to force a celestial spirit to serve one of it's lesser pets...you!
You could always go another way with it and assume that it has become your familiar for the familiar's benefit rather than yours. Imagine if, as one of your pact requirements with a celestial, you had to be a test case for the possibility of using a mortal to corrupt a fiendish creature to doing good things. Or perhaps it is serving you as a repentance for past misdeeds, eye for an eye, misleading one to evil for leading one to good etc. Or say you wanted a sprite as a familiar, it is fully possible that one powerful patron could use a minor favour from another powerful being, to make you more indebted to that first being. There are fairly interesting justifications that are literally out of your character's hands that really help to characterize what can quite easily be a second character to RP with.
I play a hexblade chainlock and I've reskinned (ouch!) my imp to better represent my Warlock Pact. I went with a more eastern-european feel to my imp: a goat horned and cloven hoofed little nasty. Krampus is the closest represntation I can find.
For the Archfey Imp - you could envision your little guy with a few physical characteristics associated with sprites and pixies, (woodland hues instead of devil red and gossamer wings like those of dragonflies or butterflies)
For the Celestial Imp – simply make your imp more angelic and less devilish…. (large feathery white wings, golden skin, hazel eyes, etc.)
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So my game group is pretty RP heavy and I'm playing a Warlock for this campaign. I'm in the first stages of character creation and I know I want to do the pact of the chain. I like the Imp as a familiar for a lot of reasons(shapechange, invisibility, Stinger, cool factor etc.), but I'm running into the issue of why some patrons would give me one. Fiends are obvious, and a Great Old one would totally corrupt an imp for my service but I was leaning toward Archfey or Celestial for the game.
Both for the game and because I love warlocks, I'm open to any ideas on:
I'd be mighty thankful for the input.
A familiar summoned by Find Familiar is a spirit that can take many forms. The type (celestial, fey, or fiend) of spirits available aren't meant to be patron-specific, though you can certainly match some of them up if that's your thing. The particular form you give your familiar has no bearing on what they really are. A celestial spirit is still a celestial even if you give it an imp's form.
Since you don't need a reason to pick one familiar over the other, instead of struggling to come up with reasons that don't need to exist try exploring the consequences of your mismatched choices instead. Maybe your celestial or fey spirit isn't happy to be in an imp's form, but it's obligated to serve you. That's a great roleplaying opportunity. Is it resentful? Does it put up with it because it cares about you? Do you let it change forms every now and then - at your own expense - to make it happy? Their reactions to being in imp form can even be different by type. A celestial may despise being in imp form because fiends are evil, while a fey spirit might hate it because it's ugly, while a different fey spirit might think it suits their mischievous nature or like that you've given them what it perceives as the strongest form.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
There is a difference between flavor and mechanics.
When they wrote Pact of the Chains there were fewer Pact and only offered 4 choices for improved familiars.
While it's mechanically still technically a fiend.... describe it with feathered wings and celestial like.
Wow, thanks. That's an angle I'd never considered.
I am vaguely familiar with the mechanics of the spirit, but I always interpreted it as the patron forming a familiar to assist you. While I (the player) thought of having a choice in the matter I never really thought of the character as making the choice. This is a pretty cool Idea and very different from what I've done before.
I would like to chime in with; the patron, is an extra planer/other worldly entity that has shown some penchant for influencing others and getting compliance. The warlock being the servant in this relationship, think of how a fiend patron might relish the opportunity to force a celestial spirit to serve one of it's lesser pets...you!
Jesus Saves!... Everyone else takes damage.
You could always go another way with it and assume that it has become your familiar for the familiar's benefit rather than yours. Imagine if, as one of your pact requirements with a celestial, you had to be a test case for the possibility of using a mortal to corrupt a fiendish creature to doing good things. Or perhaps it is serving you as a repentance for past misdeeds, eye for an eye, misleading one to evil for leading one to good etc. Or say you wanted a sprite as a familiar, it is fully possible that one powerful patron could use a minor favour from another powerful being, to make you more indebted to that first being. There are fairly interesting justifications that are literally out of your character's hands that really help to characterize what can quite easily be a second character to RP with.
I play a hexblade chainlock and I've reskinned (ouch!) my imp to better represent my Warlock Pact. I went with a more eastern-european feel to my imp: a goat horned and cloven hoofed little nasty. Krampus is the closest represntation I can find.
For the Archfey Imp - you could envision your little guy with a few physical characteristics associated with sprites and pixies, (woodland hues instead of devil red and gossamer wings like those of dragonflies or butterflies)
For the Celestial Imp – simply make your imp more angelic and less devilish…. (large feathery white wings, golden skin, hazel eyes, etc.)