So many fun reasons to make a pact beyond shortcuts to power. It's likely a big part of it, but doesn't have to be the primary driver.
If you watch Aq Inc - C Team, their warlock made a great old one pact b/c he was looking for knowledge and understanding of the universe beyond what even the gods could offer. They used the mystery of "old ones" to lean in on some kind of transcendent knowledge that would be gained by becoming a disciple of sorts.
For the warlock in my campaign, the entity providing her power is intimately tied to her backstory so she made the deal in exchange for uncovering things about her past that were being hidden from her (for good reason). And bits and pieces of her past are being revealed to her over the course of the campaign.
You can also mix it up w/ different entities competing for your warlock. One of the recurring antagonists (a group of hags) recognized her ability and started offering her their own power in exchange for her services. So I introduced the idea that she has some kind of transcendent potential and there may be various entities competing for her to be their conduit over the course of the campaign.
It could also be an unintended choice. My own warlock was offered power in a dream in exchange for a sacrifice of his family. He didn't think it was real (only a dream after all) and said yes. When he woke up they were gone. Not just physically, but it's like his noble lineage never existed. And he's been hunting down the entity ever since.
You could also look to Critical Role where the gunslinger becomes part warlock b/c an entity promised him the power to take revenge over people that killed his family.
This seems like a classic post, even if it is a bit older.
Amongst my group I am known for being the Warlock-main. All my characters are Warlocks. Snow was a Tiefling who got tricked into her Pact. She always had a divine spark as a divine soul sorcerer. When she thought she'd be finally chosen as a Cleric for the War-God she worshipped, it turned out someone else noticed her before that.
Blitz is an Eladrin Hexblade Elf. They ran away as a young child from home in a temper tantrum, only to get lost in the home of an ominous being. That being is calling herself mother and more or less groomed him into the Pact. Nowadays he is so important to my group that he achieved NPC status, overwhelmed mother and became a Patron himself.
Lilith is a Yuan-Ti Halfbreed. I play her as a snake witch. She is very curious and has always been a bookworm. Eventually she found an accumulation of primordial energy manifesting itself as an animal spirit of a white snake. Her Undying Patron.
Rei is a bit more complicated. Lots of family drama; in the end she wasn't acknowledged for her skill because she did things differently than her family tradition. Blitz became her Patron as a mentor.
Ember has a more tragic reason. Her mother cheated on her husband, ending with Ember being born a Tiefling. Although she looks rather humanlike, as soon as her horns grew out the husband knew something was wrong and found out about it. The family broke apart. In the end, Ember decided the only way to bring back piece was to sacrifice him to the nine hells for power. The Pact actually not being of importance here, but rather the opportunity to 'cleanly' dispose of him.
Lothar and his little sister Silvia are a pair of siblings whose choice has been made for them when they were children.
Kaiser exists in a very post-apocalyptic homebrew campaign where Demons are the biggest threat. Being a very militant person, she sold her soul to the nine hells with the condition, that her achievements on earth count towards her promotions as a Devil. This way she can be a leader against the 'Darkness' during as well as after her life. For her, that's a win-win.
Adelaide just wanted to live. She'd been struck sick early in her life, and not even the riches of her family could save her. Her wish to live being that strong, she got the attention of an Undying Patron who put her soul into a doll, making her akin to a warforged.
Jesse is an idiot. I don't have much else to say, but basically Jesse is a Mahou Shoujo aka Magical Girl with their Patron being a Celestial.
Krakenlock being my WIP is just waiting for the Lurker of the Deep to be released. Basically here this will also be another choice between life and death, as they're an ex-pirate who's ship sunk. Would you rather drown or take on a forced pact?
My guy didnt even have a chance to nake a deal. He put on a cursed ring and poof, he is the plaything for a Great Old One. No deal, no pact, no contract. Just, "hey buddy, guess what you ars going to do today." Then when he fails her one time to many, she sells him to a fiend for 50 gold and a case of beer. Yeah, things have gotten SO MUCH BETTER since THAT happened. Still no pact, no deal, no contract. just a whole lot of "welcome the dark side". Never put on a ring that you dont know where it has been.....
My next warlock will be a fiend pact warlock. He's a half-elf who spent nearly 20 years in the King's Rangers and lost his right pointer and index fingers so he could no longer draw a bow or sword. He was discharged and lost his sense of self worth and fell to drink. He ends up with a cult of Fierna and is promised power and purpose to restore his sense of self-worth. All he has to do is sign away his soul, no fuss, no muss. If he can get 4 other people to sign a pact, he gets to keep his soul.
He does this, and tricks some cutthroats into signing their souls away. He sees some of /them/ corrupt some good folks, and his newly found sense of self-worth is turned to ash. He realizes that his evil has condemned his own soul to the hells anyway. He ends up in a church of Mystra, and ends up spilling his story to a priest. The priest agrees with him that he's done great evil, but tells him that his soul is not so black that he cannot be redeemed, and that he should go forth and do the kind of deeds that will re-balance the scales of justice in his own favor. He'll dip into cleric for a few levels, but he'll be mainly a warlock. At three, he'll pick pact of the chain and get an imp familiar. The imp will take the form of the lady cultist/succubus that tricked him into his pact to try and make him feel guilt. When he gains levels, that will be Fierna granting him additional powers, as per the terms of the original agreement; a level means at least one more soul has entered Fierna's service due to the terms of HIS pact, and more that he feels he needs to atone for.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
While technically a pact, my new character's pact is closer to a paladin oath or cleric divinity. And I'll be honest, I went with the entity first because a connection to it would be fun to role play. However, neither cleric or paladin quite fit my vision for what I wanted for the character, while a hexblade warlock, downplaying the "hex" part a little, and combined with some fighter, seemed to fit nearly perfectly for what I wanted, at least through fighter1/warlock5.
Should I have gone with cleric or paladin? Probably
Is the entity a weapon? Not technically, unless you think of a fully formed Megazord or Voltron as a weapon
Is the entity from the Forgotten Realms to match the setting of our campaign? No, but my DM is OK with that part.
Praise Beebo, Blue God of War and Destroyer of Demons! A powerful light of pure goodness who seeks to screw things up for the better!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
=========================== Laugh at life or life will laugh at you.
Current D&D Characters: Kromen Flintfist, Hill Dwarf Order of the Scribes Wizard/Armorer Artificer Eiphrok, Half-Orc Oath of Glory Paladin/Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer
I am putting together a foppish noble kicked out of the Noble House for being a prodigal (drunkard, gambler, 100 angry husbands). He sold his jewelry to avoid work, but ran out of that money as well. The True tragedy struck him...he would need to get a JOB!!!
Walking between towns, he ran into a group of goblins who gave chase. The young noble hid in a graveyard and found a talking blade. It offered to help him if he would kill for it. He had no choice and he made a pact with a nameless sword. It melded into his arm. He blasted through the goblins and became an adventurer (lots of down time, no pushing papers).
What he doesn't know is the blade was made by strahd von zarovich. It is designed to feed both him and the land of barovia. He doesn't need to commit murder, and adventurers life is all he needs. But by ray, sword or spell, everyone he kills die with a look of horror as their souls (and all their blood) are sucked into Barovia strengthening the very land it self.
Raised by who I made pact with my most ancient ancestor made pact with a fiend and have providing a warlock each generation in exchange for the power and as part of the pact, and the fiend raises the child and teaches them eldritch magics.
My character was fleeing a battle, running away from an army of orcs during the War of the Silver Marches, when I came across Karse, where Karsus offered to give me power and the ability to become the ruler of an empire. I made a pact, he changed me from a female elven warrior into a changeling, and I am now a Hexblade Warlock trying to re-establish Netheril.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Come to think of it...why WOULD someone make a Pact? It almost never ends well.
I'd like to think that at a certain point, people would just start an extensive ad campaign to deter people from making pacts with these otherwordly creatures...
"Remember, kids: If a stranger from another realm offers you power beyond your wildest dreams, just SAY NO."
Desperation or lack of understanding what they were getting into.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
In the case of a Celestial Pact with a Diva or other similar being of the higher planes, the better question is "Why to they want you?" Unlike Fiends who obviously just want to eat your soul, or the Archfey or GOOs who don't really need a reason to do anything because they just chaotically act on whims. For the denizens of the higher plains to offer power to greedy or desperate mortals seems just a bit strange. A whole lot of nagging unease can result from the idea that strange things are happening on the higher planes.
My aasimar GOOLock is genuinely working to make the world better. He was visited by a being of golden light and given the simple task of etching a hidden mark in every place of worship he travels to. The symbol is the beacon of hope for the future of all living things. It allows there false worships to be guided to the divine ear. Actually, he is spreading elder signs which are siphoning minuscule amounts of worship/madness to draw power to his master. I based it off of the king in yellow and the idea that words can both drive people to madness and siphon their spirits at the same time.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
IMHO, Earthdawn is still the best fantasy realm, Shadowrun is the best Sci-Fi realm, and Dark Sun is the best D&D realm.
Tldr version: PC comes from a very ancient Eladrin line with an elven demigod as a forebear thousands of years ago. And then mom had to eff it all up and marry a human. The pact was, in a way, a subtle rebuke of mom by her father. However, the pact wound up being mutually beneficial.
In order to bring my Warlock to more "Elven ways," and to prevent his far too soon passing from the world, his grandfather gave him a magical tome that he could learn from. The tome itself takes in my Warlock's words and drawings of all things magical that he encounters and provides him with guidance and spells. As he grows in power, he learns more, and must communicate all magical things that he learns. The goal is to provide the patron with more knowledgeof the universe. Eventually, he understood that the book was both communication tool and pact.
Apologies if you've read this next section before in another one of my posts... The being behind the book is an elven demigod that was stolen from a combination of Greek myth (Ourania, the muse of Astronomy, geometry and cartography) and Ilmarë, the Tolkien Maia who is Varda's chief assistant as lady of the stars and light in Lord of the Rings legendaria. Her goal is to find out everything about the world that she can't find out for herself, so she uses warlocks to do so. The demands increase as her warlocks' skill increases. The immediate goal of the patron is clear: acquire all possible knowledge. But why? To what end?
Summary: pacts can be bestowed subtly and even unknowingly and still be beneficial for both sides. There need not be an adversarial relationship or traumatic event that causes the warlock to choose their path.
My aasimar GOOLock is genuinely working to make the world better. He was visited by a being of golden light and given the simple task of etching a hidden mark in every place of worship he travels to. The symbol is the beacon of hope for the future of all living things. It allows there false worships to be guided to the divine ear. Actually, he is spreading elder signs which are siphoning minuscule amounts of worship/madness to draw power to his master. I based it off of the king in yellow and the idea that words can both drive people to madness and siphon their spirits at the same time.
Do you mean Yellow Signs? Elder Signs are the marks that bind the Great Old Ones, and creating them would generally be against them.
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A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
I picked up druidcraft, thaumaturgy, and prestidigitation which all are used in the creation of the sigil. The character merely carves the sign with its knife as a physical act, then retraces it with thaumaturgy (powered by the soul), prestidigitation (powered by the will), and druidcraft (powered by the heart) to bind the sigil. the magic dissipates and it looks like a small 1-2 inch set of scratches to those who are unaware of its true potential. There is no other obligation, just spread the sigil and live life in the pursuits of happiness and making the world better for all.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
IMHO, Earthdawn is still the best fantasy realm, Shadowrun is the best Sci-Fi realm, and Dark Sun is the best D&D realm.
I'm currently playing a warlock of the genie and his back story is that he is the only survivor of a village that was wiped out by giants, and since his ancestors had made a pact with an efreet that resulted in them basically becoming indentured servants, the efreet sort of claimed him as his, so now he is searching for a way to get out of the pact.
My current fiendlock is a tiefling orphan who made a pact with her "father" (whether or not he actually is hasn't and likely never will be revealed) after an undead apocalypse happened because she didn't want to be zombie chow. She regrets it, but is seriously short of better alternatives.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
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So many fun reasons to make a pact beyond shortcuts to power. It's likely a big part of it, but doesn't have to be the primary driver.
If you watch Aq Inc - C Team, their warlock made a great old one pact b/c he was looking for knowledge and understanding of the universe beyond what even the gods could offer. They used the mystery of "old ones" to lean in on some kind of transcendent knowledge that would be gained by becoming a disciple of sorts.
For the warlock in my campaign, the entity providing her power is intimately tied to her backstory so she made the deal in exchange for uncovering things about her past that were being hidden from her (for good reason). And bits and pieces of her past are being revealed to her over the course of the campaign.
You can also mix it up w/ different entities competing for your warlock. One of the recurring antagonists (a group of hags) recognized her ability and started offering her their own power in exchange for her services. So I introduced the idea that she has some kind of transcendent potential and there may be various entities competing for her to be their conduit over the course of the campaign.
It could also be an unintended choice. My own warlock was offered power in a dream in exchange for a sacrifice of his family. He didn't think it was real (only a dream after all) and said yes. When he woke up they were gone. Not just physically, but it's like his noble lineage never existed. And he's been hunting down the entity ever since.
You could also look to Critical Role where the gunslinger becomes part warlock b/c an entity promised him the power to take revenge over people that killed his family.
This seems like a classic post, even if it is a bit older.
Amongst my group I am known for being the Warlock-main. All my characters are Warlocks.
Snow was a Tiefling who got tricked into her Pact. She always had a divine spark as a divine soul sorcerer. When she thought she'd be finally chosen as a Cleric for the War-God she worshipped, it turned out someone else noticed her before that.
Blitz is an Eladrin Hexblade Elf. They ran away as a young child from home in a temper tantrum, only to get lost in the home of an ominous being. That being is calling herself mother and more or less groomed him into the Pact. Nowadays he is so important to my group that he achieved NPC status, overwhelmed mother and became a Patron himself.
Lilith is a Yuan-Ti Halfbreed. I play her as a snake witch. She is very curious and has always been a bookworm. Eventually she found an accumulation of primordial energy manifesting itself as an animal spirit of a white snake. Her Undying Patron.
Rei is a bit more complicated. Lots of family drama; in the end she wasn't acknowledged for her skill because she did things differently than her family tradition. Blitz became her Patron as a mentor.
Ember has a more tragic reason. Her mother cheated on her husband, ending with Ember being born a Tiefling. Although she looks rather humanlike, as soon as her horns grew out the husband knew something was wrong and found out about it. The family broke apart. In the end, Ember decided the only way to bring back piece was to sacrifice him to the nine hells for power. The Pact actually not being of importance here, but rather the opportunity to 'cleanly' dispose of him.
Lothar and his little sister Silvia are a pair of siblings whose choice has been made for them when they were children.
Kaiser exists in a very post-apocalyptic homebrew campaign where Demons are the biggest threat. Being a very militant person, she sold her soul to the nine hells with the condition, that her achievements on earth count towards her promotions as a Devil. This way she can be a leader against the 'Darkness' during as well as after her life. For her, that's a win-win.
Adelaide just wanted to live. She'd been struck sick early in her life, and not even the riches of her family could save her. Her wish to live being that strong, she got the attention of an Undying Patron who put her soul into a doll, making her akin to a warforged.
Jesse is an idiot. I don't have much else to say, but basically Jesse is a Mahou Shoujo aka Magical Girl with their Patron being a Celestial.
Krakenlock being my WIP is just waiting for the Lurker of the Deep to be released. Basically here this will also be another choice between life and death, as they're an ex-pirate who's ship sunk. Would you rather drown or take on a forced pact?
My guy didnt even have a chance to nake a deal. He put on a cursed ring and poof, he is the plaything for a Great Old One. No deal, no pact, no contract. Just, "hey buddy, guess what you ars going to do today." Then when he fails her one time to many, she sells him to a fiend for 50 gold and a case of beer. Yeah, things have gotten SO MUCH BETTER since THAT happened. Still no pact, no deal, no contract. just a whole lot of "welcome the dark side". Never put on a ring that you dont know where it has been.....
My next warlock will be a fiend pact warlock. He's a half-elf who spent nearly 20 years in the King's Rangers and lost his right pointer and index fingers so he could no longer draw a bow or sword. He was discharged and lost his sense of self worth and fell to drink. He ends up with a cult of Fierna and is promised power and purpose to restore his sense of self-worth. All he has to do is sign away his soul, no fuss, no muss. If he can get 4 other people to sign a pact, he gets to keep his soul.
He does this, and tricks some cutthroats into signing their souls away. He sees some of /them/ corrupt some good folks, and his newly found sense of self-worth is turned to ash. He realizes that his evil has condemned his own soul to the hells anyway. He ends up in a church of Mystra, and ends up spilling his story to a priest. The priest agrees with him that he's done great evil, but tells him that his soul is not so black that he cannot be redeemed, and that he should go forth and do the kind of deeds that will re-balance the scales of justice in his own favor. He'll dip into cleric for a few levels, but he'll be mainly a warlock. At three, he'll pick pact of the chain and get an imp familiar. The imp will take the form of the lady cultist/succubus that tricked him into his pact to try and make him feel guilt. When he gains levels, that will be Fierna granting him additional powers, as per the terms of the original agreement; a level means at least one more soul has entered Fierna's service due to the terms of HIS pact, and more that he feels he needs to atone for.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
While technically a pact, my new character's pact is closer to a paladin oath or cleric divinity. And I'll be honest, I went with the entity first because a connection to it would be fun to role play. However, neither cleric or paladin quite fit my vision for what I wanted for the character, while a hexblade warlock, downplaying the "hex" part a little, and combined with some fighter, seemed to fit nearly perfectly for what I wanted, at least through fighter1/warlock5.
Should I have gone with cleric or paladin? Probably
Is the entity a weapon? Not technically, unless you think of a fully formed Megazord or Voltron as a weapon
Is the entity from the Forgotten Realms to match the setting of our campaign? No, but my DM is OK with that part.
Praise Beebo, Blue God of War and Destroyer of Demons! A powerful light of pure goodness who seeks to screw things up for the better!
===========================
Laugh at life or life will laugh at you.
Current D&D Characters:
Kromen Flintfist, Hill Dwarf Order of the Scribes Wizard/Armorer Artificer
Eiphrok, Half-Orc Oath of Glory Paladin/Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer
I am putting together a foppish noble kicked out of the Noble House for being a prodigal (drunkard, gambler, 100 angry husbands). He sold his jewelry to avoid work, but ran out of that money as well. The True tragedy struck him...he would need to get a JOB!!!
Walking between towns, he ran into a group of goblins who gave chase. The young noble hid in a graveyard and found a talking blade. It offered to help him if he would kill for it. He had no choice and he made a pact with a nameless sword. It melded into his arm. He blasted through the goblins and became an adventurer (lots of down time, no pushing papers).
What he doesn't know is the blade was made by strahd von zarovich. It is designed to feed both him and the land of barovia. He doesn't need to commit murder, and adventurers life is all he needs. But by ray, sword or spell, everyone he kills die with a look of horror as their souls (and all their blood) are sucked into Barovia strengthening the very land it self.
Raised by who I made pact with my most ancient ancestor made pact with a fiend and have providing a warlock each generation in exchange for the power and as part of the pact, and the fiend raises the child and teaches them eldritch magics.
My character was fleeing a battle, running away from an army of orcs during the War of the Silver Marches, when I came across Karse, where Karsus offered to give me power and the ability to become the ruler of an empire. I made a pact, he changed me from a female elven warrior into a changeling, and I am now a Hexblade Warlock trying to re-establish Netheril.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Come to think of it...why WOULD someone make a Pact? It almost never ends well.
I'd like to think that at a certain point, people would just start an extensive ad campaign to deter people from making pacts with these otherwordly creatures...
"Remember, kids: If a stranger from another realm offers you power beyond your wildest dreams, just SAY NO."
Desperation or lack of understanding what they were getting into.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
To save their life, like my character mentioned above did.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
In the case of a Celestial Pact with a Diva or other similar being of the higher planes, the better question is "Why to they want you?" Unlike Fiends who obviously just want to eat your soul, or the Archfey or GOOs who don't really need a reason to do anything because they just chaotically act on whims. For the denizens of the higher plains to offer power to greedy or desperate mortals seems just a bit strange. A whole lot of nagging unease can result from the idea that strange things are happening on the higher planes.
My aasimar GOOLock is genuinely working to make the world better. He was visited by a being of golden light and given the simple task of etching a hidden mark in every place of worship he travels to. The symbol is the beacon of hope for the future of all living things. It allows there false worships to be guided to the divine ear. Actually, he is spreading elder signs which are siphoning minuscule amounts of worship/madness to draw power to his master. I based it off of the king in yellow and the idea that words can both drive people to madness and siphon their spirits at the same time.
IMHO, Earthdawn is still the best fantasy realm, Shadowrun is the best Sci-Fi realm, and Dark Sun is the best D&D realm.
Tldr version: PC comes from a very ancient Eladrin line with an elven demigod as a forebear thousands of years ago. And then mom had to eff it all up and marry a human. The pact was, in a way, a subtle rebuke of mom by her father. However, the pact wound up being mutually beneficial.
In order to bring my Warlock to more "Elven ways," and to prevent his far too soon passing from the world, his grandfather gave him a magical tome that he could learn from. The tome itself takes in my Warlock's words and drawings of all things magical that he encounters and provides him with guidance and spells. As he grows in power, he learns more, and must communicate all magical things that he learns. The goal is to provide the patron with more knowledgeof the universe. Eventually, he understood that the book was both communication tool and pact.
Apologies if you've read this next section before in another one of my posts... The being behind the book is an elven demigod that was stolen from a combination of Greek myth (Ourania, the muse of Astronomy, geometry and cartography) and Ilmarë, the Tolkien Maia who is Varda's chief assistant as lady of the stars and light in Lord of the Rings legendaria. Her goal is to find out everything about the world that she can't find out for herself, so she uses warlocks to do so. The demands increase as her warlocks' skill increases. The immediate goal of the patron is clear: acquire all possible knowledge. But why? To what end?
Summary: pacts can be bestowed subtly and even unknowingly and still be beneficial for both sides. There need not be an adversarial relationship or traumatic event that causes the warlock to choose their path.
May the gentle moonlinght guide you to greater wisdom
Do you mean Yellow Signs? Elder Signs are the marks that bind the Great Old Ones, and creating them would generally be against them.
A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
My Improved Lineage System
Ah, yes...yellow signs.
IMHO, Earthdawn is still the best fantasy realm, Shadowrun is the best Sci-Fi realm, and Dark Sun is the best D&D realm.
It's totally harmless!
A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
My Improved Lineage System
I picked up druidcraft, thaumaturgy, and prestidigitation which all are used in the creation of the sigil. The character merely carves the sign with its knife as a physical act, then retraces it with thaumaturgy (powered by the soul), prestidigitation (powered by the will), and druidcraft (powered by the heart) to bind the sigil. the magic dissipates and it looks like a small 1-2 inch set of scratches to those who are unaware of its true potential. There is no other obligation, just spread the sigil and live life in the pursuits of happiness and making the world better for all.
IMHO, Earthdawn is still the best fantasy realm, Shadowrun is the best Sci-Fi realm, and Dark Sun is the best D&D realm.
I'm currently playing a warlock of the genie and his back story is that he is the only survivor of a village that was wiped out by giants, and since his ancestors had made a pact with an efreet that resulted in them basically becoming indentured servants, the efreet sort of claimed him as his, so now he is searching for a way to get out of the pact.
My current fiendlock is a tiefling orphan who made a pact with her "father" (whether or not he actually is hasn't and likely never will be revealed) after an undead apocalypse happened because she didn't want to be zombie chow. She regrets it, but is seriously short of better alternatives.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.