I'm really excited because I gave an idea to the DM about why she's a warlock (she died as an infant and her parents made the pact for her to save her), but I have no idea if that is what he's going with, she has no idea why she has these powers, what was given for them. Best she knows is that her Patron told her that her parents 'needed bountiful lands' (which she is screaming BS because that's two benefits to her/her family and no supposed tradeoff to the patron).
We're a year and a half into the campaign and just hit my arc this week. I'm really excited to see where this goes, and what becomes of it. Right now, I'm wondering what kind of things she could ask for in desperation to save her parents, when she already has a patron (genie). She's desperate to save them from an execution, but I can't for the life of me think of what she could ask for that would weigh the tides on her side enough to save them.
Soldier Background - sent on a suicide mission against impossible odds, you watched as your comrades were decimated by the enemy…it was only with the help of your Patron…who appeared as you were wounded & dying… that you survived…worse, you were hailed as a hero for being the sole-survivor.
Urchin Background - you made your living scraping by on the streets, begging or stealing whatever meager coin you could muster; until a kindly citizen showed you unexpected kindness…giving you a roof, food & clothing. It was only after you accepted these gifts that this charitable citizen revealed their true, magical form as your Patron; and you realized that your life would never be the same…
Acolyte - you spent you young adult life in a temple, serving the gods with piousness & academic diligence. Deep in your heart, however, you envied the paladins of your order: armored warriors who were brave, strong & achieved great deeds while traveling the world. Yearning to be like them, you reached out to an entity who could fulfill your wish…a genie, or a sentient weapon. This Patron bestowed upon you the martial skill that would allow you to become the greatest warrior of your holy order…though you were the symbol of your guard upon your tunic; it is your Patron you owe your power to.
Now you find yourself torn between your faith & your Patron’s “blessings”…
Desperation, greed, vengeance, wanting power quickly, or their goals align with the patron; These Patrons don't have to be evil, celestials; one of the Genies (Djinni) and some arch fey are even good aligned (Titania, Oberon, etc), and Marid (Genie) and some arch fey like Verenestra are Neutrals. Maybe there is a history in their family or town of getting into pacts with that patron. Maybe they or one of their followers saved your life (could work for Arch fey). Maybe a patron healed someone you care for or did another service for you in exchange for your service (think Ghost Rider's deal with a demon to heal his father which was a trick because his father died soon after).
My current warlock was a human who found a lamp with a djinn inside it. She wished for power and adventure, and the genie turned her into an air genasi and made her a warlock bound to the genie. The genie's fairly benevolent, as pact masters go, and simply requires things like regular gifts of fine wines, honey cakes, and candied dates.
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.
i've been pining piteously for a chance to bring to the table my time traveling warlock. well, less "traveling" and more "unfrozen after a thousand years." while almost entirely unremarkable in every other way, Ken is secretly improbably lucky. how else do you describe stumbling into the attentions of three incredibly powerful beings, each with their own designs on this witless pawn? first there's the slobbering, animalistic demon familiar adopted as a "cute" pet / mascot / garbage dispose-all by Ken's friend. but when no one else is around the thing becomes incredibly articulate, trying to convince Ken that he's the savior of the universe prophesied to defeat a giant glowing brain from space. meh, why stress till it shows up? then there's the rogue modron "accidentally" summoned from, of all places, sanctioned exile in the nine hells where they've taken to corrupting souls like some sort of robot devil. the warlock is thoroughly tempted by the chance to master a musical instrument without any intervening effort. and last is an ancient kraken who found the warlock's petrified (for the second or third time) body sunk in the ocean depths. good ole Slark set the seeds for eldritch power alight in frozen Ken's mind and returned him to the surface. all that's asked in return is the occasional report back on fun tidbits about magical artifacts, libraries, rituals, and rifts on the surface world above where dark tentacles cannot yet reach. not yet. oh, and maybe start a cult of the tentacle to prepare the way for... whatever.
that's a lot of backstory but the intent is to use the UA-5 playtest version of warlock so that a main patron really isn't necessary until 3rd level. that spreads it out a bit. anyway, Ken really takes a lot of this in stride like it's any other Tuesday so no single interaction has to become a big deal.
sigh. it's just so hard to find the time. but, hey, i hear new episodes of Futurama are on their way. which i mention for no particular reason, but is nice.
Currently making my first warlock to join in a campaign my friend is starting with his family. His wife and son are first timers, so making melee classes, I figured I'd pick up some magic to balance things out.
Being a big fan of the fey realm, my original thoughts were of making a pact with an arch fey, but wasn't sure how to work the motivation & circumstances in. I eventually came to the idea of my character being a sailor on a merchant ship which gets attacked by pirates during a storm at sea. Trying to flee the pirates, the ships collide and sink, my character sinking into the depths.
In the struggle of drowning, in complete darkness of the ocean at night, and clutching an ornate dagger that my character picked up off the fallen captain during the fight with the pirates (used it to kill a pirate, first ever kill), a presence is felt. Not sure if it was a voice or just the feeling of a voice, loses consciousness and wakes up washed up on shore, still holding the dagger.
I figure that during that blackout moment, a pact was made, presumably for survival but no idea with whom or for what in return. This ambiguity gives me plenty of flexibility for how I decide to play the character throughout the campaign.
Having determined that to be the backstory, naturally the Fathomless would be the ideal choice. And as for the significance of the dagger, it is going to be of fey origin (no more powerful than a regular dagger, just flavour) and I am going to use that as both justification for the fey touched feat, but also as a reskinned arcane focus.
The character is going to be toeing the line between having no idea why he suddenly has these powers (no memory of the pact, no idea what's special about the dagger) and deliberately secretive about much of it. Might try convincing the other players he is just a sorcerer who unlocked his powers late in life, hiding the warlock angle.
What about some variety of sea fey? if things such as hags can be a fey patron, why not something more nautical themed?
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.
Tasha
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I'm really excited because I gave an idea to the DM about why she's a warlock (she died as an infant and her parents made the pact for her to save her), but I have no idea if that is what he's going with, she has no idea why she has these powers, what was given for them. Best she knows is that her Patron told her that her parents 'needed bountiful lands' (which she is screaming BS because that's two benefits to her/her family and no supposed tradeoff to the patron).
We're a year and a half into the campaign and just hit my arc this week. I'm really excited to see where this goes, and what becomes of it. Right now, I'm wondering what kind of things she could ask for in desperation to save her parents, when she already has a patron (genie). She's desperate to save them from an execution, but I can't for the life of me think of what she could ask for that would weigh the tides on her side enough to save them.
Soldier Background - sent on a suicide mission against impossible odds, you watched as your comrades were decimated by the enemy…it was only with the help of your Patron…who appeared as you were wounded & dying… that you survived…worse, you were hailed as a hero for being the sole-survivor.
Urchin Background - you made your living scraping by on the streets, begging or stealing whatever meager coin you could muster; until a kindly citizen showed you unexpected kindness…giving you a roof, food & clothing. It was only after you accepted these gifts that this charitable citizen revealed their true, magical form as your Patron; and you realized that your life would never be the same…
Acolyte - you spent you young adult life in a temple, serving the gods with piousness & academic diligence. Deep in your heart, however, you envied the paladins of your order: armored warriors who were brave, strong & achieved great deeds while traveling the world. Yearning to be like them, you reached out to an entity who could fulfill your wish…a genie, or a sentient weapon. This Patron bestowed upon you the martial skill that would allow you to become the greatest warrior of your holy order…though you were the symbol of your guard upon your tunic; it is your Patron you owe your power to.
Now you find yourself torn between your faith & your Patron’s “blessings”…
Desperation, greed, vengeance, wanting power quickly, or their goals align with the patron; These Patrons don't have to be evil, celestials; one of the Genies (Djinni) and some arch fey are even good aligned (Titania, Oberon, etc), and Marid (Genie) and some arch fey like Verenestra are Neutrals. Maybe there is a history in their family or town of getting into pacts with that patron. Maybe they or one of their followers saved your life (could work for Arch fey). Maybe a patron healed someone you care for or did another service for you in exchange for your service (think Ghost Rider's deal with a demon to heal his father which was a trick because his father died soon after).
Food, Scifi/fantasy, anime, DND 5E/RPG geek.
My current warlock was a human who found a lamp with a djinn inside it. She wished for power and adventure, and the genie turned her into an air genasi and made her a warlock bound to the genie. The genie's fairly benevolent, as pact masters go, and simply requires things like regular gifts of fine wines, honey cakes, and candied dates.
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.
i've been pining piteously for a chance to bring to the table my time traveling warlock. well, less "traveling" and more "unfrozen after a thousand years." while almost entirely unremarkable in every other way, Ken is secretly improbably lucky. how else do you describe stumbling into the attentions of three incredibly powerful beings, each with their own designs on this witless pawn? first there's the slobbering, animalistic demon familiar adopted as a "cute" pet / mascot / garbage dispose-all by Ken's friend. but when no one else is around the thing becomes incredibly articulate, trying to convince Ken that he's the savior of the universe prophesied to defeat a giant glowing brain from space. meh, why stress till it shows up? then there's the rogue modron "accidentally" summoned from, of all places, sanctioned exile in the nine hells where they've taken to corrupting souls like some sort of robot devil. the warlock is thoroughly tempted by the chance to master a musical instrument without any intervening effort. and last is an ancient kraken who found the warlock's petrified (for the second or third time) body sunk in the ocean depths. good ole Slark set the seeds for eldritch power alight in frozen Ken's mind and returned him to the surface. all that's asked in return is the occasional report back on fun tidbits about magical artifacts, libraries, rituals, and rifts on the surface world above where dark tentacles cannot yet reach. not yet. oh, and maybe start a cult of the tentacle to prepare the way for... whatever.
that's a lot of backstory but the intent is to use the UA-5 playtest version of warlock so that a main patron really isn't necessary until 3rd level. that spreads it out a bit. anyway, Ken really takes a lot of this in stride like it's any other Tuesday so no single interaction has to become a big deal.
sigh. it's just so hard to find the time. but, hey, i hear new episodes of Futurama are on their way. which i mention for no particular reason, but is nice.
Currently making my first warlock to join in a campaign my friend is starting with his family. His wife and son are first timers, so making melee classes, I figured I'd pick up some magic to balance things out.
Being a big fan of the fey realm, my original thoughts were of making a pact with an arch fey, but wasn't sure how to work the motivation & circumstances in.
I eventually came to the idea of my character being a sailor on a merchant ship which gets attacked by pirates during a storm at sea. Trying to flee the pirates, the ships collide and sink, my character sinking into the depths.
In the struggle of drowning, in complete darkness of the ocean at night, and clutching an ornate dagger that my character picked up off the fallen captain during the fight with the pirates (used it to kill a pirate, first ever kill), a presence is felt. Not sure if it was a voice or just the feeling of a voice, loses consciousness and wakes up washed up on shore, still holding the dagger.
I figure that during that blackout moment, a pact was made, presumably for survival but no idea with whom or for what in return. This ambiguity gives me plenty of flexibility for how I decide to play the character throughout the campaign.
Having determined that to be the backstory, naturally the Fathomless would be the ideal choice. And as for the significance of the dagger, it is going to be of fey origin (no more powerful than a regular dagger, just flavour) and I am going to use that as both justification for the fey touched feat, but also as a reskinned arcane focus.
The character is going to be toeing the line between having no idea why he suddenly has these powers (no memory of the pact, no idea what's special about the dagger) and deliberately secretive about much of it. Might try convincing the other players he is just a sorcerer who unlocked his powers late in life, hiding the warlock angle.
What about some variety of sea fey? if things such as hags can be a fey patron, why not something more nautical themed?
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