So, I'm running curse of strahd right now, and one player told me he wants to be a warlock. woohoo!! love those. anyway, I ask about the subclass he's thinking of, and he tells me he wants the great old one. so then i start thinking of patron ideas for him.
my idea was for argynvost to be the patron, and him be more great old one like, less mortal. sort of like The opposing force to strahd being alive. But i got some feedback and now im not sure about argynvost being a great old one at all.
ive considered the dark powers as a patron, and having them drive the character towards strahd. (maybe they could want the character to not kill him but keep his suffering going idk) but i dont think my player wants an evil patron.
i guess my question is: would argynvost be a good GOO patron? would the dark powers be better?
Argynvost was a dragon, not an elder thing. It's kinda hard to avoid evil patrons for most warlock pacts, though GOO patrons might be mad or incomprehensible rather than actively evil. The ones mention in the GOO patrons (Ghaunadar, Tharizdun, Dendar the Night Serpent, Zargon the Returner) are all elder evils.
The god-brain of Bluetspar would fit the setting, but... also evil. Several of the entities in the amber vaults also fit; I'd probably look at Savnok, Khirad, and Yrrga as most appropriate, but lots work.
I think story-wise, you could make Argynvost work as a warlock patron. His spirit hasn't departed, can't depart in fact, so finding a worthy recipient of what power he has left to try and save both him and his knights makes some sense
I have a lot more trouble imagining him as a GOO patron, though. Hexblade, Celestial or even Undead would be the obvious choices. I could even see a reskinned Genie, with the Vessel being some relic of Argyvostholt that fell into the character's possession when [backstory]. But GOO? I have a hard time getting from 'silver dragon' to 'psychic powers'
As for the Dark Powers... I would stay well away from them as a PC patron, to be honest. It doesn't make a lot of sense with Strahd's imprisonment
I think your best bet, if you want to give their backstory some Barovian ties, might be to come up with a patron that might have reasons of their own for pointing their warlock in the direction of the Amber Temple
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I think it's fine to use a vestige. Their goals are simple
get people to the amber temple
get people to accept their dark gift
shatter the amber sarcophagi
Other than that they should be a mystery. Spooky dreams, no direct communication. If a player shatters a sarcophagus have a big spectacle and then just silence. Something happened but theyre no longer part of it. They've been payed in power and their job is over.
I personally recommend Zrin-Hala. When freed there can be a big dramatic storm that twists up into the sky eventually disappearing into it. Its also easy to make the dark gift more involved. Just make it so after it expires they gain the dhampirs vampiric bite feature and a hunger for spinal fluid. Successfully killing a humanoid with it restores their droopy face and gives them a charge of lightning bolt until the end of the day.
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So, I'm running curse of strahd right now, and one player told me he wants to be a warlock. woohoo!! love those. anyway, I ask about the subclass he's thinking of, and he tells me he wants the great old one. so then i start thinking of patron ideas for him.
my idea was for argynvost to be the patron, and him be more great old one like, less mortal. sort of like The opposing force to strahd being alive. But i got some feedback and now im not sure about argynvost being a great old one at all.
ive considered the dark powers as a patron, and having them drive the character towards strahd. (maybe they could want the character to not kill him but keep his suffering going idk) but i dont think my player wants an evil patron.
i guess my question is: would argynvost be a good GOO patron? would the dark powers be better?
Argynvost was a dragon, not an elder thing. It's kinda hard to avoid evil patrons for most warlock pacts, though GOO patrons might be mad or incomprehensible rather than actively evil. The ones mention in the GOO patrons (Ghaunadar, Tharizdun, Dendar the Night Serpent, Zargon the Returner) are all elder evils.
The god-brain of Bluetspar would fit the setting, but... also evil. Several of the entities in the amber vaults also fit; I'd probably look at Savnok, Khirad, and Yrrga as most appropriate, but lots work.
I think story-wise, you could make Argynvost work as a warlock patron. His spirit hasn't departed, can't depart in fact, so finding a worthy recipient of what power he has left to try and save both him and his knights makes some sense
I have a lot more trouble imagining him as a GOO patron, though. Hexblade, Celestial or even Undead would be the obvious choices. I could even see a reskinned Genie, with the Vessel being some relic of Argyvostholt that fell into the character's possession when [backstory]. But GOO? I have a hard time getting from 'silver dragon' to 'psychic powers'
As for the Dark Powers... I would stay well away from them as a PC patron, to be honest. It doesn't make a lot of sense with Strahd's imprisonment
I think your best bet, if you want to give their backstory some Barovian ties, might be to come up with a patron that might have reasons of their own for pointing their warlock in the direction of the Amber Temple
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I think it's fine to use a vestige. Their goals are simple
Other than that they should be a mystery. Spooky dreams, no direct communication. If a player shatters a sarcophagus have a big spectacle and then just silence. Something happened but theyre no longer part of it. They've been payed in power and their job is over.
I personally recommend Zrin-Hala. When freed there can be a big dramatic storm that twists up into the sky eventually disappearing into it. Its also easy to make the dark gift more involved. Just make it so after it expires they gain the dhampirs vampiric bite feature and a hunger for spinal fluid. Successfully killing a humanoid with it restores their droopy face and gives them a charge of lightning bolt until the end of the day.