One of my players has 11 levels of bard and 2 levels of warlock. She secretly follows a god that is different from her patron and I thought it might be interesting if her patron ordered her to kill a cleric of her god.
If she betrays her patron in favor of her god it would make sense for her to lose her warlock levels because she would be out of favor with her patron. I could let her keep her levels by saying that her god is her new patron, but it seems like kind of a cop out.
I don't want my player to be forced to lose the abilities that they chose for their character, but it would also be cool for the choice of whether to follow her god or patron to have real consequences. If it's too much trouble I just won't have her warlock order her to kill the cleric but it seems like it could be a cool dilemma for the character. What do you think I should do?
Warlock patrons are not (typically) deities and the powers they grant warlocks are permanent. Here's a reference from the class description:
The magic bestowed on a warlock ranges from minor but lasting alterations to the warlock’s being
Lasting is the important word here. If a Warlock crosses their patron, they may not get more Warlock levels, but they don't lose the ones they have. So the threat from the patron becomes "Do as I ask or gain nothing more."
Also, why does the patron want the cleric dead? Yes, you are creating a situation where there's a dilemma, but why? What's the good story there? The patron should stand to gain something that makes sense to their priorities. You've got the fun flip moment defined, but it's the story that matters most long after the campaign ends.
Yeah, as a general rule, you don’t want to take things away from players. It could be fair to say they can’t take more levels in warlock, but not very fair to lose existing levels. And also, make those consequences clear, if you do x, y will happen; if you do a, b will happen. Be as meta-gamey as you need to in order for the player to understand just what is going on. Giving a crappy choice can actually be kind of fun. Giving no choice, or making the choice for them, is not fun.
The characters god is the god of mischief, so I was thinking that the cleric would be some kind of jester that was playing pranks on the patrons followers and messing up their plans
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One of my players has 11 levels of bard and 2 levels of warlock. She secretly follows a god that is different from her patron and I thought it might be interesting if her patron ordered her to kill a cleric of her god.
If she betrays her patron in favor of her god it would make sense for her to lose her warlock levels because she would be out of favor with her patron. I could let her keep her levels by saying that her god is her new patron, but it seems like kind of a cop out.
I don't want my player to be forced to lose the abilities that they chose for their character, but it would also be cool for the choice of whether to follow her god or patron to have real consequences. If it's too much trouble I just won't have her warlock order her to kill the cleric but it seems like it could be a cool dilemma for the character. What do you think I should do?
Warlock patrons are not (typically) deities and the powers they grant warlocks are permanent. Here's a reference from the class description:
Lasting is the important word here. If a Warlock crosses their patron, they may not get more Warlock levels, but they don't lose the ones they have. So the threat from the patron becomes "Do as I ask or gain nothing more."
Also, why does the patron want the cleric dead? Yes, you are creating a situation where there's a dilemma, but why? What's the good story there? The patron should stand to gain something that makes sense to their priorities. You've got the fun flip moment defined, but it's the story that matters most long after the campaign ends.
Yeah, as a general rule, you don’t want to take things away from players. It could be fair to say they can’t take more levels in warlock, but not very fair to lose existing levels. And also, make those consequences clear, if you do x, y will happen; if you do a, b will happen. Be as meta-gamey as you need to in order for the player to understand just what is going on.
Giving a crappy choice can actually be kind of fun. Giving no choice, or making the choice for them, is not fun.
The characters god is the god of mischief, so I was thinking that the cleric would be some kind of jester that was playing pranks on the patrons followers and messing up their plans