I had been thinking about Warlocks a lot recently (specifically potential patrons) and came up with an idea for a new NPC as a result: Nethaniel, the Warlock. (It's spelled that way on purpose.
Nethaniel is extremely excitable - almost everything he does or happens to him is a new experience to him will give him great joy. (I imagine when my PCs first encounter him he'll be excited at being able to wear clothes). He also has a thirst for knowledge and will binge read at libraries if given the chance and exhibits abilities similar to those that form a pact with a Great Elder One. Either he doesn't remember making a pact or he's hiding it as well as his identity - who really knows.
For those of you not familiar, in 3rd Edition D&D there was a book called the "Manual of the Planes". One of the listed demiplanes was identified as a "living" plane, Neth. Neth has the ability to make the equivalent of flesh golems from itself, to send them out to the multiverse, collect knowledge, and then they return to be reabsorbed, knowledge and all. The idea is that Nethaniel would be one of these flesh golems that unexpectedly has more autonomy than most of it's counterparts. He still carries with him the desire to learn and obtain knowledge, but he's forgotten where he came from. I have yet to decide if he'll get the urge to find his way back to Neth eventually or if he'll be innately afraid of any gateways that lead out of the plane. Maybe both?
The question is how to execute this. I know the original book suggests to use Flesh Golem stats for the avatars, but the idea behind Nethaniel is that he is relatively unique among the avatars of Neth. While the Flesh Golems Neth normally produces were made to obtain knowledge, Nethaniel was created to gather experiences. I was considering using Changelings as a base instead - the avatars of Neth can take on any shape, so it seemed like a logical next step. I'm interesting in hearing about your ideas/seeing your input.
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Feel free to check out my home brew, the Laika - a race of humanoid canines. (Current Version: 3)
If you are making Nethaniel like a normal PC with a character sheet, just make him a human or kalashtar warlock and go from there. If you are using a monster stat block for him, you could always just run with the Warlock of the Great Old One with a few slight adjustments to taste.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
I had been thinking about Warlocks a lot recently (specifically potential patrons) and came up with an idea for a new NPC as a result: Nethaniel, the Warlock. (It's spelled that way on purpose.
Nethaniel is extremely excitable - almost everything he does or happens to him is a new experience to him will give him great joy. (I imagine when my PCs first encounter him he'll be excited at being able to wear clothes). He also has a thirst for knowledge and will binge read at libraries if given the chance and exhibits abilities similar to those that form a pact with a Great Elder One. Either he doesn't remember making a pact or he's hiding it as well as his identity - who really knows.
For those of you not familiar, in 3rd Edition D&D there was a book called the "Manual of the Planes". One of the listed demiplanes was identified as a "living" plane, Neth. Neth has the ability to make the equivalent of flesh golems from itself, to send them out to the multiverse, collect knowledge, and then they return to be reabsorbed, knowledge and all. The idea is that Nethaniel would be one of these flesh golems that unexpectedly has more autonomy than most of it's counterparts. He still carries with him the desire to learn and obtain knowledge, but he's forgotten where he came from. I have yet to decide if he'll get the urge to find his way back to Neth eventually or if he'll be innately afraid of any gateways that lead out of the plane. Maybe both?
The question is how to execute this. I know the original book suggests to use Flesh Golem stats for the avatars, but the idea behind Nethaniel is that he is relatively unique among the avatars of Neth. While the Flesh Golems Neth normally produces were made to obtain knowledge, Nethaniel was created to gather experiences. I was considering using Changelings as a base instead - the avatars of Neth can take on any shape, so it seemed like a logical next step. I'm interesting in hearing about your ideas/seeing your input.
Feel free to check out my home brew, the Laika - a race of humanoid canines. (Current Version: 3)
If you are making Nethaniel like a normal PC with a character sheet, just make him a human or kalashtar warlock and go from there. If you are using a monster stat block for him, you could always just run with the Warlock of the Great Old One with a few slight adjustments to taste.
I don't have Volo's Guide to Monsters, but I like the idea of making him a Kalashtar! THanks for your input. ^ ^
Feel free to check out my home brew, the Laika - a race of humanoid canines. (Current Version: 3)