I have a player with a problem and I would like to turn it into an opportunity but I need your help to do so.
This PC is a bard 4 who took a level in warlock because of story reasons (we're playing in Ravnica and his patron became Rakdos itself; I should mention all the party is in the rakdos guild). Now there's a chance they will steer from the rakdos guild and try to change guild or live as a guildless group. This is where the problem arise: how do I handle her warlock level? If she leave Rakdos there should be consequences but I don't want to leave her one level lower than the others and a sudden big red scythe armed boss focused on making her life terrible.
1: Allow her to take a bard level instead. She has to make amends with Rakdos first, which will come at a price.
2: She gets an offer from another patron. Ofcourse, the deal is worse somehow and strictly enforced. Or it's like the first one, as she still has to make amends with her patron.
thank you for your answer. The third point hinders too much the group, I don't want them to feel they have no choice, even if it is maybe the most probable solution.
Allowing her to take a bard level instead is not a bad idea considering she'll have to pay for it (I'm open for suggestions since I dunno how rakdos could let it go easily :D ).
The offer from the other patron is also a good idea, maybe an offer from the the new guildmaster or, if they decide to go guildless, she might be able to keep the pact with Rakdos, which means, from time to time he'll ask for something.
I would probably handle it with IC consequences along the lines of "Your patron pops up in your dreams and asks you why the heck you are being a wussy. What do you say to it?"
The player thus gets a chance to weasle his way out of the situation with good arguments or proper rolls (I prioritize actually making good arguments over rolls). Obviously the patron will eventually realize that they're being conned and bring the pain or simply cut off the warlock's powers. When that happens the warlock better be ready.
As for the loss of powers: It sucks for the player and it should. For a while. You see, the player chose to become a warlock (I assume) and thus should live with the consequences of their actions. If the party goes to leave Rakdos behind, the player should try to prevent that for fear of their powers being revoked. Obviously they can't because of the group dynamic, so they must deal with that. To not ruin the player's fun, a solution needs to be found after a while.
As already mentioned, a new substitute patron could work. Perhaps a pact weapon (Hexblade'ish). Or the warlock level is substituted with another spellcasting class. If all else fails, yes, simply go with a free level in bard.
If the player is up for intrigue, they could keep working for rakdos as a mole in the new guild. Of course, this could set up a player vs player conflict, which is generally bad.
I’ll also second the new patron idea. Maybe let (or force) them re-choose their spells and such to represent their new allegiance. And rakdos guild will attack this traitor on sight from now on, or at least have a special place in their heart for disrupting the party’s plans.
Or if you really want to go far out, make the player quest for something (a ritual, an artifact, some McGuffin or another) to break the deal with rakdos, but allow them to keep their powers (but not increase in warlock any more unless they get a new patron. And a new patron might be tough to come by, since the character is showing how they are willing to break deals). Which would also really upset rakdos even more. But that runs the risk of making the campaign too much about one character.
They were talking about going izzet which would help me a lot since niv mizzet can easily be a good warlock patron :)
I always tell my players that there are consequences to actions so they know what they'll be dealing with if they leave the guild. The idwa to quest for "liberty" actually intrigues me, I think it can provide good companionship and rp.
...and yes, she chose to become a warlock inebriated by the power of rakdos, later regretting the decision when discovered that rakdos is not very careful with his cultists XD
The PHB says a warlock can have an adversarial relationship with its patron, and personally I don't like punishing players for class choices, so I would let it slide with maybe some flavor (like a dream indicating the patrons displeasure).
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Hi all,
I have a player with a problem and I would like to turn it into an opportunity but I need your help to do so.
This PC is a bard 4 who took a level in warlock because of story reasons (we're playing in Ravnica and his patron became Rakdos itself; I should mention all the party is in the rakdos guild). Now there's a chance they will steer from the rakdos guild and try to change guild or live as a guildless group. This is where the problem arise: how do I handle her warlock level? If she leave Rakdos there should be consequences but I don't want to leave her one level lower than the others and a sudden big red scythe armed boss focused on making her life terrible.
How should I handle this situation?
1: Allow her to take a bard level instead. She has to make amends with Rakdos first, which will come at a price.
2: She gets an offer from another patron. Ofcourse, the deal is worse somehow and strictly enforced. Or it's like the first one, as she still has to make amends with her patron.
3: Rakdos won't allow her to leave.
thank you for your answer. The third point hinders too much the group, I don't want them to feel they have no choice, even if it is maybe the most probable solution.
Allowing her to take a bard level instead is not a bad idea considering she'll have to pay for it (I'm open for suggestions since I dunno how rakdos could let it go easily :D ).
The offer from the other patron is also a good idea, maybe an offer from the the new guildmaster or, if they decide to go guildless, she might be able to keep the pact with Rakdos, which means, from time to time he'll ask for something.
I would probably handle it with IC consequences along the lines of "Your patron pops up in your dreams and asks you why the heck you are being a wussy. What do you say to it?"
The player thus gets a chance to weasle his way out of the situation with good arguments or proper rolls (I prioritize actually making good arguments over rolls). Obviously the patron will eventually realize that they're being conned and bring the pain or simply cut off the warlock's powers. When that happens the warlock better be ready.
As for the loss of powers: It sucks for the player and it should. For a while. You see, the player chose to become a warlock (I assume) and thus should live with the consequences of their actions. If the party goes to leave Rakdos behind, the player should try to prevent that for fear of their powers being revoked. Obviously they can't because of the group dynamic, so they must deal with that. To not ruin the player's fun, a solution needs to be found after a while.
As already mentioned, a new substitute patron could work. Perhaps a pact weapon (Hexblade'ish). Or the warlock level is substituted with another spellcasting class. If all else fails, yes, simply go with a free level in bard.
Let chaos rain... uh, reign!
If the player is up for intrigue, they could keep working for rakdos as a mole in the new guild. Of course, this could set up a player vs player conflict, which is generally bad.
I’ll also second the new patron idea. Maybe let (or force) them re-choose their spells and such to represent their new allegiance. And rakdos guild will attack this traitor on sight from now on, or at least have a special place in their heart for disrupting the party’s plans.
Or if you really want to go far out, make the player quest for something (a ritual, an artifact, some McGuffin or another) to break the deal with rakdos, but allow them to keep their powers (but not increase in warlock any more unless they get a new patron. And a new patron might be tough to come by, since the character is showing how they are willing to break deals). Which would also really upset rakdos even more. But that runs the risk of making the campaign too much about one character.
They were talking about going izzet which would help me a lot since niv mizzet can easily be a good warlock patron :)
I always tell my players that there are consequences to actions so they know what they'll be dealing with if they leave the guild. The idwa to quest for "liberty" actually intrigues me, I think it can provide good companionship and rp.
...and yes, she chose to become a warlock inebriated by the power of rakdos, later regretting the decision when discovered that rakdos is not very careful with his cultists XD
The PHB says a warlock can have an adversarial relationship with its patron, and personally I don't like punishing players for class choices, so I would let it slide with maybe some flavor (like a dream indicating the patrons displeasure).