Hi! I've been playing D&D for seven year, but right now, I'm starting to DM my first campaign. One of the characters in my campaign is a hexblade warlock, and I am trying to DM his sentient weapon. First of all, what exactly is the relationship between the hexblade warlock and his patron? I've read through the warlock class section on the website, but I wasn't able to get a real strong grasp for that relationship and how to develop it; the class as a whole left the relationship pretty ambiguous, and the hexblade section didn't go into detail about the relationship either. Second, I know that he is able to talk to communicate with his patron through his weapon, but I'm trying to figure out how he talks to it. Does it talk to him like the traveler talks to Jester in Critical Role, can he have full conversations with it, or is it something in between? I've never had a warlock in any of my campaigns, so I'm really unfamiliar with the class. Does anyone have any advice? Thank you so much!
A warlock's relationship with their patron isnt dependant on the type of patron, but can vary widely regardless. A fiend and celestial warlock may have similar interactions with their respective patrons, while two archfae warlocks have very different interactions with theirs.
Basically the patron is paying the warlock to do a job or jobs and the payment is power (the class abilities). But the type and amount of contact a patron has with the warlock will all depend on you (the DM). Examples include:
A devil (fiend) who wants the warlock's soul when they die and has no interaction with them after the contract is made.
An angel (celestial) communicates with a warlock through prophetic dreams to prevent a great evil from causing disaster.
A warlock seeking power is answered by a demon (fiend) or unseelie fae (archfae) who grant the warlock the power they seek, but torment them with cruel requests.
The means of communication can vary such as dreams, messages in nature only the warlock can see, telepathy, or through messengers.
If you're stumped, and just need a pattern to follow, I think DxJxC's suggestion are as good to follow as any other.
However, if you want to run with it, and put in the time, then I think the answer starts with the DM creating the Patron as a character: who are they, what is their situation, what do they want, what are their capabilities, what is their personality, and - perhaps most important - what is their motivation for creating magical agents in the world, and what do they hope to accomplish by making them?
That will answer a lot of questions about how the Warlock / Patron relationship will be influenced.
IMHO, the books don't give a lot of a details about Patron/Warlock relationships is because those relationships are pretty unique to the individuals involved ( or at least customized to the needs of the Patron ) - kind of like you might find general advice on relationships, but you'll never find a manual for your relationship with your spouse or current significant other.
They are, however, contractual relationships, not personal ones like you'd have with a God/Cleric interaction.
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... if you want to run with it, and put in the time, then I think the answer starts with the DM creating the Patron as a character: who are they, what is their situation, what do they want, what are their capabilities, what is their personality, and - perhaps most important - what is their motivation for creating magical agents in the world, and what do they hope to accomplish by making them?
This is a good idea. You don't necessarily need a whole character sheet, but having alignment, characteristics, ideal, bond, and flaw (and maybe INT, WIS, and CHA scores) written out will give you something to refer to in your interactions.
The thing with Hexblades is that their Patron could be almost anything, that's why it's vague in the first place. The most common Hexblade I see is a Shadowfell based Patron that gives a special weapon to the Hexblade. The Hexblade I usually play technically has no Patron, his abilities come from a Death Curse placed on his family that he survived. In the particular case you have presented, yours is using a sentient weapon, so....
What is that weapon? Does it contain the soul of a former Adventurer? Was it crafted by a God or Demon for a specific purpose? Does it have a personal score to settle? Does killing give it an emotional high, or does it regret the enemies it must slay to complete it's quest? Is the Patron specifically the Weapon, or is it something connected to the Weapon?
If this is a kick-in-the-door campaign then none of this stuff maters, just play and ignore it. Otherwise, talk to your player, it is their character and they should present ideas about what they want their Patron to be. Ask them to talk about their character, the relationship they have with their Patron, and why. If their Patron is not specifically the Weapon, then you need to envision two entities: the Patron and the Weapon they connect through to the character.
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Hi! I've been playing D&D for seven year, but right now, I'm starting to DM my first campaign. One of the characters in my campaign is a hexblade warlock, and I am trying to DM his sentient weapon. First of all, what exactly is the relationship between the hexblade warlock and his patron? I've read through the warlock class section on the website, but I wasn't able to get a real strong grasp for that relationship and how to develop it; the class as a whole left the relationship pretty ambiguous, and the hexblade section didn't go into detail about the relationship either. Second, I know that he is able to talk to communicate with his patron through his weapon, but I'm trying to figure out how he talks to it. Does it talk to him like the traveler talks to Jester in Critical Role, can he have full conversations with it, or is it something in between? I've never had a warlock in any of my campaigns, so I'm really unfamiliar with the class. Does anyone have any advice? Thank you so much!
A warlock's relationship with their patron isnt dependant on the type of patron, but can vary widely regardless. A fiend and celestial warlock may have similar interactions with their respective patrons, while two archfae warlocks have very different interactions with theirs.
Basically the patron is paying the warlock to do a job or jobs and the payment is power (the class abilities). But the type and amount of contact a patron has with the warlock will all depend on you (the DM). Examples include:
The means of communication can vary such as dreams, messages in nature only the warlock can see, telepathy, or through messengers.
Hope this all helps.
Warlocks have a lot of customization potential.
If you're stumped, and just need a pattern to follow, I think DxJxC's suggestion are as good to follow as any other.
However, if you want to run with it, and put in the time, then I think the answer starts with the DM creating the Patron as a character: who are they, what is their situation, what do they want, what are their capabilities, what is their personality, and - perhaps most important - what is their motivation for creating magical agents in the world, and what do they hope to accomplish by making them?
That will answer a lot of questions about how the Warlock / Patron relationship will be influenced.
IMHO, the books don't give a lot of a details about Patron/Warlock relationships is because those relationships are pretty unique to the individuals involved ( or at least customized to the needs of the Patron ) - kind of like you might find general advice on relationships, but you'll never find a manual for your relationship with your spouse or current significant other.
They are, however, contractual relationships, not personal ones like you'd have with a God/Cleric interaction.
Best of Luck!
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
This is a good idea. You don't necessarily need a whole character sheet, but having alignment, characteristics, ideal, bond, and flaw (and maybe INT, WIS, and CHA scores) written out will give you something to refer to in your interactions.
The thing with Hexblades is that their Patron could be almost anything, that's why it's vague in the first place. The most common Hexblade I see is a Shadowfell based Patron that gives a special weapon to the Hexblade. The Hexblade I usually play technically has no Patron, his abilities come from a Death Curse placed on his family that he survived. In the particular case you have presented, yours is using a sentient weapon, so....
What is that weapon? Does it contain the soul of a former Adventurer? Was it crafted by a God or Demon for a specific purpose? Does it have a personal score to settle? Does killing give it an emotional high, or does it regret the enemies it must slay to complete it's quest? Is the Patron specifically the Weapon, or is it something connected to the Weapon?
If this is a kick-in-the-door campaign then none of this stuff maters, just play and ignore it. Otherwise, talk to your player, it is their character and they should present ideas about what they want their Patron to be. Ask them to talk about their character, the relationship they have with their Patron, and why. If their Patron is not specifically the Weapon, then you need to envision two entities: the Patron and the Weapon they connect through to the character.