I was designing a character around the haunted one origin which eventually lead me into choosing warlock class, and now i want to know if my reasoning for the choice is valid. As in my character has in a way accidentally made a pact at some point, like maybe prayed at a time of need and the deity would have taken that as a signed deal, granted power and the character would have taken that power without realizing where it actually originated from, only being grateful their prayers have been answered and assuming some of the powers come from the haunted background and have always been there lying dormant. Would that sound plausible to you in any way? (btw i added the poll just because I love making polls, actual answers and conversation appreciated^^)
The rules don't care about the mechanics of a warlock's pact. Warlock patrons usually aren't the sort of full-blown deities that would answer prayers and grant spells to clerics, so it'd be very unusual for someone to accidentally become a warlock through prayer. But as usual, there can be exceptions: Asmodeus is both a powerful fiend and a deity in the Forgotten Realms, and the lore for the Hexblade suggests the patron's true identity is the Raven Queen, which is also considered a deity.
It'd be very appropriate for a fiend, archfey, or great old one patron to trick a desperate mortal into service without telling them all of the fine print; that kind of thing happens all the time in real world mythology and folklore. So if you think that's a fun story for a character to have, go for it. But if you're not the DM, go talk to them. This is a worldbuilding decision that concerns them. A good DM will help you work out the details.
I think it could happen. The character somehow made a pact with a patron without realizing it. The exact situation being worked out between player and DM. As InquisitiveCoder says the rules mechanics don't care how the character became a warlock.
I ran with the idea for one of my players. They tapped into the power of a Great Old One and had no clue for a couple levels. She spoke to the Draconic Sorcerer in the group to figure out what was happening and they realized it wasn't a blood lineage thing like that. Spoke to the Bard to see if there were stories or if there was lore about something like this. Of course they simply had the fairy tales and folklore, nothing concrete. Eventually the GOO woke from his slumber and they had a long talk about siphoning power, servitude, and avatar status.
I think the unknowing pact absolutely works, particularly when you're dealing with more alien entities who operate on a "legal system" mortals don't understand. Maybe you fell asleep in a mushroom circle in a certain forest, and under fey law, this signifies agreement to a pact, or something like that.
An unknowing pact can be a lot of fun for player and DM to work out! Since pacts are mostly with powerful beings who's motives could be less straightforward then a god it's very possible to be gifted powers but not told why. It doesn't have to be evil intent either. I had a player who's character's family in the distant past had helped an ancient gold dragon, and as a reward it has gifted some of it's power to the firstborn of every generation since. But that real story had been lost, and now they just think they have awesome powers from their family line.
Another possibility is gods have tons of clerics who are general, all purpose servants. Some gods can decide to have a warlock who they speak to directly and regularly as more of a hands on servant who they assign specific tasks to that they don't want to assign to their clerics.
I actually just played a warlock The Great Old One patron that was turned into warlock by cult experimentation using a relic of the old one to impower their members. The patron specifically says that you can gain the patron without its notice, so we considered the possibility that you could do a the same. Kind of a "sign these papers and we will stop cutting on you"..."but what does it say?" … "it says you can keep your fingers if hold this artifact and write your name on this paper with a little of your blood"...
You don't know what is happening but you agree to it. Sub consciously or otherwise. In my case, they watched me for a while to see if I went crazy. When I escaped they were not sure if I just ran away or if I was destroyed by the deal... until we fought later having magic powers. Then they started making more warlocks to fight us. Fortunately we were already tracking their leader so we were able to put a stop to that by killing and burning his body/belongings. At least I hope so...
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The lack of inflection in text means that a reader of any post adds their own inflection as they "verbalize" it in their head. I write long and repetitive in an effort to be clear and avoid my intent from being skewed or inverted. I am also bad at examples. It is common for people to skim my posts pull out the idea they think I mean or want to argue against or focus on my bad example instead of the point I am actually trying to make. I apologies for the confusion my failure to be clear and concise creates.
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I was designing a character around the haunted one origin which eventually lead me into choosing warlock class, and now i want to know if my reasoning for the choice is valid.
As in my character has in a way accidentally made a pact at some point, like maybe prayed at a time of need and the deity would have taken that as a signed deal, granted power and the character would have taken that power without realizing where it actually originated from, only being grateful their prayers have been answered and assuming some of the powers come from the haunted background and have always been there lying dormant.
Would that sound plausible to you in any way? (btw i added the poll just because I love making polls, actual answers and conversation appreciated^^)
The rules don't care about the mechanics of a warlock's pact. Warlock patrons usually aren't the sort of full-blown deities that would answer prayers and grant spells to clerics, so it'd be very unusual for someone to accidentally become a warlock through prayer. But as usual, there can be exceptions: Asmodeus is both a powerful fiend and a deity in the Forgotten Realms, and the lore for the Hexblade suggests the patron's true identity is the Raven Queen, which is also considered a deity.
It'd be very appropriate for a fiend, archfey, or great old one patron to trick a desperate mortal into service without telling them all of the fine print; that kind of thing happens all the time in real world mythology and folklore. So if you think that's a fun story for a character to have, go for it. But if you're not the DM, go talk to them. This is a worldbuilding decision that concerns them. A good DM will help you work out the details.
I think it could happen. The character somehow made a pact with a patron without realizing it. The exact situation being worked out between player and DM. As InquisitiveCoder says the rules mechanics don't care how the character became a warlock.
I ran with the idea for one of my players. They tapped into the power of a Great Old One and had no clue for a couple levels. She spoke to the Draconic Sorcerer in the group to figure out what was happening and they realized it wasn't a blood lineage thing like that. Spoke to the Bard to see if there were stories or if there was lore about something like this. Of course they simply had the fairy tales and folklore, nothing concrete. Eventually the GOO woke from his slumber and they had a long talk about siphoning power, servitude, and avatar status.
I think the unknowing pact absolutely works, particularly when you're dealing with more alien entities who operate on a "legal system" mortals don't understand. Maybe you fell asleep in a mushroom circle in a certain forest, and under fey law, this signifies agreement to a pact, or something like that.
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InsiderAn unknowing pact can be a lot of fun for player and DM to work out! Since pacts are mostly with powerful beings who's motives could be less straightforward then a god it's very possible to be gifted powers but not told why. It doesn't have to be evil intent either. I had a player who's character's family in the distant past had helped an ancient gold dragon, and as a reward it has gifted some of it's power to the firstborn of every generation since. But that real story had been lost, and now they just think they have awesome powers from their family line.
Of course when the dragon starts to die...
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Another possibility is gods have tons of clerics who are general, all purpose servants. Some gods can decide to have a warlock who they speak to directly and regularly as more of a hands on servant who they assign specific tasks to that they don't want to assign to their clerics.
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I actually just played a warlock The Great Old One patron that was turned into warlock by cult experimentation using a relic of the old one to impower their members. The patron specifically says that you can gain the patron without its notice, so we considered the possibility that you could do a the same. Kind of a "sign these papers and we will stop cutting on you"..."but what does it say?" … "it says you can keep your fingers if hold this artifact and write your name on this paper with a little of your blood"...
You don't know what is happening but you agree to it. Sub consciously or otherwise. In my case, they watched me for a while to see if I went crazy. When I escaped they were not sure if I just ran away or if I was destroyed by the deal... until we fought later having magic powers. Then they started making more warlocks to fight us. Fortunately we were already tracking their leader so we were able to put a stop to that by killing and burning his body/belongings. At least I hope so...
The lack of inflection in text means that a reader of any post adds their own inflection as they "verbalize" it in their head. I write long and repetitive in an effort to be clear and avoid my intent from being skewed or inverted. I am also bad at examples. It is common for people to skim my posts pull out the idea they think I mean or want to argue against or focus on my bad example instead of the point I am actually trying to make. I apologies for the confusion my failure to be clear and concise creates.