So I got this awesome idea for a character for an upcoming campaign. I would be an automaton, basically a warforged from Eberron, but not in that setting. We will be running the Curse of Strahd.
Backstory so far: I am an automaton butler for a very rich and powerful family. (warforged don't actually exist, but they basically do) A cult of vampires wanted something from this family, and slayed them all in order to achieve it. I, not capable of combat and unable to do anything, could only watch in horror as the only humans I knew were slaughtered before me. The vampires saw me and took me, for they knew how rare and powerful such an AI could be. They took me to their labs to work on me and turn me into a war machine. Both programming my mind for combat knowledge and outfitting my body with a more capable form. Either from an error on wiping my mind, or just not knowing that I can feel emotion, as soon as I came to I was overstricken with hatred and agony, and escaped, killing a few on my way out, now being fully capable of combat. I now have a deep hatred for vampires, which makes perfect sense and a good introductory into this campaign.
Now here's where my trouble comes in. I would love that combat ability to be a warlock. Something about a warforged being casting eldritch blast out of the palm of my hand or my chest just sounds amazing. But does this make sense for a warlock beginning? They are usually a pact made between the warlock and the patron. I was thinking maybe they had a very powerful vampire, possibly Strahd himself, 'invoking' me with the capabilities. But in doing that, what happens to that relationship or those abilities once I've escaped? Does a warlock have to be conscious and willing to form this pact, and do they have to stay in contact like the PHB suggests? Couldn't they just "take away" my powers?
Any thoughts would be great to hear! I know my DM would find some way to make this work, but I would like to present something at least feasible so we don't have to bend too much around to make it work. I want it to be for the most part canon to the book.
I like the concept, but truth be told it doesn't really scream "warlock" to me. It sounds more like they awakened something within you, more akin to a sorcerer. Personally I do feel that there is a link between the warlock and their patron other than just "stats". That said, having a pact with a dread lord such as Strahd is not too far of a stretch and very plausible. You could use the pact of the Undying (from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide) for that. Then again, you could also make your character a Hexblade (from Xanathar's Guide to Everything), basically forging a pact not with Strahd, but maybe while under his influence your character found the Sun Sword and forged a pact with it in order to escape his clutches.
Don't let rules get in the way of telling a good story, especially when those "rules" aren't even rules in the first place. The fluff you find for classes and their abilities are meant to spark creativity, not limit it, and if you've got a different "patron" or source for your powers in mind that you and your DM think is cool (rogue programming or an alternate AI personality in your system that you struggle to control), there's nothing about the mechanical function of the warlock class that says "no that's not how that works you're not a warlock." There's lots of stories about intelligent machines or soldiers with powers linked to sinister subconscious training/programming, and a Warlock pact fits that archetype about as well as any other class.
I have a warforged warlock. He woke up in the mournland all alone and was helped by a Cthulhu Spawn (basically reskinned imp) to draw power from Cthulu. The Spawn is his invisible friend for 2 levels until he gets the pact of the chain and it becomes his familiar. He's not real bright and doesn't really understand the bargain, he just did what his only friend told him to do.
I would say he just called out into the darkness for help escaping and dealing with vampires and something answered. He would figure out the details of what he agreed to later.
Also, if you want to shoot out of your arm or chest you can just say you do that because it's awesome and the fluff should be changed to fit the story. But another option is the wand sheath that lets a wand pop out of your arm when you need it like a laser blaster.
And no, nothing about the rules or mechanics of the Warlock class require that Warlock make the pact willingly or even know about it, nor that the patron is willing or aware of the link, nor honestly that the patron even exists at all. The patron is a power source with a certain flavor. The backstory of a Warlock can be ripe with adventure hooks related to their patron, like a cleric or paladin with their god, but all those classes function mechanically just fine without any specific god or patrons existing.
Weird robot thing designed to draw power from Vampire Lord goes rogue, joins adventurers trying to kill said Vampire? Sounds just fine. Destroying the Vampire doesn't destroy its power, and they are notoriously hard to keep dead, so perhaps your Warlock needs to keep some shard of the defeated Vampire and store it inside its body, both to continue as a power source and to suppress any attempt at resurrection of the Vampire. All good story, mechanics support the story.
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So I got this awesome idea for a character for an upcoming campaign. I would be an automaton, basically a warforged from Eberron, but not in that setting. We will be running the Curse of Strahd.
Backstory so far: I am an automaton butler for a very rich and powerful family. (warforged don't actually exist, but they basically do) A cult of vampires wanted something from this family, and slayed them all in order to achieve it. I, not capable of combat and unable to do anything, could only watch in horror as the only humans I knew were slaughtered before me. The vampires saw me and took me, for they knew how rare and powerful such an AI could be. They took me to their labs to work on me and turn me into a war machine. Both programming my mind for combat knowledge and outfitting my body with a more capable form. Either from an error on wiping my mind, or just not knowing that I can feel emotion, as soon as I came to I was overstricken with hatred and agony, and escaped, killing a few on my way out, now being fully capable of combat. I now have a deep hatred for vampires, which makes perfect sense and a good introductory into this campaign.
Now here's where my trouble comes in. I would love that combat ability to be a warlock. Something about a warforged being casting eldritch blast out of the palm of my hand or my chest just sounds amazing. But does this make sense for a warlock beginning? They are usually a pact made between the warlock and the patron. I was thinking maybe they had a very powerful vampire, possibly Strahd himself, 'invoking' me with the capabilities. But in doing that, what happens to that relationship or those abilities once I've escaped? Does a warlock have to be conscious and willing to form this pact, and do they have to stay in contact like the PHB suggests? Couldn't they just "take away" my powers?
Any thoughts would be great to hear! I know my DM would find some way to make this work, but I would like to present something at least feasible so we don't have to bend too much around to make it work. I want it to be for the most part canon to the book.
I like the concept, but truth be told it doesn't really scream "warlock" to me. It sounds more like they awakened something within you, more akin to a sorcerer. Personally I do feel that there is a link between the warlock and their patron other than just "stats". That said, having a pact with a dread lord such as Strahd is not too far of a stretch and very plausible. You could use the pact of the Undying (from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide) for that. Then again, you could also make your character a Hexblade (from Xanathar's Guide to Everything), basically forging a pact not with Strahd, but maybe while under his influence your character found the Sun Sword and forged a pact with it in order to escape his clutches.
Subclass: Dwarven Defender - Dragonborn Paragon
Feats: Artificer Apprentice
Monsters: Sheep - Spellbreaker Warforged Titan
Magic Items: Whipier - Ring of Secret Storage - Collar of the Guardian
Monster template: Skeletal Creature
Don't let rules get in the way of telling a good story, especially when those "rules" aren't even rules in the first place. The fluff you find for classes and their abilities are meant to spark creativity, not limit it, and if you've got a different "patron" or source for your powers in mind that you and your DM think is cool (rogue programming or an alternate AI personality in your system that you struggle to control), there's nothing about the mechanical function of the warlock class that says "no that's not how that works you're not a warlock." There's lots of stories about intelligent machines or soldiers with powers linked to sinister subconscious training/programming, and a Warlock pact fits that archetype about as well as any other class.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
I have a warforged warlock. He woke up in the mournland all alone and was helped by a Cthulhu Spawn (basically reskinned imp) to draw power from Cthulu. The Spawn is his invisible friend for 2 levels until he gets the pact of the chain and it becomes his familiar. He's not real bright and doesn't really understand the bargain, he just did what his only friend told him to do.
I would say he just called out into the darkness for help escaping and dealing with vampires and something answered. He would figure out the details of what he agreed to later.
Also, if you want to shoot out of your arm or chest you can just say you do that because it's awesome and the fluff should be changed to fit the story. But another option is the wand sheath that lets a wand pop out of your arm when you need it like a laser blaster.
And no, nothing about the rules or mechanics of the Warlock class require that Warlock make the pact willingly or even know about it, nor that the patron is willing or aware of the link, nor honestly that the patron even exists at all. The patron is a power source with a certain flavor. The backstory of a Warlock can be ripe with adventure hooks related to their patron, like a cleric or paladin with their god, but all those classes function mechanically just fine without any specific god or patrons existing.
Weird robot thing designed to draw power from Vampire Lord goes rogue, joins adventurers trying to kill said Vampire? Sounds just fine. Destroying the Vampire doesn't destroy its power, and they are notoriously hard to keep dead, so perhaps your Warlock needs to keep some shard of the defeated Vampire and store it inside its body, both to continue as a power source and to suppress any attempt at resurrection of the Vampire. All good story, mechanics support the story.