So, I'm a big fan of abilities that provide a "transformation" of some kind, coupled with abilities...
The "Circle of Stars" Druid and their "Starry Form"...a Bladesinger's "Bladesong"..."Genie" Warlocks and their new elemental forms...even the "Phantom" Rogue's new "ghostly" appearance appeals to me.
...which brings to me the "Undead" Warlocks "Form of Dread": I love the appeal of your Warlock becoming a pseudo-version of your Patron...without the inherent drawbacks that come with it.
So I thought it would be cool for people to share the physical details of their Undead Warlocks when they shift into their "Form of Dread".
Do they become more lich-like? Skeletal? Is it more subtle, like just sprouting the fangs of a vampire?
Personally, the first thing that came to mind was an Undead Tyrant...the lich equivalent to a Beholder.
Their 'Form of Dread" would be the eleven(?) floating orbs of the Beholder's eyes suddenly appearing around them, to which the Eldritch Blasts would shoot from as a sort of eye-ray.
In a similiar manner, a dracolich would be interesting for a Dragonborn character.
My satyr undead warlock has a pact with Thanatos (Greek God of Death), and when she uses her Form of Dread, frightening energy is emitted from her blackwood staff, and her face grows red as black energy shrouds her. Her hair then turns black, and her clothes transform into a dark cloak of black shadowy fabric.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
My (very hastily made and very stupid) tabaxi has his fur go black, it stands on end and it has purple symbols glowing across it. They seem to grow in size slightly, and their teeth and claws extend. The patron is a fallen androsphinx that was taken over by a group of will o wisps. That's mine!
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'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
It's only briefly mentioned, but their 6th Level feature grants them resistance to a certain elemental damage type...as well as causing them to physically change their appearance in accordance to the genie they call a patron.
Essentially, this makes them like genasi.
They also gain the ability to fly, which I attribute to the swirling, lower-body type of transformation one would see genies having in popular culture, a number of time equal to their proficiency bonus.
It's only briefly mentioned, but their 6th Level feature grants them resistance to a certain elemental damage type...as well as causing them to physically change their appearance in accordance to the genie they call a patron.
Essentially, this makes them like genasi.
They also gain the ability to fly, which I attribute to the swirling, lower-body type of transformation one would see genies having in popular culture, a number of time equal to their proficiency bonus.
Now I feel conflicted about multiclassing into barbarian at 5 now.
It's only briefly mentioned, but their 6th Level feature grants them resistance to a certain elemental damage type...as well as causing them to physically change their appearance in accordance to the genie they call a patron.
Essentially, this makes them like genasi.
They also gain the ability to fly, which I attribute to the swirling, lower-body type of transformation one would see genies having in popular culture, a number of time equal to their proficiency bonus.
Now I feel conflicted about multiclassing into barbarian at 5 now.
I'll admit; this is one of the Warlock subclasses that makes it difficult to multiclass with (which really, just makes them damn good subclasses, right?).
My Efreeti Dwarf I plan on rolling one of these days will eventually have a beard made of fire when he gets to that level (going to call him Fraggert "Frag" Firebeard).
My Marid Warlock character for the upcoming "Ryme of the Frostmaiden" will be right at home in the Icewind Dale ; )
My satyr undead warlock has a pact with Thanatos (Greek God of Death), and when she uses her Form of Dread, frightening energy is emitted from her blackwood staff, and her face grows red as black energy shrouds her. Her hair then turns black, and her clothes transform into a dark cloak of black shadowy fabric.
Nice!
You've reminded me that the Greek gods are technically a part of D&D...so now I'm having sweet ideas for a Hades patron.
Ever hear of "Hades" by Supergiant Games?
I might be inclined to make an aasimar Undead Warlock based on Zagreus...not so much the son of Hades, perhaps, but a soul who managed to escape from the Underworld, and is now wandering the Material Plane trying to keep a low profile.
My Lizard Folk Beast Barbarian / Undead Warlock has a pact with a Black Dracolitch - the secretive patron of his tribe who dwells in the Shadowfell. Form of Dread gives him shadowy wings and far more draconic features than normal, and his scales become dry and dessicated. Form of the Beast takes his claws and face from shadows to flesh, as the dragon physically manifests.
I love this character... almost every level there's something that's hard to chose from - do I level Warlock or Barbarian? That's what a multiclass should be like.
My character is a human Warlock with a Lich Queen as his patron. He's going the "death knight" route with Pact of Blade and a big sword or axe and heavy armor (was planning to go with the Eldritch Armor invocation at first but decided to take the first level in Fighter instead).
His Form of Dread is him growing a bit in size, his face resembling more the face of his mistress complete with dead eyes, less muscles, open mouth wound, his black hair turns white etc. His armor becomes more dreadful and eery as well fitting to how his pact weapon looks even outside of this transformation. Last but not least a pitch black pearl appears on his forehead (it burried into his head when he made the pact) but that one is only visible if he'd take off his helmet.
Edit: while we're at it, his Eldritch Blast is a howling ghostly mass shooting towards his target. Looking closely it even appears as if there are faces. There's a thin ghostly trail left behind that at a moments notice can turn into a chain of bones attached to the target and which the character can use to pull it towards him (Grasp of Hadar invocation).
Yes yes yes yes YES.
This is the sort of horrifying battlefield presence the Undead Warlock was MADE for. Kudos.
My Chaotic Good High Elf Wizard Alberta was transformed into a Mummylord thanks to the Deck of Several Things years ago and became the first ever undead warlock patron in our canon.... recently she sacrificed herself to cast a high level spell but being a elf she believed in reincarnation so her soul being 'willing' ended up escaping to the body of 32 year old Wood Elf child the party had been carrying around (long story). She is now a 19th level wizard acting as the patron of 'Arna this new Level 1 Warlock her soul has inhabited until someone manages to cast True Resurrection on her or otherwise restore her back to her full power.
The party figured out what happened when the little wood elf child woke from the dead with no memories and was compelled to collect Alberta's old things and when putting on her old wizard hat the undead visage of her patron appeared for just a moment...
Her form of dread is the appearance Alberta had 'under' her usual layers of Disguise Self/Seeming she's wearing a Wizard hat and appears similar to a Baelnorn Litch. A Gold eyed, Blond Haired High Elven Undead Mummy in perfect wizard robes (she bought a set of robes of mending years ago) underneath are bandaged limbs holding a wizard staff with a black hand made of pure negative energy and the Tome of the Stilled Tongue in the other... I mentioned she's chaotic good right? Amongst her spells and drawings of butterflies her spellbook contained clear instructions on how to kill Gods...and her side of 60 years of conversations with her unwilling Pen-Friend Vecna...
I plan to multi-class her to wizard again with her learning how to read and rediscover her old spells during her long rests where her trance allows her to relive the bits of her past life... so effectively her patron is her own memories guiding her towards finishing what her past life left incomplete.
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Alberta Banana@TheRealAlberta: Good News! I finally brought Zangief back from the Dead :D :D :D Also I'M A LITCH FOR REAL! Downside may have ruined 60% of Athas in the process... sigh... I'll fix it tomorrow. LVL20 Litch, Sorcerer King of the Second Banana Age of Athas, Survivor of the Tomb of Horrors, Backwards Spellcaster, Undead Warlock Patron to Jane with a army of Simulacrum clones.
My new Undead Warlock's patron is the Spirit of a dead warrior. When Form of Dread is activated, he will simply get a Ghostly Aura representing his patron. Nothing special, but should be fun to role-play.
I know I am late to this thread but, I just found it and felt up to sharing my character. He is a Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde Personality stereotyped Fallen Assimar Undead warlock. All his form of dread does is create a cloak of shadows that goes over his robes(Acererak is his patron so I went with something simple), coupled with the transformation of Necrotic shroud he literally becomes an Angel of Death on the battlefield with a dark and twisted personality that is unpredictable.
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So, I'm a big fan of abilities that provide a "transformation" of some kind, coupled with abilities...
The "Circle of Stars" Druid and their "Starry Form"...a Bladesinger's "Bladesong"..."Genie" Warlocks and their new elemental forms...even the "Phantom" Rogue's new "ghostly" appearance appeals to me.
...which brings to me the "Undead" Warlocks "Form of Dread": I love the appeal of your Warlock becoming a pseudo-version of your Patron...without the inherent drawbacks that come with it.
So I thought it would be cool for people to share the physical details of their Undead Warlocks when they shift into their "Form of Dread".
Do they become more lich-like? Skeletal? Is it more subtle, like just sprouting the fangs of a vampire?
Personally, the first thing that came to mind was an Undead Tyrant...the lich equivalent to a Beholder.
Their 'Form of Dread" would be the eleven(?) floating orbs of the Beholder's eyes suddenly appearing around them, to which the Eldritch Blasts would shoot from as a sort of eye-ray.
In a similiar manner, a dracolich would be interesting for a Dragonborn character.
Share below!
Wait... genie warlocks can transform???
My satyr undead warlock has a pact with Thanatos (Greek God of Death), and when she uses her Form of Dread, frightening energy is emitted from her blackwood staff, and her face grows red as black energy shrouds her. Her hair then turns black, and her clothes transform into a dark cloak of black shadowy fabric.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
My (very hastily made and very stupid) tabaxi has his fur go black, it stands on end and it has purple symbols glowing across it. They seem to grow in size slightly, and their teeth and claws extend. The patron is a fallen androsphinx that was taken over by a group of will o wisps. That's mine!
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
They do!
It's only briefly mentioned, but their 6th Level feature grants them resistance to a certain elemental damage type...as well as causing them to physically change their appearance in accordance to the genie they call a patron.
Essentially, this makes them like genasi.
They also gain the ability to fly, which I attribute to the swirling, lower-body type of transformation one would see genies having in popular culture, a number of time equal to their proficiency bonus.
Now I feel conflicted about multiclassing into barbarian at 5 now.
I'll admit; this is one of the Warlock subclasses that makes it difficult to multiclass with (which really, just makes them damn good subclasses, right?).
My Efreeti Dwarf I plan on rolling one of these days will eventually have a beard made of fire when he gets to that level (going to call him Fraggert "Frag" Firebeard).
My Marid Warlock character for the upcoming "Ryme of the Frostmaiden" will be right at home in the Icewind Dale ; )
Nice!
You've reminded me that the Greek gods are technically a part of D&D...so now I'm having sweet ideas for a Hades patron.
Ever hear of "Hades" by Supergiant Games?
I might be inclined to make an aasimar Undead Warlock based on Zagreus...not so much the son of Hades, perhaps, but a soul who managed to escape from the Underworld, and is now wandering the Material Plane trying to keep a low profile.
My Lizard Folk Beast Barbarian / Undead Warlock has a pact with a Black Dracolitch - the secretive patron of his tribe who dwells in the Shadowfell. Form of Dread gives him shadowy wings and far more draconic features than normal, and his scales become dry and dessicated. Form of the Beast takes his claws and face from shadows to flesh, as the dragon physically manifests.
I love this character... almost every level there's something that's hard to chose from - do I level Warlock or Barbarian? That's what a multiclass should be like.
Yes yes yes yes YES.
This is the sort of horrifying battlefield presence the Undead Warlock was MADE for. Kudos.
My Chaotic Good High Elf Wizard Alberta was transformed into a Mummylord thanks to the Deck of Several Things years ago and became the first ever undead warlock patron in our canon.... recently she sacrificed herself to cast a high level spell but being a elf she believed in reincarnation so her soul being 'willing' ended up escaping to the body of 32 year old Wood Elf child the party had been carrying around (long story).
She is now a 19th level wizard acting as the patron of 'Arna this new Level 1 Warlock her soul has inhabited until someone manages to cast True Resurrection on her or otherwise restore her back to her full power.
The party figured out what happened when the little wood elf child woke from the dead with no memories and was compelled to collect Alberta's old things and when putting on her old wizard hat the undead visage of her patron appeared for just a moment...
Her form of dread is the appearance Alberta had 'under' her usual layers of Disguise Self/Seeming she's wearing a Wizard hat and appears similar to a Baelnorn Litch. A Gold eyed, Blond Haired High Elven Undead Mummy in perfect wizard robes (she bought a set of robes of mending years ago) underneath are bandaged limbs holding a wizard staff with a black hand made of pure negative energy and the Tome of the Stilled Tongue in the other...
I mentioned she's chaotic good right? Amongst her spells and drawings of butterflies her spellbook contained clear instructions on how to kill Gods...and her side of 60 years of conversations with her unwilling Pen-Friend Vecna...
I plan to multi-class her to wizard again with her learning how to read and rediscover her old spells during her long rests where her trance allows her to relive the bits of her past life... so effectively her patron is her own memories guiding her towards finishing what her past life left incomplete.
Alberta Banana @TheRealAlberta: Good News! I finally brought Zangief back from the Dead :D :D :D Also I'M A LITCH FOR REAL! Downside may have ruined 60% of Athas in the process... sigh... I'll fix it tomorrow.
LVL20 Litch, Sorcerer King of the Second Banana Age of Athas, Survivor of the Tomb of Horrors, Backwards Spellcaster, Undead Warlock Patron to Jane with a army of Simulacrum clones.
My new Undead Warlock's patron is the Spirit of a dead warrior. When Form of Dread is activated, he will simply get a Ghostly Aura representing his patron. Nothing special, but should be fun to role-play.
I know I am late to this thread but, I just found it and felt up to sharing my character. He is a Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde Personality stereotyped Fallen Assimar Undead warlock. All his form of dread does is create a cloak of shadows that goes over his robes(Acererak is his patron so I went with something simple), coupled with the transformation of Necrotic shroud he literally becomes an Angel of Death on the battlefield with a dark and twisted personality that is unpredictable.