One of my players has made a brand new character in our campaign and added the feat of 'Magic Initiate (warlock)' to his character (a bard) and gave the explanation that when they were captured, disgraced and exiled some warlock magic seems to have manifested alongside the bard's magic (we're going by an 'x-men style' magic manifests in rare people in times of crisis story hook). I dig it, and think that sounds fine, but..
Since warlock spells are granted by pacts with powerful entities, how should I handle this? (obviously as the DM I can just say 'okey, fine' too)
The Great Old One might be unaware of your existence or entirely indifferent to you, but the secrets you have learned allow you to draw your magic from it.
The character may have accidentally tapped into an otherworldly source of magic, and that entity is unaware it happened.
Or, if you want to make it more demanding, make a mini-pact with a patron.
He was offered a pact. He asked what he would get. The Patron gave him 1 level of Warlock to try out. He rejected the pact. The Patron tried to take back all those spells, but he came away with some extra knowledge and just a sliver of power - enough to cast the 1st level spell 1/long rest and the cantrips whenever he wants.
If you haven’t already, consider how he’s going to "learn" the spells granted by his Magical Secrets class feature. Perhaps, not so much that he was granted these spells by a patron, but in exile adapted them to his style of spellcasting. Conversely, if you both like the plot hook offered by a mini/passed upon pact, let the idea drive how they discover their Magical Secrets spells.
These are great ideas, thanks.. I'll put them forward to the player and see what they find most interesting. Hopefully they'll get behind the added backstory and not just think I'm being pedantic with the rules haha
The magic of the Elder Gods was always in the form of written rituals from what I remember from the mythos I have read. @account256's idea sounds like it covers the entirety of the Old Ones' magic the PC would get. If they want a different host, you can go with one of the other ideas or just have their magics being stolen through the rituals. Once they found out about the theft could lead to a good side adventure.
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One of my players has made a brand new character in our campaign and added the feat of 'Magic Initiate (warlock)' to his character (a bard) and gave the explanation that when they were captured, disgraced and exiled some warlock magic seems to have manifested alongside the bard's magic (we're going by an 'x-men style' magic manifests in rare people in times of crisis story hook). I dig it, and think that sounds fine, but..
Since warlock spells are granted by pacts with powerful entities, how should I handle this? (obviously as the DM I can just say 'okey, fine' too)
Take a look at the Great Old One, for example:
The character may have accidentally tapped into an otherworldly source of magic, and that entity is unaware it happened.
Or, if you want to make it more demanding, make a mini-pact with a patron.
More Interesting Lock Picking Rules
I personally would do it this way:
He was offered a pact. He asked what he would get. The Patron gave him 1 level of Warlock to try out. He rejected the pact. The Patron tried to take back all those spells, but he came away with some extra knowledge and just a sliver of power - enough to cast the 1st level spell 1/long rest and the cantrips whenever he wants.
If you haven’t already, consider how he’s going to "learn" the spells granted by his Magical Secrets class feature. Perhaps, not so much that he was granted these spells by a patron, but in exile adapted them to his style of spellcasting. Conversely, if you both like the plot hook offered by a mini/passed upon pact, let the idea drive how they discover their Magical Secrets spells.
These are great ideas, thanks.. I'll put them forward to the player and see what they find most interesting. Hopefully they'll get behind the added backstory and not just think I'm being pedantic with the rules haha
The magic of the Elder Gods was always in the form of written rituals from what I remember from the mythos I have read. @account256's idea sounds like it covers the entirety of the Old Ones' magic the PC would get. If they want a different host, you can go with one of the other ideas or just have their magics being stolen through the rituals. Once they found out about the theft could lead to a good side adventure.