I’m planning on playing a half-elf hexblade warlock but I’ve been struggling with his backstory. I know I want him to have been born with some sort of curse or arcane defect. His family was approached by a dark creature who promised a cure at an expense and now he has power’s granted by it, but I’m not sure what to do for the actual issue. PLEASE help me out here.

Maybe his weapon (since he's a hexblade) is like a talisman from the dark creature. if the weapon is ever destroyed, the curse comes back. as for the effects of your curse, maybe something to do with the fact that in some lore, half-elves are considered to have half a soul (its in the "Elves" chapter of Mordenkainen's tome of foes). are there any specific multiclasses and feats you plan to take that would affect the characters concept? I personally find it quite fun to make a mechanical build and then write a backstory that fits that build. for instance, i have a min-max build (which i'm never going to play) that has dpr in the high hundreds/low thousands. based on the decisions I made for that build, I decided that I was essentialy an Avenger, a class from 4E which was essentially an assasin that served a higher power and enforced their gods will. think if a vengeance paladin, & assassin rogue had a child. I will never play this character, but it was fun to make up a story based on mechanics

Quote from SpiderTrapper >>

Maybe his weapon (since he's a hexblade) is like a talisman from the dark creature. if the weapon is ever destroyed, the curse comes back. as for the effects of your curse, maybe something to do with the fact that in some lore, half-elves are considered to have half a soul (its in the "Elves" chapter of Mordenkainen's tome of foes). are there any specific multiclasses and feats you plan to take that would affect the characters concept? I personally find it quite fun to make a mechanical build and then write a backstory that fits that build. for instance, i have a min-max build (which i'm never going to play) that has dpr in the high hundreds/low thousands. based on the decisions I made for that build, I decided that I was essentialy an Avenger, a class from 4E which was essentially an assasin that served a higher power and enforced their gods will. think if a vengeance paladin, & assassin rogue had a child. I will never play this character, but it was fun to make up a story based on mechanics

Shadow Touched is a likely choice for a feat, but I’m open to options. Still need a curse though.

Quote from S_Nytengail >>

I’m planning on playing a half-elf hexblade warlock but I’ve been struggling with his backstory. I know I want him to have been born with some sort of curse or arcane defect. His family was approached by a dark creature who promised a cure at an expense and now he has power’s granted by it, but I’m not sure what to do for the actual issue. PLEASE help me out here.

1) Unbeknownst to your character, there never was a real "curse". Your patron inflicted it on you themselves, as a way to trick you into accepting the pact

2) The curse was essentially just incredibly bad luck, which gets drawn into your pact weapon and inflicted on those you fight (i.e. Hexblade's Curse.) Every time you roll a nat 1, you get worried the curse is beginning to affect you again

3) The curse is tied to the ancient curse that laid low the fomorian giants, and one of your distant ancestors on the elven side was involved somehow in creating it. Your patron wanted to extract that echo of the original curse for their own ends

Quote from AntonSirius >>

Quote from S_Nytengail >>

I’m planning on playing a half-elf hexblade warlock but I’ve been struggling with his backstory. I know I want him to have been born with some sort of curse or arcane defect. His family was approached by a dark creature who promised a cure at an expense and now he has power’s granted by it, but I’m not sure what to do for the actual issue. PLEASE help me out here.

 

1) Unbeknownst to your character, there never was a real "curse". Your patron inflicted it on you themselves, as a way to trick you into accepting the pact

2) The curse was essentially just incredibly bad luck, which gets drawn into your pact weapon and inflicted on those you fight (i.e. Hexblade's Curse.) Every time you roll a nat 1, you get worried the curse is beginning to affect you again

3) The curse is tied to the ancient curse that laid low the fomorian giants, and one of your distant ancestors on the elven side was involved somehow in creating it. Your patron wanted to extract that echo of the original curse for their own ends

I really like the first one. I think it would be really interesting having an evil patron.