I love character backgrounds/ideas and with the warlock class a whole, I love hearing people's stories for their characters so I wanted to start a thread asking; When you made your current/past warlock, how did they meet their patron, what was their relationship like (Even if it was in your head and your DM never interacted with them), did they have a good relationship, or a bad one? What do you think happened once your character died with regards to the pact if there was any after death?
Currently playing a Great Old One warlock in one of my campaigns. She's an orphan and was adopted by a wealthy couple who abused her. After living with these people for awhile she started having dreams about a nameless, faceless entity that promised her powerful magic if she swore loyalty to it. Eventually she accepted, used her new powers to murder her abusers, and fled. She still sees the entity in her dreams but doesn't know what it is or why it chose her. Honestly I don't know who her patron is either, I'm kind of hoping to figure that out as the campaign progresses.
I play a hexblade warlock and his patron is the Forgotten Realms deity Garagos, the master of all weapons. My character is a warlock and not a cleric because he is not a follower of the deity, but he can use the Garagos' tools like nobody's business :)
Once a student in the Canaith School for Bards and Wizards in the High Elf city of Silnaserine, Eleshar took an afternoon walk in the deep forest surrounding the city. Suddenly finding himself trapped in the Feywild, Eleshar wandered for hours seeking a way back home. While taking a rest, Eleshar was approached by a very large Centaur. The Centaur revealed now as Skerrit, told him ancient stories and taught him magical secrets. After spending what seemed like a week in the Feywild, Skerrit showed Eleshar the way back to his own realm. Returning to the city, Eleshar discovered that more then 500 years had passed. His parents were dead and the only person that he knew was an acquaintance from school who was now an instructor at the Canaith School. With nothing to bind him to his home, Eleshar took up the life of an adventurer, seeking more power in order to return to the Feywild as a member of the Summer Court.
My fiend warlock Scarlett is part of an ancient order of warlocks that actually imprisoned their patron under a mountain, where they draw power from him against his will, to use the powers of evil for the purpose of good. The Sisterhood, when they're initiated, are branded with a mark that binds them to the fiend, and boy are they in trouble if he ever gets out...
Not mine, but I saw one where a foundling, taken in by a mean warlock hermit bound to some Fiend of putrescence, chose a Great Old One instead of the Fiend she was supposed to serve. The Great Old One granted her the power to get rid of anything that got in her way... starting with the hermit... which didn't sit well with the Fiend many years later demanding satisfaction.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Mug'draroth, unbound Draegloth and would be lord in the Abyss watched with a sinister grin as his daughter sprinted through the Plain of Yawning Pits. She stopped at one portal, then another, then another each time trying to discern which would lead her to the material plane. If she was successful she would become his agent and assassin to bring down the foul clergy that had tried to bind his will and soul to their own machinations.
Fey'ri studied each portal she found and tried to push the ever present itch that was her fathers unwavering gaze from her mind, she would succeed if only to escape the Abyss, she refused to fail. With a screeching laugh of sinister mirth she spread her leathery wings and with a powerful leap shot into the air before diving towards a portal of swirling mud and disapppeared from sight.
*****
So Fey'ri is a Abyssal Teifling (from UA) with the winged variant from SCAG, image wise its your steotypical dark skinned, white haired Drow appearance but with Maleficient style horns the come out of her forehead. Class wise, It's called Abyssal Warlock and mostly a tweaked/reverse version of the Celestial Warlock as follows:
NECROTIC SHROUD: At lvl 1, you gain the ability to channel Abyssal energy to infect wounds. You have a pool of d6s that you spend to fuel this. The number of dice in the pool equals 1 + your warlock level. As a bonus action, when you see someone take Necrotic Damage within 60 feet of you, you can spend dice from the pool. The maximum number of dice you can spend at once equals your Charisma modifier (minimum of one dice). Roll the dice you spend, add them together, the target loses a number of hit points equal to the total. Your pool regains all expended dice when you finish a long rest. NECROTIC SOUL: Starting at lvl 6, your link to the Abyssal Plane allows you to serve as a conduit for Necrotic energy. You have resistance to Necrotic damage, and when you cast a spell that deals Necrotic damage, you can add your Charisma modifier to one Necrotic damage roll of that spell against one of its targets. ABYSSAL RESILIENCE: Starting at lvl 10, you gain temporary hit points whenever you finish a short or long rest. These temporary hit points equal your warlock level + your Charisma modifier. PROFANE LIFE LEECH: Starting at lvl 14, the Necrotic energy you channel allows you to resist death. When you have to make a death saving throw at the start of your turn, you can instead spring back to your feet with a burst of Necrotic energy. You regain hit points equal to half your hit point maximum, and then you stand up if you so choose. Each creature of your choice that is within 30 feet of you takes Necrotic damage equal to 2d8 + your Charisma modifier, and it is blinded until the end of the current turn. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.
She is in my book of characters I want to play as and when I get the chance.
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* Need a character idea? Search for "Rob76's Unused" in the Story and Lore section.
DM not player but this is the character we came up with together -
In the world of Urathil lies the continent of Mirea, once a melting pot of magic and cultures it is now overseen by the Erudin Ascendency. A magiocracy of ten noble houses that emerged victorious in a civil war and have brought 500 years of “peace” and “order” to the people of Mirea. One of these ten houses is house Raverston, specialising in illusion magic, they have an iron grip on the trade and merchants throughout the ascendency. They have grown rich off the spoils of this control, one of the wealthiest abs oldest houses of Mirea, they can draw their lineage all the way back to the first houses. Frederick Raverston is the middle of the three children of the current patriarch of the house. Born into a world of privilege his life should have been one of luxury, had he not been born with no connection to magic.
Bullied by his siblings and hidden by his father, Frederick life has been one of constantly trying to live up to expectations he had no ability to meet. Despite being forbidden by his father to enter the trials that would seal his place in the Raverston legacy, Frederick attempted them in secret stubbornly believing his magic would reveal itself when needed, like he could will it in to existence. He was wrong and the trials nearly killed him. His father was furious and threw him and a servant into a dungeon chamber. Initially Frederick thought this was his punishment, but it was far worse. They were not alone in the cell.
the third occupant was a hag, a creature much feared by the wizarding community as they consume the raw magic in a living creature, often meaning little left of the creature when they have finished their feast. Frederick witnessed in horror as the hag devoured the family servant, assuming he would be next. He spent an entire night in the cell not knowing when the hags hunger would return, which breath would be his last. When his father returned he found Frederick untouched, for the hag even at its most primal could sense that there was nothing magical about the child, confirming his fathers theory.
that night Frederick left home, travelling under the alias Theon he sought to bury himself in parties and alcohol, drowning his misery, hoping to find retribution at the bottom of every bottle. It was here at his lowest that his patron would approach him, with an offer of power he had no ability not to desire. He knew that even the concept of a warlock in his world was beyond illegal, it was against the very structure of ascendant society itself. Accepting this offer would mean he would be drawing a line under his previous life, his family, his entitlement and inheritance. He accepted gladly.
his patron Dekurasha, the forgotten prince of the Rakshasha, his destiny was to rule his kind. It was a destiny of responsibility and study, of devotion to his people. But the prince dreamed of freedom from his destined role. While attempting to escape his duties Dekurasha was bound to the mortal plane by those looking to summon A fiend and gain power without the sacrifice. Dekurasha was held and stripped of his helm , his sword & his cloak but he kept his wits about him and escaped his captors returning to his home, but instead of being welcomed back in his absence a revaluation has usurped his throne, it’s current owner had no wish for his reign to be contested, Dekurasha was banished from his home.
vowing revenge on his people Dekurasha went about assembling an army to reclaim the throne, burning everything in his way to his rightful place. However he would need a general to lead his army into this Great War. Any good army needs a general, and that is where Theon /Frederick returns to the picture, broken, desperate andd willing
At some point I want to make a tiefling warlock that has a pact with their fiendish ancestor, and the dynamic is essentially the warlock calling the fiend and saying, "Grandpa can you help me with something?"
Spoilers for my Pillars of the Sky warlocks, who do not fully know who their patron is. It will be gradually revealed. Both are Lurker in the Deep (UA) patrons.
The first warlock in my party found a magic pearl, which spoke to her when she touched it and offered her the power to protect her village.
She can speak to her patron Zaratan, a sleepy giant turtle, by submerging herself in a natural body of water. Zaratan is always annoyed when she speaks to him, and wishes she would just figure things out for herself already.
We didn't come up with an origin story for my second warlock, but his patron is an anglerfish demigod of the dark abyss. He directs his follower by uttering single word instructions at various places of power the warlock discovers. The instructions are all the first word of various spells, like Locate, Detect, Control.
So far he mostly finds his patron confusing.
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I love character backgrounds/ideas and with the warlock class a whole, I love hearing people's stories for their characters so I wanted to start a thread asking; When you made your current/past warlock, how did they meet their patron, what was their relationship like (Even if it was in your head and your DM never interacted with them), did they have a good relationship, or a bad one? What do you think happened once your character died with regards to the pact if there was any after death?
Please share!
Currently playing a Great Old One warlock in one of my campaigns. She's an orphan and was adopted by a wealthy couple who abused her. After living with these people for awhile she started having dreams about a nameless, faceless entity that promised her powerful magic if she swore loyalty to it. Eventually she accepted, used her new powers to murder her abusers, and fled. She still sees the entity in her dreams but doesn't know what it is or why it chose her. Honestly I don't know who her patron is either, I'm kind of hoping to figure that out as the campaign progresses.
Nikolai Buckman | vampire | bard
Solace Redgrove | tiefling | bard
I play a hexblade warlock and his patron is the Forgotten Realms deity Garagos, the master of all weapons. My character is a warlock and not a cleric because he is not a follower of the deity, but he can use the Garagos' tools like nobody's business :)
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Once a student in the Canaith School for Bards and Wizards in the High Elf city of Silnaserine, Eleshar took an afternoon walk in the deep forest surrounding the city. Suddenly finding himself trapped in the Feywild, Eleshar wandered for hours seeking a way back home. While taking a rest, Eleshar was approached by a very large Centaur. The Centaur revealed now as Skerrit, told him ancient stories and taught him magical secrets. After spending what seemed like a week in the Feywild, Skerrit showed Eleshar the way back to his own realm. Returning to the city, Eleshar discovered that more then 500 years had passed. His parents were dead and the only person that he knew was an acquaintance from school who was now an instructor at the Canaith School. With nothing to bind him to his home, Eleshar took up the life of an adventurer, seeking more power in order to return to the Feywild as a member of the Summer Court.
My fiend warlock Scarlett is part of an ancient order of warlocks that actually imprisoned their patron under a mountain, where they draw power from him against his will, to use the powers of evil for the purpose of good. The Sisterhood, when they're initiated, are branded with a mark that binds them to the fiend, and boy are they in trouble if he ever gets out...
Not mine, but I saw one where a foundling, taken in by a mean warlock hermit bound to some Fiend of putrescence, chose a Great Old One instead of the Fiend she was supposed to serve. The Great Old One granted her the power to get rid of anything that got in her way... starting with the hermit... which didn't sit well with the Fiend many years later demanding satisfaction.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
*****
Mug'draroth, unbound Draegloth and would be lord in the Abyss watched with a sinister grin as his daughter sprinted through the Plain of Yawning Pits. She stopped at one portal, then another, then another each time trying to discern which would lead her to the material plane. If she was successful she would become his agent and assassin to bring down the foul clergy that had tried to bind his will and soul to their own machinations.
Fey'ri studied each portal she found and tried to push the ever present itch that was her fathers unwavering gaze from her mind, she would succeed if only to escape the Abyss, she refused to fail. With a screeching laugh of sinister mirth she spread her leathery wings and with a powerful leap shot into the air before diving towards a portal of swirling mud and disapppeared from sight.
*****
So Fey'ri is a Abyssal Teifling (from UA) with the winged variant from SCAG, image wise its your steotypical dark skinned, white haired Drow appearance but with Maleficient style horns the come out of her forehead. Class wise, It's called Abyssal Warlock and mostly a tweaked/reverse version of the Celestial Warlock as follows:
ABYSSAL EXANDED SPELL LIST
lvl 1: Burning Hands, Inflict Wound, lvl 2: Blindness/Deafness, Flaming Sphere, lvl 3: Bestow Curse, Stinking Cloud, lvl 4: Evard's Black Tentacles, Fire Shield, lvl 5: Flame Strike, Hallow
NECROTIC SHROUD: At lvl 1, you gain the ability to channel Abyssal energy to infect wounds. You have a pool of d6s that you spend to fuel this. The number of dice in the pool equals 1 + your warlock level. As a bonus action, when you see someone take Necrotic Damage within 60 feet of you, you can spend dice from the pool. The maximum number of dice you can spend at once equals your Charisma modifier (minimum of one dice). Roll the dice you spend, add them together, the target loses a number of hit points equal to the total. Your pool regains all expended dice when you finish a long rest.
NECROTIC SOUL: Starting at lvl 6, your link to the Abyssal Plane allows you to serve as a conduit for Necrotic energy. You have resistance to Necrotic damage, and when you cast a spell that deals Necrotic damage, you can add your Charisma modifier to one Necrotic damage roll of that spell against one of its targets.
ABYSSAL RESILIENCE: Starting at lvl 10, you gain temporary hit points whenever you finish a short or long rest. These temporary hit points equal your warlock level + your Charisma modifier.
PROFANE LIFE LEECH: Starting at lvl 14, the Necrotic energy you channel allows you to resist death. When you have to make a death saving throw at the start of your turn, you can instead spring back to your feet with a burst of Necrotic energy. You regain hit points equal to half your hit point maximum, and then you stand up if you so choose. Each creature of your choice that is within 30 feet of you takes Necrotic damage equal to 2d8 + your Charisma modifier, and it is blinded until the end of the current turn. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.
She is in my book of characters I want to play as and when I get the chance.
My goliath warlock's patron, is a Myriad, named Riptide, or as she would like to call him "Crotchety Old Man".
Riptide has been my character's family patron for generations. And there are three ways for the family to make a pact with him:
Born into the family, (adoption does still count.
Through marriag, as a sign of unity.
And through recommendations of a tribe member that must be approved by the leader.
My character was born into the family so she was able to earn the pact at the age of 7 (13 in human years).
DM not player but this is the character we came up with together -
In the world of Urathil lies the continent of Mirea, once a melting pot of magic and cultures it is now overseen by the Erudin Ascendency. A magiocracy of ten noble houses that emerged victorious in a civil war and have brought 500 years of “peace” and “order” to the people of Mirea. One of these ten houses is house Raverston, specialising in illusion magic, they have an iron grip on the trade and merchants throughout the ascendency. They have grown rich off the spoils of this control, one of the wealthiest abs oldest houses of Mirea, they can draw their lineage all the way back to the first houses. Frederick Raverston is the middle of the three children of the current patriarch of the house. Born into a world of privilege his life should have been one of luxury, had he not been born with no connection to magic.
Bullied by his siblings and hidden by his father, Frederick life has been one of constantly trying to live up to expectations he had no ability to meet. Despite being forbidden by his father to enter the trials that would seal his place in the Raverston legacy, Frederick attempted them in secret stubbornly believing his magic would reveal itself when needed, like he could will it in to existence. He was wrong and the trials nearly killed him. His father was furious and threw him and a servant into a dungeon chamber. Initially Frederick thought this was his punishment, but it was far worse. They were not alone in the cell.
the third occupant was a hag, a creature much feared by the wizarding community as they consume the raw magic in a living creature, often meaning little left of the creature when they have finished their feast. Frederick witnessed in horror as the hag devoured the family servant, assuming he would be next. He spent an entire night in the cell not knowing when the hags hunger would return, which breath would be his last. When his father returned he found Frederick untouched, for the hag even at its most primal could sense that there was nothing magical about the child, confirming his fathers theory.
that night Frederick left home, travelling under the alias Theon he sought to bury himself in parties and alcohol, drowning his misery, hoping to find retribution at the bottom of every bottle. It was here at his lowest that his patron would approach him, with an offer of power he had no ability not to desire. He knew that even the concept of a warlock in his world was beyond illegal, it was against the very structure of ascendant society itself. Accepting this offer would mean he would be drawing a line under his previous life, his family, his entitlement and inheritance. He accepted gladly.
his patron Dekurasha, the forgotten prince of the Rakshasha, his destiny was to rule his kind. It was a destiny of responsibility and study, of devotion to his people. But the prince dreamed of freedom from his destined role. While attempting to escape his duties Dekurasha was bound to the mortal plane by those looking to summon A fiend and gain power without the sacrifice. Dekurasha was held and stripped of his helm , his sword & his cloak but he kept his wits about him and escaped his captors returning to his home, but instead of being welcomed back in his absence a revaluation has usurped his throne, it’s current owner had no wish for his reign to be contested, Dekurasha was banished from his home.
vowing revenge on his people Dekurasha went about assembling an army to reclaim the throne, burning everything in his way to his rightful place. However he would need a general to lead his army into this Great War. Any good army needs a general, and that is where Theon /Frederick returns to the picture, broken, desperate andd willing
At some point I want to make a tiefling warlock that has a pact with their fiendish ancestor, and the dynamic is essentially the warlock calling the fiend and saying, "Grandpa can you help me with something?"
Nikolai Buckman | vampire | bard
Solace Redgrove | tiefling | bard
Spoilers for my Pillars of the Sky warlocks, who do not fully know who their patron is. It will be gradually revealed. Both are Lurker in the Deep (UA) patrons.
The first warlock in my party found a magic pearl, which spoke to her when she touched it and offered her the power to protect her village.
She can speak to her patron Zaratan, a sleepy giant turtle, by submerging herself in a natural body of water. Zaratan is always annoyed when she speaks to him, and wishes she would just figure things out for herself already.
We didn't come up with an origin story for my second warlock, but his patron is an anglerfish demigod of the dark abyss. He directs his follower by uttering single word instructions at various places of power the warlock discovers. The instructions are all the first word of various spells, like Locate, Detect, Control.
So far he mostly finds his patron confusing.