I am having trouble designing the backstory for my Great Old One warlock. He is a neutral evil variant human. What I've got so far is that he was tricked into serving his patron when he was being chased through a city's streets. However, he still respects his patron and will do almost anything his patron asks him too. Not much, I know but I couldn't think of any good things.
His end goal is to summon his patron back into the world.
Edit: His pact boon is the pact of the chain master (Familiar Pact). I was thinking that his familiar would be a less powerful version of the gibbering mouther
You’ve got a good start. Who was chasing him? Why? Where was he going? How did he get into a situation where he was being chased? The answer to those questions is his back story. And the answer to what is his goal is his motivation for adventuring. His goal is probably great,y different from his patron’s goal
I’d say that he was running through some alleys and he made a turn down an alley that was a dead end. Either he didn’t know the area, he got lost, or his patron blocked off the alley to trap him. Then he tripped on a pile of garbage only to realize that it was a horrible monster that was summoned there and controlled by his patron. That’s when his patron spoke into his mind and offered to save him in exchange for his service. When he agreed, his patron had the monster (a gibbering mouthed maybe?) stick it's tentacles into his ears and it invaded his mind and put his 1st level warlock spells and abilities into his head and told him, “I’ve gifted you with power and knowledge, fight them off and destroy them!” and he did.
How did is Patron contact him while he was being chased? was it an item he was carrying? Did he steal it? Did it have to do with a place that he momentarily hid or stumbled or even fell into?
GOO ones are great for "stumbled onto an artifact that you didn't know was an artifact and made a deal before you knew what that meant" type of openings. Being chased and under threat while it happens just kind of ups the urgency with less time to think about the offer your being granted. could have pickpocketed it or stole it off a cart when somebody carrying it was trying to hide it as mundane to keep the guards from spotting it. Could have been working for a crazy wizard and took it because you knew the wizard wanted to do something bad. Could have just been plain shoved in your hands by a friend that told you to run and hide it for later that ended up getting you chased as well (perhaps even watched the friend killed for it). Or perhaps you were just a minor guard set to protect it and when thieves or the like attacked it was shoved in your hand to take it somewhere safer like a vault or something when it triggered. Or you were an Acolyte praying to some dark god When heroes and adventurer's attacked your cult and you were granted power while fleeing from them. There are a lot of possibilities based on the type of background you want to work into it.
Thank you for replying. I like the idea that his patron blocked his exit and that it was the artifact that contained the 'blessing' of the old one. The artifact could of been handed to him while he was running after stealing a minor item (a few gold for example).
I don't know much lore about Old Ones so I don't know how they would contact someone but the idea of the gibbering mouther being the contact sounds nice.
Another idea I had was that he would keep his motives hidden. For example, he needs an artifact that is inside a monster filled temple which he had been asked to clear. He would pretend to do it out of 'the goodness of his heart'.
That's the beauty of the Great Old One; to paraphrase Frodo Baggins, "My business is my own" Nobody really knows what game the GOO is playing. The flavor text is very vague, they can be just about anything with great power.
As mentioned, it could be a an artifact. Perhaps your character is an urchin and "liberated" the artifact from some cultists. They were chasing him and he turns into the blind alley. With nowhere to hide, and several cultists closing in with wicked looking daggers glimmering in the darkness, an unearthly mental voice offers the character a way out. In exchange for some future "favors", the patron would offer immediate power and a way past the cultists.
maybe the cultists aren't even real, just a projection to the character's mind used to "urge" the character to make the "proper" choice.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
I'm about to start playing a GOO warlock in a week or so. My character is more of a bookworm, but long story short he uncovered a piece of ancient, long forgotten knowledge during his studies. In rediscovering this secret text, a strange connection was forged between himself and an entity of the Far Realm. His patron is very mysterious and only communicates basic thoughts or images through dreams in order to guide his warlock down whatever path it is he wishes him to walk. Essentially, simply uncovering this long lost knowledge was enough to provide this being with a link to the material plane. You could work a similar angle with your character if you like, although some really cool alternatives have already been suggested. Best of luck!
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I am having trouble designing the backstory for my Great Old One warlock. He is a neutral evil variant human. What I've got so far is that he was tricked into serving his patron when he was being chased through a city's streets. However, he still respects his patron and will do almost anything his patron asks him too. Not much, I know but I couldn't think of any good things.
His end goal is to summon his patron back into the world.
Edit: His pact boon is the pact of the chain master (Familiar Pact). I was thinking that his familiar would be a less powerful version of the gibbering mouther
You’ve got a good start. Who was chasing him? Why? Where was he going? How did he get into a situation where he was being chased? The answer to those questions is his back story. And the answer to what is his goal is his motivation for adventuring. His goal is probably great,y different from his patron’s goal
I’d say that he was running through some alleys and he made a turn down an alley that was a dead end. Either he didn’t know the area, he got lost, or his patron blocked off the alley to trap him. Then he tripped on a pile of garbage only to realize that it was a horrible monster that was summoned there and controlled by his patron. That’s when his patron spoke into his mind and offered to save him in exchange for his service. When he agreed, his patron had the monster (a gibbering mouthed maybe?) stick it's tentacles into his ears and it invaded his mind and put his 1st level warlock spells and abilities into his head and told him, “I’ve gifted you with power and knowledge, fight them off and destroy them!” and he did.
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How did is Patron contact him while he was being chased? was it an item he was carrying? Did he steal it? Did it have to do with a place that he momentarily hid or stumbled or even fell into?
GOO ones are great for "stumbled onto an artifact that you didn't know was an artifact and made a deal before you knew what that meant" type of openings. Being chased and under threat while it happens just kind of ups the urgency with less time to think about the offer your being granted. could have pickpocketed it or stole it off a cart when somebody carrying it was trying to hide it as mundane to keep the guards from spotting it. Could have been working for a crazy wizard and took it because you knew the wizard wanted to do something bad. Could have just been plain shoved in your hands by a friend that told you to run and hide it for later that ended up getting you chased as well (perhaps even watched the friend killed for it). Or perhaps you were just a minor guard set to protect it and when thieves or the like attacked it was shoved in your hand to take it somewhere safer like a vault or something when it triggered. Or you were an Acolyte praying to some dark god When heroes and adventurer's attacked your cult and you were granted power while fleeing from them. There are a lot of possibilities based on the type of background you want to work into it.
Thank you for replying. I like the idea that his patron blocked his exit and that it was the artifact that contained the 'blessing' of the old one. The artifact could of been handed to him while he was running after stealing a minor item (a few gold for example).
I don't know much lore about Old Ones so I don't know how they would contact someone but the idea of the gibbering mouther being the contact sounds nice.
Another idea I had was that he would keep his motives hidden. For example, he needs an artifact that is inside a monster filled temple which he had been asked to clear. He would pretend to do it out of 'the goodness of his heart'.
That's the beauty of the Great Old One; to paraphrase Frodo Baggins, "My business is my own" Nobody really knows what game the GOO is playing. The flavor text is very vague, they can be just about anything with great power.
As mentioned, it could be a an artifact. Perhaps your character is an urchin and "liberated" the artifact from some cultists. They were chasing him and he turns into the blind alley. With nowhere to hide, and several cultists closing in with wicked looking daggers glimmering in the darkness, an unearthly mental voice offers the character a way out. In exchange for some future "favors", the patron would offer immediate power and a way past the cultists.
maybe the cultists aren't even real, just a projection to the character's mind used to "urge" the character to make the "proper" choice.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
I'm about to start playing a GOO warlock in a week or so. My character is more of a bookworm, but long story short he uncovered a piece of ancient, long forgotten knowledge during his studies. In rediscovering this secret text, a strange connection was forged between himself and an entity of the Far Realm. His patron is very mysterious and only communicates basic thoughts or images through dreams in order to guide his warlock down whatever path it is he wishes him to walk. Essentially, simply uncovering this long lost knowledge was enough to provide this being with a link to the material plane. You could work a similar angle with your character if you like, although some really cool alternatives have already been suggested. Best of luck!