The Warlock Patron that Dungeons & Dragons wants you to forget about.
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 มิ.ย. 2024
- This warlock subclass has been left to gather dust in the libraries of Dungeons & Dragons. We go over there story, abilites and expanded spell list in this video.
check out my other subclasses, Including the Mentor Fighter, the Monolith Warlock, The Herbalist Ranger and the Dragon Patron Warlock: ko-fi.com/richmerry/shop
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Video spoilers below:
"You patron is the Raven Queen, a mysterious
being who rules the Shadowfell from a palace of
ice deep within that dread realm. The Raven
Queen watches over the world, anticipating each
creature’s death and ensuring that it meets its
end at the proscribed time and place. As the
ruler of the Shadowfell, she dwells in a decayed,
dark reflection of the world. Her ability to reach
into the world is limited. Thus, she turns to
mortal warlocks to serve her will. Warlocks
sworn to the Raven Queen receive visions and
whispers from her in their dreams, sending them
on quests and warning them of impending
dangers.
The Raven Queen’s followers are expected to
serve her will in the world. She concerns herself
with ensuring that those fated to die pass from
the world as expected, and bids her agents to
defeat those who seek to cheat death through
undeath or other imitations of immortality. She
hates intelligent undead and expects her
followers to strike them down, whereas
mindless undead such as skeletons and zombies
are little more than stumbling automatons in her
eyes." - เกม
Playlist of all the other warlock subclasses: th-cam.com/play/PLcJxbxz7P6i0IUJMtL8oX_D2fwEdPik4W.html
Check out the source of the subclass while its still up: media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/20170213_Wizrd_Wrlck_UAv2_i48nf.pdf
Trust me, I didn't forget. It's my most played Warlock subclass because I have cool Dm's. I always tell everyone that this is by far my favorite subclass in the game and it's sad that it never got released. Probably because the Raven Queen is the only Deity I am really interested in. Never found much interest in most gods, but the story of the raven queen and the flavor it brings with it for characters is superb.
Also played one, kind of
Originaly I started with a fighter, but on level three he comited suicide to save his party (long story, please dont ask)
His corpse was brought to the closest temple, which turned out to be a Temple of the Raven Queen
After he got resurrected I asked my DM if there is a Way for my fighter to show his thanks and his gratitude to the Godess who granted him a second chance. He answered I could swear an holy oath, turning my char completly into a Paladin, or I could give it a shot and try multiclassing into the Raven Queen Warlock
Enjoyed it very much to play this Subclass and since this day Warlocks are my favorite in all of DnD. Planing on one day go with this Patron for an hole Adventure if the setting fits
@@Andi-bz6it Nice to hear you're having fu aswell. I'm currently playing one in Curse of Strahd and let me tell you. I have never been more stressed in a Campaign. I also never had that much fun in a Campaign. It fits perfectly in the setting of Barovia tied with the Shadowfell and my DM is going up and above to have my character receive Omen and Cryptic massages. Patron interaction in general is something no Dm ever gave a shit about so I'm happy that it finally matters. I love it :D
You missed one obvious use for the Locate Creature spell, send your raven to follow someone, then use locate creature to find it and not get caught following them.
Well, this is well-timed. My GOOLock is about to drop her patron and seeing as she's already been thinking about going Raven Queen, she's the stealthy information gathering face.
Made the following changes to make the subclass a bit more rounded, for those interested:
Spell Changes:
1st level: Fog, Sleep
3rd Level: Nondetection (replaces Feign Death)
Feature Changes:
Sentinel Raven -> Eyes of The Raven Queen
Starting at first level, your eyes become pitch black like that of a ravens.
You can see normally in magical and nonmagical darkness and fog for up to 30ft. This range doubles to 60ft at level 11.
You receive a bonus to Passive Perception and Wisdom (Perception) checks equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of +1)
Soul of the Raven
At 6th level, you gain the ability to magically take on the form of a raven. As an action you can transform into a raven your speed becomes 10ft with a flight speed of 50ft, your health becomes 1, you are indistinguishable from a normal raven. You may stay in this form for up to 1 hour, or change back early using a bonus action. Taking any damage in raven form reverts you back to your normal form, any excess damage carries over to your normal form. You may use this feature a number of times per day equal to your Charisma Modifier (Minimum 1).
Queens Right Hand
Starting at 14th level, you can channel the Raven Queen’s power to slay a creature. You can cast Finger of Death (at 7th level) once per short rest. Casting this does not expend a spell slot. You may use this feature a number of times per day equal to your Charisma Modifier (Minimum 1).
These "lost" UAs are always so interesting to explore. I appreciate your take on the overview, lore, and what went wrong. The Raven Queen subclass looks so interesting. Fantastic content!
So far my favorite warlock subclass... still waiting for it to be revised
If it where to get revised then they would have to do a massive overhaul for it. It needs a bit of polish mechanically but for story there are some great possibilites, especially in a more horror campaign like curse of strahd.
I think it'd be super easy to reflavor that subclass as an Emissary of the Gods-type patron. Using animals as spies and messengers is something the gods or their agents can do, and it would work super well with the features in the UA. It seems like it could be a very fun subclass, even if it is currently a bit less powerful... if you forget the Hex + Spiritual Weapon + Agonizing Blast combo.
I actually had a DM turn one of my characters from a Death Domain cleric into a Raven Queen Warlock due to traveling from a hidden buried temple in Chult to a region where the locals believed Thanatos was the God of Death instead of the Raven Queen.
I gotta say, making the "this isn't my territory, so I have less power here" thing actually apply mechanically was an interesting experience. Of course, I was switched back the moment we went to Sigil, since it's practically a cosmic neutral ground.
I am currently playing a hybrid of this subclass in a homebrew game and I am loving it so far. Your explanation of this subclass being well suited for espionage/scouting/information gathering is exactly what I was going for.
I managed to convince my DM to let me have the great old one expanded spell list as I thought that better suited the espionage part of the class.
While it does tend to underperform in combat, simply being able to sneak into almost any location and mind control people makes this subclass perfect for infiltration and I love it!
Great video 👍
I don’t think people realise how good soul of the Raven is you can’t take damage or even be targeted by an attack and you gain a 50ft fly speed, don’t need sleep along with everything else that you get with sentinel raven
I think you misunderstand, with soul of the raven you don't become the raven, you only get the stated benefits and the benefits you would normally have if it was perched on your shoulder. You don't get the Ravens benefits, so you're not invulnerable/untargetable etc.
@@benkle3000 except that's literally wrong. "At 6th level, you gain the ability to merge with your raven spirit. As a bonus action when your raven is perched on your shoulder, your body merges with your raven’s form."
The key phrase is "merges with your raven's form".
Additionally, it states "During this time, you gain the benefits of your raven being perched on your shoulder."
And as we know, the benefits are as follows: "While perched on your shoulder, the raven can’t be targeted by any attack or other harmful effect; only you can cast spells on it; it can’t take damage; and it is incapacitated."
We can ignore the incapacitated aspect as the Lvl 6 feature (Soul of the Raven) negates it by saying you can use your action only to Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, Hide, or Search.
Glad to have helped :)
Hell yeah, i love this UA happy to see you talking about it! Raven Queen is cool and i really liked the idea of being a stealthy sneaky warlock in her name. The features are lacking tho, the first one is amazing i truly love it but the rest... And those Invocations with patron prerequisites sound like a interesting idea.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Queen's Right Hand (14th) is basically a second 7th level Mystic Arcanum, and the spell is the kick the subclass is supposedly lacking. It's not lacking, it's right there. It's late but it's right there. Regarding the lack of combat stuff, if it was another class, I'd say sure, but the spell list has Spiritual Weapon, and it's still a warlock so we really cannot complain, there's Eldritch Blast, that pretty much nobody wants to _not_ use anyway, so it's safe to say that the subclass is good, combat wise.
Something that someone else mentioned, Soul of the Raven is incredible (6th). You gain all the benefits from the raven being perched on your shoulder, so it can only be affected by AoE spells, cannot take damage, notably, but also, it lasts indefinitely if you decide so, and, you can (should) concentrate on a spell. Having the help action available is also nice, so you can be invulnerable, untargettable, flying around, helping allies, while concentrating on whatever you want, including Spiritual Weapon, Bane, Hex, and others.
I personally find it great, the one thing I do agree with, is that the Raven Queen is a very specific entity, and could have been a little broader (something like "The Emissary") so it can be flavored. It can still be flavored, but still.
A shame I only found this video just now. My characters whole motivation is that he simps for the Raven Queen and I probably would have chosen this subclass if my group had allowed UA. I instead use reflavored Undead Warlock, basically using the Raven Queens control over life and death to justify my abilities. In his Form of Dread, my character becomes more like a Shadar Kai, the goth-elves that directly serve the Raven Queen.
It’s easy to rebrand with a Baba Yaga type Hag patron: The Hag lives in a wintery forest filled with mist shrouded, skeletal trees. Above her cottage a constantly circling flock of ravens. Whatever deal you made with her, she has sent one of her ravens as a constant reminder she is watching you…
From the title I thought this was going to be a video deep dive into a Warlock leaving their Patron behind and how that would be played, but this was cool too
That is actually a really cool concept, you should make a video about that. I would love to see how transfering patrons would effect a characters story and the more mechanical aspects of play.
My first ever character was a raven queen warlock with some wild magic sorcerer as well. Even though he died fairly early at the conclusion of his character arc, he will always be my favorite.
There's one thing about this subclass that made it potentially broken at 6th level and beyond. Remember, the raven you get CANNOT be effected by damage or other harmful effects. And when you merge into it, YOU gain that benefit. Meaning you could literally be immune to ALL damage and harmful effects whenever you want to. Granted, you have to basically stay out of the fight (outside of the Help action anyway) to benefit from this. But you basically gain stronger version of the 9th-level invulnerability at will and no concentration! Wild.
It cannot be harmed only when it sits on the warlock's shoulder. Depends on the GM of course, but I'd say they lose the invulnerability when merged together, leaving only one being for enemies to target.
Take 2 levels into wizard and go for necromancy and you get some pretty good buffs for when you use your high level slots and also finger of death becomes better
If I were to revise this subclass, I would change it to "Pact of the Reaper." You form a pact with a personification of death, a psychopomp, a deity who records the passing between the life and the afterlife.
Been playing one for the lkast couple years now and is my favorite character
I Love it SOOOO MUCH! need some love but the soul is there.
Great video! Liked hearing about this forgotten patron.
After reading it through I think this subclass would have benefitted from a greater focus on the Raven Queen's balance. It's not just death, it's death at the right time; it's fate (at least in my reading). I think that maybe the 14th level feature would have been better if there was also a heal option (to save people whose time has not yet come). Maybe the first level spells could have been Bless and Bane (again reflecting the idea that fate could cut both ways) or Inflict Wounds and Cure Wounds. I think that the 10th level feature might be more effective if you have something like letting the Sentinel Raven taking a hit for you, similar to the Hexblade's Armor of Hexes. Straight sacrifice of a familiar you can reclaim without much of a cost feels a bit strong, so perhaps some kind of drawback is in order. Perhaps that you cannot resummon the raven for 48 hours or something.
I hate to say it but the Hexblade literally says the Raven Queen is all involved in their biz and I’m currently playing a Hexblade acolyte of the Raven Queen
They pushed her so hard and when the response was Luke wam she was cast aside.
I'm watching this because I'm making a character that is a wood elf warlock and the entire reason she wanted the raven queen as a patron is bc she's a massive simp for mysterious and powerful women
Just like me :D
Waiting for our next level up because I’m multi multiclassing in this as part of my PC’s arc and I’m sooooooooo excited. Was supposed to be tonight but we derailed the DM’s plans a bit because other party member s usurped the deck of many things my character had been trying to protect in an effort “not to fuck with fate”
I was thinking about making an Aasimar warlock who's basically a child of Death, so this sounds like what I should go with.
Id hardly call the raven queen a forgotten patron - if not for hexblade, i think most locks would be tied to raven queen. Its worth it for the raven familiar alone
it's a fantastic subclass if you just take 3 levels of it and go bard
Thank you for giving me clarity on why RQ subclass was dropped. I do disagree about it being under performing, combat-wise. it might be a one-trick-pony when it comes to combat but when i needed to alpha strike big bad, i would hex the target, then cast spirit weapon (dm allowed the 'weapon' to be raven shaped) then with my eldritch blasts and SW. i was doing d10+CHA+ d6 (for main EB) + d8 + d6 (for bonus SW). with the raven being my eyes, i was able to get into areas when i could mistystep into. as far as that enigmatic PC that other PC just dont seem to trust fully, this build would do that (im thinking my next rq lock will be an illithiad disguised as human using invoc'd disguise self )
I find it interesting that the Raven Queen hates the undead, but the new Hexblade can create Specters. How do you reconcile that?
Forgotten? I've been playing a Pact of the Chain Raven Queen Warlock for over a year now and he's great. They don't just make great espionage characters, but also spell snipers thanks exclusively to the addition of Spiritual Weapon and the extra Finger of Death. While the last feature of the class is a bit of a stinker, the rest of those abilities I think are honestly quite underrated.
I'm playing a Sorcerer homebrew character and the character is a Sailor Scout. I'm debating on Celestial or Raven Queen. I like the ability to heal like a cleric but I like being able to stealth.
it depends on if your party already has a good healer and the tone of the game. If its more fighting then get the healing, if its more character interaction then stealth would be a better pick.
@@RichMerry our party does have a Paladin but his stats mainly focuse on tanking and our Artificer is capable of making healing scrolls daily. The DM tries to have a well balanced story of character interaction and action. We do have a Rogue. It would be cool to have a Sailor Saturn type character.
In a crypt style game undying + necromancer can be really strong.
I do doubt you'll answer, as this is an old video, but would the Raven Queen hate a Dhampir that was forced into becoming one? Dhampirs are not immortal (my DM rules 2x the lifespan of pre-dhampir race) and they are definitely not 100% undead (being more in between undeath and living). I will ask this on your most recent video as well in hopes that you'll respond.
Well you have to think of it this way, while morphed with the raven you still gain the effects of it being on your shoulder. In other words, complete invulnerability
I think the intent of it is the "real raven" is invulnerable as it's considered on you, whereas you (not the raven) simply gain the benefits of it being within 30 feet.
The "mediocre" rating is generous.
Inbelive they broke this sub class into the grave and twilight patrons. I never much cared for these patrons. Always like the raven queen patron theme and style. Maybe I could be reflavoried away from the raven queen directly to more of her aspect or aims. Something like the "watcher" or "judge" patron. This would also lean away from the default chaotic style of the warlock toword lawful, but keeping the cold or dark themes.
Keep the unique bird familiar feature but allow for different varents, raven/crow, buzard/vulture, and hawk/eagle. Want to keep the watcher, judgment, and/or balance of life and death theme. This would allow for patrons of the raven queen, Charon, grim reaper, amd pretty much anything that is lawful neutral.
It’s not a particularly good subclass. We had a guy try to play one, and the DM and I had to keep reminding him how the subclass abilities worked. As a Warlock player myself, I was unimpressed with this patron. All in all, it’s a weak option.