Take the stats for the Myconid Sprout, remove Sun Sickness, rename the form of it's attack but keep the numbers the same, and you can have one of the following. Roll 1d6 1- Tentacular Spectacular, a sentient tentacle creature that can merge with your character's body and has a limited ability to grow an eye or mouth anywhere on itself. 2- An Ancient Amorph, slightly more hardy than an Ooze but with many of the same traits, the amorph can form into simple, fleshy shapes and squeeze into most places. 3- Organ-ism, a spirit entity that can only possess and animate the internal organs of a recently deceased animal. 4- The Brain Slug, a torpid purple leech-like parasite that, once implanted, can take over a small creature completely, turning the creature, effectively, into your new Familiar, at least until the brain is eaten completely. 5- Stomach Baby, a homunculus-like creature is created inside the character's stomach after they eat a bunch of living things, they are recombined and then vomited out, shuffling about as a tiny familiar for a while. 6- Other Me, the familiar is an independent reflection of the character, able to move from one mirror or reflective surface to another, observing and telepathically communicating with its master, oh, and of course it has a minor cosmetic difference, such as an evil goatee or some such. It is capable of inflicting a small psychic attack on any creature that looks directly at it.
Due to being tiny, with an challenge rating between the Pseudodragon and Imp, being an aberration like the Old Ones often are, and even having a variant for being a familiar, I have thought that the Gazer in Volo's Guide to Monsters as fitting in nicely as a familiar for Great Old One.
Someone converted the world of warcraft dungeon Ragefire Chasm into a D&D dungeon and one of the monsters is a voidwalker this semi formless shadowy thing that has the apropriate stats. It lacks the stealth that most of the familiars have though. search "Ragefire Chasm DND" and the reddit thread will be the first hit and just scroll down to the monster stats
One can also become a warlock by accident. There was this one time I clicked accept on the terms of service on a piece of software without reading it first :)
there was one company that changed the terms of their website as a April fools joke to say that anyone who used their website agreed to give them their soul. they collected a few that day.
A buddy of mine once ran a Warlock whose patron was entirely unaware that her powers were being used by a mortal. Instead of having to fulfill the demands of his patron the DM basically said "Go ahead and use as much power as you want but the more you draw on your patron's magic the greater the odds of her figuring out you've been leeching off of her". I thought it was a really creative way to run a Warlock.
One thing that our Intrepid host forgot to mention about the Tome pact is that any spell with the ritual tag Canby inscribed into the book and that spell can be used once per day I've actually combed through the core rulebook and xanathar's and in total I believe there is a total of 22 ritual spells in the book which means obviously theoretically you could have an extra 22 spells per day that you could cast bear in mind many of the ritual spells are very situational and none of them can be used for attack except for the silent spell and Mr Pickett if you're seeing this I have watched this video literally dozens and dozens of times it is in fact this video that pretty much got me into D&D
I am currently playing a warlock who was a sage that specialized in the study of the Far Realms that screwed up and ended up with his mind getting pulled into the city of Carcosa along the shores of Lake Hali, face to face with Hastur, the King in Yellow. I took pact of the tome with him and instead of a Tome of Shadows its titled Necronomicon. He has an obsession with the color yellow and always wears a yellow cloak which he keeps clean via prestidigitation and mending. yes, I took cantrips based solely on RP. He randomly has to find an "innocent" bystander to show the Yellow Sign to, thus giving Hastur another meat puppet (which is what he calls them). He isn't evil so he usually picks thugs and such, but the hapless soul is going to be missing within a few days, mind controlled away by Hastur. My guy also mumbles in deep speech in his sleep. I have a table of messed up things he is required to do that the DM will have me roll on after an encounter. I had to eat the eyes of goblin the last fight and that night dreamed of the city of Carcosa and DM gave me True Sight until the next long rest. it always varies, but its been a lot of fun for all of us as the party is weirded out, but dependent on my dudes ridiculous persuasion, deception and mind control. Also psychic damage is best damage. "So I ask you friend, have you seen the Yellow Sign? Have you. SEEN. The Yellow Sign." holds out a scrap of parchment with a strange yellow glyph that is oddly......interesting. Beautiful even. Yes. You must have this. So sleepy.
This is all 3.0 and 3.5 though .Oh and uh... at level 12 go kill a CR 50+ Chaos beetle. 24 hour fly Eldrict spear.. craft wonderous items that will double your ranks in all of your major skills we are talking 20th level bluff checks in the 90s before rolling (bluff spell) 20 ranks 20 points from item 10 chr mod. +30 your bluff perninated
So basically you just picked out cliche after cliche from one short story and ran with it and now you want attention like you are some lovecraftian expert hush boy
We have a fiend-pact warlock in our campaign who reluctantly made the pact to save his family. Besides dishing out damage with spells and Eldritch Blast, he's taken some utility invocations (like the one that gives Speak with Animals) that have helped.
My absolute favorite D&D character I've ever played was my first character made for a long (Ievel 3-20) campaign in 5e. Elegy. The tiefling Old Ones Warlock of the Tome. Basically, she was the force of personality (alongside our bard, who was the personable face) of the group, and the main arcane caster (again, with the bard as support), as well as the "smart one." Our DM was majorly into incorporating the Warlocky side of her character into things, which ended up being awesome for everyone. Basically played her as a scholarly type. Adopted daughter of an older wizard, and an AVID reader and learner, until her studies took her into dread vistas, forbidden knowledge, etc, lovecraft, etc. Ended up hoarding a library's worth of books in her bag of holding, and CONSTANTLY tried learn whatever she could about a situation tha t was new to her. I'm WAY over summarizing it. But she was INCREDIBLY fun to play. And I occasionally use her as an NPC when I'm DMing 5e
I like the idea of a GOOlock who's power is actually just their own powers as a hidden aberration who's finding their way in the Material Plane. Not Evil but more just examining the place with a bit of an alien worldview. Go Pact of the Chain to summon a little friend from the Far Realm.
It would be a different and interesting dynamic if the warlock’s pack is with a more young and inexperienced member of their pact order, so you’re their first warlock and its a new experience for both parties.
I think that Warlock is my favourite player class, some nice character flavour for story. I come up with ideas of plots and like incorporating a patron into it. I am particularly fond of the Great Old One patron, as it feels like something that sticks out as strange even amongst all the strange of any other magic caster. Although, it kind of had me working on recent a bit of homebrew for a spell caster that would go into those sort of magic forces, but without needing to rely on a patron, with the side effect of going mad from aberrant forces.
I've played several Warlocks before I grew tired of my preceived limitations for role play with this class, after watching this video, I will revisit it again soon. Very infomative and insightful. Thank you sir.
I have a Hill Dwarf Old One Warlock of Zargon who literally dug too deep. Found a giant green gem with a swirling mass inside. It kept whispering to him till he went babbling mad and outcast. Now he is a begger in Waterdeep. Basically, a sandwich board wearing looney.
My current Warlock got drunk after a job and when he woke up found a strange gem imbedded in his wrist. While I selected Great Old One, Both myself and the character aren't sure what specific old one my character is connected to. And he currently has no idea how to control his powers. it's great fun to RP!
My warlock is a classic witch-flavored hagborn/hexling whose horrible beauty her grandmother and aunties use to their nefarious advantage. They serve The Horned God as a coven and her pact was made to him on the night of her thirteenth birthday (after she signed his gnarled and unholy book of names in her blood).
My warlock is a human that helped a pixie escape from goblins that helped him as a young orphan to enter the seelie court. Through the pixie's connections he ended up being adopted by faeries and was made a jester for the high ranking Fey. Due to his popularity he was ejected from the feywilds back into the mortal realm by the high ranking fey court jesters who saw him as a threat. I made him a Rolock (Rogue Warlock) with a couple levels in rogue and most of his levels in warlock. I've really enjoyed playing him so far. 🙃
In the latest expansion book for 5e you can even make a pact with a bona fide genie and get some of its power. Most of which being basically bound to a magical item such as a bottle or lamp which you can both use as a spellcasting focus and hide out in in case you need a place to crash for the night. I'd say it's a mixed bag with lots of great roleplaying options but somewhat lacking in combat utility compared to other warlock pacts, but at least you get the capstone ability of asking your patron to fulfill wishes for you. (Edit: After looking over the book again you actually gain all the benefits of this patron choice in addition to your normal pact options, so you can go with pact of the chain plus the genie lamp, which actually makes me revise my previous opinion. The bonus damage your vessel gives you in addition to what you already get from agonizing blast makes this a great combat option.) I guess it is a bit novel for a genie to have a mortal at their beck and call for a change.
a charismatic individual that has somehow gotten more magical knowledge than they should and made a bargain with a dark power? 5e thrall of grazz't? a dark seducer/seductress who steals arcane secrets. just a thought.
It would seem that tension between the warlock and his patron would be a must for role playing purposes, perhaps rooted in an alignment incongruity between the two. Perfect alignment would make warlocks alt-clerics thematically. I would perhaps liken this relationship to the one between the corrupt employer and his disillusioned but talented employee.
2nd Ed touched upon this in custom priests with their kits as well as necromancers of certain flavors. I guess later editions wanted to remove the complex customization options and go back to just having solid classes. Warlocks, as they are now, are classic Faustian type story magic users. At least post 2nd Edition gives standardized options of allowing players to not be forced into the hero type, I applaud that. Not everyone wants to play the hero or the bad guy who is mercenary for the heroes. I have run a lot of open campaigns with multiple player groups. You won't believe how many players love to play evil characters in evil parties to sate their dark fantasies. I've run missions where a good party fixed something in my world where another group undid it and that dance happened enough for me to tell both groups that I could not keep running the missions without them confronting each other and I hate those kinds of sessions. The evil party had a few 2nd Ed versions of Warlocks... Warlocks did not actually exist yet but their players had 2 custom priests. Long story short, Player Character party vs. Player Character party (at least as a DM) is more like being a judge in a legal battle than playing a game and people will get mad at you. Also, Faustian magic users have a distinct advantage on the battlefield that is often underrated. The evil party was owning the good party until the good party had a run of good rolls. I have run a lot of vs. games. That one was veterans vs. veterans. It took months of gaming sessions, mostly because of my using a poker face, passing notes, halting games for private discussions, etc. Never make a vs. situation a good option, ever. I digress. The Warlocks you show here are akin to 3 of the characters in the evil party. They were 2 custom priests and a custom wizard (necromancer). They were awesome in offense and were part of why the good party lost half of its player characters in round 1.
you made fun points, my last two game shops ran AD&D2e and 3.5e If there are enough players in a given night. the DM will run PC vs PC groups as a contest. They also run Vampire so,.. who Rules the City ?
@@That80sGuy1972 We have a large following of Drow Fanboys. We only face off against the Drow with back up characters. We do Vs Player Group so the DM can focus on running the story & roll less dice themselves.
You made me just realize that The Juggernaut IS a Warlock . Like in every single detail he just chooses not to use certain aspects of his magical power sticking only to the strengths aspect.
I've always been enamored with the idea of an ancient Archwizard getting stabbed in the back with a dagger his rival grabbed off of his desk that captures his soul and he becomes a warlock patron as well as an intelligent weapon.
Best flavor for warlock of the old one is the ancient fallen god whose only worshiper is you and uses all his power to help you out in your adventure as long as you spread he’s worship everywhere you go. It’s a paladinlike warlock but it’s cooler than the “Cthulhu came to me and asked me if I want superpowers”
Right off the bat, having Mass Effect's Jack (Patient Zero) as an example of a warlock is a brilliant way of drawing connections between two different adventuring genres (Scifi and High Fantasy) ✊😆 Still... 🎶you'll never be better than Commander Shepard 🎶
She's warlock crazy and reckless. But trope wise she's a sorcerer. Saren arterious however is a warlock, and his patron is sovereign. Typically, the arrangement ends well for him. 🤞🐙😵 Also the illusive man is a warlock too.
My favourite warlock had a great old one pact. The GOO had picked that particular out-of-the-way rock to sleep in eons before & was accidentally awoken by an overly curious young elf exploring a deep cave that had opened up following an earthquake. The GOO was surprised by the odd little creature & investigated further, curious about where it had come from, since there was little more than slime present when it'd gone to sleep, so took a closer look in what passed for the creature's mind, finding a rudimentary intelligence, emotions & a drive of curiosity, as well as the potential to manipulate some of the cosmic energies the GOO itself was capable of using. The GOO was able to make the "elf" (whatever that was, though it'd apparently been lucky by encountering something that could live more than a few moments) understand it & granted it's new pet abilities so that it could gather information for it, then ordered them to go out into the world, so the GOO could observe from within & investigate what had grown up while it had been sleeping. Basically the idea was that from the GOO's point of view & timescale it was like a human taking half a year to study something of personal interest before going "huh, that's interesting" then going back to doing it's own thing afterwards. I played the warlock as chaotic neutral, having an insatiable curiosity about everything, a big part of it was his own natural inclination, but heightened by desire to keep his master happy & his ultimate goal was always knowledge, pretty much for it's own sake, to find new things, find out how things worked, or just to experience different sensations - it was quite a handy little device actually, since you could always rely on a chance rumour to cause the elf to want to go check it out, or the patron itself step in to order his pet to investigate a particular thing - he was the kind of character who'd risk breaking into a treasure vault or dragon's lair just to poke about & look at what was there, approach wizards to ask what their experiments were for & how they worked, spend a day questioning a priest about their god & their beliefs then go & ask the same questions of the opposing church the very next day - of course, there were some other more unpleasant things like taking body parts from enemies (or new graves) to examine & dissect them.... He was generally a pretty friendly sort since that'd get more information & ended up being the party diplomat on quite a few occasions, though that curiosity could get them in trouble depending on exactly what he (or his patron) might decide to say or do on a whim just to see what'd happen. His powers were all based around ways to get more information & or tools to enable that - whether it was ways to influence people (prestigitation & mending were great for small entertainments & favours to get a positive response from people), ways to gather information directly such as beast speak, or without being noticed (the act of observation can change what's being observed after all, especially if the thing is aware of being observed... so scrying & invisibility are nice), or things like aspect of the moon - sleep is just wasted time, better to use the time reading a new book or performing those dissections.
My level 7 Bard just Multi-classed to a Bard-lock, with an Arch-fey patron Calarax. (a Satyr, so we all know what they focus on). It's so much fun role playing it so far. :)
One warlock I am playing is a hexblade who is an exdungeon diver who would go in behind adventurers and loot things they left behind. After goinng deeper than usual into a crypt, he found an old armory that was locked by some sort of seal. After working on it for a bit, a needle would stab his finger and reveal an alter. Being the big brain half elf, he grabs the flail from the alter and now is a damn scary combatant. Outside of combat I play him as a timid, kind and all around decent person. Though inside combat his patron takes control and turns him into a murder machine. His story is basically him fighting to remain his own man or giving in to the sheer power that he never had before.
Great video; if I ever break away from fighters I think a worlock would be something I would try... Goliath Worlock of the fiend... Yeah I like that... I bet I can find a way to make that make sense...
My dangerously curious High Elf Wizard, after leaving home because reasons, found himself joining a smuggling gang along with his new companions. Meeting thhe boss of the gang, a bullywug, wizard boi senses some very interesting magic coming off of him. after some words are exchanged, wizzie gets yeeted through a portal and now -has- gets to collect the dragonballs for his eldritch "patron, if you will...in exchange for certain perks, including but not limited to this neat but creepy-looking sword." Order of Scribes Hexblade yay Edit: About a month after the deal is struck, wizlock remains unsure of most of the details of his bargain. Although he seems to be maybe starting to become amphibious? He sure seems to enjoy being wet a lot more.
Placeholder update til the next session: Ronan and co are now breaking a pirate crew/ship out of jail/impound with the general understanding that this will earn them official membership with said crew (still in that mafia btw, and now we're also technically members of the revolutionary faction AND pirates). When I edit this comment next, it will be to report on the ultimate success or failure of the rescue mission and whether or not we've in fact burned down an entire port town in the process.
Because he enjoyed making food. Technically he ended up as the guildmaster of the branch of the guild on the undiscovered continent in my game world. He had been living there for ten thousand years and once it was discovered he opened a tavern that eventually became the guild hall.
They really have come along way since their inception. 4e came up with a lot of different pacts but didn't really flesh them out. I hope 5e gives them all some love and attention.
I like Warlocks, I have builds for a GOO Kenku, an archfey kobold (I’m a total ass with that one, his patron is Garl Glittergold) a celestial fallen assimar, and a half elf hexblade that I’m thinking of as King Arthur
Probably my favorite class, I really want to try playing as a Warlock who poses as a bard to avoid all the suspicion and negative stigma. Get really good at acting, performing, and deception, carry an instrument around and play it at taverns. Both classes get high charisma as well and share some of the same spells, but it'd definitely get progressively harder.
I main as a High Elf Warlock who serves a devil from the Nine Hells. His backstory was pretty much Voldemort's, being a prodigy student of the arcane but had a fascination for dark magics. As if through destiny, he discovered a tome at the avademy's library that allowed him to summon a devil. He completed the ritual and made a pact and was granted infernal magics in exchange for loyalty and servitude. He's an outcast at his academy but is still welcomed there on the terms that he never serves his patron on academy grounds (at least openly).
Yeah, I have to make a follow-up video on this class, to talk about all the story elements and some historical figures of Faerun who were Warlocks, as well as ideas for how the patrons of Warlock pacts can be used by the DM.
I still dont get why the storm sorcerer gets into xanathars guide but not the undying patron warlock when Xanatar's guide gives so many necromancy warlock spells. Its like... why? just why?
It's really unfortunate how many people forget about the Undying patrons, since they can be so thematically rich. One idea I had was for an Undying Warlock who got powers from a vampire lord who grew so powerful, his taint seeped into the land. And the pact was forged when, in a moment straight out of Hellsing, the Warlock on death's door drank the blood pooling on the battlefield, which flowed toward them in offering. One of the stipulations of the pact requires the Warlock to carry two fistfuls of soil from their birthplace everywhere they go, and to taste blood on the regular (though it doesn't need to be more than an ounce, and it can be animal blood). I imagined this character as being a female high elf with pale skin and white hair, and who dresses up like Lady Maria from Bloodborne. Takes the pact of the blade, and, if the DM is amenable, letting the Improved Pact Weapon invocation allow the character to make a pistol (normally it's just bows and crossbows). Round the character off by taking spells like Spider Climb and Gaseous Form, and that Invocation that lets you cast Polymorph. All to stick close to the theme of being a vampire (or something like it).
Dagon is an Obrynth, my general advice is, if it isn't an Obrynth, Demon Lord, Archfiend, God, Primordial, Fey lord or Umbral Lord, it is probably an Aberration/Elder God/Great Old One. Actually, a fair few Primordials are Great Old Ones, if they match the depiction of one of HP Lovecraft's beasties.
My personal favorite way of making an Infernal Pact Warlock is to go the Johnny Blaze route of backstory. Someone I care about is in trouble? Make a deal with a devil! One of my favorite warlocks to play became one because she and some friends were about to be killed by wererats, and she cried out for help from any power that would listen. Belial Of Plegathos got to her first and promised to give her enough power to save herself and her friends, while agreeing to wait until after the situation was resolved to hammer out the finer details of the contract. Well, she killed the rats, so she definitely had the power to do it, but Belial /never promised/ enough //time// to allow her friends to live.
I have one, zariel bloodline, he's a celestial warlock whose patron enjoys watching his exploits like his life is a tv show. He's also very literal to avoid blasphemy or leaving himself open to their bizarre sense of humor. The DM liked the idea of a patron having a fairly active part in the warlock's life, with rewards and punishments accordingly.
I think a Goliath warlock could have the perfect backstory for any of these pacts and be able to convince any wizard or cleric to tell them about things or places of power. You will not talk down to a Goliath and it would be a funny scene to see a little wizard trying to berate a goliath about his spell usage lol
Upon consideration, would the holder of the One Ring technically be a Hexblade? Beholden to an object of greater power than yourself that bestows supernatural life...
Sorta? It could bestow power in the form of amplifying some already possessed power or trait but the ring was really only loyal to Sauron so it never bestowed anything unless it put the possessor on the path to helping the ring restore it to its master. Even when it gave it took. With a real pact the warlock and patron have a bit more of a two way relationship.
I would say that the Exactness of the One Ring in its purpose and personality makes it the exception to what counts as a patron in modern media. Also, is the ring a horcrux or a phylactery? Does it host the whole or a piece of Sauron's soul? It certainly holds the keystone to his power, but it might just be the key to the lock, rather than the cage itself.
haha, I was watching Critical Role's campaign (I'm on episode 19) and this popped up. One of their guest characters, played by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, is playing a Tiefling Warlock. She was pretty badass
I'm currently playing a hexblade human, very simple fisherman who picked up a hammer with teeth, bit of a lovable clown who's playing with magic WAY beyond his ken. My back up character is also a human warlock! celestial however, she made a pact as a child with a sentient swarm of humming birds illuminated by a setting sun, my DM has hinted at it being an expression of a solar, very biblical angel meets disney princess, sprinkling of existentialism. I love, this, class.
Playing a tiefling fiend pact warlock who is the Infernal to Mortal Afterlife Liaison. Basically he goes around and helps people solve their problems in exchange for their souls. He also helps to introduce evil mortals to their new afterlife in hell, usually by sending them there himself. He uses Hurtle through Hell as a kind of sneak preview for their brand new timeshare in Avernus. He also hopes to get a promotion to Executive Pitfiend Coordinator soon.
I don't know if it has made the appearance in Fifth editition yet, but a staple of the game to me, and one of the first monster lairs my group encountered (and quickly ran from) was a Gloomwing nest near a Shade Plane (now Shadowfell I suppose) portal tear. I have loved using them since then in my games with their unique life cyles and abilities to make for interesting and lethal deterents toward treasure. Perhaps a video on the Gloomwing and it's larvae, the Tenebrous Worm to be put on the list, please? I would so love to hear more about them.
In my game there's a sect of (mostly tiefling) warlocks that built a fortress around an entire island to wall off and fight back demons from a portal to the abyss - one that nobody in the realms knows how to close. There are soldiers, paladins, and warlocks all working together in this fort to keep the demons at bay - despite the differences in methodology. Anything for an edge to keep the Abyss from spreading across the plane (which is also homebrew). It's like a miniature blood war but The Great Wall (2016) style. This multifaceted order is the oldest and most diverse knightly order in my setting - it is also the ONLY multinational one.
This was the paragraph that made me want to play Necromancers/Warlocks........I shall laugh as i place my head on the block ,laugh at them all as the raven jeers at the gallows or the worm mocks the grave. It took the Prince's most powerful knights to bring me in-shackled in cold iron-before my earthly liege,but not before I had slain a hundred of his retainers twisted the insides of his beloved wife,cursed their only son with ravening madness eternal. "I have laid among the rat gnawed bones of the oubliette and excepted the iron maidens cruel embrace,but I am not alone,and i feel no pain.... The Slaadi still comfort me with their infernal melodies,and my invisible familiars still inform me,bringing news in the clammy darkness from my lord Thasmudyan. I shall have eternal life for my devoted service;the baatezu lord has promised me this final boon. I will survive,of that I am certain,but my next evolution may not remember all of my secrets,all the cryptic mysteries of the Art. I shall bid the shadows to write them down,inscribing them in a book so that I may remember all that I knew before I died. And then I shall depart this earthly realm and walk on farther shores,undreaming and unbidden,until I stand once again in the ivory court of Thasmudyan." ---From Nebt Bhakau's BOOK OF SHADOWS. 💀💀💀
I treat some of my warlocks a little differently. I am currently playing an archery warlock Kobold who"s story is essentially getting lost in the feywild and discovering a forest like dragon and began to worship it. Another is another archery warlock who lost her home and was raised in the forest by frauds and nymphs. She learned the ways of the forest and was granted power by her adopted parents. Not all warlocks are necessarily canniving and inexperienced. Their are tons of different ways to do so a warlock. Have fun with it.
This has always been my favorite class to break. Then level 12 go hunt down a chaos beetle and you've got all the item creation xp you could want. At level 12 they have an infusion into their warlock blast that bypasses spells resist and does acid damage. That combined with 14,400 spells per day and you have the strongest spell casting class there is. Take item creation feats and double down on your ranks in spell skills and BLUFF before you know it you will be changing your alignment at will to fool the dwarven weapons to think you're a lawful palidan dwarf. Finish your DM off by writing some scrolls lmao.. ANY SPELL baleful magic is awesome. But I'll always come back to the fact that he has 14 ,400 spells a day. I often cast darkness so many times there is a half mile of magic darkness following me where I go... 14,400 maxed out 40th level wizard might have 120 if he really goes crazy with it... we are talking 20 mins of truly powerful magic. But 20 mins is all you got . 1st level warlock though.. 14,400 at level 12 bypasses spells resist with a ranged touch attack. And can make ANY magic item...
Comming back to this one. Since you have netflix, check out the cartoon/animation called: the dragon prince. There is a great plotline where the necromancer viren becomes a warlock under aaravos as his patron. For power ofcourse...
I can't hardly resist going into the many deeply involved characters' backstories I have cooked up in my head. Wonder if I could make a TH-cam series on that
Yes! Perhaps she gives the Warlock the ability to navigate mazes like a Minotaur? And yes, the Eldritch blast could take the form of a shadow that falls on the target, with lacerations appearing on them out of nowhere.
I actually thought of how a Green Lantern might be specced as a Celestial Warlock. Just not the kind of GL you might be expecting. I chose Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern, with his more fiery green power coming from a being called the Starheart, rather than from Oa and the Power Battery.
I feel like I'm the only one that orders to go the route of winning some knowledge and power in a dragonchess game? The story tends to be a bit more involved of course, but point is the power is now the warlock's and the thing that lost it isn't really in the picture.
Thanks Scrake, I have about equal parts people who are not into the music in the background and those who dig it, I don't think I will ever satisfy everyone :)
AJ Pickett Maybe go a bit more atmospheric and backgroundish (less repetitive and less percussion/leads competing with you in the speech register) and have the music subtly match and differentiate the different sections. Maybe match the feel of the celestial warlock vs the fiendish or great old one warlock and get the listener’s imaginative gears going. It’s a bit more work (and I definitely appreciate the work you put into these already) but it might elevate the listening experience and keep the viewers engaged.
Just started in a homebrew campaign with a sort of cross over set up for my warlock. Essentially his patron is a plane itself as he's a Changeling the Lost changeling and his power is essentially siphoned off of Arcadia, unintentionally at first. And the door is open for his Keeper and other fae beings to find him.
Warlocks are interesting because I think they were originally favored as wizards who decided to learn from a greater power, and in turn did favors for such knowledge. Found this kinda stuff in forms when discussing whether you loose your powers when your patron dies, some saying “well he’s your teacher and they teach you their secrets, so you keep the secrets even if they die,” which sounds nice, but the flaw of “well if that’s the case, why haven’t wizards just hired some warlocks to teach them new cool interesting abilities, why can’t wizards learn these abilities from warlocks as a feat(prerequisite: must have warlock teacher)?” a DM could flavor it as it being tied to the pact of the patron, and thus dependent on them, so it can’t really be taught. In the chaotic hell of dnd, it’s probably better to ask what rolls with your DM cause they’re god and your best friend. Some would say, “well why dont wizards hire artificers to teach them about magic items, and maybe make stuff,” and I’d be like “damn you’re right, but does learning fey magic from some guy who knows fey magic from the queen of fairies sound interesting? Well no, but being the guy learning from the queen of fairies directly sounds way cooler, however it’s more realistic for you to find the guy researching that magic instead of conversing with this great power to do you the favor of teaching you.(but maybe there should be a feat to learn eldritch powers cause that’s nifty(or OP as hell)).” If things get to level 20(which is rare), then I hope the dm can flavor some stuff where you turn into the thing that gave you power and you give out pacts, how your pact was completed and now freed.(some cool stuff)
The one thing I think needs addressed is that in 5e the bargain has already been completed at first level. Their is no requirement for the Patron to ever come up again and the patron has nothing to hold over the warlock since they can't take the power away.
They can absolutely take the power away. The DM for all intents and purposes, IS the warlocks patron, what you are proposing is that the DM has no say in how this relationship works.. that is Rule-play, not Role-play my friend.
AJ Pickett dms can change anything but in the actual lore and rules which you do a really good job of covering they can not. This has been confirmed on both sage advice and a dnd beyond video covering warlocks by the 5e developers.
My main point is you cover a lot of homebrew options on the warlock but leave out the built in intended interaction and relationship between warlocks and patrons. There is nothing wrong with a homebrew approach but a lot can be done with the current cannon lore also. Since patrons actually take a risk when they make warlocks because they give up some of their own power to do it. There is a lot that can be done with that on both the warlock and patron side of things. What about this person was worth the risk of giving away some of its power. The fact that they can't take the powers away leads to an interesting situation of are you better off dead to the patron now that you've done it a service and its hunting you to kill to retrieve its power. Maybe a rival entity wants to kill you and take the power for themselves. So much exists there that you didn't cover because you left out that bit of information.
Within the first minute of the video, I state that this character class has "the strongest co-operative relationship between the dungeon master and the player". Also, a couple of corrections. Patrons don't always have to be giving the warlock their own power, there are examples where power they can not access themselves is instead channeled into a pact sworn warlock. Patrons can end the pack and cut off the source of a Warlocks power.
I can provide the links to info I was talking about where its stated that they can't take away warlock powers and that they lose power when they give it to a warlock. if you want.
World of Warcraft has an interesting take on Warlocks in the Council of the Black Harvest. They haven't made pacts with demons. Oh no, they've stolen their power and have then turned around and dominated the very demons they've taken the power from. I find that far, far more interesting than simply having made a pact with a fiend. That power they wield is stolen, and that entity either hasn't noticed, or hates them for it.
AJ like your commentary on dungeons & dragons I would like to know when you're going to do more character class breakdowns hopefully soon cuz there's some new characters in the game I like to know about when you give the most in-depth analogy on them
My Warlock is going to make a pact with the Pale Night, with the goal of getting under the sheets (of reality) with her hue hue hue. If you're going to go for forbidden secrets, go big or go home.
He could also be run as a Celestial Patron, if you focus on his Real Life identity as Saint Nicholas. If you assume that Upper Planes beings could include Saints and paragons of their faith (like Clerics who got to a high enough level), they might be able to support a Pact. In that case, the Warlock would have a _literal_ Patron Saint.
A Gazer is a beholder subspecies that can become a familiar. Beholders are already Great Old One stylized and are from the far realms, it wouldn't be hard for a higher power subspecies of a Beholder to be a Great Old One patron.
The best way to describe a Warnock for me (especially one who draws power from an infernal source) is a sith. Where a wizard or cleric can be considered a jedi a Warnock is a sith. The wizard and cleric draw upon they're their mind and beliefs while a warlock draw upon raw emotion.
A confused, multiclassed selfserving warlock with time magic and divination. "That is future me's problem" is a dynamic. At imporant choice 2 different future selves argue over what choice will be made.
I have been thinking for awhile since first listening to this and I partly disagree with your take on what a warlock's outlook is. Each warlock may have a very different relationship. Some may truly respect and want to help their patron. But what I do agree with is the idea that this is a business relationship. It is not truly a master/servant thing but of partners. That they may be unequal partners only makes it better as it gives the warlock reason to grow stronger. If they like their patron they may wish to grow stronger to be less of a burden to their patron. If not they may wish the power to supplant the patron. And anything inbetween.
In one of your videos I seem to recall you saying that the fate of all warlocks is to become lemures... I wonder instead if that should be the fate of fiend pact warlocks, Arboria perhaps for a fey pact warlocks and so on. Fear then the fate of the old one pacts.
I feel Clerics and Paladins should be roleplayed with the same amount of DM interaction just in different ways. Paladins need to uphold an oath. Clerics have a god. Heck druids could be played that way as well with a tie to a world spirit
Mostly google image search, sometimes I go on Pintarest deep dives, some images from Deviant Art will be in there. It's a matter of getting skilled at what keywords to search under.
Everytime I played warlock I feel the urge to play one that his patron is an elder evil like dendar, zargon or even worst, Atropus. They always felt like the most evil class in the game, even when your patron is an archfey they tend to be more inclined toward the chaotic side. The only one that feels like a good align warlock is the celestial archtype.
oh no... don't forget the darkside of good guys, the zealotry and prryhic psychosis. punishing innocents as collateral inorder to make sure they get the guilty. that urge can always be satisfied. there are boundaries between planes for a reason, a warlock(or the mortals around them.) should have to suffer the consiquence of being a nexus between them.
Don't be so sure. Archfey may be Chaotic, but Chaotic =/= Evil. Those are two different axis. A faerie lord or lady could be largely benign. The trick comes from them being fickle, or inclined to adhere to strange rules.
Bluecho4 or incredibly proud, vengfull and unforgiving. Archfey can totally fill the immortal aristocrasy trope. biggoted to the peaks of the highest mountains, and generally pro - violence in their outlook on life.
![BOWKYLION - วิงวอน (ex-change) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLdnZWDaO-w/mqdefault.jpg)
Any idea for an Old One appropriate familiar?
Take the stats for the Myconid Sprout, remove Sun Sickness, rename the form of it's attack but keep the numbers the same, and you can have one of the following.
Roll 1d6
1- Tentacular Spectacular, a sentient tentacle creature that can merge with your character's body and has a limited ability to grow an eye or mouth anywhere on itself.
2- An Ancient Amorph, slightly more hardy than an Ooze but with many of the same traits, the amorph can form into simple, fleshy shapes and squeeze into most places.
3- Organ-ism, a spirit entity that can only possess and animate the internal organs of a recently deceased animal.
4- The Brain Slug, a torpid purple leech-like parasite that, once implanted, can take over a small creature completely, turning the creature, effectively, into your new Familiar, at least until the brain is eaten completely.
5- Stomach Baby, a homunculus-like creature is created inside the character's stomach after they eat a bunch of living things, they are recombined and then vomited out, shuffling about as a tiny familiar for a while.
6- Other Me, the familiar is an independent reflection of the character, able to move from one mirror or reflective surface to another, observing and telepathically communicating with its master, oh, and of course it has a minor cosmetic difference, such as an evil goatee or some such. It is capable of inflicting a small psychic attack on any creature that looks directly at it.
Due to being tiny, with an challenge rating between the Pseudodragon and Imp, being an aberration like the Old Ones often are, and even having a variant for being a familiar, I have thought that the Gazer in Volo's Guide to Monsters as fitting in nicely as a familiar for Great Old One.
Someone converted the world of warcraft dungeon Ragefire Chasm into a D&D dungeon and one of the monsters is a voidwalker this semi formless shadowy thing that has the apropriate stats. It lacks the stealth that most of the familiars have though. search "Ragefire Chasm DND" and the reddit thread will be the first hit and just scroll down to the monster stats
A little illithid tadpod? (one that can obey your command and doesn't want to assimilate you.)
Oh god, then there is a chance that tadpod to evolve into a Gyarados i mean Neothelid
One can also become a warlock by accident. There was this one time I clicked accept on the terms of service on a piece of software without reading it first :)
HA HA HA! Nice one.
Bill Gates is your master now.
Or Steve Job.
there was one company that changed the terms of their website as a April fools joke to say that anyone who used their website agreed to give them their soul.
they collected a few that day.
Characters signing a receipt, loan, or application to become a warlock... interesting for a bit of humor
I hve this image of a hexblade communing with the weapon to form the pact and getting redirected to customer service.
A buddy of mine once ran a Warlock whose patron was entirely unaware that her powers were being used by a mortal. Instead of having to fulfill the demands of his patron the DM basically said "Go ahead and use as much power as you want but the more you draw on your patron's magic the greater the odds of her figuring out you've been leeching off of her". I thought it was a really creative way to run a Warlock.
That's creatively excellent 👍
One thing that our Intrepid host forgot to mention about the Tome pact is that any spell with the ritual tag Canby inscribed into the book and that spell can be used once per day I've actually combed through the core rulebook and xanathar's and in total I believe there is a total of 22 ritual spells in the book which means obviously theoretically you could have an extra 22 spells per day that you could cast bear in mind many of the ritual spells are very situational and none of them can be used for attack except for the silent spell and Mr Pickett if you're seeing this I have watched this video literally dozens and dozens of times it is in fact this video that pretty much got me into D&D
I am currently playing a warlock who was a sage that specialized in the study of the Far Realms that screwed up and ended up with his mind getting pulled into the city of Carcosa along the shores of Lake Hali, face to face with Hastur, the King in Yellow. I took pact of the tome with him and instead of a Tome of Shadows its titled Necronomicon. He has an obsession with the color yellow and always wears a yellow cloak which he keeps clean via prestidigitation and mending. yes, I took cantrips based solely on RP.
He randomly has to find an "innocent" bystander to show the Yellow Sign to, thus giving Hastur another meat puppet (which is what he calls them). He isn't evil so he usually picks thugs and such, but the hapless soul is going to be missing within a few days, mind controlled away by Hastur. My guy also mumbles in deep speech in his sleep. I have a table of messed up things he is required to do that the DM will have me roll on after an encounter. I had to eat the eyes of goblin the last fight and that night dreamed of the city of Carcosa and DM gave me True Sight until the next long rest. it always varies, but its been a lot of fun for all of us as the party is weirded out, but dependent on my dudes ridiculous persuasion, deception and mind control. Also psychic damage is best damage.
"So I ask you friend, have you seen the Yellow Sign? Have you. SEEN. The Yellow Sign." holds out a scrap of parchment with a strange yellow glyph that is oddly......interesting. Beautiful even. Yes. You must have this. So sleepy.
Please please go take scribe scroll. And again access to any spell in the game
..
No... I havent seen the yellow sign I cast darkness 10,000 times a day and perminately reside in the darkness
This is all 3.0 and 3.5 though .Oh and uh... at level 12 go kill a CR 50+ Chaos beetle. 24 hour fly Eldrict spear.. craft wonderous items that will double your ranks in all of your major skills we are talking 20th level bluff checks in the 90s before rolling (bluff spell) 20 ranks 20 points from item 10 chr mod. +30 your bluff perninated
So basically you just picked out cliche after cliche from one short story and ran with it and now you want attention like you are some lovecraftian expert hush boy
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We have a fiend-pact warlock in our campaign who reluctantly made the pact to save his family. Besides dishing out damage with spells and Eldritch Blast, he's taken some utility invocations (like the one that gives Speak with Animals) that have helped.
My absolute favorite D&D character I've ever played was my first character made for a long (Ievel 3-20) campaign in 5e. Elegy. The tiefling Old Ones Warlock of the Tome. Basically, she was the force of personality (alongside our bard, who was the personable face) of the group, and the main arcane caster (again, with the bard as support), as well as the "smart one." Our DM was majorly into incorporating the Warlocky side of her character into things, which ended up being awesome for everyone. Basically played her as a scholarly type. Adopted daughter of an older wizard, and an AVID reader and learner, until her studies took her into dread vistas, forbidden knowledge, etc, lovecraft, etc. Ended up hoarding a library's worth of books in her bag of holding, and CONSTANTLY tried learn whatever she could about a situation tha t was new to her.
I'm WAY over summarizing it. But she was INCREDIBLY fun to play. And I occasionally use her as an NPC when I'm DMing 5e
0:30 hey that's my picture! :p
I like the idea of a GOOlock who's power is actually just their own powers as a hidden aberration who's finding their way in the Material Plane. Not Evil but more just examining the place with a bit of an alien worldview. Go Pact of the Chain to summon a little friend from the Far Realm.
It would be a different and interesting dynamic if the warlock’s pack is with a more young and inexperienced member of their pact order, so you’re their first warlock and its a new experience for both parties.
Basically sounds like "Venom" from the Marvel Universe lol
you could have a socially awkward patron who is also forgetful. basically a stereotypical intern/new guy
I think that Warlock is my favourite player class, some nice character flavour for story. I come up with ideas of plots and like incorporating a patron into it.
I am particularly fond of the Great Old One patron, as it feels like something that sticks out as strange even amongst all the strange of any other magic caster. Although, it kind of had me working on recent a bit of homebrew for a spell caster that would go into those sort of magic forces, but without needing to rely on a patron, with the side effect of going mad from aberrant forces.
Like their patron being the weave of magic itself. Or maybe the abyss or some other intire plane of existence.
I've played several Warlocks before I grew tired of my preceived limitations for role play with this class, after watching this video, I will revisit it again soon. Very infomative and insightful. Thank you sir.
I have a Hill Dwarf Old One Warlock of Zargon who literally dug too deep. Found a giant green gem with a swirling mass inside. It kept whispering to him till he went babbling mad and outcast. Now he is a begger in Waterdeep. Basically, a sandwich board wearing looney.
hahaha!!!
My current Warlock got drunk after a job and when he woke up found a strange gem imbedded in his wrist. While I selected Great Old One, Both myself and the character aren't sure what specific old one my character is connected to. And he currently has no idea how to control his powers. it's great fun to RP!
My warlock is a classic witch-flavored hagborn/hexling whose horrible beauty her grandmother and aunties use to their nefarious advantage. They serve The Horned God as a coven and her pact was made to him on the night of her thirteenth birthday (after she signed his gnarled and unholy book of names in her blood).
My warlock is a human that helped a pixie escape from goblins that helped him as a young orphan to enter the seelie court. Through the pixie's connections he ended up being adopted by faeries and was made a jester for the high ranking Fey.
Due to his popularity he was ejected from the feywilds back into the mortal realm by the high ranking fey court jesters who saw him as a threat. I made him a Rolock (Rogue Warlock) with a couple levels in rogue and most of his levels in warlock. I've really enjoyed playing him so far. 🙃
In the latest expansion book for 5e you can even make a pact with a bona fide genie and get some of its power. Most of which being basically bound to a magical item such as a bottle or lamp which you can both use as a spellcasting focus and hide out in in case you need a place to crash for the night.
I'd say it's a mixed bag with lots of great roleplaying options but somewhat lacking in combat utility compared to other warlock pacts, but at least you get the capstone ability of asking your patron to fulfill wishes for you. (Edit: After looking over the book again you actually gain all the benefits of this patron choice in addition to your normal pact options, so you can go with pact of the chain plus the genie lamp, which actually makes me revise my previous opinion. The bonus damage your vessel gives you in addition to what you already get from agonizing blast makes this a great combat option.)
I guess it is a bit novel for a genie to have a mortal at their beck and call for a change.
a charismatic individual that has somehow gotten more magical knowledge than they should and made a bargain with a dark power?
5e thrall of grazz't?
a dark seducer/seductress who steals arcane secrets. just a thought.
It would seem that tension between the warlock and his patron would be a must for role playing purposes, perhaps rooted in an alignment incongruity between the two. Perfect alignment would make warlocks alt-clerics thematically. I would perhaps liken this relationship to the one between the corrupt employer and his disillusioned but talented employee.
coolest class in all of DnD really the only one that has character and story potential built right into the class.
2nd Ed touched upon this in custom priests with their kits as well as necromancers of certain flavors. I guess later editions wanted to remove the complex customization options and go back to just having solid classes. Warlocks, as they are now, are classic Faustian type story magic users. At least post 2nd Edition gives standardized options of allowing players to not be forced into the hero type, I applaud that. Not everyone wants to play the hero or the bad guy who is mercenary for the heroes. I have run a lot of open campaigns with multiple player groups. You won't believe how many players love to play evil characters in evil parties to sate their dark fantasies. I've run missions where a good party fixed something in my world where another group undid it and that dance happened enough for me to tell both groups that I could not keep running the missions without them confronting each other and I hate those kinds of sessions. The evil party had a few 2nd Ed versions of Warlocks... Warlocks did not actually exist yet but their players had 2 custom priests.
Long story short, Player Character party vs. Player Character party (at least as a DM) is more like being a judge in a legal battle than playing a game and people will get mad at you. Also, Faustian magic users have a distinct advantage on the battlefield that is often underrated. The evil party was owning the good party until the good party had a run of good rolls. I have run a lot of vs. games. That one was veterans vs. veterans. It took months of gaming sessions, mostly because of my using a poker face, passing notes, halting games for private discussions, etc. Never make a vs. situation a good option, ever. I digress. The Warlocks you show here are akin to 3 of the characters in the evil party. They were 2 custom priests and a custom wizard (necromancer). They were awesome in offense and were part of why the good party lost half of its player characters in round 1.
you made fun points, my last two game shops ran AD&D2e and 3.5e
If there are enough players in a given night. the DM will run PC vs PC groups as a contest.
They also run Vampire so,.. who Rules the City ?
@@krispalermo8133 Party. Contests vs games have a lot less sour grapes than actual clashes. Have fun.
@@That80sGuy1972 We have a large following of Drow Fanboys. We only face off against the Drow with back up characters.
We do Vs Player Group so the DM can focus on running the story & roll less dice themselves.
@@krispalermo8133 Having fin while taking heat off of the DM? Nice.
You made me just realize that The Juggernaut IS a Warlock . Like in every single detail he just chooses not to use certain aspects of his magical power sticking only to the strengths aspect.
yes crimson of however you spell its name can give lots of power but looks like juggernaught prefers close combat
@@lorekeeper685 The Crimson Gem of Cyttorak . A spell with his name upon it is The Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. ( Used by Dr. Strange ).
@@antwan1357 makes sense
I've always been enamored with the idea of an ancient Archwizard getting stabbed in the back with a dagger his rival grabbed off of his desk that captures his soul and he becomes a warlock patron as well as an intelligent weapon.
Best flavor for warlock of the old one is the ancient fallen god whose only worshiper is you and uses all his power to help you out in your adventure as long as you spread he’s worship everywhere you go. It’s a paladinlike warlock but it’s cooler than the “Cthulhu came to me and asked me if I want superpowers”
Right off the bat, having Mass Effect's Jack (Patient Zero) as an example of a warlock is a brilliant way of drawing connections between two different adventuring genres (Scifi and High Fantasy)
✊😆
Still... 🎶you'll never be better than Commander Shepard 🎶
She's warlock crazy and reckless. But trope wise she's a sorcerer. Saren arterious however is a warlock, and his patron is sovereign. Typically, the arrangement ends well for him. 🤞🐙😵 Also the illusive man is a warlock too.
My favourite warlock had a great old one pact. The GOO had picked that particular out-of-the-way rock to sleep in eons before & was accidentally awoken by an overly curious young elf exploring a deep cave that had opened up following an earthquake. The GOO was surprised by the odd little creature & investigated further, curious about where it had come from, since there was little more than slime present when it'd gone to sleep, so took a closer look in what passed for the creature's mind, finding a rudimentary intelligence, emotions & a drive of curiosity, as well as the potential to manipulate some of the cosmic energies the GOO itself was capable of using. The GOO was able to make the "elf" (whatever that was, though it'd apparently been lucky by encountering something that could live more than a few moments) understand it & granted it's new pet abilities so that it could gather information for it, then ordered them to go out into the world, so the GOO could observe from within & investigate what had grown up while it had been sleeping. Basically the idea was that from the GOO's point of view & timescale it was like a human taking half a year to study something of personal interest before going "huh, that's interesting" then going back to doing it's own thing afterwards.
I played the warlock as chaotic neutral, having an insatiable curiosity about everything, a big part of it was his own natural inclination, but heightened by desire to keep his master happy & his ultimate goal was always knowledge, pretty much for it's own sake, to find new things, find out how things worked, or just to experience different sensations - it was quite a handy little device actually, since you could always rely on a chance rumour to cause the elf to want to go check it out, or the patron itself step in to order his pet to investigate a particular thing - he was the kind of character who'd risk breaking into a treasure vault or dragon's lair just to poke about & look at what was there, approach wizards to ask what their experiments were for & how they worked, spend a day questioning a priest about their god & their beliefs then go & ask the same questions of the opposing church the very next day - of course, there were some other more unpleasant things like taking body parts from enemies (or new graves) to examine & dissect them....
He was generally a pretty friendly sort since that'd get more information & ended up being the party diplomat on quite a few occasions, though that curiosity could get them in trouble depending on exactly what he (or his patron) might decide to say or do on a whim just to see what'd happen. His powers were all based around ways to get more information & or tools to enable that - whether it was ways to influence people (prestigitation & mending were great for small entertainments & favours to get a positive response from people), ways to gather information directly such as beast speak, or without being noticed (the act of observation can change what's being observed after all, especially if the thing is aware of being observed... so scrying & invisibility are nice), or things like aspect of the moon - sleep is just wasted time, better to use the time reading a new book or performing those dissections.
I believe you said the fiend patron's hurl through hell did 1d10 damage, it's actually 10d10. I may have misheard. Any way, another great video!
My level 7 Bard just Multi-classed to a Bard-lock, with an Arch-fey patron Calarax. (a Satyr, so we all know what they focus on). It's so much fun role playing it so far. :)
Great video warlocks are a breath of fresh air when it comes to magic imagine if someone made a pact with asmodias or Vecna that would be quite nasty
One warlock I am playing is a hexblade who is an exdungeon diver who would go in behind adventurers and loot things they left behind. After goinng deeper than usual into a crypt, he found an old armory that was locked by some sort of seal. After working on it for a bit, a needle would stab his finger and reveal an alter. Being the big brain half elf, he grabs the flail from the alter and now is a damn scary combatant. Outside of combat I play him as a timid, kind and all around decent person. Though inside combat his patron takes control and turns him into a murder machine. His story is basically him fighting to remain his own man or giving in to the sheer power that he never had before.
I just love your stuff. It's so addicting when you know you have hundreds more to watch and can't keep up if you wanted to. See no sadness then. :)
Great video; if I ever break away from fighters I think a worlock would be something I would try... Goliath Worlock of the fiend... Yeah I like that... I bet I can find a way to make that make sense...
My dangerously curious High Elf Wizard, after leaving home because reasons, found himself joining a smuggling gang along with his new companions. Meeting thhe boss of the gang, a bullywug, wizard boi senses some very interesting magic coming off of him. after some words are exchanged, wizzie gets yeeted through a portal and now -has- gets to collect the dragonballs for his eldritch "patron, if you will...in exchange for certain perks, including but not limited to this neat but creepy-looking sword." Order of Scribes Hexblade yay
Edit: About a month after the deal is struck, wizlock remains unsure of most of the details of his bargain. Although he seems to be maybe starting to become amphibious? He sure seems to enjoy being wet a lot more.
Placeholder update til the next session: Ronan and co are now breaking a pirate crew/ship out of jail/impound with the general understanding that this will earn them official membership with said crew (still in that mafia btw, and now we're also technically members of the revolutionary faction AND pirates). When I edit this comment next, it will be to report on the ultimate success or failure of the rescue mission and whether or not we've in fact burned down an entire port town in the process.
@@AngelusAnsell bet
I had a former god living as an innkeeper that was a celestial Warlock patron
Why exactly was he an innkeeper?
Because he enjoyed making food. Technically he ended up as the guildmaster of the branch of the guild on the undiscovered continent in my game world. He had been living there for ten thousand years and once it was discovered he opened a tavern that eventually became the guild hall.
@@travisterry5855
Nice 👍
Great video, AJ. I really enjoy the images you choose to go with your videos.
All credit to the amazing artists and the joy of google.
Vestige warlock: "Exalted one: Through me you shall melt flesh from bone!"
they are a callback to binder class from 3.5e tome of magic. so thry pretty cool
They really have come along way since their inception.
4e came up with a lot of different pacts but didn't really flesh them out. I hope 5e gives them all some love and attention.
I like Warlocks, I have builds for a GOO Kenku, an archfey kobold (I’m a total ass with that one, his patron is Garl Glittergold) a celestial fallen assimar, and a half elf hexblade that I’m thinking of as King Arthur
I've often thought of a Warlock as being slightly similar to a Cleric, but their relationship with their patron is contractual instead of devotional.
Probably my favorite class, I really want to try playing as a Warlock who poses as a bard to avoid all the suspicion and negative stigma. Get really good at acting, performing, and deception, carry an instrument around and play it at taverns. Both classes get high charisma as well and share some of the same spells, but it'd definitely get progressively harder.
I main as a High Elf Warlock who serves a devil from the Nine Hells. His backstory was pretty much Voldemort's, being a prodigy student of the arcane but had a fascination for dark magics. As if through destiny, he discovered a tome at the avademy's library that allowed him to summon a devil. He completed the ritual and made a pact and was granted infernal magics in exchange for loyalty and servitude. He's an outcast at his academy but is still welcomed there on the terms that he never serves his patron on academy grounds (at least openly).
You forgot “the Undying” patron from the SCAG.
Yeah, I have to make a follow-up video on this class, to talk about all the story elements and some historical figures of Faerun who were Warlocks, as well as ideas for how the patrons of Warlock pacts can be used by the DM.
I still dont get why the storm sorcerer gets into xanathars guide but not the undying patron warlock when Xanatar's guide gives so many necromancy warlock spells. Its like... why? just why?
animefan3794 Everyone does.
You beat me to it. I thought it especially odd given the hyper-FR focus.
It's really unfortunate how many people forget about the Undying patrons, since they can be so thematically rich. One idea I had was for an Undying Warlock who got powers from a vampire lord who grew so powerful, his taint seeped into the land. And the pact was forged when, in a moment straight out of Hellsing, the Warlock on death's door drank the blood pooling on the battlefield, which flowed toward them in offering.
One of the stipulations of the pact requires the Warlock to carry two fistfuls of soil from their birthplace everywhere they go, and to taste blood on the regular (though it doesn't need to be more than an ounce, and it can be animal blood). I imagined this character as being a female high elf with pale skin and white hair, and who dresses up like Lady Maria from Bloodborne. Takes the pact of the blade, and, if the DM is amenable, letting the Improved Pact Weapon invocation allow the character to make a pistol (normally it's just bows and crossbows).
Round the character off by taking spells like Spider Climb and Gaseous Form, and that Invocation that lets you cast Polymorph. All to stick close to the theme of being a vampire (or something like it).
I'm reviewing many of AJ's videos. The art in this one is amazing.
That was no mortal conjuror in the fourth image, that was Hastur, the King in Yellow.
Who is a great old one.
AJ Pickett
This raises an interesting point, are Dagon and other creatures all Great Old One's in D&D, or are some of them Elder Gods?
Dagon is an Obrynth, my general advice is, if it isn't an Obrynth, Demon Lord, Archfiend, God, Primordial, Fey lord or Umbral Lord, it is probably an Aberration/Elder God/Great Old One. Actually, a fair few Primordials are Great Old Ones, if they match the depiction of one of HP Lovecraft's beasties.
Have you seen the Yellow Sign? :)
Another apostle I see, good to meet you brother.
My personal favorite way of making an Infernal Pact Warlock is to go the Johnny Blaze route of backstory. Someone I care about is in trouble? Make a deal with a devil!
One of my favorite warlocks to play became one because she and some friends were about to be killed by wererats, and she cried out for help from any power that would listen. Belial Of Plegathos got to her first and promised to give her enough power to save herself and her friends, while agreeing to wait until after the situation was resolved to hammer out the finer details of the contract. Well, she killed the rats, so she definitely had the power to do it, but Belial /never promised/ enough //time// to allow her friends to live.
>X} i love it lol!
A Tiefling Warlock serving a Solar would be amusing ;]
It would!
:D
I have one, zariel bloodline, he's a celestial warlock whose patron enjoys watching his exploits like his life is a tv show. He's also very literal to avoid blasphemy or leaving himself open to their bizarre sense of humor. The DM liked the idea of a patron having a fairly active part in the warlock's life, with rewards and punishments accordingly.
The house with the clock in it's walls is Warlock part 4.
I think a Goliath warlock could have the perfect backstory for any of these pacts and be able to convince any wizard or cleric to tell them about things or places of power. You will not talk down to a Goliath and it would be a funny scene to see a little wizard trying to berate a goliath about his spell usage lol
If you like Teiflings with the fiend pact look into the Toral 13 the warlocks of Asmodaus, brimestone angels is the source novel
D&D warlocks remind me of Grey Seers from Warhammer Fantasy.
Rolled one in Neverwinter Nights 2 and loved it. Change of pace for someone that usually plays a paladin or fighter.
Upon consideration, would the holder of the One Ring technically be a Hexblade? Beholden to an object of greater power than yourself that bestows supernatural life...
I would say the Nazgul were warlocks, not the wearers of the one ring,, after all, the ring was just a Horcrux for Sauron.
AJ Pickett There's no reason your magick object couldn't be a horcrux for your patron....
Phylactery*
Sorta? It could bestow power in the form of amplifying some already possessed power or trait but the ring was really only loyal to Sauron so it never bestowed anything unless it put the possessor on the path to helping the ring restore it to its master. Even when it gave it took. With a real pact the warlock and patron have a bit more of a two way relationship.
I would say that the Exactness of the One Ring in its purpose and personality makes it the exception to what counts as a patron in modern media.
Also, is the ring a horcrux or a phylactery? Does it host the whole or a piece of Sauron's soul? It certainly holds the keystone to his power, but it might just be the key to the lock, rather than the cage itself.
haha, I was watching Critical Role's campaign (I'm on episode 19) and this popped up. One of their guest characters, played by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, is playing a Tiefling Warlock. She was pretty badass
Ps. Think you could do Wild Walker class at some point? I can't find anything substantial about it online >:(
Tatsusama That's not on official class so don't hold your breath
Ah, that makes sense then. Why I can't find much on it and when I do it seems like fan fiction, haha. Thanks for the heads up, Noximus:P
The what now? As Noximus said, not official, so not really on my radar.
(but hey, it's my channel, I do what I want!)
I'm currently playing a hexblade human, very simple fisherman who picked up a hammer with teeth, bit of a lovable clown who's playing with magic WAY beyond his ken.
My back up character is also a human warlock! celestial however, she made a pact as a child with a sentient swarm of humming birds illuminated by a setting sun, my DM has hinted at it being an expression of a solar, very biblical angel meets disney princess, sprinkling of existentialism.
I love, this, class.
Playing a tiefling fiend pact warlock who is the Infernal to Mortal Afterlife Liaison. Basically he goes around and helps people solve their problems in exchange for their souls. He also helps to introduce evil mortals to their new afterlife in hell, usually by sending them there himself.
He uses Hurtle through Hell as a kind of sneak preview for their brand new timeshare in Avernus. He also hopes to get a promotion to Executive Pitfiend Coordinator soon.
I don't know if it has made the appearance in Fifth editition yet, but a staple of the game to me, and one of the first monster lairs my group encountered (and quickly ran from) was a Gloomwing nest near a Shade Plane (now Shadowfell I suppose) portal tear. I have loved using them since then in my games with their unique life cyles and abilities to make for interesting and lethal deterents toward treasure. Perhaps a video on the Gloomwing and it's larvae, the Tenebrous Worm to be put on the list, please? I would so love to hear more about them.
added to the list!
Thank you so much!
In my game there's a sect of (mostly tiefling) warlocks that built a fortress around an entire island to wall off and fight back demons from a portal to the abyss - one that nobody in the realms knows how to close. There are soldiers, paladins, and warlocks all working together in this fort to keep the demons at bay - despite the differences in methodology. Anything for an edge to keep the Abyss from spreading across the plane (which is also homebrew). It's like a miniature blood war but The Great Wall (2016) style.
This multifaceted order is the oldest and most diverse knightly order in my setting - it is also the ONLY multinational one.
Well, well.. I didn't expect this. Great video AJ!
for some reason one of your descriptions reminded me of the HULK
This was the paragraph that made me want to play Necromancers/Warlocks........I shall laugh as i place my head on the block ,laugh at them all as the raven jeers at the gallows or the worm mocks the grave. It took the Prince's most powerful knights to bring me in-shackled in cold iron-before my earthly liege,but not before I had slain a hundred of his retainers twisted the insides of his beloved wife,cursed their only son with ravening madness eternal. "I have laid among the rat gnawed bones of the oubliette and excepted the iron maidens cruel embrace,but I am not alone,and i feel no pain.... The Slaadi still comfort me with their infernal melodies,and my invisible familiars still inform me,bringing news in the clammy darkness from my lord Thasmudyan. I shall have eternal life for my devoted service;the baatezu lord has promised me this final boon. I will survive,of that I am certain,but my next evolution may not remember all of my secrets,all the cryptic mysteries of the Art. I shall bid the shadows to write them down,inscribing them in a book so that I may remember all that I knew before I died. And then I shall depart this earthly realm and walk on farther shores,undreaming and unbidden,until I stand once again in the ivory court of Thasmudyan." ---From Nebt Bhakau's BOOK OF SHADOWS. 💀💀💀
I treat some of my warlocks a little differently. I am currently playing an archery warlock Kobold who"s story is essentially getting lost in the feywild and discovering a forest like dragon and began to worship it. Another is another archery warlock who lost her home and was raised in the forest by frauds and nymphs. She learned the ways of the forest and was granted power by her adopted parents. Not all warlocks are necessarily canniving and inexperienced. Their are tons of different ways to do so a warlock. Have fun with it.
thumbs up for Doro Pesch
Quite a voice on that woman!
\m/
This has always been my favorite class to break. Then level 12 go hunt down a chaos beetle and you've got all the item creation xp you could want. At level 12 they have an infusion into their warlock blast that bypasses spells resist and does acid damage. That combined with 14,400 spells per day and you have the strongest spell casting class there is. Take item creation feats and double down on your ranks in spell skills and BLUFF before you know it you will be changing your alignment at will to fool the dwarven weapons to think you're a lawful palidan dwarf. Finish your DM off by writing some scrolls lmao.. ANY SPELL baleful magic is awesome.
But I'll always come back to the fact that he has 14 ,400 spells a day. I often cast darkness so many times there is a half mile of magic darkness following me where I go... 14,400 maxed out 40th level wizard might have 120 if he really goes crazy with it... we are talking 20 mins of truly powerful magic. But 20 mins is all you got
. 1st level warlock though.. 14,400 at level 12 bypasses spells resist with a ranged touch attack. And can make ANY magic item...
Comming back to this one. Since you have netflix, check out the cartoon/animation called: the dragon prince. There is a great plotline where the necromancer viren becomes a warlock under aaravos as his patron. For power ofcourse...
Outstanding stuff, AJ
I can't hardly resist going into the many deeply involved characters' backstories I have cooked up in my head. Wonder if I could make a TH-cam series on that
I want to play one of these at some point, probably something related to elder gods or something
There are a lot of really great primordials to choose from.
Ooooo... what would happen if your patron was the Lady of Pain from Sigil?
AJ Pickett pain for the pain god
Yes!
Perhaps she gives the Warlock the ability to navigate mazes like a Minotaur? And yes, the Eldritch blast could take the form of a shadow that falls on the target, with lacerations appearing on them out of nowhere.
AJ Pickett maybe the eldrich blast looks like bladed chains that coil around my opponent
awesome! first video new year, thanks Aj Sir
So they're kinda like dc lantern corps
That's cool
I have seen some home-brew stuff that laid out lantern pacts. Not sure where, but you could google it real quick.
I was going to mention Archons as one of the potential Celestial Patrons, so, yes, there is actually Lantern Archons, lol.
I actually thought of how a Green Lantern might be specced as a Celestial Warlock. Just not the kind of GL you might be expecting. I chose Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern, with his more fiery green power coming from a being called the Starheart, rather than from Oa and the Power Battery.
I feel like I'm the only one that orders to go the route of winning some knowledge and power in a dragonchess game? The story tends to be a bit more involved of course, but point is the power is now the warlock's and the thing that lost it isn't really in the picture.
Blasted with edge right from minute one
music is spot on my dude
Thanks Scrake, I have about equal parts people who are not into the music in the background and those who dig it, I don't think I will ever satisfy everyone :)
AJ Pickett Maybe go a bit more atmospheric and backgroundish (less repetitive and less percussion/leads competing with you in the speech register) and have the music subtly match and differentiate the different sections. Maybe match the feel of the celestial warlock vs the fiendish or great old one warlock and get the listener’s imaginative gears going. It’s a bit more work (and I definitely appreciate the work you put into these already) but it might elevate the listening experience and keep the viewers engaged.
Very good suggestions, thanks Caleb :)
It's stuff like this that helps me improve.
don't forget! there is the undying patron as well!
Check part two :)
Just started in a homebrew campaign with a sort of cross over set up for my warlock. Essentially his patron is a plane itself as he's a Changeling the Lost changeling and his power is essentially siphoned off of Arcadia, unintentionally at first. And the door is open for his Keeper and other fae beings to find him.
Another great video Mr. Pickett, thank you!
Warlocks are interesting because I think they were originally favored as wizards who decided to learn from a greater power, and in turn did favors for such knowledge. Found this kinda stuff in forms when discussing whether you loose your powers when your patron dies, some saying “well he’s your teacher and they teach you their secrets, so you keep the secrets even if they die,” which sounds nice, but the flaw of “well if that’s the case, why haven’t wizards just hired some warlocks to teach them new cool interesting abilities, why can’t wizards learn these abilities from warlocks as a feat(prerequisite: must have warlock teacher)?” a DM could flavor it as it being tied to the pact of the patron, and thus dependent on them, so it can’t really be taught. In the chaotic hell of dnd, it’s probably better to ask what rolls with your DM cause they’re god and your best friend. Some would say, “well why dont wizards hire artificers to teach them about magic items, and maybe make stuff,” and I’d be like “damn you’re right, but does learning fey magic from some guy who knows fey magic from the queen of fairies sound interesting? Well no, but being the guy learning from the queen of fairies directly sounds way cooler, however it’s more realistic for you to find the guy researching that magic instead of conversing with this great power to do you the favor of teaching you.(but maybe there should be a feat to learn eldritch powers cause that’s nifty(or OP as hell)).” If things get to level 20(which is rare), then I hope the dm can flavor some stuff where you turn into the thing that gave you power and you give out pacts, how your pact was completed and now freed.(some cool stuff)
The one thing I think needs addressed is that in 5e the bargain has already been completed at first level. Their is no requirement for the Patron to ever come up again and the patron has nothing to hold over the warlock since they can't take the power away.
They can absolutely take the power away. The DM for all intents and purposes, IS the warlocks patron, what you are proposing is that the DM has no say in how this relationship works.. that is Rule-play, not Role-play my friend.
AJ Pickett dms can change anything but in the actual lore and rules which you do a really good job of covering they can not. This has been confirmed on both sage advice and a dnd beyond video covering warlocks by the 5e developers.
My main point is you cover a lot of homebrew options on the warlock but leave out the built in intended interaction and relationship between warlocks and patrons. There is nothing wrong with a homebrew approach but a lot can be done with the current cannon lore also. Since patrons actually take a risk when they make warlocks because they give up some of their own power to do it. There is a lot that can be done with that on both the warlock and patron side of things. What about this person was worth the risk of giving away some of its power. The fact that they can't take the powers away leads to an interesting situation of are you better off dead to the patron now that you've done it a service and its hunting you to kill to retrieve its power. Maybe a rival entity wants to kill you and take the power for themselves. So much exists there that you didn't cover because you left out that bit of information.
Within the first minute of the video, I state that this character class has "the strongest co-operative relationship between the dungeon master and the player". Also, a couple of corrections. Patrons don't always have to be giving the warlock their own power, there are examples where power they can not access themselves is instead channeled into a pact sworn warlock. Patrons can end the pack and cut off the source of a Warlocks power.
I can provide the links to info I was talking about where its stated that they can't take away warlock powers and that they lose power when they give it to a warlock. if you want.
World of Warcraft has an interesting take on Warlocks in the Council of the Black Harvest. They haven't made pacts with demons. Oh no, they've stolen their power and have then turned around and dominated the very demons they've taken the power from.
I find that far, far more interesting than simply having made a pact with a fiend. That power they wield is stolen, and that entity either hasn't noticed, or hates them for it.
Thankyou very much for for doing warlock. Your a champion mate!
Sage.. champion is an entirely different prestige class.
AJ Pickett my mistake, my aussie jargon took over my brain
Bonza!
Fair suck of the sav mate, she's a rippa dialect!
Haha so happy i found your channel!!
The opening theme is awesome.
it was Doro Pesch, been a fan of hers since the early 80's
She was in a band named Warlock, how could I not?
she still tours and makes albums
Ancient gold dragons can be warlock patrons? Yeah, sign me up. That sounds awesome!
AJ like your commentary on dungeons & dragons I would like to know when you're going to do more character class breakdowns hopefully soon cuz there's some new characters in the game I like to know about when you give the most in-depth analogy on them
Oh, I feel that pressure Brian, believe it. 👍
My Warlock is going to make a pact with the Pale Night, with the goal of getting under the sheets (of reality) with her hue hue hue. If you're going to go for forbidden secrets, go big or go home.
Soo just an idea. Can santa Claus be a patron?
He counts as a Fey Lord of the Winter Court.
He could also be run as a Celestial Patron, if you focus on his Real Life identity as Saint Nicholas. If you assume that Upper Planes beings could include Saints and paragons of their faith (like Clerics who got to a high enough level), they might be able to support a Pact.
In that case, the Warlock would have a _literal_ Patron Saint.
Just make sure you read the 'Santa Clause' in fine print.
Yes...
"You just made the naughty list, and it's time for Santa's little helper to go to work. Ho. Ho. Ho..."
I made a tank/healer warlock 🧙🏻♂️ using a Dwarf with the tough feat and the celestial subclass pact of the blade.
loved this one, thanks
A Gazer is a beholder subspecies that can become a familiar. Beholders are already Great Old One stylized and are from the far realms, it wouldn't be hard for a higher power subspecies of a Beholder to be a Great Old One patron.
Mooon Night is clearly a warlock as well.
yup
Hmmm probaby already asked for but a video on paladins would be cool :)
Every character class is on my to-do list, first up, Rangers!
The best way to describe a Warnock for me (especially one who draws power from an infernal source) is a sith. Where a wizard or cleric can be considered a jedi a Warnock is a sith. The wizard and cleric draw upon they're their mind and beliefs while a warlock draw upon raw emotion.
A confused, multiclassed selfserving warlock with time magic and divination. "That is future me's problem" is a dynamic. At imporant choice 2 different future selves argue over what choice will be made.
Wow. It's been decades since I've heard Doro Pesch.
I have been thinking for awhile since first listening to this and I partly disagree with your take on what a warlock's outlook is. Each warlock may have a very different relationship. Some may truly respect and want to help their patron. But what I do agree with is the idea that this is a business relationship. It is not truly a master/servant thing but of partners. That they may be unequal partners only makes it better as it gives the warlock reason to grow stronger. If they like their patron they may wish to grow stronger to be less of a burden to their patron. If not they may wish the power to supplant the patron. And anything inbetween.
In one of your videos I seem to recall you saying that the fate of all warlocks is to become lemures... I wonder instead if that should be the fate of fiend pact warlocks, Arboria perhaps for a fey pact warlocks and so on. Fear then the fate of the old one pacts.
Agreed, sounds like a much better take on it, and yeah *shiver* I would not wish the fate of the Great Old One warlocks on anyone.
I feel Clerics and Paladins should be roleplayed with the same amount of DM interaction just in different ways. Paladins need to uphold an oath. Clerics have a god. Heck druids could be played that way as well with a tie to a world spirit
Where does he find these pictures? I know one is from the PHB but the rest look so cool.
Mostly google image search, sometimes I go on Pintarest deep dives, some images from Deviant Art will be in there. It's a matter of getting skilled at what keywords to search under.
I like the music
Yeah, some people like the background music, some people don't, I wish I knew what the percentages were.
Don't know but it is good either way
Its the theme from "Stranger Things".
sure is
Well, I like it too.
Everytime I played warlock I feel the urge to play one that his patron is an elder evil like dendar, zargon or even worst, Atropus. They always felt like the most evil class in the game, even when your patron is an archfey they tend to be more inclined toward the chaotic side. The only one that feels like a good align warlock is the celestial archtype.
oh no... don't forget the darkside of good guys, the zealotry and prryhic psychosis. punishing innocents as collateral inorder to make sure they get the guilty. that urge can always be satisfied. there are boundaries between planes for a reason, a warlock(or the mortals around them.) should have to suffer the consiquence of being a nexus between them.
Don't be so sure. Archfey may be Chaotic, but Chaotic =/= Evil. Those are two different axis. A faerie lord or lady could be largely benign. The trick comes from them being fickle, or inclined to adhere to strange rules.
When did I say the archfeys were evil?
Bluecho4 or incredibly proud, vengfull and unforgiving. Archfey can totally fill the immortal aristocrasy trope. biggoted to the peaks of the highest mountains, and generally pro - violence in their outlook on life.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I love these videos