ZEITGEIST 5E Warlock patron list?

IMO, making the patron one of the named entities already in the adventure is a huge boon to both player enjoyment and DM planning.

@RangerWickett, is this something that you're working on?

If not, I'd like to post my list of suggestions. How they communicate (or why they can't), what instructions they send, why they empowered you, what happens when you meet them, etc.

For starters, the Voice of Rot could lead to some very interesting plot twists. OTOH, I don't see a way to make Beshala a viable patron.

You wouldn't use Beshela; you'd use She Who Writhes.

I don't have a list written up right now, but off the top of my head, the fey titans, Ashima-Shimtu, maybe a dead dragon tyrant, Gidim, maybe Egal the Shimmering, Hewanharimau (I think I'm spelling that right), etc etc.

Heck, let Leska be a patron if your group played War of the Burning Sky.

The Uneseen or Hedgehog Courts (or various members thereof) are pretty obvious Fey patrons. The memory of Srasama as interpreted as a Hexblade Pact would be a great mechanical take on Vekeshi practices.

Might be an interesting side plot to have a Clergy heretic who's a Celestial Pact Warlock instead of a proper Cleric.

Yeah, I restricted my players from being able to select anything but Fey Pact. After Ashima-shimtu, Fiend Pact opens up. But, Im already seeing ways I could have allowed that. And, I love the Hexblade pact based off Srasama.

Zipster said:

Yeah, I restricted my players from being able to select anything but Fey Pact. After Ashima-shimtu, Fiend Pact opens up. But, Im already seeing ways I could have allowed that. And, I love the Hexblade pact based off Srasama.

Click to expand...

If you go the route of "unlocking" pacts, Linia, the angelic prisoner in the vault, would make for a good specific patron.

If you need a narrative reason to connect her to AS before the party gets to Odiem in person, hee connection to the sea via blood magic works.

Might be interesting if Shijen IS your patron.

Of course, I'm also a big proponent of reflavoring pacts to suit: no reason you can't take what is mechanically a Great Old One pact and reskin it as being a particularly devious Faerie King.

DM Suggestions for Zeitgeist 5E Warlock Patrons (Players Keep Out)

DM Suggestions for Zeitgeist 5E Warlock Patrons (Players Keep Out)

The world of Zeitgeist is a great place to be a 5E Warlock. There are a finite number of truly powerful entities, and the party runs into nearly all of them during the campaign. The warlock meets their patron! But don't ruin the surprise. Build up to that fateful encounter.

Before Starting:

Tell your prospective warlock player(s) there are 5 well-known natives of Risur who can be a Fey patron.

As for non-Fey options, decide which ones make sense in your world. A non-Fey warlock shouldn't know their patron's name or goals initially. Once they find out, there will probably be hard choices.

If you allow a patron from the Gyre, then you might want to rule that the patron is silent until Urim and Apet no longer block connections to outer planes (end of chapter 9).

ArchFey:

Everyone in Risur knows about the Fey Titans, usually bound in slumber by royal compact, but woefully dangerous when lesser beings foolishly disturb their dreams.

* Ash Wolf: den mother of fire and blood. Maybe substitute Fiend expanded spell list.
* Father of Thunder: enjoys stampeding herds, storms, and binge drinking.
* Granny Alswell: gremlin trickster under the mountains.
* She Who Writhes: The. Kraken. Maybe substitute Great Old One expanded spell list. Warning: can become relevant in Chapter 1.
* Voice of Rot: half-dead serpent of the High Bayou. Maybe substitute Undying expanded spell list (or the reverse: Undying patron with Archfey expanded spells). DM, you would need to run this carefully. Maybe they're a sleeper agent, who secretly helps Copperhat escape in chapter 9. Big decision in chapter 12: side with or turn against the Big Boss? Warning: the other players MUST be given enough hints beforehand to deal with this non-sudden, non-inevitable betrayal. Putting a surprise turncoat PC in a final battle would be rude.

If you take "ArchFey" literally, there are many more possible patrons in chapter 9, so read about them. IMO only Thisraldion and Olazdor are powerful enough to deserve warlocks. Also, Ekossigan in chapter 5 can grant magic to mortals, but you would be putting a LOT of blood on that warlock's hands. Personally I wouldn't offer Ekossigan as an option.

Celestial:

Linia (chapters 4 & 8). Her warlock has an obvious mission (probably culminating during chapter 11): free her, repair her mind, and restore her full power (should be higher than a Deva). Then what does she do?

That guy on Ascetia (chapter 12). He has little power of his own, because he poured it all into his warlock, as a final attempt to stop his evil other half.

Fiend:

Ashima-Shimtu (chapters 4 & 8). For the most part her interests align with the party. She makes contact when the party reaches Sid Minos. Her warlock should convince the party to explore the crypt, meet the Lady, and jump into her pool. Freedom will follow in due time.

Hunlow (chapter 12): Maybe substitute Hexblade expanded spell list. Hunlow's goal is simple: attach its plane to the mortal world, to feed.

Great Old One:

The Gidim (chapters 3 & 11) is not a workable patron. Warn the player that you'll probably need to kill their PC early on. Special exception: if your game group also enjoys Call of Cthulhu and Why Not Both, then this is an excellent patron. But you'll need to rewrite several plot lines from chapter 3 onward, and bookmark the Madness section of the DMG.

Grand Savant of Shabboath (chapter 12): Its goals are probably bearable.

Hexblade:

If you don't like Hexlock, you can say there's no shadowy entity made of sentient swords in this universe. Sorry, it just can't work. (Not really sorry).

However, making the Swords of Srasama into a patron does sound cool. If so, maybe add a few more of them to be found in chapters 10-13. Maybe substitute Cleric Forge expanded spell list. Their warlock should probably be a female with fey ancestry.

Undying:

The Lich Giant (chapter 7). You'll need to revise this part of the storyline. The warlock should find or remake the phylactery. And then help conquer the north during chapter 11.

King Calcasieu (Chapter 12). Maybe substitute some Bard features for Patron powers.

That's some good stuff. I should assemble a list of DM-created resources for other DMs to use.

Why did I not see this until 1am on a Friday night of a long holiday weekend? Remind me when the sun's out and I have no social obligations for a while.