D&D 5E Quick build Warlock background - Charlatan?

[Snapdragyn]

I get that it offers a good combo of skills for a character likely to have a high Cha & Dex score. However, I'm left wondering - how did a charlatan end up pledged to some mystical patron?

I mean, flavor-wise, Sage seems a natural fit (pouring through old musty tomes, find one filled with Things Best Left Forgotten, boom) - but the skills kinda suck for a Warlock (all Int-based). I could see Noble - inheriting the family curse, or 'cursed' (flavor only) object - and it does at least give one good skill match (Persuasion). Along the same lines of the 'cursed' object or forgotten tome, a Guild Merchant (the Guild Artisan variant) or Criminal could work; someone who happened to get their hands on the item, rubbed the lamp/read the ritual words aloud, & suddenly had this being appear before them. Guild Merchant gives 1 good skill match, Criminal 2.

But... Charlatan? Really? o_0

How would you guys flavor this one out?

 

[Blackbrrd]

Your standard Charlatan tricks himself into a cult he thinks is bogus and pledges himself to it's mysterious, powerful patron.

 

[doctorhook]

If I flip it around (became a warlock before becoming a charlatan), it makes a lot more sense to me: he's secretly in league with a mystical entity, and needs to conceal his unholy dealings, so he's created false identities for himself.

 

[Mirtek]

Your standard Charlatan tricks himself into a cult he thinks is bogus and pledges himself to it's mysterious, powerful patron.

Essentially like that:

http://paizo.com/image/product/secondary/Zogonia/zogonia55.jpg

 

[Jer]

One way to approach the charlatan warlock would be to have him be a character that was generally a con artist who convinced himself that the pact he was making was the ultimate con - conning a devil out of his power and keeping his soul. A John Constantine sort of character.

I could also see a slippery silver-tongued "Don Juan" type who got caught with the wrong nymph by some Fey Court noble, who then forced him into a choice - make a pact or be executed.

Or a "stage magician" who wanted to be a real magician but wasn't born to the power - or was too lazy to actually study for it if magic isn't something you need to be born into - and so took the pact approach to "real power".

The Charlatan can be another type of Criminal - the con artist instead of the thug or second-story man - so anything that would work for a Criminal could work for a Charlatan too. The Charlatan bennies also work nicely for a "spy" or "assassin" type, so you could go that route instead.

I actually think that the "John Constantine" archetype of the "conman so good he's conning the Devil himself" is the inspiration for the charlatan/warlock pairing, but I could be wrong. That said I probably wouldn't play it that way because it would be hard to pull off unless you were a decent actor and had good die rolls. (Though I now have an idea for a Halfling Warlock with the Charlatan background and I may have to find a game to try it out in.)

 

[jadrax]

I get that it offers a good combo of skills for a character likely to have a high Cha & Dex score. However, I'm left wondering - how did a charlatan end up pledged to some mystical patron?

But... Charlatan? Really? o_0

How would you guys flavor this one out?

One word: Hellblazer.

 

[Snapdragyn]

One word: Hellblazer.

I'm only passingly familiar with that. How does his characteristic use of deception relate to how he acquired his powers?

 

[jadrax]

I'm only passingly familiar with that. How does his characteristic use of deception relate to how he acquired his powers?

He often works elaborate con jobs on the rulers of hell. Sometimes successfully. For example, selling his soul to all three rulers of hell at the same time.

 

[Savage Wombat]

It's a little "Deadlands" but I think it works -

The Charlatan is playing cards and cheating as usual, until the so-called patsy across the table says, eyes glowing with malevolence - "So you like card games, do you? Here's the deal - high card gets your soul."