Midnight Dawns
First Post
I am wondering if anyone has seen or done work on warlock pacts based on the idea of a pact with a saint or angel? If not does anyone have any suggestions for me?
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Warlock Pacts for the Holy Men
- Thread starter Midnight Dawns
- Start date
Quickleaf
Legend
I had a go at making an "Ancestor" pact, but on the whole it was far more ghostly than what you seem to be going for. What distinguishes an angel-pact warlock from a cleric?
For starters, a cleric serves the god, and while an angel probably serves the god, in 4e angels have their own agendas as well. So an "Angel of Vengeance" in service to the God of Justice might decide to expand their mandate and pact with a warlock more amenable to their vision. There's also no need the angel is honest about who or what it serves.
Also there's the negotiation factor, the idea that the warlock is wheeling and dealing with these angelic beings rather than serving them out of a sense of duty. As beings devoted to a celestial vocation, angels can vary greatly so a pact would have to be broad enough to accomodate the varying angelic incarnations (e.g. battle, valor, protection, vengeance).
Powers might include mimicking angelic auras, bursts of flight coupled with a trail of radiant fire, assuming a radiant form which blinds foes, surrounding a foe with a spinning wheel of wracking angelic runes, celestial power words, and the like.
For starters, a cleric serves the god, and while an angel probably serves the god, in 4e angels have their own agendas as well. So an "Angel of Vengeance" in service to the God of Justice might decide to expand their mandate and pact with a warlock more amenable to their vision. There's also no need the angel is honest about who or what it serves.
Also there's the negotiation factor, the idea that the warlock is wheeling and dealing with these angelic beings rather than serving them out of a sense of duty. As beings devoted to a celestial vocation, angels can vary greatly so a pact would have to be broad enough to accomodate the varying angelic incarnations (e.g. battle, valor, protection, vengeance).
Powers might include mimicking angelic auras, bursts of flight coupled with a trail of radiant fire, assuming a radiant form which blinds foes, surrounding a foe with a spinning wheel of wracking angelic runes, celestial power words, and the like.
Midnight Dawns
First Post
The idea is that the a warlock would be a "cleric" devoted to an angel or saint within the church. I was hoping for something with more"magic" and less "hit stuff" with my weapon, hence the reason I don't want to use a cleric. (I could be wrong but alot of the powers seem to revolve around using a melee weapon.) If you have seen SG-1 think of the Auri.
shinobi_guyver
First Post
Two things:
1. It's Ori. No offense, but if you know the show, why not know how something is spelled (this is one of my "pet peeves," as people like to say)?
2. Instead of a Pact with angels, would it make more sense to have a Pact with an Exarch/God/Greater God? For Example: A warlock with a Pact to Kelemvor could get a variation of the Cleric's "Turn Undead" ability. A Pact with Corellon could grant an extra use of an Arcane Encounter Power once per day.
ethandrul
First Post
You know, on offense- but who really cares how it's spelled? It's a freaking TV show. Maybe he isn't anal about the details, and just watches the show.
I think the flavor of making a pact with an angel is pretty cool. Think of the old orders of knights that would pay homage to a saint, or an angel as an intermediary. Cool flavor. Perhaps go with an infernal warlock, reflavor it to be FIRES of DIVINE RETRIBUTION or something. Give a pact boon that aloow s you to heal others ( maybe along with cursing, you can bless allies, providing +1 to their next attack, if they are bloodied before the end of your next turn you can allow them to use a healing surge)
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Midnight Dawns
First Post
Sorry about the misspelling. I tried to make sure to avoid that but it was late and i wasn't thinking very well.
Thanks for the idea. I think I might try this. This way I have a basis for the powers.
shinobi_guyver
First Post
It's alright. I've been called worse than an English teacher sometimes >.>
Ethandrul did have a good idea about reversing curses into blessings for the PCs.
Also, for an idea on Pact boons, the "Holy Warlock" could have their deity's Channel Divinity feat for the Pact boon. For example, a Warlock who has a Pact with Bahamut could have the "Armor of Bahamut" feat as their Pact boon. Same for a Pact with Melora granting the Warlock "Melora's Tide" as a Pact Boon.
grickherder
First Post
Just a note. Colour text is usually reserved for moderators speaking in an official capacity. Generally you should be sticking to non coloured text.
Midnight, maybe you could look at it this way.
Deity is Good or Lawful Good.
PC is Unaligned or Good but doesn't really have devotion to any one deity.
PC really wants to accomplish some goal. Maybe it's gather power, maybe it's find adventure, or maybe it's something specific.
PC ends up praying to deity that if the deity grants them power they will do X number or Good or Lawful Good deeds every day.
Deity grants them warlock powers with fluff text (because giving the warlocks the ability to buff is almost making them a striker/controller/leader) in the idea that doing the good deeds in the deity's name will turn the PC closer to the deity or the deity's alignment and/or further the deity's goals.
Deity is Good or Lawful Good.
PC is Unaligned or Good but doesn't really have devotion to any one deity.
PC really wants to accomplish some goal. Maybe it's gather power, maybe it's find adventure, or maybe it's something specific.
PC ends up praying to deity that if the deity grants them power they will do X number or Good or Lawful Good deeds every day.
Deity grants them warlock powers with fluff text (because giving the warlocks the ability to buff is almost making them a striker/controller/leader) in the idea that doing the good deeds in the deity's name will turn the PC closer to the deity or the deity's alignment and/or further the deity's goals.
GoodKingJayIII
First Post
There is a pretty signifcant difference between clerics and warlocks (and how they get their power) that I think there's a place for a "holy" pact warlock.
According to the PHB, clerics are invested with power through a ritual of sorts. A cleric of Bahamut can go out and lead a band of roving murderers and theives without metaphysical repercussions. His church might excommunicate him, or hunt him down like a wild dog, but he is at no risk of losing his power.
The warlock pact is a little different; it's a bargain with the entity granting power. "Here, I'll give you what you want, but I expect something in return." Like a cleric, a warlock won't necessarily lose his powers if he does something bad (i.e., against the tenets of his pact.) Unlike the cleric, however, eventually, the warlock has to pay the rent.
I think this archetype works even better in 4e. A pact with an angel no longer has the Holy or Good implications that it's had in the past. Angels are servitors of the gods, neither good or bad, and it seems likely that they might have their own agendas to promote, even in the conscription of a deity. What better way to do this than to grant some personal power to someone (worthy, of course) who asks for it? It draws less attention than attracting followers, and it puts a person directly in your debt.
According to the PHB, clerics are invested with power through a ritual of sorts. A cleric of Bahamut can go out and lead a band of roving murderers and theives without metaphysical repercussions. His church might excommunicate him, or hunt him down like a wild dog, but he is at no risk of losing his power.
The warlock pact is a little different; it's a bargain with the entity granting power. "Here, I'll give you what you want, but I expect something in return." Like a cleric, a warlock won't necessarily lose his powers if he does something bad (i.e., against the tenets of his pact.) Unlike the cleric, however, eventually, the warlock has to pay the rent.
I think this archetype works even better in 4e. A pact with an angel no longer has the Holy or Good implications that it's had in the past. Angels are servitors of the gods, neither good or bad, and it seems likely that they might have their own agendas to promote, even in the conscription of a deity. What better way to do this than to grant some personal power to someone (worthy, of course) who asks for it? It draws less attention than attracting followers, and it puts a person directly in your debt.
