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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Volund" data-source="post: 7350875" data-attributes="member: 6872597">In general I think anytime the DM disallows a specific game element it should be because it conflicts with something consequential in the campaign setting. Disallowing MC in general is fine, but if you are going to rule out certain combos like cleric/warlock then gods and patrons need to be more than an afterthought, not just something you pay lip service to at character creation but real plot drivers for your character. Something like the faiths in The Book of the Righteous can be useful to set up motivations and boundaries for a cleric or paladin and explain why they can't have a warlock patron and also serve a specific deity. I don't have a lot of patience for "I don't think it should work that way, and I'm the DM, so that's final. Rule 0!" That's a win-lose outcome. Show me the win-win. Tell me how I'm going to have fun even though this combo isn't allowed. "Deities and their followers are prime movers in organized society in this campaign and a cleric will have their hands full dealing with the demands of your superiors and your deity. Warlocks and witches also hold an important position as intermediaries with benign or malevolent spirits. These spirits are demanding for their services so we would have to talk about the specifics of your pact. Warlocks are viewed as heretics and cultists by the main faiths, so clerics and warlocks are often rivals. It wouldn't make sense to be both in this campaign. Whichever class you pick, you'll have a lot of fun and you'll be too busy to miss being multi-classed. Let's go with one or the other now and see where the story goes and maybe we can talk about it later if it makes sense at the time." I can respect that and now I'm looking forward to the game with my single-classed character.Overall, I think the warlock class gets a lot of undue criticism because players are getting all the benefits but aren't suffering any consequences for being beholden to a patron, and so far WotC hasn't published anything to help DMs bring patrons to life. Off the top of my head, the patron's contract might require the character to trade one of their permanent magic items in exchange for learning a new invocation. I'm sure others could come up with better. Warlock should be a class that some players avoid because they decide the cost isn't worth it.</blockquote>

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