D&D 5E (2014) How can I make my warlock's old one patron really POP!

[dudeington]

5e 5e 5e!

So I'm making a character for a group being run by some friends just getting INTO DND, and I felt this was a good chance to take a break from monk to chill with a warlock and his chained up buddies.

iI couldn't resist the greater old one, but I've never really seen him utilized so I don't have much frame of referance. I'm totally cool with abstract and nonsense humor, so can this guy b3 whatever I want?

Like out of nowhere some unfathomable amalgamation, mashed up mixture, of tentacle and ooze.. and just slithers some ridiculous sound my party and I have never even heard or thought existed.. I mean this guy I have in mind is literally the flying spaghetti monster if he had super herpes, AND elephantitis.

I really want this guy to POP.

all I have now is some lame book I aquired through tribkets that I can't write in or read until strange symbols begin appearing and the book becomes my connection with a strangely chaotic dimensional being. He literally exists as a freakin dimension of space and time connected by threads of entropy, so I've got that

But like.. who is this guy, what's his deaL? How old is he?

Edit: sorry for grammatical errors, I'm posting this on a kindle

 

[mlund]

If you're on a Kindle so you have access to free compilations of the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

Your homework assignment for the next week is to read "the Call of Cthulu," "The Shadow over Innsmouth," and "the Dunwich Horror." They are all short stories, so it isn't going to kill* you.

If you can manage to find a copy of Eternal Darkness, Sanity's Requiem you could take a stab at playing a video game steeped in the mythos of the Great Old Ones too.

But like.. who is this guy, what's his deaL? How old is he?

If you have an answer to any of those questions you're probably doing it wrong. The key element here is unfathomable cosmic horror.

Marty Lund

* Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.

 

[Tony Vargas]

As a pastafarian, you should certainly wear a colander on your head.

 

[AtomicPope]

If you really want an "unfathomable horror" then you shouldn't spend any time defining it. Otherwise it wouldn't be unfathomable. Instead, write down a bunch of cheese slogans and quotes for your character to say whenever a certain event occurs. Think of Ron Burgundy when he says, "By the beard of Zeus!" or "Great Odin's ravens!" So you could say, "By the oozing, tangled tentacles of Pas'thuloo!"

You should also choose several spells that will play into your schtick:
Arms of Hadar
Hunger of Hadar
Evard's Black Tentacles

Doing it like this alleviates you from wasting time creating a mythos that has no roleplaying potential.

Since the Lovecraftian world revolves around forbidden lore you should probably choose the Pact of the Tome. This will open up Invocation Rituals through the Book of Ancient Secrets and cantrips meaning moar spellz! for your character to choose from. Eyes of the Rune Keeper is also a solid Invocation for an Old One Warlock.

 

[steeldragons]

It should also be noted here, just for clarity, that your patron is not something that YOU make pop.

Your patron is the source of your forbidden/arcane knowledge and ultimately, your source of power (as a warlock). They are an extradimensional entity of some form or another (in this case, a "great old one"). IF they actually appear in-game at all, the DM will be the one telling you what they appear to be, what they want/motivations are, how they sound, etc... They are an NPC. How they "pop" will be up to the DM.

You are just some piece of mortal flotsam to be used and manipulated to your patron's whims...if you are worthy of consideration by such an unfathomable cosmic horror, at all.

 

[doctorhook]

Like out of nowhere some unfathomable amalgamation, mashed up mixture, of tentacle and ooze.. and just slithers some ridiculous sound my party and I have never even heard or thought existed.. I mean this guy I have in mind is literally the flying spaghetti monster if he had super herpes, AND elephantitis.

I really want this guy to POP.

all I have now is some lame book I aquired through tribkets that I can't write in or read until strange symbols begin appearing and the book becomes my connection with a strangely chaotic dimensional being. He literally exists as a freakin dimension of space and time connected by threads of entropy, so I've got that

But like.. who is this guy, what's his deaL? How old is he?

You've got a concept, now you've just gotta learn to roll with it. Is it disgusting or is unfathomable? Can it be both for you? If your DM hasn't defined your patron for you, do him a favour and start simple. Your patron is the least likely type to be encountered in a typical D&D game, so you can be as vague as you want; Great Old Ones really lend themselves to that.

Give it a cryptic name, like "The Thing Beyond" or "The Hungering Darkness" or "Hen-Tai, The Many-Fingered Beast of the Void". Have your character periodically whisper eerie phrases or stare at nothing. Let your imagination run wild!

 

[PnPgamer]

Thats what she said!

 

[TwoSix]

Just keep adding air, he'll pop eventually.

 

[trentonjoe]

Choose a theme and reskin your spells to make that happen.

You want to go the tentacle route? Make Hex cause a tangible, slime thing that sticks into the heart of your target.

You want to go mysterious, thunder patron? Have Hunger of Hadar roll in a storm cloud.

You want some nerdy, Ogma, knowledge patron? Have your eldritch blast be a stream of letters, symbols and glyphs.

 

[trentonjoe]

It should also be noted here, just for clarity, that your patron is not something that YOU make pop.

Your patron is the source of your forbidden/arcane knowledge and ultimately, your source of power (as a warlock). They are an extradimensional entity of some form or another (in this case, a "great old one"). IF they actually appear in-game at all, the DM will be the one telling you what they appear to be, what they want/motivations are, how they sound, etc... They are an NPC. How they "pop" will be up to the DM.

You are just some piece of mortal flotsam to be used and manipulated to your patron's whims...if you are worthy of consideration by such an unfathomable cosmic horror, at all.

You should always check with your DM to see how much creative control they are willing to relinquish. I tend to play with guys and girls who take the "It's your patron, design him" type of approach but some DM's want to be involved in the process.