D&D 5E Warlock Spell Selection: Does the PC or the *player* choose their spells?

[jmartkdr2]

Still up to the player, of course, the question as I see it though is, in the fiction does the patron choose.

Which loops back to "it's up to the player" - given the wide variety of patrons, a single answer wouldn't make sense. For a fiend the Patron might, for a GOO the patron wouldn't be aware of the warlock in the first place, for a hexblade the patron isn't present enough, a celestial might offer advice but (probably) wouldn't force it's own choices onto the warlock unless it's to veto a specific ability...

 

[MarkB]

Which loops back to "it's up to the player" - given the wide variety of patrons, a single answer wouldn't make sense. For a fiend the Patron might, for a GOO the patron wouldn't be aware of the warlock in the first place, for a hexblade the patron isn't present enough, a celestial might offer advice but (probably) wouldn't force it's own choices onto the warlock unless it's to veto a specific ability...

And beyond that, the player might not envision it as a choice at all. It may be simply a matter of "this is what my powers evolved into" rather than any conscious choice by either the warlock or their patron.