D&D 5E What kind of warlocks would a Wizard Guild make?

[Ancalagon]

I would think the warlocks are not tied to the guild. They are more in hiding and maybe hunted down since they are outside the guild's power and ability to control. There could be 'circles' or 'pact houses' that form around each patron and you have a fey group that tries to protect their own and a fiend house that may protect their own to a point, but all of them are against the guild.

Of course, if you are the guild and there is another way to gain magical might, you may try to control the patrons. The guild could have a fey lord that they sponsor and a demon lord that grants power but has his own plans. There could be a guild leader that secretly is a warlock and is trying to create a blend or bend the other powers to his control. Kind of like in most movies where the 'good' leader is secretly behind the plot to destroy the main storyline.

The way I was thinking about it, it would be... both. So if you want to be a warlock that isn't "in hiding", you take the one (or two?) patron that is approved/controled by the guild. But if you want another patron, then you are one of these renegade warloks.

I'll note btw that being a Guild Warlock doesn't mean that you have to be one of these "failed wizard nobles". You could be a student of modest means, brought on the Academy for their potential, and then who stumbled upon the "secret room" and became a warlock anyway.

 

[Charlaquin]

Based on the story you described, I would say Great Old One.

 

[tetrasodium]

As mortals, a wizard guild is presumably filled with self interested individuals out for their own benefit & by extension the benefit of their members. Wizards can cast spells no problem, so that shifts what they would "make." The word make implies the guild/subject relationship is likely one where the guild holds all the power & the subject is under the guild's control (via benefits, indoctrination, or spell like geas &

Spoiler: mind rape

With that done from time to time to ensure loyalty you train up people to be eldritch knights & arcane tricksters if they need magic & fighters/barbarians/rogues as needed which would likely wind up looking a lot more like a bard than a warlock. The result could serve as muscle the wizards themselves are lacking & provide entertainment on the road as well as things like stealth/disguise/etc & just being a servant for introductions & mundane shopping/negotiations while traveling.

Alternately you would get something a lot like the sorcerer king's elite troops who again vauely resemble powerful NPC eldritch knights

 

[ccs]

My 1st thought was more along the lines of students, under great pressure & the facing the disgrace of failure, cheat.
Of course several "patrons" are well aware of the Academy & its pressures and view this as a prime recruiting ground....

 

[DemoMonkey]

I think the "Patron" would be the combined power of the the ruling council of the Academy itself, all of them contributing a little of their own power. Definitely something you would want to create a custom patron for.

 

[cbwjm]

I thought you were going to lead towards a homebrewed warlock patron which was the guild itself, imbuing the failed student with arcane energy to maintain the illusion of them being a wizard. Not 100% sure what that would look like, but I'd see typical wizard spells in the expanded spell list (magic missile, fireball, lightning bolt, etc) and maybe some of the wizard tradition powers poached for the warlock, though I'd rather something unique but "wizardy".

 

[77IM]

In line with what @DemoMonkey and @cbwjm are saying, I'm sure I've seen an "Otherworldly Patron: The Archmage" floating around the internet somewhere. It seems like that would work nicely.

 

[Tonguez]

A Genie summoned by the Archmage?
The Seeker could be a ancient powerful Wizard
Archfey

the Great Old One seems a but too dangerous for a Wizards guild to be regularly calling up for favors

 

[doctorbadwolf]

As mortals, a wizard guild is presumably filled with self interested individuals out for their own benefit & by extension the benefit of their members. Wizards can cast spells no problem, so that shifts what they would "make." The word make implies the guild/subject relationship is likely one where the guild holds all the power & the subject is under the guild's control (via benefits, indoctrination, or spell like geas &

Spoiler: mind rape

View attachment 128890

With that done from time to time to ensure loyalty you train up people to be eldritch knights & arcane tricksters if they need magic & fighters/barbarians/rogues as needed which would likely wind up looking a lot more like a bard than a warlock. The result could serve as muscle the wizards themselves are lacking & provide entertainment on the road as well as things like stealth/disguise/etc & just being a servant for introductions & mundane shopping/negotiations while traveling.

Alternately you would get something a lot like the sorcerer king's elite troops who again vauely resemble powerful NPC eldritch knights

See, spells like that are why wizards get hunted down and murdered for being wizards, in some places.

A fireball is just a big gun. Mind control is vastly more sinister and repulsive.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Hexblade could represent items of power made by the ruling council of archmagi who run the school, each appropriate to the warlock’s eventual pact boon.

Or a spellbook that can also be the warlocks book of shadows, but is also a common magic item that grows in power as the warlock does.