Which Warlocks Want We?

[Li Shenron]

So I sacrifice grammar in order to seek a boon from my pact masters.. What of it?

We have heard of warlocks in 5e, so what is your favourite warlock, and why? I'll say mine once I've got the poll up.

I am not familiar with the mechanic of any of these, but do I understand right that your question is more about the flavor (i.e. the source of power)?

Personally I only really hope that the class is not too narrow, but instead as wide as possible. This means I would like to see at least a bunch of options: infernal/fiendish and fey are those which make most sense, to which I may also add elementals, inevitables, and the forces of chaos. I wonder if maybe also celestials should be there to allow for good-aligned warlocks. Or maybe at this point, it should be just left up to the setting to define which ones exist, and design the rules to be more flexible...

My other hope would be to drop the warlock name in favour of witch, which is a synonym and I think sounds much better (and is more widely understandable) but unfortunately I don't think that's going to happen.

 

[Khaalis]

My other hope would be to drop the warlock name in favour of witch, which is a synonym and I think sounds much better (and is more widely understandable) but unfortunately I don't think that's going to happen.

Eh.... I wouldn't go near this with a 10' pole. There are a LOT of people who be offended by this, most especially those who consider themselves to be witches/pagans.

 

[Otakkun]

I like my warlocks to be a mix of infernal (the core flavour), vestige (binding demons or spirts to yourself) and dark (offer hit points from you and your companions to your soul devouring master). If you add all three of these pact abilities into one class, then make him the best summoner, you'd have my perfect warlock.

Fey warlocks cover too much ground already covered by druids and wizards IMO, and Star Pact Warlocks don't make much sense because Lovecraftian mad elder gods don't make pacts.

I'll add myself to this idea. IMO warlocks should use the 4E dark mechanics and have the ability to bind spirits to themselves, which would manifest just like 4E druid animal companions.

 

[Li Shenron]

Eh.... I wouldn't go near this with a 10' pole. There are a LOT of people who be offended by this, most especially those who consider themselves to be witches/pagans.

Why would they be offended? A D&D witch is not the same as a Wicca witch, just like a D&D cleric is not the same as a real-world cleric. Those who play D&D can tell the difference between game and real life, and I don't think we should go after those who can't...

 

[Andor]

She doesn't have to do anything. Which is the problem. The "bargain" is one-sided. There is no catch; she doesn't actually have to be merciful.

I wouldn't mind pacts with good beings if there was a catch.

If you don't enforce supernatural bargins at your table, then I suppose that's true. If a player in one of my games reneged on a pact, you can bet there would be consequences.

And the one I offered was more of a literary device than one I would expect to see in game, but if you can't see how that might bite someone in the arse then ... I dunno. I guess you read different books / watch different movies / plot different games than I do.

A pact is a bargin. The classic western one is the Faustian compact where the devil buys a soul for power. But Sinbad trading the genie it's freedom for three wishes was also a pact. Rumplestiltskin spinnng straw into gold for the firstborn child is also a pact. Gawain and the Green Knight made a pact. For many supernatural creatures, in patricular the fey, a beings word is it's bond, and mythology is full of figures who trick gods, demons and elves into bargins that work out best for the clever human.

 

[Andor]

As for a "star pact", I really have no understanding what that means/the fluff is for those. Like an "astrologer/oracle" type thing? Cool concept, but not a "warlock."
--SD

The origin of the Starpact warlock is in the Cuthulu mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. There are dark and ancient beings waiting behind the stars, beings whose knowledge blasts and sears the human mind and soul. All we are, all we know, is a tiny bubble of candle light in a sea of uncaring darkness and if we could peer past the light into the true nature of reality our tiny monkey brain would shrivel and whimper. Starpact warlocks are those who seek power from the dark truths of reality, while trying to ignore the desolation of their souls.

Which it not new to D&D btw, the Cuthulu mythos gods were listed in the original Deities and Demigods.

For an excellent modern example, see the HBO film Cast a deadly spell. But not the sequel.

 

[LostSoul]

If you don't enforce supernatural bargins at your table, then I suppose that's true. If a player in one of my games reneged on a pact, you can bet there would be consequences.

If I am in a situation where I want to break my pact - I don't want to show mercy to the drow priestess - what sort of consequences will I be facing if I choose to break my pact?

How do you give that information to the player so he can make an informed decision?

I think that should be part & parcel of the class design. When the player chooses to play a warlock, he should know what kinds of choices he's going to face, and the consequences of those choices.

And the one I offered was more of a literary device than one I would expect to see in game, but if you can't see how that might bite someone in the arse then ... I dunno. I guess you read different books / watch different movies / plot different games than I do.

Seriously?

 

[Andor]

I think that should be part & parcel of the class design. When the player chooses to play a warlock, he should know what kinds of choices he's going to face, and the consequences of those choices.

Agreed.

And those consequences depend on the pact and who it's with.

For the classic Faustian pact with a Devil, the answer is simple. When you die you are damned. No resurrection/reincarnation. If the other PCs want you back they'd better have the muscle to break into hell and drag the tattered remanants of your soul back to earth with them. Of course a warlock might try to get around this by something like Lichdom. It might even work, until the day that phylactery gets broken.

But except for no cheating death, that won't impact play much.

For a starpact warlock I would use some sort of corruption or insanity point mechanic as your exposure to otherworldy knowledge and powers slowly warps your mind, body and soul. Or when the stars are right a Migo shows up and eats you. Who knows with great old ones? If you break the pact you break one link in the chain that keeps the great old ones bound...


With the Fay? Nothing at all. Oh, except your first born child. Or the memory of your first kiss perhaps. Or every year you need to travel to Tin Nan Og to bring music to the Elf Kings ball. Of course you need to bring him a new act every year. And he keeps the musicians. If you break the pact then every man you meet from now on will know you are foresworn, oathbreaker. Or your child disappears and is replaced by a log. Or for the rest of your life every bite of food tastes likes ashes, every drop of water or wine like blood and all music is the screech of fingernails on chalk.

And the Drow who broke her pact with Pelor? Her powers stop working and the full light of the sun shines upon her. Wherever and whenever she is. And she isn't immune to its power anymore.

 

[TrippyHippy]

I don't mind the idea of a class based on 'pacts' at all, but I'd like to see the powers obtained pertain to something more creative than just combat blasting. Also, I'd prefer the more archetypal name of 'Witch' rather than 'Warlock'.

 

[Ahnehnois]

But that's not the problem with warlocks. It is: they don't have to do anything related to their pact or bargain. They get their powers and that's it.

One could argue the same thing with clerics. What do they have to do to get their spells? Not much. The same is true for many other such rules. This is the sort of thing that D&D never codifies and just leaves to the people at the table (for better or for worse).