Warlock
Hit Points
Hit Dice: d8 per Warlock level
Hit Points at first Level: 8 + Con Mod
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 + Con Mod
Proficiences
Armor: Light armor
Weapons: All simple weapons
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Wis, Cha
Skills: Choose two skills from Arcana, Deception, History, Intimidation, Investigation, Nature, and Religion
Class Features
Otherworldly Patron
At 1st level, you have struck a bargain with an otherworldly being of your choice: the Fiend, which is detailed at the end of the class description, or one from another source. Your choice grants you features at 1st level and again at 6th, 10th, and 14th level.
Pact Boon
At 3rd level, your otherworldly patron bestows a gift upon you for your loyal service. You gain one of the following features of your choice.
Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.
Mystic Arcanum (6th level)
At 11th level, your patron bestows upon you a magical secret called an arcanum. Choose one 6th-level spell from the warlock spell list as this arcanum.
You can cast your arcanum spell once without expending a spell slot. You must finish a long rest before you can do so again.
At higher levels, you gain more warlock spells of your choice that can be cast in this way: one 7th-level spell at 13th level, one 8th-level spell at 15th level, and one 9th-level spell at 17th level. You regain all uses of your Mystic Arcanum when you finish a long rest.
Mystic Arcanum (7th level)
At 13th level, your patron bestows upon you a magical secret called an arcanum. Choose one 7th-level spell from the warlock spell list as this arcanum.
You can cast your arcanum spell once without expending a spell slot. You must finish a long rest before you can do so again.
At higher levels, you gain more warlock spells of your choice that can be cast in this way: one 8th-level spell at 15th level, and one 9th-level spell at 17th level. You regain all uses of your Mystic Arcanum when you finish a long rest.
Mystic Arcanum (8th level)
At 15th level, your patron bestows upon you a magical secret called an arcanum. Choose one 8th-level spell from the warlock spell list as this arcanum.
You can cast your arcanum spell once without expending a spell slot. You must finish a long rest before you can do so again.
At 17th level, you gain a 9th-level warlock spell of your choice that can be cast in this way. You regain all uses of your Mystic Arcanum when you finish a long rest.
Mystic Arcanum (9th level)
At 17th level, your patron bestows upon you a magical secret called an arcanum. Choose one 9th-level spell from the warlock spell list as this arcanum.
You can cast your arcanum spell once without expending a spell slot. You must finish a long rest before you can do so again.
You regain all uses of your Mystic Arcanum when you finish a long rest.
Eldritch Master
At 20th level, you can draw on your inner reserve of mystical power while entreating your patron to regain expended spell slots. You can spend 1 minute entreating your patron for aid to regain all your expended spell slots from your Pact Magic feature. Once you regain spell slots with this feature, you must finish a long rest before you can do so again.
Starting Equipment
- (a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) any simple weapon
- (a) a component pouch or (b) an arcane focus
- (a) a scholar's pack or (b) a dungeoneer's pack
- Leather armor, any simple weapon, and two daggers
Spellcasting
Pact Magic
Your arcane research and the magic bestowed on you by your patron have given you facility with spells.
Cantrips
You know two cantrips of your choice from the warlock spell list. You learn additional warlock cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Warlock table.
Spell Slots
The Warlock table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your warlock spells of 1st through 5th level. The table also shows what the level of those slots is; all of your spell slots are the same level. To cast one of your warlock spells of 1st level or higher, you must expend a spell slot. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a short or long rest.
For example, when you are 5th level, you have two 3rd-level spell slots. To cast the 1st-level spell witch bolt, you must spend one of those slots, and you cast it as a 3rd-level spell.
Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher
At 1st level, you know two 1st-level spells of your choice from the warlock spell list.
The Spells Known column of the Warlock table shows when you learn more warlock spells of your choice of 1st level and higher. A spell you choose must be of a level no higher than what’s shown in the table’s Slot Level column for your level. When you reach 6th level, for example, you learn a new warlock spell, which can be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd level.
Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the warlock spells you know and replace it with another spell from the warlock spell list, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots.
Spellcasting Ability
Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your warlock spells, so you use your Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a warlock spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier
Spellcasting Focus
You can use an arcane focus as a spellcasting focus for your warlock spells.
Eldritch Invocations
In your study of occult lore, you have unearthed
Eldritch Invocations, fragments of forbidden knowledge that imbue you with an abiding magical ability. A level prerequisite refers to your level in this class.
At 2nd level, you gain two eldritch invocations of your choice. Your invocation options are detailed at the end of the class description. When you gain certain warlock levels, you gain additional invocations of your choice, as shown in the Invocations Known column of the Warlock table.
Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the invocations you know and replace it with another invocation that you could learn at that level.
If an eldritch invocation has prerequisites, you must meet them to learn it. You can learn the invocation at the same time that you meet its prerequisites. A level prerequisite refers to your level in this class.
Subclass Options
Otherworldly Patrons
The beings that serve as patrons for warlocks are mighty inhabitants of other planes of existence—not gods, but almost godlike in their power. Various patrons give their warlocks access to different powers and invocations, and expect significant favors in return.
Some patrons collect warlocks, doling out mystic knowledge relatively freely or boasting of their ability to bind mortals to their will. Other patrons bestow their power only grudgingly, and might make a pact with only one warlock. Warlocks who serve the same patron might view each other as allies, siblings, or rivals.
Your patron is a deity with a measure of control over the
withering, bitter power of cold. Such patrons tend to be in
opposition of good-aligned deities presiding over the Nature
domain, as they tend not to preserve nature, but to corrupt
it to suit their needs. It is known that most of these deities
intend to bring about an eternal winter.
The Dragon Kings are divine dragon spirits, lords of the four seasons, and kings of four
cardinal rivers from their underwater palaces in the Riverlands. Their main
duty is to bring rain for crops to grow, to nourish life.
However, they are tied to the rivers that they reside in. Your
pact marks you as a helper, not a direct subordinate or
follower of the Dragon Kings, to bring rain and fertility to faroff
lands that need it where the Dragon Kings can not reach.
Clad in armor of enduring ice, those who serve the primal entities of ice and snow are renowned for their ability to shape a battlefield through their daunting rime-clad armor, their towering walls of ice and deadly blizzards. Their masters come in many forms, the Winter Queen, Prime Elementals, Levistus... but no matter their master their march is as inevitable and unstoppable as winter itself.
If you ask any cleric, they will tell you that belief is a powerful thing. Most imaginary friends appear when their warlocks are children and become powerful beings of magical energy when the child believes in them for a long enough time. Unlike most patrons, imaginary friends do not want something in return for their power. They just want to protect their creator for as long as they can, and they are not easy to get rid of. They are extremely protective of their charge. The stronger the bond, the more dangerous the patron becomes.
Your patron is the manifestation of luck within the
planes. You have bound yourself to her wheel of
luck in hopes that it increases your own. Your pact
with Lady Luck allows you to experience being able
to see and shift the luck around you to your benefit.
As you strike deals and shift fate in your favor, you
can be more likely to take risks as you feel more
and more invulnerable to the randomness of life.
Your patron is an ancient mother with a great many
children. Though she has enough power to be
feared, her kindness and goodness inspire only love
in her followers. Such beings desire their children to
be safe and prosperous. There is, however, no anger
like that of a mother whose children are at risk.
Your patron might view you as one of her children
or task you with ensuring the prosperity of her
children. Beings of this sort include Echidna,
Mother of Monsters; Nyx, Mother of the Night;
Lepcha, Earth Mother; and other maternal spirits.
This patron is a conceptual being, a
manifestation of the collective unconscious - a
creature who desires only knowledge,
experience, truth; consumed by an endless
well of curiosity. Nameless does not care what
methods are used to achieve these goals. It's
quite possible that they don’t even understand
any of the implications. When you look in the mirror and
don’t recognise yourself, that is nameless. When you see a
figure in the corner of your eye, that is nameless. When you
see someone you think you recognise in a dream, that is
nameless. Nameless is everybody and everything in a
reflection, the world shifted two inches to the right, with no
depth, no features, no commonality. Nameless wears your
face like a mask and tears it apart with a thought.
You are an independent Warlock who don't need no Patron.
Just follow these simple steps to overcome all of life's
difficulties! For eons Warlock has served talking swords and
walking squids, but the power was within you all along.
In every library, there is a book that has never been read, a
section that has never been seen, and a hallway that leads
to nowhere – yet, you have managed to read that tome of
unspoken secrets, find that shelf of unholy blasphemies,
and step beyond the dead-end corridor into the Accursed
Archive, where you have become bound to the nightmare-
inducing writings within. Demonology, blood magic, and
the summoning of things from beyond are among the most
mundane of topics here, but draw the eye and call to the hand
nonetheless. By some malignant intelligence that selects
only the most desperate, the most ambitious, and the most
willing to sacrifice, the Accursed Archive collects souls to do its
ruinous work: to share the terrible truths that reside upon its
endless shelves, and bring chaos and upheaval to the outside
world through the disclosure of these forgotten secrets.
The All-Maker's magic sings in every flowing river, in every crackling fire, in every rumbling mountain, and in every howling gust. The very essence of nature is tied to them, and they in turn are tied to the constant chaotic shift of nature. While not nesecarily bound to the elemental chaos, a lot of similarities can be drawn between them and the elements that make up that ring.
Beings powerful enough to forge a pact include powerful elementals, as well as ancient forests spirits. Some elven gods, especially those that embody nature, may grant this power to those that reflect their interests, but don't readily worship them.
Ancient spirits of long-forgotten heroes and villains still linger in the world around you. They inhabit the very essence of the air you breathe and the earth you walk upon. Kept in this world by their dying wish unfulfilled, one of them, perhaps a warrior of legend, an ancient sage or an ancestor of your tribe, has made a pact with you to finish what they once started.
Your patron is a wise and venerable tree. These ancient trees often come from the Upper Planes or the Feywild and have roots reaching across the planes. A pact bestows a portion of its knowledge to warlocks willing to protect the natural balance, furthering its reach in the multiverse.
Your patron is an elder true dragon, a winged reptile of equal
majesty and dread who has seen the rise and fall of empires.
Each of these dragons yearns, ultimately, for one thing above
all others. The further expansion of their hoards, an effort it
may very well expect you to assist and provide for. Each of
these beings requires something somewhat unique, and the
methods of its retrieval vary equally so. The table below can
be used to discover which dragon your patron in particular
might be, or merely as a guide for a discussion on the most
appropriate one, between you and your DM.
You’ve made a pact with a being of immense size and
strength. Sitting in a large, palatial temple within a network
of mystical swamps, woods, and rivers lies the Ancient Toad,
a creature of knowledge, magic, and power. Generally
concerned with only its own realm and its preservation, the
Ancient Toad rules over the various denizens that reside
within it, from the smallest frogs and tadpole servants to the
largest toad brutes and sages.
Though it rarely leaves its own home, the Ancient Toad
often sends its minions out into the world to observe the
comings and goings of other realms, or to gather items and
resources that can benefit its homeland. The Ancient Toad
admires mortals who adhere to laws, seek to better their
people through whatever means necessary, or desire strength
and power to accomplish goals that would not harm the
Ancient Toad or its minions.
Your patron is not a single being, but instead a mass of many
unified entities that think and exist as one. At some point in
your adventures, you have allowed a being like this into you, or
had one enter against your will, and are now a part of their
magical web of servants. These creatures are motivated by
hunger, and consume the magical energy of those they live in.
Your patron is a lord or lady of the fey, a creature of legend who holds secrets that were forgotten before the mortal races were born. This being’s motivations are often inscrutable, and sometimes whimsical, and might involve a striving for greater magical power or the settling of age-old grudges. Beings of this sort include the Prince of Frost; the Queen of Air and Darkness, ruler of the Gloaming Court; Titania of the Summer Court; her consort Oberon, the Green Lord; Hyrsam, the Prince of Fools; and ancient hags.
You have made a pact with an archlich, a creature that has existed
since the dawn of the last age and holds secrets of arcane magic
that have been forgotten for thousands of years. Such a being
desires only to expand its own power and influence, only using
you as a pawn in its far larger scheme. Any lich powerful enough
to form a pact has lived for many thousands of years, and many of
them were involved in the invention of lichdom itself.
Your patron is an incredibly powerful magical
practitioner, one whose skill and strength in the arcane
arts have made them tantamount to a god. Such a
mage may require minions to aid them in unlocking
the great secrets of the multiverse, or perhaps they
just need a subject for their eldritch experiments.
No matter your patron’s motivations, you have
convinced them to take you on as an apprentice,
being granted access to a modicum of their
knowledge and power.
You’ve made a pact with a primal spirit of fire and the hunt
– a scourge of the forests and fields, and a harbinger of ill
fate. This creature is wise and cunning, making deals with
those who have the potential to bring ruin and change. Some
consider the beast to be native to the Plane of Elemental
Fire; others call it a fiend from the darkest hells. Whatever
its origin, the ember-eyed wolf often extracts payment in the
form of wishes gone awry: a power demand becomes a
battle to retain one’s humanity, while a request for a peaceful
resolution often has a price that brings constant regret.
Your patron is an ever-watchful beholder, filled with malice and
an often insane drive towards dominating all those it
considers below it, which is everyone, especially other
beholders. While it might share its power with you in an
attempt to further its own goals, it despises you and mistrusts
you as much as you it. Prominent beholders include Xanathar,
of the eponymous Thieves' Guild in Skullport, or Large Luigi,
the barkeeper on the Rock of Bral.
In recent years, certain would-be mages dream of walking the precincts of an ancient city, its streets shrouded in darkness—and that those streets whisper secrets. What they couldn't dream of is that sometimes those cities have a conscious will of its own—and that will wishes to bargain.
This patron’s warlocks not only gain insight into darkness, but into the secret life of cities everywhere. They hear the whispers of elemental spirits in chimney-smoke and cobblestones, foresee the ebb and flow of urban commerce like a sailor knows the changing of the tides, and feel the hope and despair of multitudes rise like heat from avenues beneath their feet.
Your patron is a being, such as a spirit, fey, or other powerful entity that suffered a terrible betrayal. Alone and embittered, they now seek to bolster with what power they have left those they believe can help them settle their scores in some way. Your pact with this being empowers you, and grants you skills to ensure you do not befall the same fate that they suffered.
Of course, not all of those who make these pacts have themselves been wronged or betrayed, not all seek vengeance of their own. But bitter and vengeful hearts seek kindred spirits, and these entities tend to offer their gifts to those they believe can help them achieve their ends.
You’ve torn out your heart as an offering to the Blackthorn
Grove after braving the Maze of Blood and resisting the
temptations of the Fields of Acedia. In place of your heart, a
pulsing, beating, writhing mass of thorns has grown and made
you whole. The lifeblood of the world itself runs through your
veins, granting you power and passion alike to fulfill your
purpose, whatever that may be. The trials and suffering of
your past beckon you to make amends or take your revenge,
but the feeling of grass under your feet and the sunlight upon
your face is enough to help you understand the worth of life.
Wander alone no longer, for even in death the Grove shall
grant you a home.
You have made a pact with a powerful, subterranean entity: an ancient being once revered, now forgotten. Exiled, isolated, and confined beneath the earth, these beings manipulate the overworld through desperate means; provoking earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, in an attempt to maintain their fading legacies.
Your patron is a powerful being of the Upper Planes. You have bound yourself to an ancient empyrean, solar, ki-rin, unicorn, or other entity that resides in the planes of everlasting bliss. Your pact with that being allows you to experience the barest touch of the holy light that illuminates the multiverse.
Being connected to such power can cause changes in your behavior and beliefs. You might find yourself driven to annihilate the undead, to defeat fiends, and to protect the innocent. At times, your heart might also be filled with a longing for the celestial realm of your patron, and a desire to wander that paradise for the rest of your days. But you know that your mission is among mortals for now, and that your pact binds you to bring light to the dark places of the world.
The Chivalric Order
Your pact is with a chivalric order, a sacred fellowship of holy
knights united in purpose and camaraderie. Orders powerful
enough to bestow magic on a warlock are rare across the
multiverse, and ones willing to make such pacts rarer still, for
most knights are ready, willing, and able to undertake
adventures and sacred quests themselves. Some orders take
on as warlocks persons who fail to be worthy of knighthood,
providing both consolation and purpose to those who had
righteous desires. Others keep warlocks as agents to handle
desperate, discreet tasks that the knights themselves cannot
perform for risk of breaking their solemn oaths. Found in
service to organizations such as the Knights of Mystic Fire or
the Order of the Watch, warlocks such as you bear the unique
gift of divine power that is your patron order's blessing.
The Conquering Host
You've made a pact with a formidable, warlike entity that will stop at nothing to see their enemies kneel before them. With prodigious skill at arms and leadership, this creature has imbued with you with a fraction of its knowledge to serve as vanguard of its ultimate goal; whether this campaign is benevolent, tyrannical or ruinous depends on the disposition of your patron. As variable as the planes themselves, they can hail from anywhere on the Great Wheel, including the Material Plane. Beings of this sort include Nomog-Geaya, hobgoblin demigod of leadership and tyranny; Zariel, Archdevil and Lord of the First; Raziel the Crusader, of the Celestial Hebdomad; Vlaakith, Lich-Queen of the Githyanki; Bael, the Bronze General; Baltazo, the Seeping Sovreign; as well as particularly mighty spirits of Ysgard, the plane of heroes.
The Crimson Malifact is not an entity that can be seen or
touched nor is it communicated with by words. Instead, it is a
form of a symbiotic curse that seeks out those who seek to
commit bloodshed. It appears before them in a pool of blood
and offers to give them power unlike they have ever seen.
With its power, the host can control his own blood and the
spilled blood of his enemies as easily as they could wave their
hands. They control the flow of the red liquid as an aquamancer
might control the water. However, the power given by the
Malifact is far more sinister as the only thing it asks in return is
the blood spilled with the power that it offers it's host.
Your patron is an elder force of the Feywild that
veers capriciously between her maternal and
destructive instincts. Such a creature smothers
those she holds dear with doting attention and
rejects those set against her with ruthless cruelty,
often vacillating between these extremes seemingly
without prompt. You have chosen a spiteful and
suffocating patron, one whose nature you find
yourself mimicking more and more. Beings of this
sort include; Aradia, mother of witchcraft, Baba
Yaga, the evil woman, and Hecate, queen of witches.
The Currency Conspiracy
Hushed whispers fill your mind, informing you that your
memories are your own. You don’t quite understand what
that means, but it seems that the Cabal may have a grand plan
that requires your action and needs you to be aware of the
reality behind your deeds. Perhaps you were knowledgeable
and unscrupulous, willing to bargain away the life of another,
or perhaps more powerful entities, intervened on your behalf
and restored your memory. Nevertheless, now you know
the truth behind the Currency Conspiracy. Along with this
knowledge comes the ability to manifest the unusual power
of Gilt and to wield a measure of control over the karensee.
Will you use it to further the dark goals of the Conspiracy, or
will you bite the hand that feeds and turn against the dark
masterminds of the Cabal?
The choice is yours, but the price must be paid in blood.
Sometimes, we of the lesser races manage to defeat one of the
great evils in the world. We band together to break them and cast
them down. We destroy their temples and drive their priests away
until every last one of their followers turns their back on them.
But, the foulest of our enemies cannot be killed so easily. So then,
we mortals in our wisdom hide this vestige away in one of the deep
places of the world. We seal it in a tomb of amber, protected by the
greatest wards and magics we know. We bury it, and we forget.
Generations pass, centuries or longer. Our descendants listen to
the old tales and discard them as nothing more than stories and
legends. Eventually, even the name of this force of evil is forgotten
altogether, as if it never existed.
However, evil never forgets, and some evil never sleeps. It sits in
its amber tomb, for generations, centuries or longer, and it waits.
Humiliated and engulfed by rage, overwhelmed by loneliness and
stifling silence, it forges its bitterness into determination. One day,
when foolish mortals wander too close or dig too deep, it will enter
their minds sweetly. It will show them a future that they could never
dream of, and promise them power beyond their limited words.
All they must do is pay a price. That is not too much to ask. It will
bargain for a favor perhaps, or a gift, a token. Their beauty, confidence,
or sanity. Part of their flesh and bone, or a sliver of their
soul.
You have made a pact with the spirit of someone you loved, or
with the god of death that was their jailor. This spirit’s soul
has been returned to you in the mortal plane, and is referred
to as your Dearly Departed. Your Dearly Departed can be
anyone of great importance to you, who passed away with
unfinished business. In exchange for being reunited with this
spirit, you must pay with your vitality. For every year that your
Dearly Departed’s soul is in the mortal plane with you, you
lose a year of your own lifespan. Once the business of your
Dearly Departed is concluded and they are at rest, their spirit
will leave the mortal plane and return to their eternal grave.
The Ossended Host is an esoteric group of acolytes who worship the power of dreams and nightmares. The priests of this order keep the source of their power a closely guarded secret. They preach the power of dreams and the virtue that can be found within them, seeming to all the world like a benevolent order.
However, to their enemies they can unleash the fury of nightmares, trapping foes in horrifying prisons of their own making. What dark being is at the center of this twisted order? The Ossended Host isn't talking, and anyone who may have found out has either joined them or was never seen again...
Throughout history, the tales of shipwrecks and unfathomable storms have filled the nightmares and minds of sailors the oceans’ over. And while many knock this as silly superstitions, seamen know the truth of what lurks deep within the bowels of the world waters.
There is a benevolent being known as the Drowned, a spirit formed from the dead souls of those killed in the great storms and sea battles, taken from life too soon. The Drowned rarely breathes life back into those who come to its realm, but occasionally, it finds a soul with such life that it returns them.
These warlocks of the Drowned are strange beings, dead but alive, whole but asunder. Their minds wander and they often rage as but a typhoon would, but they control awesome power. And all the Drowned asks for is that they return to it when the time has come.
The Elder Tome
You have made a pact with an entity that holds untold
knowledge of the universe, and it has given you a tome bearing
only a tiny fraction it's consciousness and its knowledge. In this
tome, lost secrets are scrawled in an alien tongue unread by
mortal eyes in millennia. As you learn you must write down as
much information you gain into in your adventure into the
empty pages at the back of this tome so that all the knowledge
you gain is also gained by your patron. In return, they reveal the
secrets hidden behind the indiscernible scrawling at the front
of the book.
Knowledge is power. And power, slowly revealed to you, is
your reward.
The Empty
Abandoned by all else mortals can find themselves filled with
a bursting dread and embraced with a deafening silence.
These people find themselves on a day to day basis staring
into a void that whispers to them dark secrets and ideas, but
only those who look into the void and scream back can truly
understand how morbid these thoughts truly are. The Empty
are those who when scorned by not only people, but the
primal forces of the world be it the gods or the elements
themselves would do anything to fill an all encompassing void
within themselves. Those cursed with this power feel only
ever the need to consume and fill the void that lies within
themselves.
You’ve made a pact with the Eternal Citadel, a massive
yet empty bastion that seems to wander between worlds,
collecting travelers and then releasing them again once they
agree to serve. The Eternal Citadel communicates through
the silent transfer of emotions and feelings – an instinctual
sense to follow a course of action, no matter how enigmatic it
may seem. An unknown number of people have sworn their
allegiance to the Citadel, and few ever meet, but they all serve
the same end, known or otherwise: preservation against the
forces that seek destruction.
It’s not really a child, and no mother bore it in their
womb. It’s something else - and it has chosen you
as the vessel of its power and the tool of its will.
Whether you carry it around with you all day, or
whether it only visits you in your dreams, it takes on
a form familiar to you either to unnerve you or to
shield you from the horror of what it really is. This
could be a big evil star baby, a creepy seven year
old, or something even more abstract such as a
childhood toy. Either way, it seems to need you. Or
enjoy your company. For now.
Stars beyond measure populate the void beyond the world,
while celestial spheres circle above. You have met with one
of their number, cast down by the many cold and unfeeling
suns above for the sin of falling in love with a mortal. As
punishment, the spiteful and envious stars shined their pale
fury upon the paramour, destroying them utterly. The Exile
now wanders the world it has been cast upon, appearing as
a shimmer of light. Its goal is known only to those whom it
trusts, and it grants power to them as it is powerless itself,
stripped of interaction with the mortal world for its hubris.
It endlessly searches, seeking either a soul of great kindness
to help it find the knowledge and power to resurrect its fallen
love, or one unscrupulous enough to wage war upon the very
stars themselves. The light shines, but that fire can be cold and
merciless, like the wrath of a love destroyed.
Fate is not set in stone as many assume. Yet, for some fate is
like a rushing stream, it flashes by yet at key moments things
can be changed with the right knowledge.
As a master of what is and will be in this world, these
watchers over fate can alter your future and predict what it
holds. But everything comes with a price and for those who
watch over fate, the price of knowledge is servitude.
Now cursed with knowledge of their own and other's fates,
those who have been put into a pact with these various figures
that watch over fate seek to warn others of their own terrible
fates, before they meet a circumstance as dire as they did.
You have made a pact with a fiend from the lower planes of existence, a being whose aims are evil, even if you strive against those aims. Such beings desire the corruption or destruction of all things, ultimately including you. Fiends powerful enough to forge a pact include demon lords such as Demogorgon, Orcus, Fraz’Urb-luu, and Baphomet; archdevils such as Asmodeus, Dispater, Mephistopheles, and Belial; pit fiends and balors that are especially mighty; and ultroloths and other lords of the yugoloths.
The Firebird
Your patron is a mighty phoenix, a creature of the elemental plane
of fire. While ordinary phoenixes do not have the intelligence to
make such a pact, particularly powerful ones, known as firebirds,
can bestow great elemental power to a warlock. The aims of a
firebird are far from complex—they seek destruction, and use
their warlocks to further that goal. They pay no great heed to how
a warlock uses the powers they grant them, however, instead
tending to assume that those fiery powers would naturally be used
to incite chaos and destruction. While warlocks of this pact are
often driven to burn and destroy as their patrons do, some manage
to use their abilities for good, utilizing their magic in their fight
against evil.
You’ve stepped into the Forbidden Graveyard, a sanctuary
found on the boundary between life and death, where the
rare few whose minds are attuned to this place come to
wander as their bodies heal or slip away into the cold clutches
of the night. Those that embrace the experience and seal
shut the Gate of Souls within find themselves gifted with an
understanding of both the living and the dead. Unknown to
all but those like you, the Gate requires repayment for this
mercy, and only the souls of others will do. Choose wisely,
for all who cross your path are marked by the Graveyard for
collection. It is up to you to safeguard them from that dark
plane, or to send them there to take your place in the cold
embrace of death.
The Forest Guardian
You have made a pact with a powerful being that serves nature itself. Such creatures seek to grow and protect the natural beauty of the forest. Protecting nature from the encroachment of civilization and industrious cities is in the forefront of their thoughts, and is often the reason for offering power to others. Many see them as terrible creatures, ruthlessly bringing vengeance to those who would intrude on the spread of nature. Others find harmony with them, spreading the vines of nature throughout the planes. Entities capable of this power include ancient treants, dryads, or coalitions of awakened plants.
The Fungal Lord
Mushrooms and fungi represent a part of the cycle of natural life that is sometimes revered or feared, but often misunderstood. Breaking down other organic material
creates nourishment for the greater environment, and good or neutral aligned fungal patrons tend to the cycle of nature, creating life from death and creation from de struction. Evil fungal lords care much less for balance and seek to cover the world in their children, using fungi solely to consume and enslave those they deem lesser than themselves. Patrons that are willing and able to make this pact include Zuggtmoy, the Carrion King, the Scarlet Lord, Araumycos, and Psylofyr.
Warlocks that make a pact with a fungal lord typically do so by spending a month and a day in a cave or forest overgrown with mushrooms, communing with the lord in question through prayer and meditation. Should the pact be accepted, the prospective warlock will begin to grow an inkling of their patron's fungal essence inside them, subtly changing their physiology. Roll once or pick from the Mycelial Presence table to determine the exact change your character undergoes.
The Friends
Your patron is the friends you make. While others may bargain their soul away, you have freely given it to every person you meet. You make friends wherever you go by simply being yourself. These friends, although mortal and powerless by themselves, provide you the strength to go beyond the possible through the will of their trust in you. They look to you for support, friendship, and guidance - an unwavering soul, who tirelessly puts forth the effort for each and every one of their friends. You will forever live on in the hearts of every heart you touch. They will all think of you now and then, never forgetting, as your hearts will be one.
The Gelatinous Convocation
You’ve made a pact with the cheerful wandering cubes
of sentient ooze that wiggle and wobble their way across
the multiverse to visit worlds beyond measure with the
singular goal of spreading their offspring within the deepest
dungeons to collect and absorb the memories of the fallen. As
they happily bounce between the planes, they occasionally
encounter a soul they view as truly amusing, so they offer a
measure of their strange power over the slimes and oozes of
the world using the magic that they wield with a mere wave of
their pseudopods.
You have been noticed by an unfathomable intelligence that permeates a particular locale, such as a dilapidated house or asylum, a crowded city, or even a distant constellation. Born from sites of strong emotions, tragedies, or perhaps the complex interactions of unwitting participants, these entities whisper subtly of times forgotten through the creak of the floorboard, the din of the city market, the cavernous echo of dripping water, or the shining death of a distant star.
A typical example of these genii loci may be a malevolent haunting of an abandoned building, however, these entities may also be protective stewards presiding over their domain; inquisitive cosmic entities of indescribable scale and mind; or the chaotic and ever-shifting zeitgeist of civilization, exhibiting the deepest desires and frustrations of the common person.
Your patron is a giant primordial duck. No one really knows
how these creatures came to be, or what they are capable of,
but many know of their terror and power. They are but a
mystery to most, keeping their true ambitions to themselves.
Your patrons’ motives are most likely a mystery to you.
The Gray Portrait
Your dedication to art and beauty has led you to discover the
art of creating a Gray Portrait: an artifact that your soul and
body are bound to. The portrait reflects your inner self, and
suffers the damage you would take, the diseases you would
contract, and the cruelty you may inflict. It grants you the
power to use your art to perform feats of incredible magic, and
to paint beauty and ugliness alike upon the fabric of reality.
This freedom from responsibility is corruptive, however,
so one must be wary – if the portrait is destroyed, all that
suffering returns to collect the devil’s due.
In the times of darkness, long before mankind journeyed across the surface of the world, Camazotz ruled the night with his legion of bat demons and vampire warriors, flying forth from Xibalba. However, once humans were able to brave the night, Camazotz’ power decreased, until warlocks began to flock to his promise of control over the night and the gift of everlasting life. Camazotz is a deceiver and the father of vampires, but when he swears a blood promise, he keeps it.
The Great Cold is a being tucked deep in the clouds atop the
highest mountains that none dare to climb. Where Ice Giants
walk and where Griffons soar through the murky clouds, lives
a being said to be the sole embodiment of frost, but these are
tales spun to give the masses a fantasy to explain what lurks
in the sub zero winds above the atmosphere. In actuality,
none know what the Great Cold looks like, though if near
one's death bed or seekers of the mountain's power are
visited by Snowy Owls, chances are they are within his
domain. It is here that one will either bargain their lives from
a frozen tomb or offer service to the Lord of The Mountain's
Bite through his trusted voice, the snowy owls. To gain favor
and power with the Great Cold one must spread his influence
across the land where his winds cannot reach, to spread cold
and let his messenger owls survey the unknown.
If one should wane in their frozen master's bidding, owls
shall congregate and his voice shall remind the Warlock of
their ultimate goal. "Climb mountains child, reach the peaks,
let my ice wisp about you and my owls be your sight. Through
you I may travel to heights unknown, your powers and my
domain shall then grow ever more powerful. Thaw and the
winds shall rend your flesh and the messengers devour your
eyes in my name."
The Great Old One
Your patron is a mysterious entity whose nature is utterly foreign to the fabric of reality. It might come from the Far Realm, the space beyond reality, or it could be one of the elder gods known only in legends. Its motives are incomprehensible to mortals, and its knowledge so immense and ancient that even the greatest libraries pale in comparison to the vast secrets it holds. The Great Old One might be unaware of your existence or entirely indifferent to you, but the secrets you have learned allow you to draw your magic from it.
Residing just beyond the Material Plane lies a massive storm that even the gods fear to brave for long. The majority of big storms on all of the planes are typically caused by the influence of this great storm. You have braved one of these storms and learned the truth. Hidden in wind and the lightning is a voice, the voice of the Great Storm itself. Listening to its whisper you have learned the true nature of this sentient storm and have forged a pact with it. Though the motives and desires of the Great Storm remain a mystery, the power of the storm you are granted is clear.
Your patron is an ancient and powerful tree, its fathomless
consciousness dwarfing the minds of most other creatures. Its
needs might be simple, or so complex as to be unable to see
the forest for the trees. Oftentimes they seek out warlocks as
agents to guard them and their home from would-be ne'er-dowells. Beings of this kind include unimaginably old trees in
the feywild, or particularly powerful treants or dryads.
You have pledged your allegiance to a spirit
of mischief who delights in misdirection and
misappropriation. Despite an irredeemable
reputation, such patrons are not necessarily evil or
even selfish. Some tricksters use pranks to teach
others important moral lessons or commit lesser
wrongs to serve the greater good. Most, however,
are motivated primarily by their own entertainment
and self-satisfaction. And selfishness.
The Harvest
“Growing up in my village, I didn’t understand
why we had scarecrows everywhere. In the
fields, along the streets, at the edge of the
woods. When I got older I learned damn well.
They were the guards. The spies. The eyes and
ears...and the knives of our village’s protector.”
-Amos Partaker, human warlock of the harvest.
Even in worlds with deities that can bless a
farmer’s crops, agrarian communities still turn
to every measure of superstition and folk belief
to improve their chances of a good harvest.
Practices of saving the last sheath
of corn, performing ritualistic
community celebrations, or
reciting certain field songs are
often the least of these. Some
communities go much further,
worshipping pagan gods,
natural spirits, or darker entities
who they believe control the fate of
their community’s autumn fortunes.
Whether these entities are real or through the
manifest power of belief, some feel as though
they are empowered with the spirit of the
harvest, bringing this view out into the world at
large with strange purpose.
Magic is often misunderstood, perhaps most by those who use it. It is not some resource to be mined, nor a well to be drunk from. It is a living, thinking entity. It is old, older than most of existence and it is hungry.
Few understand this being, and even fewer are drawn to it. You are one of those few. Whether it be from birth, a ritual gone awry, or stumbling into a dimension very far removed from your own, you have come into contact with the Heart of All Magic. In turn it has marked you with its very specific brand of power. In some circles, these individuals are known as Antari. In the tongue of the Old Blood, this word means "Perfected."
The Hexblade
You have made your pact with a mysterious entity from the Shadowfell — a force that manifests in sentient magic weapons carved from the stuff of shadow. The mighty sword Blackrazor is the most notable of these weapons, which have been spread across the multiverse over the ages. The shadowy force behind these weapons can offer power to warlocks who form pacts with it. Many hexblade warlocks create weapons that emulate those formed in the Shadowfell. Others forgo such arms, content to weave the dark magic of that plane into their spellcasting.
Because the Raven Queen is known to have forged the first of these weapons, many sages speculate that she and the force are one and that the weapons, along with hexblade warlocks, are tools she uses to manipulate events on the Material Plane to her inscrutable ends.
WE ARE ONE. WE ARE MANY. THE HIVE IS THE ALPHA. THE HIVE
IS THE OMEGA. OBEY THE HIVE. WORSHIP THE HIVE. BECOME
THE HIVE. CONSUME. EVOLVE. CONQUER. OBLITERATE.
Warlocks of the Hive Mind are among the most
dangerous folks in existence. They can only be evil and
describe themselves as collectors, gathering souls on their
leisure. They rarely travel within parties and even if they do, it
is simply a means of reaching a goal. What is peculiar about
them is that they hold hatred even towards fellow Hive Mind
warlocks, as they consider them competitors.
The Hopeweaver
Your patron is a powerful, benevolent entity that wishes to
spread happiness and prosperity as far and wide as possible.
You have accepted their charge and their power and you now
travel the lands bringing the sick the health, feeding the
starving till their full, and bringing a light of hope to those who
have none.
But you and your patron are not naive. There will be times
that violence is unavoidable and you are given the power to
either avoid it, or if pushed too far, to ight back with your own
power.
You’ve made a pact with an ancient, oceanic entity known
as the Keeper of the Depths. As life teems within the seas,
so do the secrets of the forgotten ages – sunken cities, ships
lost at sea, and treasures unimaginable gone to the darkest
currents that churn with horrible tentacles and creatures
from nightmare. The Keeper watches over all this hidden
knowledge, and harvests ever more in its endless pursuit of
the unspoken secrets of the universe. In the deepest crevices
where sunlight has never been seen, all oceans are one to the
Keeper of the Depths, and its desire is insatiable.
You have made a pact with a great sea monster, a leviathan.
Known as destroyers of ships and bringers of storms,
these creatures — such as Krakens, Dragon Turtles, and
Sea Serpents — lurk in the deepest depths of the oceans,
pursuing their own inscrutable ends. These beings are
destructive by their very nature, but reward those who
serve them on the surface, extending their influence
beyond their watery domain.
Your patron is the Lingering Shade, a being that refuses
to pass on into the next life. Be it from sheer force of will, or some kind of arcane power, they linger in this world, looking to fulfill their own unknowable goals before their time runs out. Entities of this nature powerful enough to forge a pact include Larloch, the Shadow King; the archlich Acererak; the elves of the Undying Court; and especially mighty eidolons, death knights or dracoliches.
With a portion of their power, you can manipulate the darkness that resides within all places, and within all things, twisting and bending it to your will. While this power is great, it can be quick to overwhelm its users, and those who aren't strong enough to control their powers are lost as tortured, screaming beings made of pure shadow.
Your patron is a peculiar weapon that wishes to work
its own agenda through you. Whether this object
possesses its own unique powers (in respect to its
status as a magical item) is between you and the
DM, but nevertheless it has chosen you to be the
executor of its will. Perhaps you travel with this item
held boldly in hand, or maybe you keep it tucked
away only to be drawn in the greatest of need and it
haunts your every waking moment.
The Mirthful Masque
You have given over your service unto a strangely jovial masked being of immense and mysterious power who, in return, claims it wishes only to revel in the boundless hilarity and drama of your exploits. As such, it has bestowed upon you an array of considerable powers to be utilized
for its often childish but sometimes surprisingly nuanced amusement. Your benefactor's tastes are about as fickle as they are varied, ranging from epic ironies and subtle jabs to juvenile slapstick, though they always seem to cleave to one disturbing constant: a cruel sadistic glee and elation at the sheer havoc its agents so often gladly wreck.
Your patron is bestial and instinctive, yet more intelligent than all but the most brilliant mortals. As cunning as fiends and as unpredictable as the Archfey, it takes on both humanoid and beast forms at will. Such beings are not ignorant of civilization, though they take little interest unless their subjects often dwell in civilized lands.
Your patron is an entity known as the Monolith of the Arcane.
This being is a massive obelisk resting on a tiny island of a
little known location. It's said to be a being that both creates
and destroys magic, and is theorized to be a direct
manifestation of the Weave. As a warlock of this entity, it
seeks to guide you to its knowledge and let you learn its
power as a policing force of the Weave. Only the greatest of
its warlocks truly understand the knowledge contained
within the Monolith's scriptures.
Far away from the demesne of mortals, out past the borders where civilization gives way to the
great unknown, there dwell monsters titanic and unimaginable. Each of these mighty creatures, whatever
they might be, have the power within them to end an empire and leave only rubble and ashes in their
wake. Forgotten by most, these colossal beasts live on in fables and legends of the dark times when they
ruled all the land, and mortals were as insects before them.
But some still remember their apocalyptic might. Few mortals, though others would think them
mad or foolish, seek to master the cataclysmic potential of these creatures. Often this takes the form of
drinking a specially enchanted tincture of the creature’s blood, infusing oneself with the creature’s magical
energy, or consuming one of its eggs or offspring. The rush of power these mortals wield can be immense
and overwhelming, both to themselves and others, and many lose themselves in their quest to take on the
mantle of monstrosities that would give even the gods pause.
This power can be obtained from entities such as the tarrasque, a purple worm, a neothelid, a
ha-naga, a behemoth or gargantuan creature (such as a gorilla, reptile, moth or similar), a tayellah, or
Dendar the Night Serpent. Warlocks that tread this path almost always carry some mark of the power they
have taken into themselves. Decide with your DM how this mark manifests, or roll on the Monstrous Mark
table.
The Mother Beast
Your patron is a primal beast, an ancient mother to countless hordes of monstrous offspring. In forming a pact with it, you have become one of your patron's many children, to be nursed to strength by her feral magic. Amongst these beasts are the ancestors of many monsters; the first and eldest bears, wolves, and eagles, grown wise and powerful over eons, and rarely, creatures older still; the true primevals, titanic creatures long faded from memory.
Rebirth in the arms of the mother beast changes each of her children. At your option, you can pick from or roll on the following table to create a birthmark for your character.
Your patron was once an ancient leader, mage, or other
powerful figure. By means of dark ritual, whether willing or
not, they were mummified and cursed with the eternal life of
undeath. Such powerful entities usually stay isolated in their
own domain, affecting the world and building power through
others. They may have a physical domain within ancient
crypts lost beneath millennia of sand and civilization, or rule
over their own demiplane.
In their new life, your patron may seeks many things,
perhaps followers, power, knowledge of history and magical
secrets, or any other desire their twisted mind has realized.
Whatever the case, your patron has a need to feed you
margins of its power.
The Noble Genie
Your pact is one that has been made by legendary
advisors, philosophers, and tale-spinners of the desert
lands, known throughout the land of Zakhara as sha’irs.
Your patron is a noble genie, a creature whose spirit is
infused with the primordial essence of the Elemental
Planes. These creatures are the rarest and most powerful
of their kind. They aim to achieve ultimate greatness,
splendor, and the reverence of all beings.
Though noble genies aren't gods, they feel deserving
of such veneration from their servants. They're
accustomed to wealth and opulence and treat their
insatiable indulgence as an entitlement to their own
power and grandeur.
Your patron is a nymph or oceanid of ancient and incredible power, bound to the primordial world encircling waters. Perhaps they have a name, like Circe or Calypso, but many simply possess the titles of the waters themselves (such as Charybdis), infused so deep into nature's rhythm that there can be no separation. Their omniscient awareness gives you a boon to divination so long as you stay in their good graces.
Your patron is a place of natural power, where the
plants have gained sentience and look to expand
their flor-agenda through humanoid servants. In
most cases, this patron is a forest or a grove of trees,
though it could in theory be any collection of plants
or vegetation old and magical enough to have developed intelligence.
The Oracle
You have made a pact with an entity who divined the end of
the world, a harbinger of doom, and it has chosen you to be
instrumental to averting this disaster. The end times are not
always imminent however, but the events leading up to them
are always in motion. Your role in the cosmic scheme may
dwarf compared to other actors, yet no mission your patron
sends you on to stop the coming disaster is in vain. All actions
are essential to preventing total annihilation, foiling the
rebirth of a primordial god as much as placing a note in the
shelf of a library, and time is always of the essence
You have made a pact with a pale legion. Or more precisely, a
pale legion has made a pact with you. 10,000 lost and
wandering souls have chosen you as their host. In so doing they
grant you great power over life and death and the experience of
many lifetimes in exchange for being able to experience
existence once again through you.
These souls were once people of many different walks of life,
each soul within a legion has its own story; though the whole of
the legion will be related in some way. On might have once been
the citizens of a city that was destroyed by war or disaster.
Another might be a grand army that seeks vengeance against a
particular enemy from a long-ago battle.
Though a legion may see you as a means to an end, but they
are often benevolent to their hosts as they grant them
something they are afraid to let go of.
The Perfect Chord
You have heard the most sublime sound in the world, and it
has changed you forever. You’ve taken the resonance into your
beating heart and it has brought meaning and inspiration
to your days. The Perfect Chord resounds through the quiet
places of the world as a clear and harmonious note that spirals
with infinite complexity, gaining sentience and life with every
sound it collects. It has no motive but to include every sound
in the universe within itself, and it inspires others with an
endless desire to find new forms of radiant music to call forth
and collect.
You have formed a pact with a being beyond time and space,
the Phantom Express. You know that the Phantom Express
is a transport, but it isn't a transport that you've seen before.
It resides in the emptiness that can be found between each
plane, preying on the souls that travel between each plane
and using them as a source of sustenance. It shows itself in
our world solely to choose a conductor, a person to direct the
Phantom Express and harness the immense power held by it.
When it arrives, the world shudders and shakes, everything in
the way of the Phantom Express is reduced to rubble. You are
the latest conductor of the Phantom Express, yet you are not
the first. When you die, you will become a passenger as well.
Your Patron is the puppeteer, an otherworldly entity with the
power to easily bend the minds, bodies, and souls of mortals
to fulfill their ambitions. Whether you chose this fate for
yourself or were manipulated into it doesn't matter, all that
does matter is that you play the role given to you.
You have made a pact with a pacifist water entity. This creature lent you their power to protect the ones in need and help people see the peaceful side of the tides by controlling the very lifeblood of the realms: water.
The peace-loving nature of your patron has an influence on your emotions too. You become more careful not to hurt your foes unnecessarily, leading you on a path to aid and protect, rather than harm.
Your patron is The Retail Store. A business franchise that has dug its possibly ancient grasp into the roots of the nation you live in. In your darkest hour, you decided that any job would be better than none and donned the uniform.
You don't remember when you last clocked out.
The Revenant Soul
The souls of the dead, eternally damned to wander the afterlife in despair, are an
endless reminder of mortality's cruelty.
Some souls carry a will unshackled by
death, and so they linger in the mortal
realm. These souls seek a living host,
whether willing or on the verge of death,
to possess and use to fulfill their unfinished goals in life.
The soul of an army veteran would seek to reunite with their lost family. A wizard's soul would to exact revenge on a school that backstabbed him. The goals of this soul mingle with the mortal host, and both become a force of will and vengeance. A bond of life and death, two souls in one body, now walking and fighting together as a Revenant.
You have made a pact with a mortal blessed with incomprehensible divine power. This may be a Saint of old that still lingers after death or one that still walks the plane now. They may know their divine significance, or they may be unaware of the power they hold. Whatever the case, you have been lent a fragment of their holy strength at a great cost. Saints are exceptionally rare, and pacts with one are forged under the direst of circumstances, whether that circumstance has been or is to come may be unknown to you.
Saints are a beacon of hope to many, and this level of hope, resolve and holy power that now surges through you rubs off on your actions. You tend to lean towards your Saints alignment more than against. You might find yourself driven to the same ideals as your own patron, upholding the principles that made them them achieve Sainthood. You might feel a need to defend the innocent, cause chaos, or spread the story of the Saint in which you represent wherever possible. Even under these circumstances, you know you have been given an amazing opportunity and you will not let this slip away.
ou have been infected by a disease called the scourge. Unlike most diseases, the scourge is a sentient disease that holds its host hostage, forcing them to work towards their goal or die a slow and painful death. Some relish in the idea of being the scourge's champion, others despise it. As the scourge's current champion, you are at the whim of this sentient force or else your affliction will become gradually worse until your demise.
You carry your patron with you at all times and they constantly observe and judge your every move. Your appearance might be affected by the scourge, creating decayed skin, diseased pustules, rashes, or a sickly aura around you as your symptoms become worse.
You have made a pact with the Seed of Evil, whether willingly or not. This tree-like entity, hidden within its thorn-filled forestm is a being of unyielding corruption, seeping into the very ground of the earth, turning every leaf into a thorn and every tree into a husk with grey, deformed bark. The only things said to survive the corruption of this entity are pink lily flowers, the perfume of which serves as an augury of deformed nature and death.
The Serpent Empress
Situated within her palace of gold and turquoise, the Serpent
Empress sleeps in serene silence, guiding her slaves to
serve in her secret business. Envious and vain, the Empress
personifies greed and avarice in the hearts of man. Jealousy,
spite, and simple pride have driven her servants to her side.
She whispers in a sibilant voice, speaking of wealth and power
promised but so rarely delivered. The sins she offers are subtle
at first, but grow in style and salaciousness with every slow
cycle of the hourglass. You’ve assigned yourself to her service,
and sworn fealty to the Serpent Empress in exchange for a
sliver of her supreme strength.
The Shadowcat
Your patron is an otherworldly incarnation of fate that strides
between planes; a living omen of ill luck and good fortune
alike. Drawn to the dreams of mortals, its lesser reflections
perch upon the chests of the unwary in their sleep, stealing
breath and fragments of life from their victims as they feed
upon the nightmares this brings. When they’ve had their
fill, they return to their master, who sends them back again
to hunt down the creatures that have escaped from the
nightmares of those tormented by darker fates. You’ve drawn
the attention of this creature, for good or ill, and have made
your pact in the deepest shadows of the dark. Now, shadows
boil around your hands, both inky black and snow white,
tainted and blessed by the touch of the Inverse. You’ve been
there, seen the sun of endless emptiness and the void of pure
light that shines from beyond the stars, and you have felt the
gaze of the nightmares that stare upon you with jealousy,
feeling their hate. They know that while you can depart
unharmed, their nights are numbered. You’ve stolen their
luck, and now you’ll use that power for your own ends.
Warlocks of Slumbering gods gain their power in an odd way.
Through research and study, or by finding ruined ancient
shrines, Warlocks of this pact uncover a Dead God and steal
their power.
Dead or Sleeping Gods are ancient deities who no longer
have enough followers to sustain their Celestial
consciousness, yet power remains in their body.
These Warlocks have learned to harness this power.
However this is not a one-way pact, the Slumbering God's
subconscious finds purchase in the minds that the Warlock's
magic interacts with. Spreading subtle belief and
subconscious knowledge of itself, slowly returning it to life.
Warlocks of the Slumbering God must tread carefully, lest
they wake something that should have been kept dead.
Your patron is a king maker, an emperor-creator, and is the architect behind some of the greatest, if not most terrifying, rulers existence ever has known. This Sovereign Throne beckons and yearns for a worthy successor. Indescribably ancient, this being has watched over and guided monarchs into the brightest of golden ages and through the blackest of dark ages. You've made a pact with the Throne, swearing to rule as its keeper, though the price for that power will undoubtedly be paid in blood.
The Storm Lord
You’ve made a pact with an ancient power known as the
Storm Lord. Massive and timeless, this godlike entity sails the
winds of the void through the darkest places between the skies
of countless worlds. It is the spirit that consumes the purified
souls of heroes as it welcomes them into its kingdom. Its
long tendrils of lightning cover the sky, heralding the violent
tempest that will follow. This entity finds silent amusement at
seeing mortals in peril, and it tends to draw cults of shadowy
beings to worship at its altars, performing dark rituals in the
name of the Lord of Winds. You have stood before the Storm
Lord, unbowed and unbroken, to make a pact that will shake
the very fabric of reality. Sparks will leap from your fingertips
and fog will rise from your breath as you strike down your
enemies with the devastating and majestic power of the
Master of the Unfallen Kingdom.
The sphinx is inscrutable and solitary, a guardian
averse to unnecessary interaction. Thus, when a sphinx
needs to establish connection with the outside world, it
often chooses a mortal to imbue with power. These
warlocks are usually tasked with missions that protect
the sphinx and its charge, and as such, are rewarded
with a modicum of their patron’s power, including
some ability to manipulate time itself.
Your patron is a demon, specifically a
succubus (or incubus a beautiful creature
hailing from the Abyss. Your pact grants you
a small taste of the succubus' powers of
seduction and temptation in order to use them
against your foes.
Your patron is an autonomous entity found within the fantastic machinations of your own mind. These beings may be mental constructs formed by rigourous and mystical discipline, friends spawned from an unbridled and powerful imagination, the manifestations of dark madness in the deluded, or even outsiders taking up residence in the willing. In all cases, the creature whose mind this entity resides in has no control over its motives and ambitions; though often its goals align with those of the host's deepest subconscious desires, it may encourage its host's self-destructive behaviours as well.
Masters of the power of the mind's eye, this patron might reveal the potential of imagination and pure will to their host as an incentive to better themselves, or to further their own goals.
The Tyrant can be anything from an aboleth or a beholder, to a
powerful demigod, such as Kas, or even a tyrannical deity such as
Bane, Gruumsh, or Maglubiyet. Regardless of who the patron is, they
require the warlock to conquer, enslave, and subjugate others, and
show no compassion for those too weak to fend for themselves. If
there is somebody more powerful than the warlock, must the warlock
do everything within their power to overthrow the rival from
their position of power? Regardless, being a tyrant sounds exhausting,
if I’m being honest.
The Undying
Death holds no sway over your patron, who has unlocked the secrets of everlasting life, although such a prize—like all power—comes at a price. Once mortal, the Undying has seen mortal lifetimes pass like the seasons, like the flicker of endless days and nights. It has the secrets of the ages to share, secrets of life and death.
The Warden of Order
Your patron is a being that enforces deals of great value and importance, or sustains the most basic rules of The Multiverse. Mechanus, a plane of absolute law and order contains several of powerful creatures such as the ruler of this plane, the mighty Primus, but especially powerful Inevitables are also possible patrons. Some devils who are especially keen on establishing contracts may also fit this category.
The Warrior-Saint
You’ve made a pact with the Warrior-Saint, one of the great
champions of the multiverse. This ancient being acts as an
enforcer of the cosmic balance – law and chaos, good and
evil. It is the agent of the forces of creation and destruction
that act upon the world, and is more akin to a supernatural
phenomenon than a god or demon. The Warrior-Saint
grants objects and boons of terrible power crafted during the
creation, as well as the strength to enforce your own morality
and philosophy in the eternal conflict that spans between
the planes. In exchange, it watches through the eyes of its
servants, and uses them as guardians of its treasures.
The Weaver of Lies
The speech of a god is the act of creation itself, but what
happens when the gods lie? The small accumulated deceptions
come together, forming a creature of webs and treachery, lies
and deceit. The Weaver, it is called, but it is a being woven
from the lies of the gods themselves. Its influence is felt each
day, in the small comforts one tells oneself to the greatest of
blasphemies against the divine concordant. Spiders toil in
service to the Weaver, and you’ve joined them in your lust for
power or desire to forget.
You’ve made a pact with the Wild Huntsman, a dark
incarnation of the predatory nature of man. Cursed with a
bitter chill that can only be shaken by the blood of the prey,
and riding astride a steed whose eyes are cold as ice, the Wild
Huntsman journeys between the planes seeking the greatest
of challenges and the weakest of souls to harvest for its
collection. You’ve encountered this entity and survived where
others have fallen before its spear, and in return your life has
been spared and your bargain made. You’ve been granted a
place at the Huntsman’s table and the services of its tireless
steeds and hunting hounds, who howl in the darkest winter
nights while seeking living souls to claim.