Intro

Warlocks seek knowledge hidden in the fabric of the multiverse. Warlocks use pacts with mysterious beings of supernatural power to unleash subtle and spectacular magical effects. Warlocks use the ancient knowledge of beings such as fey nobles, demons, devils, hags, and alien entities from the Far Realm to piece together arcane secrets to boost their own power.

A young elf in golden robes smiles warmly, weaving a magical charm into his honeyed words and subduing the palace sentinel.

As flames ignite in her hands, a wise human whispers the secret name of her demonic patron, imbuing her spell with fiendish magic.

A wild-eyed tiefling chants the mystic ritual that will open a doorway to a distant world, his gaze shifting between a battered tome and the strange alignment of the stars above.

Sworn and Beholden

A warlock is distinguished by a pact with an otherworldly being. Sometimes the relationship between a warlock and a patron is similar to that of a cleric and a deity, though the beings who serve as warlock patrons are not gods.

A warlock may lead a cult dedicated to a demon prince, an archdevil, or a completely alien entity—beings not typically served by clerics. More often, however, the arrangement is comparable to that of a master and an apprentice. The warlock learns and gains power at the expense of occasional services rendered on the patron’s behalf.

The magic bestowed on a warlock ranges from minor but long-lasting changes to their being (such as the ability to see in the dark or read any language) to access to powerful spells. Unlike bookish wizards, warlocks have some hand-to-hand combat skills in addition to their magic. They are comfortable in light armor and know how to use basic weapons.

Delves into Secrets

Warlocks are motivated by an insatiable desire for knowledge and power, which binds them to their pacts and shapes their lives. This thirst drives warlocks to form pacts and shapes their future careers.

There are numerous stories about warlocks binding themselves to fiends. However, many warlocks serve non-fiendish customers. Sometimes a traveler in the wilds comes across a strangely beautiful tower, meets its fey lord or lady, and unwittingly enters into a pact. And sometimes, while poring over tomes of forbidden lore, a brilliant but insane student’s mind is opened to realities beyond the material world, as well as the alien beings who live in the outer void.

Once a pact is formed, a warlock’s thirst for knowledge and power cannot be quenched through simple study and research. Nobody makes a pact with such a powerful patron unless they intend to use the power they gain. Rather, the vast majority of warlocks spend their days actively pursuing their goals, which usually involve some form of adventuring. Furthermore, the demands of their patrons drive warlocks to seek adventure.

Creating a Warlock

As you create your warlock character, consider your patron and the obligations imposed by your pact. What prompted you to make the pact, and how did you contact your patron? Were you duped into summoning a devil, or did you seek out a ritual that would allow you to communicate with an alien elder god? Did you look for your patron, or did they find and choose you? Do you resent your pact’s obligations, or do you serve with joy in anticipation of the rewards promised to you?

Work with your GM to determine how important your pact will be in your character’s adventuring career. Your patron’s demands may drive you to embark on adventures, or they may consist solely of small favors that you can perform between adventures.

What type of relationship do you have with your client? Is it friendly, antagonistic, unsettling, or romantic? How important do your customers consider you to be? What role do you play in your patron’s plans? Do you know any other servants of your patron?

How do your customers communicate with you? If you have a familiar, it may occasionally speak in your patron’s voice. Some warlocks discover messages from their patrons etched on trees, mingled with tea leaves, or floating in the clouds—messages that only the warlock can see. Other warlocks communicate with their patrons through dreams or waking visions, or they only work with intermediaries.

Quick Build

You can quickly create a warlock by following these suggestions. Charisma should be your top ability score, followed by Constitution. Second, select the charlatan background. Third, choose the cantrips eldritch blast and chill touch, as well as the first-level spells charm person and witch bolt.

Warlocks are finders and keepers of secrets. They push at the edge of our understanding of the world, always seeking to expand their expertise. Where sages or wizards might heed a clear sign of danger and end their research, a warlock plunges ahead, heedless of the cost. Thus, it takes a peculiar mixture of intelligence, curiosity, and recklessness to produce a warlock. Many folk would describe that combination as evidence of madness. Warlocks see it as a demonstration of bravery.

Warlocks are defined by two elements that work in concert to forge their path into this class. The first element is the event or circumstances that led to a warlock’s entering into a pact with a planar entity. The second one is the nature of the entity a warlock is bound to. Unlike clerics, who typically embrace a deity and that god’s ethos, a warlock might have no love for a patron, or vice versa.

The sections that follow provide ways to embellish a warlock character that could generate some intriguing story and roleplaying opportunities.

Patron’s Attitude

Every relationship is a two-way street, but in the case of warlocks and their patrons it’s not necessarily true that both sides of the street are the same width or made of the same stuff. The feeling that a warlock holds for their patron, whether positive or negative, might be reciprocated by the patron, or the two participants in the pact might view one another with opposing emotions.

When you determine the attitude your warlock character holds toward your patron, also consider how things look from the patron’s perspective. How does your patron behave toward you? Is your patron a friend and ally, or an enemy that grants you power only because you forced a pact upon it?

d6	Attitude
1	Your patron has guided and helped your family for generations and is kindly toward you.
2	Each interaction with your capricious patron is a surprise, whether pleasant or painful.
3	Your patron is the spirit of a long-dead hero who sees your pact as a way for it to continue to influence the world.
4	Your patron is a strict disciplinarian but treats you with a measure of respect.
5	Your patron tricked you into a pact and treats you as a slave.
6	You are mostly left to your own devices with no interference from your patron. Sometimes you dread the demands it will make when it does appear

Special Terms of the Pact

A pact can range from a loose agreement to a formal contract with lengthy, detailed clauses and lists of requirements. The terms of a pact—what a warlock must do to receive a patron’s favor—are always dictated by the patron. On occasion, those terms include a special proviso that might seem odd or whimsical, but warlocks take these dictates as seriously as they do the other requirements of their pacts.

Does your character have a pact that requires you to change your behavior in an unusual or seemingly frivolous way? Even if your patron hasn’t imposed such a duty on you already, that’s not to say it couldn’t still happen.

d6	Term
1	When directed, you must take immediate action against a specific enemy of your patron.
2	Your pact tests your willpower; you are required to abstain from alcohol and other intoxicants.
3	At least once a day, you must inscribe or carve your patron’s name or symbol on the wall of a building.
4	You must occasionally conduct bizarre rituals to maintain your pact.
5	You can never wear the same outfit twice, since your patron finds such predictability to be boring.
6	When you use an eldritch invocation, you must speak your patron’s name aloud or risk incurring its displeasure.

Binding Mark

Some patrons make a habit of, and often enjoy, marking the warlocks under their sway in some fashion. A binding mark makes it clear—to those who know about such things—that the individual in question is bound to the patron’s service. A warlock might take advantage of such a mark, claiming it as proof of one’s pact, or might want to keep it under wraps (if possible) to avoid the difficulties it might bring.

If your warlock’s pact comes with a binding mark, how you feel about displaying it probably depends on the nature of your relationship with the one who gave it to you. Is the mark a source of pride or something you are secretly ashamed of?

d6	Mark
1	One of your eyes looks the same as one of your patron’s eyes.
2	Each time you wake up, the small blemish on your face appears in a different place.
3	You display outward symptoms of a disease but suffer no ill effects from it.
4	Your tongue is an unnatural color.
5	You have a vestigial tail.
6	Your nose glows in the dark.

Credits

Warlock is a Class from DnD 5e

• Here is the link of the first image used in the article (source Koboldpress)