Dungeons and Dragons, "Undying Warlock Patrons"

            I have been DMing a game of 5e Dungeons and Dragons for months now and have started to get more of a handle on things in 5e that I enjoy and things that kind of rub me the wrong way.  Plenty of these ideas have good baselines though, and do what they need to do.  That is, inspire me to make my own stuff.

            A while back Wizards of the Coast released some more options for the Warlock class.  The idea behind the Warlock class is that the character makes a pact with a powerful entity in exchange for magical abilities.  In the main books, the powerful entity is a demon, a powerful Fairy, or an alien being that would drive most men mad to even know it exists.  These things are powerful and mysterious.  They are not gods, but certainly so powerful that meeting one is considered a legendary story in its own right.

            One of the newer options is that of the undead or “undying” pact.  The idea being that you could make a deal with a powerful lich or vampire to gain tremendous power.  In theory, this kind of works.  It draws to mind the scene in “Dracula: Untold” where Luke Evans makes a deal with Charles Dance to get vampire powers.  I gave a scathing review to that movie a long while back, and if you haven’t seen it, don’t bother.

            Thing is, in DnD powerful vampires, liches, and mummies are a little more common than they are in most other forms of horror-fantasy.  Removing a lot of the mystique such a bargain would have to it.  The deals feel less like meeting a powerful entity and more like making a deal with a powerful political ruler, akin to a king.  Not insubstantial, but something that would happen in some capacity to most adventurers.

            The book offers some suggestions, Vecna (my favorite bad guy), Iuz an undead demi-god; the Lich Queen Vol from Eberron; the Undying Court; Vlaakith who is the Lich Queen of the Githyanki; or Fistandantalus (I am morally opposed to ever spelling that name again or trying to learn anything about that character).

            Here is where my complaint starts to come in.  The suggestions are either Gods (in which case, be a Cleric, the class that deals with gods) or dudes/duddettes.  Let’s ignore the gods, they are out of flavor (“get back over with the Clerics!”).  Let’s instead focus on the guys like the Undying Court and Vlaakith.

            These are powerful beings in their worlds.  Some rule nations, some rule cities floating in other dimensions, some are centuries old.  They’re all tough.  But, they are people you can just talk to, and who talk to other people.  They’re dudes that put-on pants and read the newspaper.  Compare that to Satan, C’thulhu, or the Fey embodiment of Winter and the undead-dudes (un-dudes) just seem…. mundane.

            There has to be something that is more powerful and unknowable than a typical undead, but not actually a god in the typical DnD sense.

            I MADE SOME UP.

            I drew on references from real world legends (like you do when world building) and tried to make an undead lord for each of the most iconic undead monsters: Ghost, Vampire, Mummy, Zombie/Skeleton, Lich, Death Knight, and Miscellaneous (the most terrifying of catchalls).

            Fun thing, I took so long to post this, I am certain my Death Knight patron, Shaitan shares its inspiration, Stormbringer (which I talked a little about here) with the basis for the new Hexblade Warlock they introduced in “Xanathar’s Guide to Everything”.  Though, I don’t think they use the name “Stormbringer” (I mean, Michael Moorcock ain’t dead yet, and I am sure there is some copyright attorney looking for a vein to tap).

            Without further prattle, here are my undead patrons.

            (I started with the one I think is the silliest.  Bear with me.)

Undead Patrons

There is darkness.

Within that darkness there are monsters.

Some of those monsters would be seen as like unto gods.

They make deals.

            Davy Jones is the coldest sea, the current which pulls swimmer from shore and breath from lung, he takes those souls who cannot move on and makes them his servants, caught in the whirlpool that is undeath.  Jones is the cold that numbs the mind.

 

Were you perhaps expecting a different deal making Davy Jones in popular culture?

            The Midnight Sun is the anti-light, the progenitor of all vampires, the progenitor of the Shadow Fell, and all spilled blood pours toward his great will.  He is the thirst which drives all to madness.

 

It's a pun.  Also, I have never seen this movie.

            Imhotep is the endless sand, the beating sun, and the husk of dried flesh that was once living.  Far from water, far from shade, in the endless wandering of a death unending, preserved and kept for the world after life.  Imhotep is the fear of what is after that keeps the dead walking.

 

I will admit he is more intimidating as a 700 foot tall sand storm with a face.

            The Mass Grave is the deepest pit, the sum of all worm-eaten flesh and bone ground to dust, the cold space beneath even the darkest of the Underdark, and all those mindless evils hear his whispers of, “Rise”.  It is the hunger which drives all to desperation.

 

None of the internet pictures for this term are spooky in a fun way.  They are just terribly sad.  Feel free to change the name.

            The Red Hand is the ever scribing, the keeper of secrets, the pen that writes the words of uncreation.  She is the painful truth, the bared soul, the tormenting conscience, the evidence that removes all doubt of guilt.  She is the knowledge that gnaws at the spirit.

            Shaitan is the black sword, skin breaker, soul taker, rune covered, strength bestower, and securer of legacies.  It is the weapon that kills its holder by inches, taking each with life slain.  Shaitan is the rage that drives the good to do wicked.

 

Ironically this is a design for the "Sword of Kas".

            Charon is the taker of passengers, ferryman of the River Styx, navigator of forgotten lives and lost passions.  He is the hand that takes yours into the afterlife, he is the memory that fades into dream, he is the apathy that causes all to fade.

 

There are about 10,000 images like this.  This one was pretty good.

One More Thing

            There is another new Warlock path in the previously mentioned “Xanathar’s Guide to Everything” that I think is so totally out of place that I want to complain about it too.  But, I don’t just want to complain about it, I want to denounce it.  I think most people who have seen the option know what I am talking about.  I’ll get to it.

            As is, I hope these things were cool enough for consideration in your own game.  If you have your own ideas, post a link in the comments.

            Have Fun.

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