Warlock Patron Help...

[Escribblings]

I'm in the process of creating a Deep Gnome (Svirfneblin) Warlock. Yes, I know it's not an optimised race/ class combo.

I'm leaning towards pact of the Tome, although Chain isn't entirely ruled out.

Back story is the gnome stumbles across an ancient text/tomb/temple deep underground and that is how the pact forms.

Campaign is completely unscripted, so no idea what I could face.

And parties are often highly unbalanced.

Any suggestions for which patron?

I'm leaning towards GOO, but not sure which one to specify.

[Finback]

I'm leaning towards GOO, but not sure which one to specify.

Since you could easily take one solely from the name, Tsathoggua fits perfectly. He lives deep below in lightless N'kai, and you can decide if you want him to be the sloth-bat-toad guy of Clark Ashton Smith, or the toad-amorphous centipede thing of Lovecraft.

You can even have the book be a fragment of the Book of Eibon, the Parchments of Pnom or the Pnakotic Manuscripts.

[Finback]

And for anyone else looking for some GOO worthy beings to worship:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cthulhu_Mythos_deities#Table_of_Great_Old_Ones

[Millstone85]

Are you playing in Forgotten Realms or some other setting where Ghaunadaur would exist as the Underdark god of aberrations, oozes and outcasts?

[Escribblings]

I'm playing in a group called "The West Marches".

We currently have access to PHB, EE, Sorcerous Origins and Waterborne Adventures for character creation.

Much of the map is unexplored, there are multiple groups playing at the same time all hosted by the same GM.

[Escribblings]

Why do all the GOO's seem to be malevolent?

[JellyPooga]

Why do all the GOO's seem to be malevolent?

GOO's aren't malevolent...they're uncaring. It's not that they hate all that is pure and good, it's just that it's in their way, like a molehill to a gardener. We are an inconvenience to them, unworthy of consideration except where we might come in useful.

[Millstone85]

I'm playing in a group called "The West Marches".And do you know which GOOs have already had their presence felt in that setting? Are you free to import or make up another?


Why do all the GOO's seem to be malevolent?
GOO's aren't malevolent...they're uncaring. It's not that they hate all that is pure and good, it's just that it's in their way, like a molehill to a gardener. We are an inconvenience to them, unworthy of consideration except where we might come in useful.It is more that the entity's mere presence is harmful to the characters' sanity and to the very fabric of reality as they know it, whether the entity wants it, doesn't care or actively tries to interact in a benign way.

And yeah, it is easier to write such an entity as evil. But I like the idea of really weird archangels that could not directly intervene in the world because they are too bright and their voice shatters space itself.

[Escribblings]

GOO's aren't malevolent...they're uncaring. It's not that they hate all that is pure and good, it's just that it's in their way, like a molehill to a gardener. We are an inconvenience to them, unworthy of consideration except where we might come in useful.

It's how to portray that user which is also bugging me. Especially as I'm not generally an evil playing character.

Maybe that's my fault, and I need to re-evaluate what "evil" actually means in the context of D&D.

And do you know which GOOs have already had their presence felt in that setting? Are you free to import or make up another?

I'm fairly sure it's the latter.

[Millstone85]

It's how to portray that user which is also bugging me. Especially as I'm not generally an evil playing character.

Maybe that's my fault, and I need to re-evaluate what "evil" actually means in the context of D&D.There are at least two questions here, each worth an entire thread:
* Does evil start at "uncaring" long before going into "cruel"?
* What is moral between humanoids and truly alien lifeforms?

But I think the real question is whether or not you want to play the classic warlock who is good despite having made a very dangerous pact.

One way to make it work with the GOO is to go with the PHB's suggestion: The "patron" of your "pact" hasn't even noticed you yet.

And perhaps your character has similarly not realized the risks yet.

[Escribblings]

That sounds like an option.

However, the back story I had in mind, summarised was, ...

Gnome finds place or artifact deep below ground.

Gets transferred to the astral plane.

When he comes back he has powers and no memory, taking on a new name.

[Millstone85]

Gnome finds place or artifact deep below ground.

Gets transferred to the astral plane.

When he comes back he has powers and no memory, taking on a new name.What if your gnome found the ruins of an illithid colony and was transported to the drifting corpse of Maanzecorian? The more he remembers about himself, the more he also unearths the knowledge of this dead power, the more he unwittingly contributes to its reawakening.

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Maanzecorian Rictus wgah'nagl fhtagn

[Escribblings]

What if your gnome found the ruins of an illithid colony and was transported to the drifting corpse of Maanzecorian? The more he remembers about himself, the more he also unearths the knowledge of this dead power, the more he unwittingly contributes to its reawakening.

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Maanzecorian Rictus wgah'nagl fhtagn

*Goes to do some research...*

[Millstone85]

*Goes to do some research...*Well, Maanzecorian is described in Volo's Guide to Monsters as a mental state that some illithids seek to achieve, a peculiar wholeness of the self "wherein memories, thoughts, and aptitudes are dredged up from one's mind not one at a time as needed, but are all laid bare and brought to the fore at once". It is contrasted with llsensine, which "represents not just mastery of one's own mind but a psionic union between oneself and the realm of universal knowledge".

But I have read that, in previous editions, llsensine and its servant Maanzecorian were very much deities of the illithids, the former a spectral elder brain and the latter an immortal ulitharid. Fitting, since VGtM reveals that an ulitharid is basically a juvenile elder brain.

Maanzecorian is also known for having been slain. And dead gods in D&D have this thing where they become ginormous petrified corpses floating in the Astral Plane, on which githyanki and the like build their home, a bit like Knowhere in Guardians of the Galaxy.

As for the place causing an amnesia that, when cured, helps the resurrection of Maanze, I made it up. But I think it would make some amount of sense, what with this being a dead god of knowledge.

For anything more, happy research. :smallsmile:

[CaptainSarathai]

Why do all the GOO's seem to be malevolent?

Don't think of GOOs as a consciousness that you can understand. You can't.
Instead, imagine the vast enormity of space, compared to tiny little Earth, and even tinier little human-race, and tiniest little you.
Consider the fact that a star, twenty light years away, could suddenly explode and die. You wouldn't see the explosion for 20 years. The radiation would strip away the atmosphere and if you even survived the immediate nuclear effects, leave you sucking vacuum.
An asteroid could, at any moment, slingshot in from beyond our solarsystem and utterly obliterate Earth, or the moon, or a nearby planet - and we'd hardly have a chance to notice before we were utterly obliterated and crushed to dust.
Eventually, our own sun will begin to die. It's lifespan is billions upon billions of years. It will expand, devouring the inner planets of the solar system. Before it even "eats" the Earth, our atmosphere will super-heat. The oceans will boil, the skies will burn, everything will become flame.

Does space care that it has just slaughtered an entire planet full of intelligent beings? No. Space does not care.
Humans, barely able to comprehend the sheer vastness of Space, cannot fathom that Space could end anything but an inanimate concept. So imagine that one day, after everything you have seen, after everything you know about Space, and trying to understand how horribly, awfully small and insignificant not only your life is, but the entire life of Earth is, on a cosmic scale - imagine finding out that Space is somehow sentient. Madness ensues.

Welcome to Lovecraft.

[Escribblings]

So your suggesting the "Total Reality Vortex"...

Thing is, while the GOO is generally ineffable/intangible, there are a lot of links to Cthulu or Cthulu-esque entities.

But whole lovecraftian aspect can't be the only take on it, surely?

[Millstone85]

Here is the least antipathetic GOO I remember from official D&D material. It was back in 4e.

Star Pact

Having been touched by keen insight or shattering madness, star pact warlocks wield unfathomable powers at great cost. With these powers, you can manifest the doom of enemies, burning them with energy called down from stars or reforming reality with knowledge gleaned from the void of fate.

Star pact patrons dwell beyond the limits of reality, existing in the darkness of space or the Far Realm. Their goals are vague and mysterious, pointing toward a greater cataclysm that will in time reshape the universe, as it has countless times before.

Common Patrons: Foulspawn, gibbering beasts, mind flayers, star spawn, and other cosmic forces that should not be known or named.

Sample Patron: Ulban, the Messenger

After crossing paradoxes of space and time, Ulban, self-proclaimed remnant from a thousand eons hence, arrives.

Origin: Streaking across the night sky in a radiant flash, the comet Ulban has appeared throughout the centuries at times of great distress. With each passing, those sensitive to the power of the stars receive an opportunity to commune with the sentience bound within it. It reveals truths by opening one's eyes to the greater reality and limitless scope of the universe, and potentially one's pivotal place in it. Such listeners learn that Ulban is no mere comet; the Messenger exists outside space and time, and it is the last survivor of the universe's final undoing. It searches for one it believes can alter its past, ensuring the survival of the cosmos. It claims that you, more than any other individual at any time, can direct the fate of the universe, saving everything that will ever exist from the atrophy of the Star Spawn.

http://i.imgur.com/Se2pVBB.jpg

Goals: Ulban's appearance marks dark times ahead. It crosses the alignment of Allabar and other baleful celestial bodies when their influence is greatest, disrupting their machinations by instructing you in the use of the powers of warlock champions from its own time. Its mysterious knowledge drives you to instigate plots taking years to complete. These plots test the limits of morality by sending entire regions spiraling into chaos, uncovering secrets best left hidden, and confronting enemies without regard to moral motivations. All this, Ulban claims, shall avert disaster in coming eons.

Interaction: Ulban's mission does not accommodate mortal frailty. Its directives are so forceful that they paralyze your mind. These episodes bombard you with unfathomable images from across time. After recovery, you have instantaneous understanding of new star magic and Ulban's will as you watch the comet disappear into the night sky.

Communication: Contacting Ulban demands intricate astrological calculations that change with phases of the night sky or hostile meddling of the other stars.

Pact Boon: Ulban has foretold the felling of your last enemy and—as also foreseen—sends you brief glimpses of the doomed future, giving you insight into your next action.

Roleplaying: The comet's revelations have left their mark on you. Can you still find meaning in familiar experiences? Do you go through life in nihilistic apathy, foretelling doom? Or do you accept Ulban's pact because denying it would invite the death of the universe? With your knowledge you could protect countless innocents or philosophize with sages about the true nature of reality. What of Ulban itself? Do you fully trust it, or do you doubt its intentions? You can only guess who or what will benefit most from the manipulation of its past, but is ignoring its ominous predictions worth the risk?

Suggested Traits: Apathetic, bizarre, nervous, pessimistic, prophetic, truth-seeking, unreadable, unsettling
Pro: This is the sort of patron that would have you kill Hitler long before World War II.

Con: You have never heard of this Hitler guy before, and he is like eight years old.

Or maybe you have to be Hitler, because the war will have everyone armed to the teeth for when space bugs attack.

Or maybe you are supposed to make sure the new insect overlords are welcome, because only they can prevent an XK-class end-of-the-world scenario.

Or maybe your world must be sacrificed for the perennity of the cosmos. ／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

[Escribblings]

Interesting.

Pact of the Star Chain following the Seeker made it into UA last year, but hasn't been allowed in our group yet.

But it could provide some fluff...

http://media.wizards.com/2016/dnd/downloads/UA%20Non-Divine%20Faithful%20SFG.pdf