Warlock Pact with a Unicorn idea

[RickAllison]

Hey-o! I am looking at a Warlock who would forge his pact with a unicorn, but I'm not quite sure how I want to make them yet. It seems to me that there are three aspects to consider:

The Celestial. The unicorn is a celestial, and shares various characteristics with others of that kind. Healing and light are two of the hallmarks of this aspect. Obviously, the Celestial patron is a dead ringer for this, and it is harder to get this otherwise.

The Guardian: Unicorns are guardians of sacred places, protecting them from evil. Their servants may do the same, acting as shields where the unicorn may not.

The Horn: Focus of its magic and its primary weapon, the horn is the ultimate symbol of the unicorn and must be represented somewhere within its servants. As a focus, as a weapon, even as a manifestation of its spells. Pact of the Blade, Hexblade, and a Shillelagh all seem like great options for this.

My idea is a Celestial warlock with a focus that is a rapier-like spiraled horn. The Eldritch Blast of the warlock will be a thrust attack with either the horn extending in an instant or firing a spiral burst looking like a horn. I think I will go Tomepact, and I might grab Shillelagh as a cantrip to use with a Greenflame Blade so I can be a Horn in melee as well. Alternatively, going Bladepact could be used for a more dedicated melee-user and Chainpact can be used for the invocation to maximize healing dice.


How would you all build a warlock whose patron is a unicorn?

[Unoriginal]

I would have them write a letter to their Patron on what they learned about friendship around once a week.

[MagneticKitty]

Celestial warlock withpack of tome. Unless your dm will let you flavor a psuedo dragon as a tiny unicorn pegasus if so chain is good.
What about taking 3 levels Calvary fighter or 6 lvs paladin(see below) to pick up find steed. Go white horse and go with a jousting flavor. Lance that's spiral like a horn. Get a fighting style with it as well as heavy armor that way. Then you can use the mounted combat, polearm master, and sentinal feats.

Ask your DM if you can reflavor the UA seafaring minataur into an anthro unicorn. Or be a minataur with only one horn in the center of your head (think the real life unicorn goat in Ripley's museum), a birth defect that you took as a sign.

Oh or ask your DM if you can have a white pony flavored mule and go with a small race. Mix with beast master ranger and horn rapier.

Or be a cleric/ paladin of ehlanna. Her symbol is a raging unicon or unicorn horn

[jaappleton]

It's not quite a Unicorn (Its better, in my eyes), but the Celestial specifically notes the fact that a Ki-rin can be a Patron for the Celestial pact.

I'm making an Eladrin Celestial with a Ki-rin Patron right at this very moment, actually.

[EvilAnagram]

I would have them write a letter to their Patron on what they learned about friendship around once a week.

I fully endorse this.

[nickl_2000]

I fully endorse this.

As long as we are going stereotypical, can we re-fluff EB to shoot rainbows from your fingers?

[EvilAnagram]

As long as we are going stereotypical, can we re-fluff EB to shoot rainbows from your fingers?
Yeeeeeeessss.

Also, Friends is now a must.

[nickl_2000]

How about I go real and try and be helpful as well.

They are a Celestial, so that is certainly the easiest way to go for a Unicorn to be their patron. Does D&D have the whole virginity/purity trope for Unicorns? Maybe the PC needs to swear an oath of purity as part of their contract.

It looks like they are also natural guardians. Maybe something in the contract to protect the Elf or the Druid in the party? Or something about killing those that are out to harm the forest? Or something more vengeful, destroying the local sawmill that is cutting down the forest in the local city.



I did check out the Unicorn and it's only a CR 5, is that really good enough to make it a patron?

[Joe the Rat]

A book-standard Unicorn needs a little bit of finagling to make it happen.

1) Unicorn acts as intermediary to Power. Like a broker. Like Lorcan.
2) Pact is about Knowledge, not Power. Your Patron gives you the secrets on how to access magic, not provide it.
3) Unicorn has ONE job - be your Patron. It cannot manifest on the Material Plane while it is your power.

Or move away from book-standard:
4) Stronger Unicorn - more powerful celestial. beef up the stats.
5) Ki-Rin are very Unicorn - trade skins and call it a day.
6) Something something Elf Unicorn God something.


On builds:
weighing fluff and crunch, consider going Blade Pact, with the Improved Pact Weapon invocation - this lets your "rapier-like horn" or "horn-like rapier" actually be a weapon, and a spell focus (and you can have a longbow made of "horn" if you like). Note that melee is still very much a secondary role. If you want to keep it as a thematic focus (I've got an EK in my home game that dual wields a longsword and a Narwhal horn wand), sky's the limit.

[carrdrivesyou]

Personally, I would suggest bladelock honestly. There are more invocations that make you more melee proficient and deal much more damage. Otherwise, I would go Tomelock and begin boosting your Eldritch blast (reflavored perhaps and shooting a unicorn horn or somesuch). Those seem to be the most optimized builds aside from the Hexblade for the time being.

I built a Bladelock and a Chainlock as a comparison test. The bladelock only barely beat out tomelock for damage but the tomelock was much more versatile.

[Sigreid]

Not mentioned in this edition yet but older editions had greater unicorns. One prestige class even formed a soul bond with one, gaining a duty and near immortality.

You could also use the series of books about Heralds as inspiration.

[Naanomi]

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Lurue

If you are really going with a... ‘modern friendship based unicorn patron’... then a little sprite companion is probably the most visually appropriate Pact boon

[Unoriginal]

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Lurue

If you are really going with a... ‘modern friendship based unicorn patron’... then a little sprite companion is probably the most visually appropriate Pact boon

You can get a fairy dragon companion, too.

[RickAllison]

You can get a fairy dragon companion, too.

Pseudodragon, not Faerie Dragon. Pseudodragons have poison tails, faerie dragons have a euphoric Breath and spellcasting.

[Unoriginal]

Pseudodragon, not Faerie Dragon. Pseudodragons have poison tails, faerie dragons have a euphoric Breath and spellcasting.

Right, a Pseudodragon.