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nakedonmyfoldin
2019-11-22, 03:05 PM
One of my players is a hexblade and has been trained and groomed to make the hexblade pact by a stronger warlock named G. As it stands, there’s not a whole lot going on with this G guy outside of the fact that he’s very strong and mysterious. How can I modify his mentor NPC to be more compelling without making him evil or secretly a dragon or something?

Kaptin Keen
2019-11-22, 07:18 PM
I propose:

As a young warlock starting out, G made a pact with an entity he knew too little about. This entity, over time, made more and more uacceptable - eventually horrible - demands of poor G.

In his desperation and despair, G made contact with another entity, pleeding for help to get out of his original contract. But that just made matters worse.

In essence, G is one of those poor fools who gets into debt, the borrows money from someone else to pay his debt - getting deeper and deeper into trouble, loaning from ever shadier guys.

Now, he's at the end of his rope. He has secrets coming out both ears, he's torn every which way by guilt and shame, and his latest sponsor has demanded he train a hexblade for some unknown purpose.

So ... Bhaalthraxus (the sponsor) plans to make G hatch a whole conspiracy (it's not important what it is - kill the crown prince, maybe) .. but then, when your PC discovers he's been played, and working for some sort of archfiend, Bhaalthraxus expects the PC to kill G, finally settling the debt in a delicious manner .. while achieving the conspiracy at the same time, as a bonus. Win-win. For everyone. Or .. just for Baalthraxus, actually.

Edit: Now that I think about it, maybe that's a little over the top, just to justify a hexblade pact =D

paddyfool
2019-11-23, 05:44 AM
You could have G as a veteran of some hidious conflict, or perhaps as the former hero of a one-time monte cristoesque quest for vengeance; either way, a man who's done terrible things for what seemed to be good reasons at the time, trying to train his student to be something better.

Alternatively, you could have him as a one-time senior figure in a hidden order of hexblades, who left when he grew sick of the iniquities of his own organisation; they in their turn regard him as a traitor, and would love to make an example of him.

Lots of potential plothooks either way.

Also, there are plenty of fictional examples you could draw on for mentor figures with one or another element out of the dark past / combative / magical bent, from Snape to Giles to Uncle Iroh.

Anxe
2019-11-23, 09:39 AM
I had a hex blade NPC who was once an adventurer. When he and his friends retired they made magic items that were stronger when worn together. The hex blade modified his item so that once they were all together they granted immortality. Unfortunately the immortality came as vampirism.

So he put on all the magic items and became the first vampire. His friends had to come out of retirement to seal him in his tomb. They didn't kill him because of their past friendship.

paddyfool
2019-12-01, 01:34 PM
@OP,

Any update on which way you decided to go with this?

GrayDeath
2019-12-01, 06:03 PM
Hexblade "NPC" Flavor is, of course, rather bland.

You might want to spice it up with other ingredients from the Warlocks Cookbook, not only Hexblade "Blueberry" or similar.

But beware, too spicy, and the Player might choke on it.

nakedonmyfoldin
2019-12-04, 10:53 AM
So far, I haven’t commited to anything. Though I’m leaning in a direction. I just don’t want to muddy my game up with too much stuff.

My Raven queen employs an elite order of soldiers to do her bidding when the Shadar-Kai are not enough. She loathes leaving the Shadowfell so these agents are necessary.

Of course their duty is to maintain the sanctity of life and death, punishing necromancers and the like, while also satisfying the Queens desire to collect “memories”.

These Agents were the first Hexblades, and G can either be one of the first or be one of the replacements (there can be only 7, and when one dies a new one is appointed?). And he serves his duty well. The player doesn’t know but he’s being groomed to succeed G in the event of his death (maybe the 7 are timeless, haven’t decided, but can still die violent deaths).

It gets froggy when G notices something foul afoot within the 7. A sect (4 or 5) seem to be planning a coup to overthrow their matron, maybe they’re tired of their subjugation or her apparent disregard for their wellbeing.

They know G is fiercely loyal though, so they want to oust him. He goes into hiding until he can understand the treachery and their plans, then he comes to the PC with the info?

I made up a lot of this while replying so it’s far from concrete, but I’d love to hear any input!

Anxe
2019-12-04, 01:11 PM
That seems really strong to me. I don't think you need to change or add anything.

If you wanted to you could make it more personal. Maybe G has been secretly guiding the PC to be his successor since the PC's childhood, and perhaps not always benevolently. Like maybe the PC had a relationship and G assassinated their love so that the PC wouldn't settle down into a normal life.

paddyfool
2019-12-04, 01:42 PM
@OP,
Your idea sounds solid to me. Hope your players enjoy it! Any thoughts on G's personality, beyond "loyal"? You might be able to flesh it out further with a couple of personal interests or other predominant personality traits you'd like him to have outside of his main role.

nakedonmyfoldin
2019-12-04, 06:30 PM
Perhaps as far as personality, he could be loyal to a fault. Like a previous poster suggested, he could do some pretty shady **** if it means furthering he/RQ’s agenda. Otherwise, maybe he’s pretty aloof, like always seems a little checked out during conversations like he’s listening to something else in his head?

nakedonmyfoldin
2019-12-09, 12:54 PM
Any more input would be massively appreciated? Does anyone else have any hexblade lore? I feel like this is one of the most nebulous bits of lore in the game.

paddyfool
2019-12-09, 07:42 PM
I like where you've got to so far. Perhaps his "loyal to a fault" schtick means that he's also very loyal to / supportive of the PC... just as long as the PC themselves stays loyal to the RQ. If not, however, this mentor might fairly feel personally betrayed and aggrieved.

(Incidentally, btw, I know very little of actual Hexblade lore).