Clueless about Witch Patrons. Explanation for how they work in narrative?

[WitchyKitty]

Hiiiii! Another question from me; one that's always kinda been rattling around in my head.

In Pathfinder, Witches are said to be recipients of the power of a 'patron'. There's no real.. description of what a patron is, that I can recall, and if I recall, even the d20pfsrd website goes out of its way to state that some witches 'don't even know where it comes from'.

How exactly does this work from a narrative perspective? Does a familiar just up and show up to them one sunny morning, they waggle their hands and poof, magic? Do they just raise their hands up one day and huzzah, fireball (or ray of sickness, etc)?

Even the patrons list is incredibly vague, unless you specifically choose one of the alternative options where you get your power directly from a celestial, infernal pact, or from a Fey critter of ....... <indeterminate level of power or questionable gender/state of being here>. Otherwise, it was like .. 'Elements' ... 'Occult'... etc, you get the idea.

Is a witch approached in their dreams, or...? If I recall, familiars also serve the patron in a way to guide the witch to fulfilling their will, I think? How does this work as well? Are witches basically railroaded (or otherwise haphazardly but assuredly led along) into their own PF campaign-within-a-campaign by a DM (patron) with such inscrutable whims that they go to gods-knows-where?


I am boggling over here while I make a character in Wrath of the Righteous (the computer game by Owlcat, not tabletop right now).

[Analytica]

Differ from witch to witch and patron to patron? Some would be taught by another to call on that... something... ritually and make a pact, then the familiar comes. Others have the familiar come to them, or are guided to the patron in dreams, or discover it in ancient writings? Sometimes it is a way to learn how to become a priest in a cult, sometimes it's being haunted, sometimes it's an obsession that leads you to find the familiar, sometimes it is the patron appearing and offering a pact?

[icefractal]

They are kind of ambiguous, aren't they? I think they work fine as "what type of being/force inspired/taught me these powers", but less so as an ongoing thing - what are the motivations of "Elements"? What would it/they even want a witch to do?

That said, it's not like an actively interfering/guiding patron is a necessity - most classes don't have one, and in many campaigns it wouldn't matter if they did. But if you do want that, you're going to have to create the details 99% by yourself.

[Saint-Just]

"I want you to make a contract with me" ／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

[NightbringerGGZ]

It was left vague and up to the player / GM, likely on purpose. My guess is they didn't want another list like the deity list to manage, or just hadn't fleshed out that part of the Golarion lore beyond Baba Yaga.

[Psyren]

They are entities that can cover the entire power spectrum, from other witches to magical creatures to disembodied forces to outsiders/fey/aberrations to demigods/quasi-deities. Generally they aren't full-blown deities in order to better distinguish witches from clerics, but that's not completely impossible either.

As for where the familiar comes from and how the witch is empowered, that's really up to you. You might not even consciously know what you're doing, but rather be "playing a game" with your familiar when you prepare spells and they are really running the show. And you may not have a familiar at all (see witches like Gravewalker.)