evil character tricked/coerced into warlock pact with a GOOD entity

[Scalenex]

It's a casual game so I kind of want to lead towards a comedic character. I want to flip the script on a fiendish warlock with a good heart gradually being corrupted.

I know that the rules for Celestial warlocks are Xanathar's Guide to Everything and I think one of the other players has a copy.

We are starting at level 1, so said character is likely to have been a petty criminal and not a grand villain.

What kind good aligned extra planar creature would go through all the trouble to rope a petty villain in a mystical pact and what could such a pact be able to do to force good behavior?

[Unoriginal]

It's a casual game so I kind of want to lead towards a comedic character. I want to flip the script on a fiendish warlock with a good heart gradually being corrupted.

I know that the rules for Celestial warlocks are Xanathar's Guide to Everything and I think one of the other players has a copy.

We are starting at level 1, so said character is likely to have been a petty criminal and not a grand villain.

What kind good aligned extra planar creature would go through all the trouble to rope a petty villain in a mystical pact and what could such a pact be able to do to force good behavior?

The Pact itself cannot force anything, and every single good entity knows you can't coerce people into good.

That being said, it is possible to add conditions to a Pact, and few lawful entity would see a problem with preventing a known evildoer from harming more people.

Maybe your PC tried to steal a powerful item from a good god's temple, and now they have an Angel as parole officier? You can add a "is cursed and X thing happen if they try to do something evil", like laugh incontrolably or getting turned into a newt for a period of time equal to how bad the evil deed would have been if carried out?

[Amnestic]

Your petty thug's criminal activities land them, unfortunately, smack bang in the middle of a battle between some evil cultists+devils and some angels.

Neither side wins, and as your thug is bleeding out one of the dying angel reaches out and offers you salvation - merge your souls together and live, or you both die. They can't force it on you, nor do they have the strength to heal one but not the other. The thug accepts, of course, and the depowered celestial becomes a literal shoulder angel, urging you to do good with the powers you've inherited.

Once they grow in power, eventually, the angel might be able to de-merge and become their own being again, but until then they get to feel the angel's unhappiness and disappointment every time they do bad, and their radiant joy every time they do good.

(Bonus if they go Chainpact to summon their shoulder angel for realsies)

[diplomancer]

I've had a similar character, a Tiefling Celestial Warlock.

Being a Tiefling, he was a victim of prejudice, and ended up falling in with the wrong people. He was an enforcer, putting stores on fire if they didn't pay for protection (his fire resistance made him a good option for that). Until one day he inadvertently killed the one childhood friend who'd been kind to him- along with her younger siblings, they were sleeping on the upper floor that night. With her dying words, she wished that my character would grow a conscience. Presto, bang, a Celestial heard her words and decided to do something about it.

One of my favorite characters ever.

What kind good aligned extra planar creature would go through all the trouble to rope a petty villain in a mystical pact and what could such a pact be able to do to force good behavior?

In my case, he was doing that not so much for my sake, but for the sake of the innocent dead girl, who had been very virtuous and loving in life (and still wanted the best for my character, even at death). He was also very much of the "Good is not Nice" school, could be quite mean to my character when needed.

[KorvinStarmast]

What kind good aligned extra planar creature would go through all the trouble to rope a petty villain in a mystical pact and what could such a pact be able to do to force good behavior?

An Empyrean who is Chaotic good.

[Unoriginal]

An Empyrean who is Chaotic good.

Why would a chaotic good Empyrean try to dictate a mortal's behavior long-term?

[Sorinth]

It's an interesting idea but anytime someone wants their warlock patron to play an active role, whether it's to RP or going as far as providing mechanical benefits/penalties for actions the PC takes you'll want to discuss it with the DM. And that's on top of the discussion with both DM and other players about playing an evil character that should also take place.

I do quite like Amnesiac's idea of merging of souls where both you and your patron have basically the same goal of de-merging and parting ways ASAP. In this case it's more likely that you are selfish and just don't care about other people because it's everyone for themselves moreso then being actually evil and so your character growth is you start to care about your friends the other PCs and that growth continues and eventually you care about random strangers too.

Alternatively suppose some ancestor of the PCs was some big deal hero who helped a Celestial and that Celestial vowed to help/protect that ancestors family which now falls to helping you the "evil" PC. In this case you'd want a LG celestial since that vow is what keeps them helping you, and I would be very tempted to go with a Noble background and play the character as someone who thinks and more importantly needs others to think they are this great hero. So you'd only save the orphans from a burning building if there's a crowd that you can look good in front of. You only use the Healing Light ability on allies when it's pop-up healing so you can tell them you saved their life. Because you think/want others to believe you are this bigshot hero it provides a reason to actually party with your fellow PCs and pursue "good" questlines/plothooks.

[KorvinStarmast]

Why would a chaotic good Empyrean try to dictate a mortal's behavior long-term?

Not dictate, change.
Chaos ~ change.

[Scalenex]

These are good ideas so far.

I'm not thinking an "evil" character as being cruel. Merely someone who is selfish.

[J-H]

Sure, I once played a thief who chugged a vial of silver liquid to get rid of the evidence. It turned him into a Celestial Warlock (oops).
Goliath Fighter 1 [militia/deserted/I wanted heavy armor] / Celestial Warlock X
He had as much strength as Charisma, but hit all the thief skills, and with illusion, invisibility, flock of familiars, etc., filled the role quite well.

[Mastikator]

Some options:

• A coatl who's secret sacred quest has become relevant again and part of it involves a mortal to be redeemed. It's trying to show your character the light as a part of some scheme for the greater good. The coatl has the spell Dream, so it can nag your character to do the right thing. Why it picked you is a mystery.
• A renegade (chaotic good) deva, planetar or solar wants your character to do some dirty work, and your warlock pact is how they empower your character to do this job. If your character ends up a better person then that is all the better. Devas can disguise themselves as mortals so it might have tricked your character, it picked you due to a combination of competence and expendability.
• An archon of some kind wants to achieve a higher level of enlightenment and goodness, and believes helping others become better people is a path to that goal. A binding celestial contract allows it to keep tabs on your warlock whilst also counseling them to understand why it should do the right thing.

[KorvinStarmast]

These are good ideas so far.

I'm not thinking an "evil" character as being cruel. Merely someone who is selfish.

That's a great way to build the foundation for an evil PC. +1

Some options:

• A coatl who's secret sacred quest has become relevant again and part of it involves a mortal to be redeemed. It's trying to show your character the light as a part of some scheme for the greater good. The coatl has the spell Dream, so it can nag your character to do the right thing. Why it picked you is a mystery.
• A renegade (chaotic good) deva, planetar or solar wants your character to do some dirty work, and your warlock pact is how they empower your character to do this job. If your character ends up a better person then that is all the better. Devas can disguise themselves as mortals so it might have tricked your character, it picked you due to a combination of competence and expendability.
• An archon of some kind wants to achieve a higher level of enlightenment and goodness, and believes helping others become better people is a path to that goal. A binding celestial contract allows it to keep tabs on your warlock whilst also counseling them to understand why it should do the right thing.

I may steal ... all of these.

[Scalenex]

I am something of a forever DM and I always thought warlocks were a cool idea since I saw them introduced in 3rd edition but none of my players wanted to play a warlock. I'd swore I'd go warlock as soon as I was a player.

I watched this Runesmith video and thought I'd adapt the idea presented at 3:09 of a petty evil doers forcibly constrained by a celestial warlock patron.

Your petty thug's criminal activities land them, unfortunately, smack bang in the middle of a battle between some evil cultists+devils and some angels.

Neither side wins, and as your thug is bleeding out one of the dying angel reaches out and offers you salvation - merge your souls together and live, or you both die. They can't force it on you, nor do they have the strength to heal one but not the other. The thug accepts, of course, and the depowered celestial becomes a literal shoulder angel, urging you to do good with the powers you've inherited.

Once they grow in power, eventually, the angel might be able to de-merge and become their own being again, but until then they get to feel the angel's unhappiness and disappointment every time they do bad, and their radiant joy every time they do good.

(Bonus if they go Chainpact to summon their shoulder angel for realsies)

I really like the concept of an celestial and a mortal criminal fused as symbiote but desperate to separate. And Pact of the Chain with an angel on the shoulder sound like a lot of fun.

I do quite like Amnesiac's idea of merging of souls where both you and your patron have basically the same goal of de-merging and parting ways ASAP. In this case it's more likely that you are selfish and just don't care about other people because it's everyone for themselves moreso then being actually evil and so your character growth is you start to care about your friends the other PCs and that growth continues and eventually you care about random strangers too.

Yeah, I figure if my character somehow survives to 20th level, he probably would accidentally become a good person by that point.

I've had a similar character, a Tiefling Celestial Warlock.

Being a Tiefling, he was a victim of prejudice, and ended up falling in with the wrong people. He was an enforcer, putting stores on fire if they didn't pay for protection (his fire resistance made him a good option for that). Until one day he inadvertently killed the one childhood friend who'd been kind to him- along with her younger siblings, they were sleeping on the upper floor that night. With her dying words, she wished that my character would grow a conscience. Presto, bang, a Celestial heard her words and decided to do something about it.

One of my favorite characters ever.

That is a fun idea.

In my case, he was doing that not so much for my sake, but for the sake of the innocent dead girl, who had been very virtuous and loving in life (and still wanted the best for my character, even at death). He was also very much of the "Good is not Nice" school, could be quite mean to my character when needed.

Exactly, Good does not mean Nice.

Alternatively suppose some ancestor of the PCs was some big deal hero who helped a Celestial and that Celestial vowed to help/protect that ancestors family which now falls to helping you the "evil" PC. In this case you'd want a LG celestial since that vow is what keeps them helping you, and I would be very tempted to go with a Noble background and play the character as someone who thinks and more importantly needs others to think they are this great hero. So you'd only save the orphans from a burning building if there's a crowd that you can look good in front of. You only use the Healing Light ability on allies when it's pop-up healing so you can tell them you saved their life. Because you think/want others to believe you are this bigshot hero it provides a reason to actually party with your fellow PCs and pursue "good" questlines/plothooks.

That's ALSO a really good idea.

Sure, I once played a thief who chugged a vial of silver liquid to get rid of the evidence. It turned him into a Celestial Warlock (oops).
Goliath Fighter 1 [militia/deserted/I wanted heavy armor] / Celestial Warlock X
He had as much strength as Charisma, but hit all the thief skills, and with illusion, invisibility, flock of familiars, etc., filled the role quite well.

That is certainly a fast and funny way to do a backstory and works for my goblin idea

Some options:

• A coatl who's secret sacred quest has become relevant again and part of it involves a mortal to be redeemed. It's trying to show your character the light as a part of some scheme for the greater good. The coatl has the spell Dream, so it can nag your character to do the right thing. Why it picked you is a mystery.
• A renegade (chaotic good) deva, planetar or solar wants your character to do some dirty work, and your warlock pact is how they empower your character to do this job. If your character ends up a better person then that is all the better. Devas can disguise themselves as mortals so it might have tricked your character, it picked you due to a combination of competence and expendability.
• An archon of some kind wants to achieve a higher level of enlightenment and goodness, and believes helping others become better people is a path to that goal. A binding celestial contract allows it to keep tabs on your warlock whilst also counseling them to understand why it should do the right thing.

These are good ideas too. Option two that the Good Guys need some dirty work done seems like something that would fit well in Order of the Stick.


So I had three broad ideas ideas

1) a lowly street thug that accidentally merged with angel or some other extraplanar Good being

2) an unlucky goblin that fell into a Celestial pact against his will

3) Or a noble descended from a great hero with a legacy Celestial warlock pact, but the noble happens to be very selfish.

I planned to take Wisdom as a dump stat. From a roleplaying perspective, I figured someone who accidentally falls into a warlock pact probably doesn't have good instincts and is not super aware of his surroundings. From a meta perspective, warlocks have good Wisdom saving throws, so a low Wisdom shouldn't leave my character too vulnerable.

After rolling, I got some nice high numbers, but I ended up with TWO dump stats.

17 15 13 11 7 7

I don't like taking Intelligence as a dump stat because I as a player like to come up with clever ideas and it seems weird to me to have a dum-dum say clever things.

That leaves Strength, Dexterity or Constitution to take the other "7".

Friends don't let friends dump Constitution. So that leaves Dexterity or Strength.

I'm thinking goblin. The expanded lore on goblins. in Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse seems pretty well written and in that book goblins can get three +1s to ability scores which is handy because I rolled SIX odd scores. No one would question a physically weak goblin.

A high Charisma goblin might be a little odd but I see such a goblin good at projecting the image he wants to outsiders and changing them on a dime "I'm a helpless goblin don't hurt me!" or "I'm a scary goblin from the shadows FEAR ME!"

If I go with the street thug concept, since I'm going to have to dump Dex or Str, he wouldn't be a very good thug, so I'm thinking petty con artist/grifter, you don't need to be physically gifted to do that and the high Charisma score would make sense though a grifter with a low Wisdom is going to be in for rough time which is why said grifter is luckless and poor. Probably dump Strength.

If I go with a selfish petty noble, I'd probably dump Dex, but I think a goblin or a street urchin human or tiefling would be more fun to play.


But I'm thinking go with a goblin that either drank the wrong silver potion, was in the wrong place at the wrong time around a critically injured celestial, or was marked by destiny in a weird way.

I'm just ot sure what kind of celestial to use.

[Vahnavoi]

@Scalenex: if you're aiming at comedy, you can get where you want by playing the criminal as kind of dim, and the celestial as being very clever in manipulating their selfishness.

Basically, the character's evil nature is byproduct of their short-sighted pettiness. They stole things because they want things NOW, not later; they got into fights because they didn't like some guy's face; so on and so forth. So, at some point, they heard there is this being of awesome power that you can make a pact with. They jumped at the chance due to imagined self-centered benefit. They didn't actually consider what kind of being it is.

So, without meaning to, instead of signing up with a being that would endorse and facilitate their short-sighted impulses, they ended up with one that is constantly trying to get them to think more than one step ahead. It starts with simple "no, don't punch this guy, he might punch you back, THINK MARK, THINK" but then seques into full Golden Rule, "being nice to other people serves your self-interest because it incentivizes other people to be nice to you". The celestial may play up the selfishness angle, "really, there is no such thing as altruism, every act is inherently selfish, being nice to others is a way to get them to act for your benefit, see?" or even play the bit of an evil cult entity by going all "one day Greater Evil will triumph and you will get to do anything you want... just not today, today you need to go along like a good boy so the evil plan won't be revealed. Gotta bide your time so they won't see it coming".

Fundamentally, though, the actions advocated are all common courtesy and the celestial is effectively a youth pastor in a Devil costume.

[greenstone]

My take on it is… Warlocks aren't Clerics.

There is no requirement at all for the Warlock to follow their patron's teachings, share their goals or ideals, or even be the same alignment.

A Warlock gains power in what is basically a financial transaction. Traditionally this is one soul, but it could be anything. It is up to the player and the GM to work out the details of the contract.

Additionally, Good is not Nice.

So have a lawful and/or good patron deliberately make a deal with the evil character, hiding their alignment and goals. Once the warlock has signed the deal, the celestial throws off their disguise and goes "Surprise! That payment you made is going towards law and good!" Now the character has to deal with the issue that they are materially supporting law and goodness. Over time, they could come to accept this and change their own behaviour.