Warlock Notes For Sam

Sam-

The first two choices you need to make for a warlock are: Who is your patron? And what pact will you chose? Then for your backstory, why does your character serve their patron? What is the patron's goal? Is it a goal you support, or do you struggle against your patron's wishes?

Patrons- A supernatural being who is the source of your power and whom you have sworn to obey. The patron may have a specific goal that you are supposed to carry out (my warlock was on vengeance mission) or it may be something more general (such as the Seeker below). The patron may contact you periodically to give you information and directions. Each patron provides different bonus spells and special abilities.

Archfey- A powerful noble in one of the Fey courts such as Queen Mab, Queen Titania or the Master of the Wild Hunt. The Fey tend to be neutral, but have their own agenda.

Celestial- a spirit of the higher planes, such as an angel or other spirit of Good.

These two are unofficial, but might be in the new book:
Seeker- A being with a quest for knowledge. It could be a god of knowledge or saint who follows one, or a creature from another plane.

Genie- This would be for an Arabic character

The last official one is Fiend, a demon or devil prince. They would want you to do evil and would constantly be pressuring you to do the wrong thing. You would need a GREAT back story to explain why a basically good person is sworn to evil. I would not recommend it.

There are other patrons in the book, but these are the ones I allow. If I go with my alternate campaign world, the Archfey would not be available probably.

Pacts
At third level, you choose your subclass, choosing one of the following pacts-

Pact of the Chain- You can cast Find Familiar as a ritual (doesn't use a spell slot, doesn't count towards number of memorized spells, but takes ten minutes).

Pact of the Tome- Your patron gives you a special spell book. You may learn three extra cantrips from any caster's list. Mix and match; you could pick one cantrip from three different lists.

Pact of the Blade- This is a more fighter inclined pact. You can use an action to summon a melee weapon (no bows or other ranged weapons except things that could be thrown like a dagger or hand axe) of any kind to your hand and you are proficient with it. It can be a different type each time you summon it. The weapon will reflect the theme of your patron and is considered magical for harming monsters, but has no bonus. You can also bind a magic weapon as your pact weapon, which allows you to store it in a pocket dimension and summon it forth when you want it.

There is an unofficial pact, which goes with the Seeker patron, the Pact of the Star Chain. This gives you a magic item that lets you cast Augury and have advantage on any Intelligence related skill check (once per short or long rest).

Invocations
You get a limited number of spells (although Pact of the Tome gives you extra cantrips), but you also get to choose Invocations. These are extra, magical abilities that either duplicate spells (without using your spell slots), duplicate spells but use a spell slot, or enhance spells that you cast. The big warlock cantrip is Eldritch Blast, there are several Invocations that add damage, range or additional effects when you cast the cantrip. Some Invocations work ALL the time, like Devil's Sight that allows you to see 120 feet in all darkness, or Eyes of the Rune Keeper that lets you read any written language.