Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Elsabeth Oct 21, 2014 8:59:31	I have a player that said he wanted to try out a warlock but I wasn’t really keen on the idea being predisposed that all warlocks are evil, having made this pact, and it didn’t really fit with the campaign we were already involved in or group we had already established. Being that I’m open minded, however, I offered to work with him if we could come up with something fitting.   Note that if I refer to alignment based terms like “good” and “evil” it is just to simplify the demonstrated characteristics; I do not force alignment choices but do require good team play.   The character he’s playing right now is a sorcerer with the intention that after a quest of my design he will switch (outright vs multiclass is still an open question between us) classes when the quest is complete. The sorcerer’s background provides him the desire to seek power to prove himself worthy of a good deed he did for his town that was, at the time, a stroke of luck when he was just discovering his magic. As a group character he continues to make decisions that are generally goodly. The player has demonstrated that, despite his thirst for power which might lead him to a darker source, the character is still a team player.   The promised quest to help align him with his warlock class is in play. The group discovered an abandoned temple in which an idol was found, a demon within. The demon wants to take possession of the weak in the party with the ultimate goal to be released. While I’m allowing that any of the party can be effected by his temptations the to-be warlock has a stronger connection, thus he is effected greater than the rest.   Here’s where I’m stuck. The demon, as mentioned, wants to be freed from the idol.  There are ultimately two questions: The way I see it is this: the demon needs to gain control of the mortal to ultimately request his release while letting the mortal think he has control so as not to scare him into something “evil” right off. To do this he will ask things of the mortal that are just slightly offputting – not something he really wants to do but something he’s not entirely unwilling to do either. Consider American Horror Story S1 when the pregnant mother ate the brains and organs – she thought she was doing it for the greater good but it was more that the ghosts were trying to exhibit a certain control over her to do things she didn’t want to do. Or in that same season when the husband buried the dead girl – he wasn’t directly the cause of the evil act but covering it up, a slightly grey act, served his greater purpose all the while submitting to the control of the killer. These grey acts are those which I’m looking for. Things that I can offer the player, which he may or may not do while I’m trying to push him into a summoning ritual.   What would a summoning ritual look like? Resources for this would be good, I guess none of the books I’ve read have ever gone into any meaningful detail on what it looked like. Yet I’m strangely uncomfortable (superstitious? Cautious? Stupid?) on learning too much too. I dunno. The scene I’m trying to produce for him should be cool and complex and feel epic.
#2 bawylie Oct 21, 2014 10:04:41	Rites and rituals look like whatever you need them to.    For instance, I once locked an artifact behind a powerful magical ward. In order to get to it, They had to deconstruct and order the ward. In play, I just made them complete a Rubik's cube. It took 2 weeks and various YouTube video viewings.    What you want is to take a basic recipe format (ingredients, instructions) and make some ingredients gray areas (unicorn horn, finger of a living foe) and some instructions also gray (trick 3 people into walking over the sigil on the floor).    Once everything is acquired and the ritual complete, boom - summon.
#3 Redbeard2 Oct 22, 2014 7:45:08	Elsabeth, I'm going to repost something from the homebrew thread. I would just post the link but I cant find it and I copied it to my notes anyway.  Not that you will use this whole homebrew rule on magic rituals for your game, but in the rule it gives several ritual action to add strength to a spell.  You could borrow any of these for your summoning ritual. The part I'm talking about is under Ritual Enhancements.   Cheers,   Redbeard2     ===============================================================================================================    Ritual Magic Changes Every spell that does not restore hit points or allow the caster to duplicate the effects of anoter spell has the ritual tag. Casting a ritual spell requires an attribute check against a DC equal to 8 + double the level of the spell; if you have a feat or class feature that lets you cast ritual spells then you may add your proficiency bonus to this check. If you fail the check by five or more, you gain one level of exhaustion.  Alternately, your DM may require you to roll on the Wild Magic Surge table. If you fail your concentration Constitution save while casting a ritual spell by five or more, you gain one level of exhaustion.  Alternately, your DM may require you to roll on the Wild Magic Surge table. Rituals require a simple yet prepared space; this is an area that is cleared of debris, usually with some candles, a magic circle drawn upon the ground, or an altar upon which to perform the ritual.  Preparing the space is part of the casting time of the ritual. All ritual spells have a casting time of 10 minutes per spell level; a 9th level spell would take 90 minutes to cast. Ritual enhancements provide kickers, special points, can be spent to increase the power, range, duration, and/or area of effect of ritual spells (see below).   Ritual Enhancements Additional Casters: The spell requires more than one caster and has specific roles for each caster. Each caster must succeed at the ability check to cast the ritual for the ritual to be cast successfully. Each additional caster reduces the chance of successfully casting the ritual, so each additional caster grants one kicker.   Performance: The ritual requires some kind of performance on the part of the caster. Common ritual performances include dances, songs, and ritual re-enactments. The performance generates no kickers unless the caster must roll a check to complete it successfully. A DC 15 check provides one kicker while a DC 20 check provides two kickers.   Additional Time: The ritual takes an extended amount of time, nine hours or more. Casting a lengthy ritual is similar to engaging in a forced march: you must make a Constitution save against a DC of 10 + 1 per hour beyond the eighth or else suffer one level of exhaustion. Each hour beyond eight that you must spend casting the ritual provides one kicker.   Complex: The ritual is very involved and requires keeping track of several parts of the ritual, or the number of times different parts are repeated, and imposes disadvantage on the caster's ability check to cast the ritual. A complex ritual provides three kickers.   Components: The ritual requires one or more special components that are rare: a component is rare if it can only be acquired by questing for it, spending a great deal of time and/or resources to acquire it through a broker, or if you must get it from an unusual or dangerous creature. If a ritual requires more than one special component, the components are almost always different from each other: a ritual is much more likely to require a dragon tongue and a unicorn horn than it is to require two dragon tongues or two unicorn horns. Each special component provides a number of kickers as determined by the DM, with a minimum of one kicker each. For example: a unicorn horn may provide between one and three kickers while the crystallized tear of a deity may provide as many as 20 or 30 kickers (perhaps more).   Special Times: Some rituals can only be performed at certain times. For a time requirement to provide kickers it must occur less often than once a fortnight. A spell that can only be performed on a full moon (or once a month) grants one kicker. A spell that can only be performed once a season (on solstices and equinoxes) provides three kickers. A spell that can only be performed once a year (on a specific day, a specific solstice or equinox, on the first full moon of the year, and so on) provides five kickers. A spell that can only be performed during truly rare times (while Haley's Comet is visible, or in the darkness of a total eclipse) provides at least 10 kickers.   Sacrifice: The spell requires the sacrifice of a living animal or person. Normal animals provide no kickers unless they are pure/unblemished, in which case they provide one kicker. Humanoid sacrifice provides three kickers, five if the creature is chaste or virginal.   Blood-letting: The caster can shed her own blood to enhance the ritual.  Instead of taking damage from the cut, she decides how many HDs to spend on this blood loss.  Every HD that is spent in this way deals damage to the caster and generates one kicker.   Ritual Preparation: The caster must prepare herself before attempting the ritual.  This can include basic preparations such as ritual purification, meditation, prayer, sacrifice, and so on.  As long as this basic preparation lasts 8 hours or less, no kickers are granted.  If the basic preparation must occur for an extended period of time, you get 1 kicker for three days, 2 kickers for a week, or a amximum of 3 kickers for a month or longer.   If the caster must undergo extraordinary preparation, you gain kickers dependent upon the nature of the preparation.  Extraordinary preparation can include such things as drinking the blood of a creature (who may be unwilling to give it up), performing an act of evil so heinous that it scars your soul, slaying a creature with blade that will be used in the ritual, and so on.  The DM will determine the number of kickers provided based on how onerous the preparations are.  Each preparation that is difficult to accomplish grants one kicker.  Each preparation that requires tremendous sacrifice or hardship by the caster grants three kickers.   Multiple Locations:  The ritual must be cast at mutliple locations to take effect.  The caster must succeed at the ritual casting check at each location.  Each location after the first adds 1 kicker.  Some rituals must be cast at multiple locations at the same time.  In this case, each ritual caster must separately succeed at their ritual casting check.  Each location after the first adds two kickers, this already includes kickers to account for the primary caster at each additional location.   If you wish to combine this requirement with the Additional Casters requirement, you can do so by requiring additional casters at the primary ritual site, or by requiring additional casters at all the locations.   Spending Kickers Spell affects an additional target: 1 kicker. Spell imposes disadvantage on saves against its effects: 1 kicker Spell's duration increases by one step, see duration below: 1 kicker Spell's area of effect increases by 100%: 1 kicker Spell is cast as if from a slot one level higher: 1 kicker The spell's damage die type increases by one step (d6s to d8s, and so on): 1 kicker Remove the concentration requirement from the spell: 1 kicker Spell's range increases by 100%: 1 kicker Targets automatically fail saves against the spell: 3 kickers   Duration Steps 1 round, 1 minute, 10 minutes, 1 hour, 8 hours, 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 1 year, 10 years, 1 century (or permanent).
#4 BRJN Oct 23, 2014 19:30:56	In 4e, I played a Warlock as Chaotic Good.  He travelled around the land - a merchant Story Award early in his career inspired this - doing business and having adventures.  He was Star Pact but instead of the Far Realm, I had his powers be astronomy- and astrology-related.  So his Eldritch Blast became Twist of Fate and his big damaging zone was a portal to the Great Red Spot of Jupiter.  On the side and for pocket change, he would do horoscopes.  (I learned enough IRL to be able to explain in rough-sketch to DMs, if need be.)   The 5e Fey Pact offers the chance to be a sort of special agent.  Archfey are both embodiments of natural forces plus lords & ladies - governments kinda.  A Fey'Lock could be honing and practicing, knowing some day he will be called upon when his patroness has NEED of his services.  You can act for the good of the Kingdom in the meanwhile.    Reacting to the comment about 'preconceptions'.
#5 Noon Oct 23, 2014 20:12:01	I think you don't tell a player he mustn't be evil, while then leading him into grey acts.   Tell him he has to start the campaign a team player, sure.   But tell him he doesn't have to stay that way. THEN tempt him to the dark side.   Eating brains? Ewww!