Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 jedi123 Aug 29, 2009 9:35:53	One of my players wants to play a Lyrander Feypact Warlock. He wants to eventually take the Lighting Lord PP from Arcane Power.   I like the idea, and am working to make sure his charecter isn't subpar (warlocks get very little lightning/thunder powers). However both of us are having problems coming up with a story for the charecter. Why has a scion of house lyrander made a pact for more power? Obviously he choose the patron he did to complement his natural talents, but why make the pact at all? The best we've come up with is a charecter trying to prove himself to his house, but haven't gotten much furather than that. While it;s a good starting spot, it feel really generic.   Anyone have ideas or suggestions?
#2 Siberys Aug 29, 2009 11:50:57	You don't relly NEED to describe the pact as a literal pact. I'd (personally) describe his powers as coming from either a) Training, or b) His 'mark, although in the case of Feylock, the powers usually fit better as the Mark of Passage than any other mark. If you really want him to have a literal pact, though, there is always the Storm Front cult. They believe the Mark of Storm is a gift from the Devourer, and that the "greatest members of the house live on as krakens in the deep, and... guide the Storm Front through visions" (Dragonmarked, p50). The character could be a member of that cult, and have made a pact with a kraken. Throw in some divine flavoring and BAM - cultist protagonist. Give him some moral compunctions against what he's doing, and you have a setup for an interesting and conflicted character. I'd multiclass into a divine class with a good mixture of lightning and thunder powers, get the Storm domain, and then take the Avatar of Storm Epic Destiny, describing that as the initial transformation into Kraken.
#3 RedRider Aug 29, 2009 12:00:59	Hellcow mentioned once or twice a Lyrandar Warlock in his group who used the mechanics for the Infernal pact but changed the fire damage to lightning, to represent a pact with the destructive powers of the storm. Of course, these days you could just go for Storm Sorcerer from Arcane Power. As to the Fey Pact background... Maybe the character has a life outside the house? They could have chosen to follow an innate interest in the Fey or thier distant fey ancestry. Maybe they got lost in a manifest zone and formed a pact with a fey being they met there?
#4 Sarlax Aug 29, 2009 13:51:49	One aspect from the 3.5 warlock has fallen by the wayside in 4E but could help. It's possible that a warlock draws power not from a voluntary pact but something that was agreed to before he was even born. Maybe this Lyrandar's parents were part of a line in the House that hadn't manifested a mark for generations. They gradually slid down to the bottom of the House in terms of wealth and respect. Then, during the Last War, desperate for some success, they made a pact with something so that their child might manifest a mark and allow them success in the house. And lo! Their son manifests the Mark of Storm and is a powerful mystical warrior whose victories during the Last War bring honor to his family. Now his parents are living it up because of their son's success - but they don't understand what this pact they've made may mean for the soul of their child.
#5 jedi123 Aug 29, 2009 13:51:56	These are some good ideas, I'll take them into account. I was working on reflavoring a couple abilities to reflect working for a powerful storm entity from the fey world(The Lord of Lighting mentioned in the Storm Scourge PP in Arcane Power, as that is the route he wants to go). The stormfront idea could work, i'll throw the idea out to him.
#6 Hellcow Aug 29, 2009 18:40:28	Hellcow mentioned once or twice a Lyrandar Warlock in his group who used the mechanics for the Infernal pact but changed the fire damage to lightning, to represent a pact with the destructive powers of the storm. Indeed... a combination of drawing on the deeper powers of her dragonmark and communing with the Kraken Princes in the depths. We changed all fire powers to lightning and cold powers to thunder, changed a bunch of power names, and it worked great. In this day and age you certainly COULD just use a storm sorcerer, but the idea was that this character was very different from a storm sorcerer, who would be primarily just using the mark as a focus for the power of the storm; this kraken pact warlock WAS dealing with sinister powers, and was a pawn in plans of the Storm Front and mystics within the house. With that said, it was also as suggested above in that she didn't personally say "Yo! Krakens! Let's make a deal!" - rather, the pact had been made on her behalf by others in her youth; she had been bound to this bargain without any choice on her part, and would eventually have to decide whether to embrace the darkness or fight against it. The essential point here is that as the DM, you should feel free to change things like damage types and elemental keywords as long as YOU are happy with the story and the balance that results. You should make sure that you're taking game balance into consideration, butat the end of the day, it's in your hands.
#7 jedi123 Aug 29, 2009 19:51:15	I know, and I'm willing to, but I prefer to stick to the RAW as much as possible without totally ruining good stories. I will propose the possible ideas to my player and see what he says. Thank you for your help.