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Dragon

2021-02-27T01:53:25Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:149F:

[[File:Red Dragon.jpg|thumb|right|400px|A red dragon from ''Dungeons & Dragons''. This is pretty much what most people today think of when they hear the word.]]
{{Topquote|I kill where I wish and none dare resist. I laid low the warriors of old and their like is not in the world today. Then I was but young and tender. Now I am old and strong, strong, strong [...] My armor is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!|Smaug, ''[[The Hobbit]]''}}

Dragons are an obscure mythical creature that you've probably never heard of before. They're found all around the world (although this is admittedly more due to decisions on the part of early translators than anything else: "hey Jack, what should we designate as the translation of "Qetzacouatl," the feathery serpent thing from mesoamerica?" "I don't know... 'dragon'?"), possibly inspired by various sources such as giant lizards such as varanids, crocodillians and serpents, but also [[dinosaur]] bones and simple tall-tales from travelers in distant lands. Dragons are often portrayed as keepers of vast hoards of treasure, which they accumulate over their very long lifespan and guard covetously - in western mythology, this is often an extension of their use as a metaphor for royal power. They can often fly and breathe fire or poison. Because of their majestic, fantastic nature dragons are a staple of much fantasy fiction and games. One of the most well known dragons is Smaug, from [[Tolkien]]'s ''The Hobbit''. The vast majority of later portrayals of dragons in fiction were based on Smaug, who in turn had been inspired by the dragon Fáfnir, from the Völsunga Saga and the dragon from Beowulf. In modern days dragons, being pretty much the the logo of ''fantasy as a genre'', have a wide variety of natures and depictions. Some are as smart as (if not smarter than) humans, some are no smarter than an iguana. Some are inherently magical, some not. Some are good, some are evil, some neutral. Basically, go nuts.

A surprisingly common feature of dragons in fantasy is the "dragon rider," a warrior who, somehow, is usually harnessed up to a dragon, which actually has two justifications besides "[[Awesome]]": For an intelligent dragon, they offer a slight, but non-trivial edge in combat (spotting threats early, and possibly giving you a new attack if they have a weapon that's effective versus other dragons, at a slight to moderate cost in extreme flight maneuvers); for unintelligent dragons, being able to field them at all in war.
==Mythology==
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===Classical===

There are a bunch of monsters that might be referred to as a "dragon" by modern readers; among them are Apep of Egypt, various beasts from Mesopotamian myths, the Greek [[Hydra]], and the Jewish Leviathan. The fact that so many different cultures across such vast gulfs of time and space all come up with the same general idea of what a dragon is, has generally be attributed to dinosaur fossils which appear all over the earth, or simply scaling lizards and crocodiles up. As for the unusual traits, some of those go way back - such the Leviathan from Jewish tradition has heat breath attributed to, particularly in Scripture - and their origins are harder to discern.

===Medieval Times===

In Medieval lore, the most important dragon story is that of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_George_and_the_Dragon Saint George and the Dragon]. Most depictions of dragons descend in some way from it (either directly, or by imitating something that imitated it), especially its generally monstrous character due to it demanding tribute in the form of [[Hot Chicks]]. A few other noteworthy dragons in Western literature include the final antagonist in Beowulf (the first recorded fire-breathing dragon), as well as Fafnir, noted for his intense greed and cursed golden hoard. Special mention needs to go to the slavs however, since their dragons had greater penchant for benevolence than those of other european nations and bulgarian folk legends outright have dragons getting it on with humans.

===Asia===
Asian Dragons are typically long, snake-like creatures, and are generally less malevolent than their European counterparts. They tend to be associated with water rather than fire. At least one Chinese creator-goddess appeared as a hybrid of woman and dragon, whilst there are Japanese stories of noble men marrying female dragons. They don't usually have wings, flight being accomplished either by magic or riding the wind. Should be noted that in most Asian mythology, dragons are usually depicted as divine beings more on the side of good than evil, not too many stories about dragon-slaying over here.

===Elsewhere===

Aside from broadly "Eastern & Western" dragons, there are other creatures and outliers that don't usually get the amount of attention the former categories do. Among them are:

Quetzalcoatl/Nahuatl - A mesoamerican deity whose name means ''feathered serpent''. He was a god of wind, air and knowledge. Though depicted as an anthropomorphic figure, his name and general form could classify him as an equivalent of a dragon. For some reason, the Japanese keep depicting Quetzalcoatl in various [[anime]] as a [[rule 34|blonde-haired, big-tittied woman]].

Apep - A giant serpent-demon who resides in the Duat, the Egyptian Underworld. Could be considered a ''wyrm'' more than a true dragon.

Vrtra - Another giant serpent, this time form Hindu vedas. There is also Visvarupa - a three-headed variant.

Ušumgallu (''Ushumgallu'') - A mesopotamian "lion-dragon-demon". They often accompanied kings in ancient sumerian myths.

==Dungeons & Dragons==
Dragons are one of the main selling points of the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' game, to the point that the [[Dungeons_%26_Dragons_4th_Edition|4th edition]] and [[Dungeons_%26_Dragons_5th_Edition|5th edition]] include a draconian race called [[Dragonborn]], intended for players who "want to look like a dragon".

[[Dragon kind]] and [[Half-Dragons]] are basically the confirmation of the rule that dragons can mate with anything, taking their place among the races often referred to as "slut races": [[human]]s, fiends, celestials, [[dryad]]s, [[slaad]]i, [[modron]]s, [[inevitable]]s, [[formian]]s and gribbly abominations from the [[Far Realm]]. We now permit you to take a break to use the brain oxi-clean provided to you by Billy Mays' ghost to scrub any mental images you may have of a [[human]], dragon, [[angel]], [[Tanar'ri|balor]], black slaad, formian queen or-OH SWEET MERCIFUL GOD-EMPEROR THE MENTAL IMAGE!!!!

"True" dragons, meanwhile, come in all shapes and sizes, from the evil Chromatic to the good Metallic, the [[psion]]ic Gem dragons, elemental dragons, plane-aligned dragons (one for each [[Planescape|Outer Plane]] except [[Arcadia]], where dragons are hated), Astral dragons, disaster dragons and even the potent and rare Time Dragons, who are amongst the most dangerous creatures in existence.

There are also 'Dragon Riders'. That's to be taken literally in the overwhelming majority of cases, just in case you didn't use enough brain bleach just 5 nanoseconds ago. They're really just pussy [[knight]]s that stay safe just pointing the dragon in the right direction and let it fight for them, occasionally dismounting to deliver a finishing blow or give a pompous bullshit speech. (Except for [[Viking]] Dragon Riders, hardcore shit right there!) Though it's important to remember that these are rare in D&D, as everyone in this world, dragons themselves especially, will point out that a human having a pet dragon is like a fly having a pet human. [[/d/|This said, if you read what required said brain bleach above, the other kind of ride does happen occasionally as well]]. [[Half-Dragon]]s wouldn't exist otherwise.

===Kinds of Dragons===
There's a boatload of dragons in ''D&D'', many of whom fit into the following groups:

* [[Chromatic Dragon]]s - The original dragons, coming in a variety of colors. They are all some variety of evil and are the children of the dragon goddess [[Tiamat]]. In order of power White, Black, Green, Blue and Red are the five most common colors, but others include yellow, brown, purple and a whole rainbow of other colors.
* [[Metallic Dragon]]s - Starting out with only the gold dragon, in later editions they became linked to [[Bahamut]], the god of good dragons. The most common ones are Brass, Copper, Bronze, Silver and Gold in order of power, with others including Iron, Steel and Adamantine.
** [[Ferrous Dragon]]s - A subgroup of the Metallic Dragons, Ferrous Dragons are made of base metals instead of the noble ones.
* [[Gem Dragon]]s - Adorned with crystal scales, the Gem Dragons have potent [[psionics]] and are usually also the go-to Neutral dragons to the Metallics' Good and Chromatics' Evil.
* [[Catastrophic Dragon]]s - Introduced in [[4e]], these dragons have been infused with [[elemental]] power by the [[Archomental|Primordials]] to make them look like elemental dragons.
* [[Planar Dragon]]s - Dragons linked to the various [[Plane]]s of existence, frequently the [[Outer Planes]] of [[Planescape]]. All of said Outer Planes have their own kind of dragon, except for [[Arcadia]] where dragons are despised.
* [[Oriental Dragon]]s - Based on Asian dragons, the Oriental Dragons are the dragons used in [[weeaboo|such]] settings. They generally have close ties to nature, like forests, the skies, the seas... or [[carp]]! Notable is that the Gold Dragon, the first Metallic Dragon, was stylized as such a dragon, but was changed to a more traditional western design (although they did retain their bitchin' moustache of barbels). Also known as Lung Dragons. [[Pathfinder]] calls them Imperial Dragons.
* [[Dragonet]]s - Miniature dragons more suitable for familiars or high fantasy worlds, featured in ''[[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]]''.
* [[Epic Dragon]]s - Introduced in the [[Epic Level Handbook]]. Epic dragons are much larger and more powerful than regular dragons. They are usually neutral aligned but have more variation in alignment than other kinds of dragons. The first two kinds of Epic Dragons, Force Dragons and Prismatic Dragons, were introduced in the [[Epic Level Handbook]]. A third type called Time Dragons were indroduced in [[Dragon Magazine]].
* [[Linnorm]]s - Nordic-themed dragons who possess wing-less serpentine bodies with only a set of forelimbs. Usually described as being even nastier and crueler than Chromatics.
* [[Song Dragon]]s - Originally called "Weredragons", [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia|an all-female race of dragons who use their ability to assume human form to interact with mortal races and find mortal spouses]].
* [[Wyvern]]s - Dim-witted, feral, more bestial dragons who lack a breath weapon, have wings instead of forelimbs, and a poisonous stinger.
* Undead Dragons - Various kinds of undead dragon have appeared throughout editions, from the famous [[Dracolich]] to less-famous zombie, skeletal and vampire dragons.
* Shadow Dragons - Depending on edition, either a dragon with some elemental affinity to darkness, a planar dragon, or an undead dragon.

There's also a great medley of setting-unique dragons, such as those native to [[Mystara]] and [[Dragonlance]].

Finally, there are the [[Dragon Gods]], a loose pantheon of deities unique to D&D dragons that hasn't traditionally gotten a lot of attention because, well, they only really give a fuck about dragons and dragons don't usually get too religious (they don't like acknowledging something as being bigger than them). The advent of the [[Dragonborn]] as a PC race is likely to change this, however.

{{D&D-Dragons}}

==Shadowrun==
Dragons from [[Shadowrun]] come in four types depending on where they originate from: Western Dragons (European and North American), Eastern Dragons (Asian}, Feathered Serpents (South American and African), and Sea Dragons (any of the oceans}. Despite morphological differences between the different breeds, they all can interbreed, and all share the mentality of highly intelligent, manipulative, avaricious douchebags. In their natural forms, dragons cannot speak verbally but instead use telepathy, which cannot be recorded; most dragons of significance in the setting have metahuman "Voices" who relay their words for them in telecommunication or recorded interviews.

In D&D-descended settings, being a corrupt, amoral, greedy entity that forces less-privileged beings to worship them would make them glorified, if terrifying, bandits at best. In the gritty cyberpunk society of Shadowrun, Dragons can do all of this within the margins of a legitimized and prosperous career, intermingling with metahuman society on the boards of megacorps and in seats of power in the few polities that matter. Although they like to use these newfound levers of power that the mortals built up, they also conform to a draconic culture that exists beside (or more accurately, outside) metahuman society. Draconic society also has a loose hierarchy; the Great Dragons reside at the top, sometimes duking it out and sometimes working with one another as they pursue individual agendas, and the "lesser" dragons doing their own thing are left alone, as long as they don't step on the Greaters' toes and occasionally take orders.

What separates the Greater Dragons from the rest isn't entirely understood. While there's a strong correlation with power and age separating the Greats from the rest, considering the ways they think, what makes a Great isn't quite so crude.

Also due to the gritty cyberpunk setting, dragons aren't entirely good or evil, but exist more along a morally ambiguous spectrum. Unlike D&D, where the dragons are separated into the various flavor of evil chromatics and good metallics, Shadowrun dragons are all individuals with their own motivations and ambitions and personal hopes and fears, even though they are all ancient, alien beings who can't help but see metahumanity as mostly small and ephemeral beings, where some of them can even be considered good. They remain the biggest power players in the Shadowrun setting, driving much of the conflict and intrigue as they fight amongst each other and other powers, but also stand united in protecting the world and metahumanity from the terrors of [[Cthulhu|the Horrors]].

Some of the most notable dragons are:

* Aden: The only known Great Sirrursh (a variant of the Eastern Dragons). He likes to appear to humanity as either a beautiful man or a handsome woman, mostly to fuck with people. He's best known for destroying Tehran after a ''fatwah'' was declared against metahumans and the Awakened, so standing up for the people who weren't normie humans means he'd probably be an okay guy if he weren't so edgy and angry all the fucking time. Currently pulling strings against the various Muslim movements in the Middle East and balancing fending off Lofwyr's attempts to muscle in on his territory.

* Alamais: A Great Western Dragon, Lofwyr's brother and chief rival, and would-be champion of the downtrodden if he wasn't a huge fucking prick. Liked to associate with populist movements, like underground political scenes and terrorist organizations to get his work done, and was probably responsible for some of Lofwyr's woes. Also advocated for hunting metahumans for sport. ''Also'' also had an ongoing prank war with Dunkelzahn where they traded a fruitcake for 37 years, mostly through shadowrunners breaching one another's defenses. Died in 2074 in a war that tore apart a section of Italy and left 38 other adult dragons dead.

* Arleesh: A Great Feathered Serpent, known to travel the world to hunt down and destroy magical artifacts that pose a danger to metahumanity. Probably pretty cool if she could let her hair down once in a while.

* Celedyr: A Welsh Great Western Dragon. Less concerned about power and wealth than he is with knowledge, and hence technology, and thus became CTO of NeoNET. He then worked for just enough shares to pursue the avenues of research he wanted to and be left alone, or was outmaneuvered by Machiavellian human CEO Richard Villiers in powerplays over NeoNET, depending on who you listen to. Was the mentor and patron of lesser dragon Eliohan, a Matrix guinea pig, which also kicked off the CFD plotline (which nobody cared about). Also sponsor of the Knights of Rage streetgang, who serves as his agents out in the world.

* Dunkelzahn: Widely and justifiably considered to have been the most gregarious and open-minded of the dragons, particularly when it came to giving metahumanity a fair shake. The Big D was ''the Dude.'' Less of an oligarch and more of an eccentric, Big D didn't put all of his chips into one nation/megacorp like the other dragons did, so he became a broad entrepeneur and collector. He started a public career with a late night talk show and ended up successfully running for President of the UCAS, until a car bomb killed him some ten hours after his swearing in. The who and why is still unclear, though the "consensus" for those in the know is that he committed suicide, making himself into a sacrifice that would rebalance the astral from the Great Ghost Dance from some decades before. The Big D wasn't immune to draconic dickishness though; his will turned much of the established power structures on their heads and continues to influence the plot some 20 years down the line. Lofwyr, going full Tsundere mode, pointed out to some folks that "he wasn't such a great guy" and that he was still a dragon first and foremost, and his will was still enacting plots that furthered his personal goals many years after his death.

* Eliohann: A lesser Western dragon who was notable for being one of the non-Greats who left a noticeable footprint on the world of Shadowrun. He was the dragon equivalent of a teen who was kidnapped and experimented on by Emerging Futures (an Ares subsidiary) and got a datajack installed into him, making him the only known dragon with a meaningful relationship with the Matrix. Despite that this feat should be technically impossible and driving Eliohann nonspecifically insane, he loved the feeling of the Matrix and became a good decker as well as the eventual president of Emerging Futures. By night, he hacked and decked under the Matrix handle of Cerberus, and possibly as the decker Neurosis as well. Emerging Futures was sold off to NeoNET a few years later, which is where he reconnected and started work again for his old mentor Celedyr. It was later indicated that the insanity Eliohann experienced was dissociative personality disorder to compensate for the mind bending contrast of being an awakened creature and also deep diving into the Matrix. Eliohann flatlined in Crash 2.0, but his conscious survived as an E-Ghost (possibly as two, one for each personality), prompting Celedyr to research ways into downloading a conscience into a braindead meat body to restore his apprentice. Despite quite a bit of being fucked about from behind the scenes, including the entirety of the CFD plot, Eliohann was returned to his body, letting him continue to live a normal dragon life.

* Feuerschwinge: A German Great Western Dragon. When she woke up, she went on a bloody rampage that left many thousands of people dead until she was shot down by the German military. It was probably because she had a strong ecological bent, and humanity fucking with the environment drove her crazy. Probably. ''Probably.'' She later made a return appearance in the videogame ''Shadowrun: Dragonfall'', where it's revealed that she "survived" but her physical and astral forms were separated. The player goes out to avenge his/her buddy and thwarts a plot to use her body to spread a biological weapon that targets dragons. Feuerschwinge is either dead or hibernating through to the 8th World, depending on player decisions. Either way, she's not going to be seen again anytime soon.

* Ghostwalker: A Great Western Dragon and Big D's brother. His first act upon awakening was taking control of Denver (or technically, the FRFZ) and banning Aztlan for reasons hardcore Shadowrun fans would understand. He has a thing for spirits' rights, to the point where he is violently against binding or even summoning spirits within his territory.

* Hestaby: A Great Western Dragon from the Pacific Northwest. She first appeared to end the war between California and Tir Tairngire, basically telling the kids to get off her lawn and go home. She cultivated a public persona of an egalitarian guardian of nature and metahumanity, level-headed and moderate in comparison to her brethren. The Great Dragons felt that she was taking metahumanity's side against her own kind and convened a trial that declared her outcast.

* Lofwyr: A Great Western Dragon from Germany, Lofwyr is the richest person on Earth. You know how counterculture people want to stick it to The Man? Yeah, that's Lofwyr. He is The Man. Most of his fortune is a result of his leveraged buyout and subsequent expansion of the Saeder-Krupp industrial corporation; he lives in its headquarters in the Rhine-Ruhr Megaplex arcology. He is probably also the power behind the throne of the Gasperi Mafia family, which controls the criminal underworld in Rhine-Ruhr. His name is known and feared worldwide, and he was the direct inspiration for the Sixth World aphorism "never deal with a dragon".

==Warhammer==
Dragons have appeared since the beginning in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy]]'', but they're ironically one of the most vaguely defined parts of the lore. They will ally themselves with the [[High Elves]] and be used as powerful (and in game terms: expensive) mounts for elven lords. Aside from being intelligent, there's not much stated about them. Some dragons have also been corrupted by [[Chaos]] and fight alongside the [[Warriors of Chaos]]. In both cases, they are made out to be among the most powerful monsters in the setting, and their stats live up to it, with only few models, including [[Daemon#Greater_Daemons|Greater Daemons]], having a chance at beating them.

[[Storm of Magic]] sees the return of "Emperor dragons", huge dragons that are arguably the most powerful units in the book. Emperor dragons not allied with Chaos can also be upgraded all the way up to level four sorcerers, in addition to having nearly all 9s across their statline. This does make them extremely expensive, ruling out their use in all but the highest-point games.

Dragons also have a connection with the [[Vampire Counts|vampires]], the reason being their blood has the power to cure their otherwise ceaseless thirst for blood. [[Abhorash]] and [[Zacharias The Everliving]] being the primary beneficiaries of this, where they defeated the beast either with [[awesome|straight up glorious approach]] or just [[Noobs|cowardly draining their blood in their sleep]]. Abhorash then formed the [[Blood Dragon]]s and tells his disciples if they want some of that sweet dragon ambrosia they have to go out and earn it themselves.

Speaking of dragon slaying, it is a popular hobby in the world of ''Warhammer'', where the reason said slayers participate in such activity is to either [[Bretonnia|prove themselves]], [[Slayer|die gloriously or having the glory to kill it]], [[Blood Dragon|the aforementioned thirst for blood as well as making it serve as a pretty sweet mount in undeath]], [[Ogre Kingdoms|for food]] or [[Gotrek & Felix|just killing them for fun]].

Some prefer to just tame them by rearing them from an egg then riding them into battle when they are big enough. Races or Factions like the [[Empire]] ([[Karl Franz]]'s dragon and Elspeth von Draken's Carmine Dragon are the only example for the human, for now), the High Elves, [[Wood Elves]], Vampire Counts(undead dragon, so is more of a summoning than taming), Warriors of Chaos, and the Dark Elves examples of this.

In [[Age of Sigmar]], there are still dragons, albeit with a lesser variety.

Like in many settings, Warhammer has a number of different types, beyond the common/Emperor Dragon split.
* Sun Dragon - The youngest and smallest breed of High Elven dragons.
** Moon Dragon - Older and rarer than Sun dragons.
*** Star Dragon - The largest, most powerful, rare and eldest of all dragons.
* Black Dragon - Dragons corrupted by [[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dark Elven]] magic. First of their kind was Sulekh, Malekith's second dragon (first black dragon) to replace his old one. After Sulekh's death, some Black Dragons chose to keep aiding the Dark Elves to avenge her. Sulekh was replaced by Seraphon, Malekith's third dragon (second black dragon), who Malekith instantly favored because of her ruthless action of destroying the eggs around her after hatching.
** Sea Dragon - Corrupted dragons which have grown so large they can no longer fly. The Dark Elves now use them to tow their massive ships.
* Forest Dragon - Dragons that have adapted to live in the deep forests, so long that their will now linked to the Athel Loren itself, and fight whenever the forest will. In total war warhammer, It is a forest green beast with antler growing on its head, butterfly pattern on it's wing and leaves, vines growing on its body as a proof of its connection with the forest.
* Shard Dragon - Serpentine dragons that adapted to the [[Underdark|deep places]] of the world. They would attack everything they met no matter how harmless they are. Dwarf miners often encountered and awoke these assholes slumber and were met with not only [[rape|predictable result]], also a shit tons of grudge if there were survivors. Some Runesmiths put a rune collar on them and send them to battle like how the lizard man done to the dread saurian. But knowing the Dwarfs, a few long beards would got off their chair and start bitching at the dishonorable and repugnant idea of bringing monster onto the battlefield and why not just put the trustworthy Dawi axe onto the face of the enemy.
* Chaos Dragon - Dragons perverted by the ruinous powers, typically [[Tzeentch]]. No two are said to be alike, but they tend to have two heads. Galrauch is said to be the first chaos dragon; a High Elf dragon possessed by a lord of change, it wreck peoples shit while earning hundreds of Dwarven grudges on [[Book of Grudges|The Dammaz Kron]]. Egrimm van Horstmann also has a chaos dragon called Baudros.
* [[Carmine Dragon]] - Dragons that are born tied to the amethyst winds of death magic. Elspeth von Draken being the only known to have it as a mount so far.
* [[Toad Dragon]] - Giant lumbering reptilian horrors with insatiable appetites and a frog-like tounge. Oftern serves Nurgle worshipers. Tamurkhan owned a Toad Dragon named Bubebolos and it was the most well known and the greatest of its kind.
* Zombie Dragon - Basically dead dragons raised by Vampires to become their mount.
* The Imperial Dragon - The Empire's only owned dragon (Elspeth's dragon does not count). It was taken from the deepest cave of the black mountain. Only Karl can rode it in battle. It sits in the imperial zoo of Altdorf whenever Karl rodes deathclaw to battle. It is also nameless. The poor dragon just can't be anymore popular than deathclaw huh?
* The Dragon Emperor - Not to be confused with the above entry. [[Cathay]]'s ruler is a dragon capable of taking human form. Not much is known about him, given Cathay's lack of fluff in general. But what we do know about them is that they share the same serpent like appearance like real life Asian dragon and they are awesome at being a magic caster (especially lore heaven), so awesome that they fucked up the ogre tribes living north, created the great maw and sunk a Dark Elf Black Ark. Its is also known that the Dragon Emperor is able to intercourse with human which result in many citizen in Cathay that shares their blood. Shugengan are Cathayian magic users who had Dragon blood in their vein and are talented at magic because of it.

[[Category: Warhammer Fantasy]]
[[Category: Age of Sigmar]]

==Warcraft==
Dragons are one of the oldest creatures in Azeroth granted great magical abilities by the Titans that shaped their world. In a reversal of their typical role, dragons in ''Warcraft'' were all originally benevolent, although their way of thinking and doing things didn't always line up with the short-term thinking of some of the mortal races. They were originally a species of proto-dragons that had wyvern-like wings which they used as forelimbs, two puny fore arms and two muscular rear legs and a tail. As a gift for their assistance in defeating the most powerful proto-dragon, Galakrond (Imagine a warhammer Ghorgon but as a dragon whose breath is so bad it literally wakes the dead), during the ordering of Azeroth the Titans altered them to be the larger and more intelligent four-legged dragons. They are segregated into five types called dragonflights each with different roles and abilities bestowed to them by one of the five Titans. Each dragonflight was assigned by a Titan to protect some aspect of their work on Azeroth while they went off to do Titan stuff else where in the universe. The leader of a dragonflight is called an Aspect, and some dragonflights still have their original Aspects.

* Red dragonflight: Led by Alexstrasza the Life-Binder, red dragons are fierce guardians of life. They were also given a degree of dominion over the other dragonflights.
* Blue dragonflight: Originally led by Malygos, and later by Kalecgos. Their domain is the aspect of magic. The blue dragonflight is said to be the least populous flight.
* Green dragonflight: Aspects of nature who have a strong bond to a realm called the [[Feywild|Emerald Dream]]. Said to be the most populous dragonflight, though most rarely venture out of the Dream. Led by Ysera the Dreamer.
**Nightmare dragons: Green dragons and their allies which have been twisted by a corruption in the Emerald Dream called the Emerald Nightmare, they now embody the negative aspects of nature such as decay and rot, and serve the Old Gods.
* Bronze dragonflight: Tasked with watching over time and making sure nobody messes with the timeline, bronze dragons are patient and reclusive. Led by Nozdormu the Timeless.
** Infinite dragonflight: Bronze dragons who go rogue, they intentionally attempt to sabotage history to prevent past calamities. Led by future Nozdormu when he finally goes batshit insane due to seeing all the cataclysms well in advance and not being able to prevent them. [[Grimdark|His current-time self is perfectly aware that will eventually happen to him (it was part of the deal making him the guardian of time to reveal his eventual end to him) but there's nothing he can do about that either!]]
* Black dragonflight: Originally aspects of earth, tasked with keeping watch of the deep places. Which backfired horribly, because that's where the Old Gods hang out! Originally led by Neltharion the Earth-Warder, later known as Deathwing, he fell to evil and the rest of his flight followed suit. Now they are all treacherous assholes and nobody likes them they and take every possible opportunity to kill them, thus they have been hunted nearly to extinction. There are two non-evil black dragons whose minds were freed from the malicious influence of the Old Gods before they were hatched thanks to titan artifacts: Ebyssian, also known as Ebonhorn, a Spirit-Walker of the Highmountain Tribe, and Wrathion, the supposed heir of Deathwing who has taken it upon himself to make sure Azeroth doesn't get fucked.
* Chromatic Dragonflight: A dragonflight created by Nefarian, one of the most prominent black dragons, through gruesome experiments, combining the features and abilities of all five flights. Almost every one of these creations were unstable, deformed, infertile and/or short-lived, with a single exception: [[Tiamat|Chromatus, a five-headed dragon]] who could only be stopped by the combined efforts of the aspects (excluding Deathwing).
* Twilight Dragonflight: Originally created by Sintharia/Sinestra, the twilight dragonflight suffered from similar problems to Nefarian's chromatic dragons. That is, until Deathwing came along and combined the efforts of both to perfect the twilight dragons, successfully creating a powerful breed of dragons that feed vampirically on all forms for energy. The twilight dragonflight was nearly driven to extinction following the Cataclysm.

Things turn bad for the dragonflights when the black dragon aspect Neltharion was corrupted by the Old Gods who were imprisoned by the Titans deep within Azeroth. He plotted to destroy Azeroth to release his new masters when the Burning Legion, an army of demonic invaders led by the fallen Titan Sargeras, began to attack Azeroth. With their world under siege, Neltharion tricked the other four dragons into lending their powers to the Dragon Soul, a powerful artifact of his design, only to betray them and use it against them slaying many dragons. This treachery caused the other dragons to go into hiding away from each other, and although Neltharion (who had now assumed the name Deathwing) was eventually defeated, the world was twice shattered by cataclysms and the Dragon Soul would resurface periodically throughout history to pain the dragonflights until its eventual destruction, which drained the flights of much of their powers, turned them mortal and made them sterile, putting the five dragonflights on the extinction clock.

Additionally, there exist other dragons that didn't ascend alongside the five main flights, but still share a similar physique and level of intelligence. An example of such is the Storm Dragons of Stormheim, and the supposed existence of a violet dragonflight of proto-drakes.

==Warmachine==
The creatures called "dragons" in the [[Iron Kingdoms]] look nothing like dragons in other worlds. Rather than winged serpentine creatures of majesty and power, the "dragons" of Caen are [[Call of Cthulhu|monstrosities of inconsistent form]] and not of this world, capable of altering the bodies and minds of other creatures in horrific ways with an exotic energy they constantly emit, an energy the people of this world simply call "blight." The only thing known about their origin is that the gods did ''not'' create them. They are immortal as long as their athanc (a kind of heartstone) is not destroyed. A dragon reproduces by chipping off a piece of its athanc and letting it generate a new body, but such offspring have an innate urge to recombine their athancs and control all the power within them. There are two dragons of significance in Caen: Dragon Lord Toruk, god and master of the [[Cryx]] faction and "father" to the other known dragons, and Everblight, a shard of Toruk that went off and did its own thing with elves and mutations, eventually creating its [[Legion of Everblight|eponymous faction]].

==Monstergirls==
[[File:The Odd Couple.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Nights out on the town/village usually result in mass panic, chaos, fires, bloodshed and various other forms of shenanigans. Have fun...]]
{{Promotions}}
{{Monstergirls}}
Dragons are large, dangerous, majestic and exotic creatures, so of course people want to fuck them. Dragons, in their normal form or a more human form are of the scaly subgroup of [[Furries]]: furries attracted to things with scales instead of fur. They have a minor reputation of being [[That Guy]] amongst the furries because they have to be so special and fuck mythological creatures instead of dogs, cats, horses, foxes, rabbits and birds like "normal" people.

While dragons in [[beastfolk|a humanoid shape]] (i.e. [[Dragonborn]]) are enjoyed by quite a few people, a large number prefer dragons in their natural shapes. For them it's about the contrast between the large and powerful dragon and their small and fragile frame: the fear makes their boners strong. There's also the perverts who want their dragons to have nonhuman genitals, which is a concept that the infamous Bad Dragon company has capitalized on by selling [[meme|their infamous dragon dildos]], which are often used as the punchline of a joke.

One of the things that dragons in ''D&D'' are infamous for is their ability to breed with just about any creature, and not being shy about it. (Just take a look at for instance the [[Song Dragon]]s.) Only Constructs and Undead can't reproduce with them, and even then it's possible to build or raise a dragon from the dead. This means that you can encounter anything from draconic [[unicorn]]s and [[owlbear]]s to draconic plants, [[slime]]s, [[aberration]]s and far worse (or better, depending on your [[Magical Realm|perspective]])).

Portraying "non-morphic" (ie: no breasts) female dragons on /tg/ in a semi-erotic light is a real act that stirs contention. On the one hand, this is a well-known part of the furry fandom. On the other hand, dragons are '''iconic''' fantasy creatures. Plus, in ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'', it's canon that many dragons like to get them some non-draconic loving, with their two patron/creator gods [[Tiamat]] and [[Bahamut]] first in line to nab themselves some quality mortal ass on a regular fashion and setting the example for their progeny. And that's when said progeny hasn't evolved to breed with humanoids in the first place, see aforementioned [[Song Dragon]]s. So people will [[rage|fight bitterly]] whenever they pop up in a thread, you can guarantee.

Naturally, the idea of dragons as sexy quickly was taken up by the [[monstergirls]] crowd - in fact, one of the earliest [[/d/|Ecchi]] OVAs to make it into America was "Dragon Half", in which the main character was the [[Half-Dragon]] daughter of a female dragon and a male human, her father being sent to slay the dragon and forgetting the "s" while underway. Pink appeared as a cute girl with dinky little dragon wings, cute horns, a tail and the ability to breathe fire. In fact, Pink has actually come to be the defining archetype for the dragongirl in MG fandoms; a human girl with horns, wings, a tail and, optionally, scales on the limbs - sometimes with paw-like feet, digitigrade legs, or even paw-like hands. It helps that this tends to be pretty accurate to ''D&D's'' own depiction of half-dragon humanoids (up to the social maladjustment of having such weird parents, played for laughs in the manga). As with any "beastgirl", dragon-girls with full-body scales or weirdly-colored skin are contentious because, no matter how human their face, they may look too furry for some purists to accept.

Dragon-girls are very popular in Japanese fantasy media, especially videogames. [[Final Fantasy]] even has a race, the Gria, who are an entire species of cute dragon-girls native to Ivalice.

Strangely, despite the existence of more "player friendly" dragon races like [[Dragonborn]], [[Dray]] and [[Spellscale]]s - the latter of whom are even supposed to have evolved from [[Half-Dragon]] [[Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)|sorcerers]] - the idea of reskinning these races to present them as dragon-girls never really gets mentioned. This likely has something to do with the fact that these races are less powerful than the half-dragon, and the standard "I want to be a dragon-girl!" player/DM ''also'' wants to have '''all''' of the draconic powers - [[Breath Weapon]], [[Damage Reduction]], and Flight.

===Gallery===
<center>
<gallery>
File:Dragon Housemaid.jpg|At least one of these forms will please some anon out there.
File:Asiatic Dragon Geisha.jpg|Asian dragons are beasts - or beast-girls - of a different color.
File:Red Dragongirl.png|A classic example of the monstergirl dragon.
File:Risque Dragongirl.jpg|The "scale bikini" look is popular for dragon-girls.
File:Dragongirl Princess.png|Well, when a dragon kidnaps a princess, sometimes the kingdom gets an heir out of it.
File:Draconic Shifter.jpg|There's something for everyone.
File:Dragonmorph Sorceress.jpg|Some like their dragons with breasts.
File:Dragon Sorceress.jpg|Some like their dragons au naturale.
File:Athasian Dragongirl.jpg|Even the dread [[Athasian Dragon]] isn't immune to the [[monstergirls]] treatment.
File:Faerie Dragongirl.png|A rare example of the [[Faerie Dragon]] getting the MG treatment.
File:Fem.jpg|Exhibit A in why furries & /tg/ have such a love-hate relationship.
</gallery>
</center>

===Monster Girl Encyclopedia===
Naturally, the ''[[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]]'' has its share of dragon-themed monstergirls.

The actual "Dragon" fits the same kind of style first seen on the setting's Lizardgirl; scaly limbs, paw-like hands and feet, a tail, fin-like ears, horns and wings. They are characterized by their extreme pride; whilst not quite [[tsundere]]s, they're determined to give themselves only to the best possible man.

In a terrible irony, if a Dragon fails to find a husband before she dies, the dark energies permeating the world will reanimate her as a Dragon Zombie, a corpse-colored (blue-gray skin, dark mold-green wings, white hair) dragon with bony scales. In this state, her mind has degenerated, leaving her a horny bimbo obsessed with finding a man and taking him for her mate. These dragon-girls are quite dangerous, because they possess a "rotten breath" attack that can convert human women into undead monstergirls.

The ''Wyvern'' is a dragon-girl with a more [[harpy]]-like body structure, having wings instead of arms. These are far more friendly and easy-going than the standard dragons and readily team up with human adventurers to train them as "dragoons".

The ''Wurm'' is a linnorm-style dragon-girl, essentially a massively strong [[lamia]] with paw-like hands, with an extremely lustful, aggressive personality that sees them going out and chasing after a man.

The ''Jabberwock'' is a lewd, lascivious, depraved dragon-girl from the "Wonderland" region. It can be distinguished by its dark red colors and the presence of two tentacles, each of which bears a slavering maw and lecherous tongue used to pleasure victims and guzzle semen.

Finally, there are the two dragons of Zipangu. The ''Ryu'' is another [[lamia]]-like dragon, a gentle-natured and benevolent mamono with powers to control the weather. The ''Otohime'' is an aquatic dragon-girl who resembles a mermaid with the body of a seahorse (long story; seahorses are believed by the Japanese to be connected to dragons) and clawed hands, who seduces men to join her in her life of eternal partying in her palace under the sea. Have no fear from her seahorse appearance, though; pedophilia and rape aside, the MGE is ''far'' too vanilla to allow even pegging into its setting, never mind male pregnancy.

<center>
<gallery>
File:MGE Dragon.jpg|The original Dragon mamono, proud and haughty and determined to take only the best.
File:MGE Dragon Zombie.jpg|Back from the grave, and now a shameless bimbo.
File:MGE Jabberwock.jpg|She's the Queen Slut, and she's proud of it.
File:MGE Wyvern.jpg|Loyal, steadfast and true, even if she's not the curviest of monstergirls.
File:MGE Wurm.jpg|Don't let her looks fool you; she will punch through mountains to chase you down.
File:MGE Ryu.jpg|Beloved and mystical dragon-girl of Zipangu.
File:MGE Otohime.jpg|Party-girl from below the waves.
</gallery>
</center>

===Life with Monstergirls===
Meanwhile, ''Life with Monstergirls'' has the Dragonewts. They have wings and tails like dragons, as well as some scales on their faces and clawed hands. In the series we meet a Dragonewt named Draco, who tries to steal Miia away from her darling. While initially appearing to be male she's later revealed to be a flat-chested woman who develops an obsession with Miia, and it takes a couple of bullets to her wings from Manako and a [[rape|reprimanding]] from Suu to cool her off. Other variants of the Dragonewt is the Chinese Ryu-jin who has horns and has no wings, and the aggressive but dim-witted [[Wyvern]].

The manga takes time to explain [[Derp|just how much commonly-depicted dragongirl traits would suck in real life]]; bulletproof scales that require regular maintenance and clipping to prevent clothing snags, a big, muscular tail that needs specially-designed pants and undies on top of making it impossible to sleep on your back, and wings that only allow you to glide at best, which is further exacerbated by their weak chest muscles, generate air resistance while you're on foot, and are just plain in the way (Wyverns get past the wing issue, but again, they're dummies so they break even).

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Dragon rider.jpg
</gallery>
==See Also==
*[[Johnniass Dragonraper]] is known to rape a dragon on occasion.
*[[Toothless Dragon]] the [[Dawww]]-est dragon.
*The [[Periodic Table of Dragons]].

Warlock

2021-02-24T03:09:05Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:149F: /* How to build a warlock that the Paladin won't try to kill */

:''For Eldar Warlock, see [[Warlock (Eldar)|here]].''

'''Warlocks''' are a type of magic spellcaster in fantasy settings. Also, in settings where "witch" is a gendered term (such as Charmed or the average Halloween store), they are the male counterpart of witches (because imagining a dude in one of those Leg Avenue witch costumes would be too [[gay]]). In other settings, it simply denotes a different school of magic user. Compared to others, warlocks are usually dedicated completely to offensive magic and in a few cases, dabbling in the forbidden arts like black magic and daemonology to achieve more power, although this is not always the case.

==In Warhammer==
The term "warlock" and "[[witch]]" appear almost interchangeably in [[Warhammer]] and [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] as a generic term for any practitioner of evil magic. In "Realms of Sorcery", the magic [[splatbook]] for WFRPG 2e, the difference was finally spelled out; a "Witch" is any untrained magic user who has managed to advance to a sufficient degree of skill that they can cast one or more non-Petty Magic spells, and in fact a Witch can actually learn to cast spells from multiple of the Eight Lores due to being outside of the restrictive training of the Academies, but at the cost of being slightly more unstable when casting than a proper apprenticed [[Wizard]]. Conversely, a Warlock is any Witch who has progressed from the Eight Lores to actively using Dark Magic, Chaos Magic, or Necromancy; formally, Warlocks are broken in ''Daemonologists'' (practitioners of the Dark Lore and/or Chaos Magic) and ''[[Necromancer]]s'' (practitioners of Necromancy). Both were presented as Advanced Careeers for the Hedge Mage in that same book, with Witch as a progression for Hedge Mage and Warlock as a progression for Witch.

The [[Chaos]] sourcebook for that same edition, ironically, makes no mention of the term "warlock". The ''concept'' remains in the form of the various Cult Magus advanced careers, and a whole career path to represent the wargame's [[Chaos Sorcerer]] unit, starting as a lowly Maledictor before rising through the ranks as a Doomweaver, then a Soulflayer, then finally a Cataclyst.

==In Deadlands==
In [[Deadlands]], both the generic black-magic using badguy and the PC "huckster" class/archetype/thingy would technically fall under the warlock moniker, and black magicians are commonly called warlocks to boot. Hucksters are a special case in that they literally deal with the devil for their magic; whenever a huckster casts a spell, they astrally project into the Spirit World and offer a passing demon to play a game of skill & chance (poker being, of course, traditional); if the demon wins, it gets a chunk of the huckster's soul (which translates to a huge amount of physical pain and/or death for the huckster), and if the huckster wins, the demon has to surrender the mojo needed to make the huckster's spell a reality. Part of what makes spells differ in difficulty to cast is the some spells either need more juice to work than others or else are calling for stuff the demon wouldn't normally like to do - it's a lot easier to call them up to kill somebitch than to make them protect you, for example.

==In Dungeons & Dragons==
[[File:D%26D Warlock.jpg|400px|thumb|right|A Warlock class character.]]
Instead of gaining their power through meticulous training and study like the [[Wizard]], or natural-born talent like the [[Sorcerer]], they make contracts with very powerful entities and forces and channel that energy, like an arcane [[Cleric]].

Ironically, despite being defined by their pacts with powerful patrons, the root words of "warlock" actually translate as "oathbreaker". In the Christian tradition that the term originates from, this is because they have broken their "oath" to God by striking a deal with another entity (or, to be more old school about it, striking their name from God's Book of Life and signing it in Satan's black Book of Death). In D&D, it subtly telegraphs the inevitable plot hooks about conflict with the character's patron, and their sudden but inevitable betrayal.

===1e===
In 1st ed AD&D, characters had titles as they leveled up. An 8th level Magic-User gained the title "Warlock." Nobody cared about these titles, not even the people who used weapon speed or the AC to-hit modifiers for each weapon. There was a Dragon magazine article (issue 43) describing a 'witch' npc class, and male npcs that took this class were sometimes called "warlocks" instead.

===2e===
In 2nd ed AD&D, a character could take a class kit, which was essentially a set of alternate class features that you could take to add a different play style to a class. Such kits required you to meet certain requirements to take them though. In the [[Splatbook| The Complete Wizard's Handbook]], there was a Wizard kit called the Witch. In the description of the Witch kit, it is mentioned that most Witches are female, but male Witches are possible, being commonly referred to as Warlocks. The Witch kit states that the power the Witch gains, is taught to them by extraplanar entities, for a variety of reasons. In exchange for this magical knowledge though, Witches constantly had to struggle with the extraplanar entities to maintain their free will. Unlike traditional Wizards, a Witch needed to be more than just Intelligent, requiring decent Wisdom and Constitution scores as well. While this kit is not an official Warlock class, it was the first time the themes of the Warlock made it into a player class.

===3.5===
The 3.5 ed Warlock was introduced in ''[[Splatbook| Complete Arcane]]''. It looks like textbook [[munchkin]] bait, but is actually kinda ''meh''. Warlocks have at-will casting and no spells per day in 3.5, which made some people call hax but isn't so hot because very few DMs would ever run enough encounters in one in-game day for [[Vancian]] casters to completely run out of spells and most Warlock spells aren't that great anyways. Among the handful that do, some like to have [[Awesome|spells that are at-will and keep 3.5]]. One of the Warlock's most powerful abilities is to [[Dakka|DAKKADAKKADAKKA]] with Eldritch Blasts, without having an accuracy problem. This ability can win encounters, but the time necessary to do so balances it out, so this class is both for people who want fast combat going The Matrix on the ceiling, and for patient masterminds. Warlocks are [[Tier System|Tier 4]], able to do some things fairly well, but they simply don't get enough spells to remain versatile enough to participate in most encounters and have nothing game breaking enough to enter tier 2. Since their damage is static and they can't do much to improve it, they can have problems doling out enough damage to remain relevant, and a mere 2 skill points per level and no use for intelligence doesn't exactly help. Unlike most tier 4s, which would require major overhauls to bring to tier 3, Warlock just needs number tweaks to be brought to tier 3 with better skill points, spells known, and damage considered sufficient. Since Warlock invocations do not count as spells, Warlocks do not meet the "Able to cast Nth-level arcane spells" prerequisites for prestige classes like the [[Rainbow Servant]] and [[Mystic Theurge]]. Warlock levels do, however, count as arcane caster levels, so they meet the comparatively rare "Arcane caster level Nth" prerequisites of prestige classes like Acolyte of the Skin, Blood Magus, Enlightened Fist, Green Star Adept, and Wild Mage. Warlocks can also enter the few prestige classes explicitly intended for them (there are 3 such classes in ''Complete Arcane'' and 2 in other books).

Unusually for a non-core base class, Warlock got a decent amount of support in future splat where most non-core classes were forgotten by WotC beyond one or two future additions. [[Dragonfire Adept]] uses Warlock mechanics with a slightly different spin. Warlocks were even included in the base game of ''[[Neverwinter Nights]] 2'', though there's no reason to bother with one unless the module you're playing restricts resting (as both expansion packs do) since a wizard can regain his spells in (literally) 6 seconds in this game.

Warlock is an unusually potent [[Dip Class]] since many of the abilities they can get at level 1 are passives that last all day.

===Pathfinder===
[[Pathfinder]] didn't give the warlock a conversion due to the non OGL status of the 3rd edition version. ''Occult Adventures'', however, introduced the [[Kineticist]] class, which follows Warlock mechanically a bit more closely than [[Magus]] to [[Duskblade]], but thematically you are an element bender instead of having made vague deals with evil outsiders or fey. Unfortunately, the Kineticist is also considered one of the most difficult classes to build in Pathfinder, and the hardest to understand. The [[witch]] takes up the flavor portion of the warlock while having its own mechanics.

Then ''Ultimate Intrigue'' came along and made warlock an archetype of the Vigilante. In this context, they are more Vigilante Arcane spellcasters. While they have some Magus spellcasting, they also can sling magical bolts, and still use almost all the vigilante tricks of misdirection, masked combat, and walking straight past the guards after making a quick change of outfits. Sadly the mystic bolts thing is utterly non-supported and falls apart by mid-levels without third party materials, but you're still proficient in martial weapons and have pretty decent casting. About the only thing beyond general ranged attacks they can qualify for and make use of is the ability to change bolts to bludgeoning, piercing or slashing with the Weapon Versatility feat, but this just means they're subject to damage reduction. With third party material however, the mystic bolts become a potent weapon in their own right, albeit at the cost of your already limited talents.

===4e===
When 4th edition rolled around, Warlocks made a surprising leap into the [[Player's Handbook]], supplanting the [[Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)|Sorcerer]] as "the other PHB [[mage]] class". Classified as Arcane Strikers, Warlocks were flavored as eerie, sinister casters who could place victims under dread curses and gain magical benefits by reaping the souls of those they had cursed. They were also somewhat stealthy, thanks to their "Shadow Walk" feature, which granted them concealment until the end of their next turn on any turn in which they moved at least 3 squares. Like all classes in core 4e, the Warlock had subclasses, and a very obvious basis: their Pact, or what 5e would rename their Patron; the specific kind of unearthly entity that the warlock had received their power from, which even dictated one of their cantrips and also determined which kind of bonus they got from reaping the souls of those they had cursed. As a result, they started with three patron types in the PHB; the Fey, the Infernal, and the Star. In a step that 5e wouldn't replicate, a paragon level (11+) Warlock could take a feat called ''Twofold Pact'', which represented them swearing allegiance to a '''second''' patron and getting access to its associated cantrip and pact boon, allowing them to choose which boon to benefit from whenever they dropped a cursed enemy.

The '''Fey Pact''' was made with an [[Archfey]] or, really, any particularly strong [[fey]]. Fey spells tend to have themes of either "glamour magic" (seductive, intoxicating enchantments") or savage nature-type magic (such as setting a pack of ravenous sprites on a foe that rend the flesh from their bones). Their mandatory cantrip is Eyebite, and their pact boon is Misty Step (teleport 3 squares when a cursed creature drops to 0 HP).

The '''Infernal Pact''' was, as you can probably guess, made with a scheming [[devil]], or maybe even one of the [[Archdevil]]s. The least subtle of the pacts, it's all about scouring foes with fire, sucking away their souls, or invoking other hostile elements from [[Baator]]. Is mandatory spell is Hellish Rebuke and its pact boon is Dark One's Blessing (gain temporary HP equal to your level when a cursed creature drops to 0 HP).

The '''Star Pact''' is an odd one, with elements of the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] - basically, in the [[World Axis]] cosmology, certain stars are sapient and they're basically giant [[aberration]]s, which can bestow powers on those willing to risk communion with them. These stars were so new that they actually got an article in [[Dragon Magazine]] ("Wish Upon A Star", #366) that went full Lovecraft, detailing some of the most common of these "dark stars" and a [[Paragon Path]], the Student of Caiphon, dedicated to one of these stars - something that would be followed up in Dragon #403's "Strange Constellations", which adapted Atropus, Father Llymic, Pandorym, Ragnorra and The Worm That Walks from 3e's [[Elder Evils]] into star-fiends that can empower warlocks. Arcane Power would present a far more benevolent motif for the Star-lock in the Master of Starry Skies PP, but overall they remain a creepy, creepy son of a bitch - and the only class in the PHB other than the [[Cleric]] that specializes in doing radiant damage! Their mandatory cantrip is Dire Radiance, and their pact boon is Fate of the Void (you gain a +1 bonus to one D20 roll of your choice made before the end of your next turn when a cursed creature drops to 0 HP - this bonus stacks, but it only remains usable for one turn).

For those curious, the "dark stars" named in that issue are Acamar, Caiphon, Delban, Gibbeth, Hadar, Ihbar, Khirad, Nihal, Ulban and Zhudun. These had actually first appeared as part of certain powers in the PHB1, alongside a never-detailed star called Thuban ("Tendrils of Thuban", a level 15 daily spell, which paralyzes and consumes a cluster of foes with tendrils of liquid summoned from the frozen emerald seas that lie under the star Thuban). The [[Monster Manual]] 3 would create a sadly under-developed monster category called the [[Star Spawn]]; celestial aberrations representing the progeny of these terrible stars, and even statting one such star - Allabar, Opener of the Way, a living planet corrupted by the [[Far Realm]] - as the most powerful of them.

When the [[Forgotten Realms]] Player's Guide rolled around for 4e, it introduced the new '''Dark Pact''', an alliance made with horrible, malevolent spirits native to the [[Underdark]] and popular with [[drow]] warlocks, resulting in spells focused on darkness, poison, madness, and spite. Several of its iconic spells possess the ability to gain upgrades if you inflict damage on your allies, although even without this "augment" they're quite beefy. Its mandatory cantrip is Spiteful Glamor, and its surprisingly complex pact boon is Darkspiral Aura (when a cursed creature drops to 0 HP, your Darkspiral Aura value gains 1 point; you can use your Darkspiral Aura as an immediate interrupt when an enemy makes a melee or ranged attack against you, inflicting 1d6/1d8/1d10 Necrotic & Psychic Damage per point in your Darkspiral Aura; if this damage is less than 12, your Aura drops to 0 points; if more than 12 damage, you can halve the damage you take and your Aura drops to 1 point - you lose all Aura points when you take a short rest).

[[Dark Sun]] did the same thing; the '''Sorcerer-King's Pact''' was its attempt to recreate the [[Templar]] of AD&D, that strange pseudo-priestly class that derived its powers from its oath of allegiance to the tyrannical mage-psions of Athas' last cities. Its mandatory cantrip is Hand of Blight, and its pact boon is Fell Scorn - this strange feature is borrowing some elements from the psionics rules system, and can trip up an unobservant reader; the Sorcerer-King pacted Warlock has a single point of "Fell Might", which can be spent when casting certain spells in order to trigger some upgraded effects, and is recharged whenever the warlock drops a cursed creature to 0 HP. This trait is controversial to say the least because, normally, pact-associated spells don't need to spend this sort of resource to get their bonus. Even though Fell Might will recharge like crazy because, hey, cursing people is what a warlock is supposed to ''do'', it still leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

Arcane Power would introduce what many wrongly believed to be the last of the Core pacts, in the form of the '''[[Vestige]] Pact'''; obviously themed after the [[Binder]] of last edition, the Vestige Pact calls upon the spirits of bizarre ghosts and ancient, forgotten entities, with a unique mechanic attached to it. Each Daily power associated with this pact, always named "Vestige of whoever", becomes a Vestige in the Warlock's arsenal. Whenever the warlock completes a rest, they can determine which Vestige is their "Active" Vestige - they can also choose to change their Active Vestige whenever they use one of those Vestige powers, causing the newly invoked Vestige to become Active. Your Active Vestige determines the effects of your pact boon and the secondary effects of your mandatory cantrip, "Eyes of the Vestige".

The reason that neither Vestige nor Sorcerer-King was the last of the Core 4e Warlock Pacts? Hidden in the Essentials era sourcebook "Heroes of the Elemental Chaos" is the '''Elemental Pact''' for core warlocks. Representing the obvious choice of a warlock drawing their power from a [[Archomental|Primordial]], this [[elementalist]] warlock has some slight overlap with the [[Wild Mage]], but not much. It gains the bonus feature "Elemental Affinity", where you have Affinity to either Acid, Cold, Fire, Fire, Lightning or Thunder - this is determined randomly each time you complete a rest, and you can change your Elemental Affinity when you invoke your second wind. When you cast an arcane attack power that deals Force, Necrotic, Poison or Psychic damage, you can make it inflict whichever damage type you have Elemental Affinity for instead. Its pact boon is Accursed Affinity; after you drop at least one cursed victim, everyone you place your Curse on for the rest of the encounter gains Vulnerability (5/tier) to whichever damage type you currently have Elemental Affinity with.

Essentials also introduced two Warlock [[Variant Class]]es (alternatively known as subclasses); "Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms" introduced the [[Hexblade]], an Arcane Striker-Defender that is basically a cross between a Warlock and a [[Swordmage]], whilst "Heroes of Shadow" introduced the [[Binder]], a restyling of the Warlock into a full-fledged Arcane Controller.

The Hexblade was initially introduced with only Fey and Infernal Pact options; it gained its own version of the Star Pact in Dragon #393, an Elemental Pact in "Heroes of the Elemental Chaos", and a Gloom Pact in "Heroes of Shadow".

The Binder, as the very last Warlock derivative to emerge prior to 4e's cancellation, only had the two Pacts; Gloom and Star, both in its native "Heroes of Shadow". It did manage to gain a Fey Pact for itself in Dragon #406.

It bears mentioning that, whilst original/"Core style" warlocks can take the spells from both the Binder and the Hexblade for themselves, the "Pacts" as used by these variant classes are not synonymous with the Core-lock's Pacts, so Gloom Pact spells have no special riders when used by non-Binders or Hexblades. This is one of the many reasons why most of 4e's fans didn't like the "simplified" versions of classes created for Essentials.

4e paired the Warlock class up with the [[Tiefling]] race, much like how Dwarves make iconic [[Fighter]]s or [[Clerics]], or Elves make good [[Wizard]]s, or [[Half-orc]]s make good [[Barbarian]]s. 5e continues this tradition.

====4e Sample Patrons====
Issue #381 of [[Dragon Magazine]] featured an article called "Performing the Pact", which provided some example Patrons for each of the five pacts available at the time.

The Dark Pact patron is ''Yorgrix, Weaver of the Poison Web'': once a demonweb spider kept as a [[familiar]] by an overconfident [[drow]] matron, Yorgrix patiently mastered the dark magic it watched its mistress perform and then, fueled by hunger and ambition, slew and devoured both her and the entire city in which she dwelled. Glutted on countless souls, Yorgrix was transformed into a dread spirit; now imprisoned in the city it massacred, it reaches out to the minds of mortals with a simple promise: power for food.

The Fey Pact patron is ''The Eochaid'', a strange [[fey]] spirit embodying the interplay between nature and arcane magic, and which manifests as a strange amalgamation of humanoid, animal and plant. Ancient as the [[Seldarine]] themselves, the Eochaid desires only to promote and strengthen magic, seeking its growth. Those willing to plant magic's seed - and to retrieve arcane artifacts for it to protect - are blessed with its wild hexes and unearthly glamors.

The Infernal Pact patron is ''The Prisoner in Iron'', an infernal warlock of such power that the [[Archdevil]]s feared him and have bound him in the deepest dungeons of Dis, hoping to hide him forever. But such is his power that he can still reach out to the mortal world, offering tutelage to the ambitious, seeking to empower a champion mighty enough to free him from his chains.

The Star Pact patron is ''Ulban, the Wanderer''; a sapient time-traveling comet from a far-flung apocalypse, the last survivor of its universe. Now it wanders space and time, empowering those who, in some inscrutable way, will play their part in prevent Ulban's future from coming to be - often battling against the other dark stars in the process.

The Vestige Pact patron is ''The Bleak Guide'', a reaper-like entity from the [[Shadowfell]] charged with maintaining the orderly transition of life to death, and more than willing to act as a go-between for [[vestige]]s and those mortals who will use their power to make is own existence easier. It can't act against the [[necromancer]]s and [[undead]] that vex it so - but its mortal agents, on the other hand...

===5e===
The 5e Warlock is a complicated marriage of 3e invocations, 4e pacts, and 5e spellcasting, with a few caveats. They gain a pitiful amount of spell slots, as well as only a handful of spells known. To the untrained player's eye, they're painfully limited compared to "real" casters, but in reality they're <strike>roid-pumping nightmares</strike> not bad. Their spell slots all automatically scale the slot level up so their spells are always guaranteed to be pumped up, and also refresh after every encounter or few (short rest). Invocations are back from 3.5, albeit scaled back a bit, providing various kinds of special abilities, from access to spells that aren't on their list as at-will, encounter or daily powers, to power-ups for the pact form, and of course power-ups for Eldritch Blast.

To complete the Warlock package, you get a pact with a supernatural being. The pact gives you a thematic extended spell list; for example, Great Old One Warlocks can cast (but not spam, sadly) Evard's Black Tentacles. Pacts provide a bevvy of unique class features like teleportation, damage resistance or telepathy. On top of magical powers, they also give you a consolation prize in the form of a pact boon, which can either be a souped-up familiar, a free enchanted weapon that you can shapeshift into whatever kind of weapon you need (and you always have proficiency with it, even if it's currently in a form you wouldn't otherwise have proficiency with), or a magical book that gives you an additional three cantrips that can each come from ''a separate class's list''. An alternative pact boon was the Star Chain, introduced in "Non Divine Faithful", which closely ties into the Seeker patron: this is a magical trinket that can be used to cast ''Augury'' and can be used to grant Advantage on an Int check once per short rest. A better alternate pact boon is the talisman, introduced in the class features UA, a magic necklace that allows whoever wears it (which can be you or anyone else, no attunement slot required) to add a d4 to an ability check roll if they aren't proficient in the pertinent skill. This was later made official with Tasha's Cauldron of everything, but was nerfed so that it can only be used a number of times per long rest equal to your proficiency modifier.

The available pacts are:

''Archfey'' - Bound to a powerful faerie lord or sylvan pseudo-deity, a warlock with this pact gains the power of Fey Presence (Charm or Frighten all creatures in a 10ft cube around you once per short rest), Misty Escape (teleport 60 feet and turn invisible once per short rest), Beguiling Defenses (you are immune to Charming and can attempt to Charm anyone foolish enough to try a Charm effect on you) and Dark Delirium (can attempt to entrap a target in an illusion to Charm or Terrify it once per short rest). This one is in the Player's Handbook.

''Fiend'' - Bound to a [[Demon Prince]], [[Archdevil]], [[yugoloth|Ultraloth]], powerful [[demodand|ghereleth]], or other sufficiently-powerful entity native to the lower planes, a warlock with this pact gains Dark One's Blessing (gain temporary HP for dropping another creature to zero HP), Dark One's Luck (can add a d10 to an ability check or saving throw after you roll it once per short rest), Fiendish Resilience (gain Resistance to a single damage type of your choice after completing a short rest, though magic and silvered weapons can pierce it) and Hurl Through Hell (teleport a target into some hellish dimension for 1 turn, causing 10d10 Psychic damage to a non-fiendish target, once per long rest). This one is in the Player's Handbook.

''Great Old One'' - Warlocks with this pact are bound to terrible abominations from outside time and space, drawing on the power of aberrant gods like [[Cthulhu]]. They gain the boons of Awakened Mind (telepathy with a 30ft range), Entropic Ward (can make yourself harder to hit and get a bonus if the target missed once per short rest), Thought Shield (mind cannot be involuntarily read, Resistance to Psychic Damage, inflict equal Psychic damage on anyone who inflicts Psychic damage on you) and Create Thrall (permanently charm a single creature with a touch, gaining telepathic communication with them from anywhere on the same plane, so good luck justifying ''this'' ability with a good-aligned character). This one is in the Player's Handbook.

''Undying'' - A Warlock with this pact has offered their soul to something that has "cheated death"; most obviously a powerful [[lich]], [[ghost]] or [[vampire]], but mortals ascended to godhood and weirder things are also valid. [[Planescape: Torment|The Nameless One]] isn't mentioned, but would be a perfectly thematic (and awesome!) patron for this pact. The "necromantic" pact, these warlocks get features related to the ability to cheat death; Among the Dead (Spare the Dying as a bonus cantrip, Advantage on saving throws against disease, Undead must pass a Wisdom save to attack you), Defy Death (gain a significant healing 1/day by passing a death saving throw or using Spare the Dying), Undying Nature (can hold your breath indefinitely, don't need food, water or sleep, immunity to magical aging, age 1 year for every 10 you live) and Indestructible Life (can freely heal yourself 1/encounter, including reattaching limbs as part of it). Comes from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide.

''[[Hexblade]]'' - Basically, you want to play a character inspired by Sauron or Arthas with Morgoth or Lich King style figure; your power is with a mysterious [[Shadowfell]] entity that makes its presence felt through powerful weapons bound with shadowy magic. [[derp|Despite this, you don't have to take the Pact of the Blade.]] Having first appeared in [[Unearthed Arcana]], the official version came out in "Xanathar's Guide", at which point it seems to have absorbed some of the fluff, if not the crunch, from the [[Raven Queen]] patron featured in that same UA. This pledge makes the warlock more of a melee combatant, in the vein of the class it takes its name from; their two level 1 features are ''Hexblade's Curse'' (1/short rest, place a curse on a foe within 30ft that makes your attacks more likely to hit and heals you if they die whilst cursed) and ''Hex Warrior'' (you can enchant one-handed weapons you are proficient with to use Charisma for their attack & damage rolls; if you've the Pact of the Blade, your Pact Weapon always has this trait no matter the form it takes, also you get free proficiency with medium armor, shields and martial weapons). At level 6, they gain ''Accursed Specter'' (raise a slain humanoid as a loyal specter 1/day). Their level 10 feature, ''Armor of Hexes'', buffs up their curse by letting the warlock negate a cursed opponent's attack against them on a 4+. Finally, at level 14, they get ''Master of Hexes'', which lets them forgo the healing effect for dropping a cursed opponent to instead immediately reapply that curse to a fresh opponent. Its bonus spells are close-ranged, a mixture of protective spells (shield, blur, blink) and temporary weapon enchantments - the only exceptions are Phantasmal Killer and Cone of Cold.

''Celestial'' - This is the "good guy warlock" patron option, where you make a pact with an [[angel]] of some description. In mechanics, it's a refluffed version of the Undying Light Patron presented in an earlier Unearthed Arcana - ironically, unlike the Hexblade, this version was so well-received that WoTC saw no need to change its subclass features when they reprinted it for the Xanathar's Guide to Everything. The difference between the two versions is that it adds some healing spells to its list of bonus spells, instead of just fire/radiant damage-dealers, and rearranges what levels you get which features at. At 1st level, you gain Healing Light - the "heal with a touch" feature from the UL Patron, which it didn't get until level 14 - and Light & Sacred Flame as bonus cantrips. At level 6 it gets Radiant Soul, which is Resistance (Radiance) and bonus to radiant & fire damage, a feature the UL got at 1st level. They both get the same "bonus temporary HP on completing a rest" feature at level 10, but the Celestial renames it the Celestial Resilience trait. Finally, it gets Searing Vengeance - 1/day, when reduced to death, spring up at half maximum hitpoints and inflict radiant damage & blindness on all enemies within 30 feet - as its 14th level trait, when for the UL Patron it was a 6th level feature.
*More on that last ability: specifically, you can use it once per day, and you can opt to activate it instead of rolling a death save. So here's one way for you to exploit it: ''Celestial Warlock Drop Pod Bombing Runs''. It's kinda like the ODST drop pods from Halo, except without the actual pods. You get a bunch of other celestial warlocks, recruit a bunch of griffins or dragons or whatever, ride them over pearl harbor, then deliberately drop off your rides. After you get all your bones broken by the crash, you activate your Searing Vengence, then start shooting eldritch blasts, while topping off your health with your Healing light ability for your bonus actions. (of course the key here is that this ability can only be triggered ''when you would be otherwise forced to roll a death save'', and in 5e, if an attack that downs you has enough remaining overkill damage to equal your maximum possible HP, it will just kill your character outright, no death saves allowed. So if your ride's altitude is high enough for the fall damage to be ridiculous, then instead of looking like clever badasses, [[Modron|monodrones]] will just teleport in to put Darwin awards on your <s>corpses</s> puddles.)

''[[Genie]]'' - Your [[Elementalist]] warlock, you have to choose specifically whether your patron is a [[dao]], [[djinn]], [[efreet]] or [[marid]]. You get some generically genie-like spells (detect evil/good, phantasmal force, create food & water, phantasmal killer, creation, wish), plus some elemental spells determined by your patron's elemental alignment. You start off with a "Genie Vessel", which is any kind of trinket that could potentially have held a genie; the traditional lamp, a bottle, an urn, a lantern, a hollow statuette, or a ring with a compartment; this holds an extradimensional lounge room in it that you can teleport into to hide, emulating the "genie in the vessel" yourself - at 10th level, you can bring up to 5 willing creatures along with you when you do. At 1st level, you can do bonus elemental damage on an attack once per turn. At 6th level, you gain elemental resistance and can fly through levitation for a few periods of time per day. Finally, at 14th level, you can gain a Limited Wish that emulates the effects of a 6th level or lower spell once every 1d4 days. Elemental damage granted by your features is determined by your patron; bludgeoning for a dao, Thunder for a djinni, Fire for an efreet, and Cold for a marid. This pact is also your best official option for another kind of elemental patron, such as an [[Archomental]] or the [[Elder Elemental Eye]]. Got added to the game in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. If this version doesn't take your fancy, there's also the [[Scarred Lands]] and [[Midgard]] versions, which ironically aren't as different from the official version or each other as you might initially think, or mix-and-matching with the playtest version that had better mechanics for its spell list and elemental resistance.

====Semi-Official Stuff====
The Warlock has been surprisingly well-off in terms of [[Unearthed Arcana]] content, with the Ghost in the Machine, Undying Light, Seeker, [[Hexblade]] and [[Raven Queen]] patrons in Unearthed Arcana, and the [[Kraken]] and [[Lolth]] patrons created by Mearls and released either on his Stream or in Twitter. As stated, the Undying Light was reworked into the Celestial Patron, and the Hexblade made it into the game in Xanathar's Guide, and you can read up on the UA articles on its page.

But what about Mearls' creations? Well...

'''Lolth''' as a Patron is a kind of dark mirror to the normal [[Archfey]] patron, combining some obvious Lolth references with bits of the [[Queen of Air and Darkness]]. Her bonus spells are Faerie Fire and Jump (1st level spells), Darkness and Web (2nd level spells), Fear and Vampiric Touch (3rd level spells), Dimension Door and Giant Insect (4th level spells), and Cloudkill & Hold Monster (5th level spells).
* Her level 1 class feature is ''Dark Queen's Servitor''; this is basically a modified version of [[Druid|Wild Shape]] that lets you turn into a giant spider, whose bite does bonus poison damage based on your level. The big draw is that you can still cast your Bonus Spells whilst in giant spider form.
* At level 6, she grants you the ''Poisoned Beauty'' feature, which lets you attempt to inflict the Charmed and Vulnerable (Poison) conditions on a visible creature for 1 minute (or until damaged) if it fails a Charisma save. You can use this ability once per Short Rest.
* At level 10, she grants you the ''Spider Queen's Chosen'' feature, which gives you Resistance (Non-Magical Bludgeoning/Piercing/Slashing) when you're in Spider Form.
* Finally, at 14th level, she gives you the ''Kiss of the Spider Queen'' feature, which lets you spend an action to touch a creature; the victim of your touch takes 12d10 damage (your choice of Poison or Psychic), or half that if it succeeds on a Constitution save. You can only use this ability once per Long Rest, and a creature Charmed by you has Disadvantage on its save.

The '''Kraken''' Patron is pretty unique, and it makes a nicely themed pairing with a [[Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)|Storm Sorcerer]]. Its bonus spells are a mixture of "storm [[elementalism]]" (thunderwave, create/destroy water, gust of wind, call lightning, water breathing, control water, cone of cold), two divinatory spells (augury, commune with nature) and Evard's Black Tentacles, which is an obvious fit.
* At level 1, you gain the feature ''Grasp of the Kraken'', which lets you summon writhing spectral tentacles at a point you can see within 60 feet. Creatures you target within 10ft of that point must make a Strength save against your Warlock spell save DC, or be grappled for 1 minute or until you use this ability again. A spectral tentacle has a Str (Athletics) bonus of 2 + your Proficiency bonus, and a reach of 10 feet.
* At level 6, you can the feature ''Inky Escape'', which lets you drop a Darkness (5ft radius) on a point within 5ft of you as a Reaction to taking damage once per short rest. You can see through this darkness, obviously.
* At level 10, you gain the powerful ''Scion of the Depths'' feature, which grants you the ability to breathe water, a swim speed equal to your normal speed, and Immunity (Lightning). When your immunity reduces damage from an effect to 0, as a reaction you can cause creatures of your choice that you can see within 30 ft. of you to take lightning damage equal to your Charisma modifier + your proficiency bonus.
* Finally, at level 14, you gain the feature ''Unleash the Kraken'', which lets you open a portal at a point visible within 30 feet of you. When you open the portal, kraken tentacles pour through it, and you must choose which boon you gain from the list below. Once you use this ability, you must complete a long rest before you can use it again.
** ''Transport:'' You and up to 5 creatures of your choosing that you can see are grasped by tentacles that emerge from the portal. A second portal opens at a point of your choice within 100 miles that you have visited in the past 24 hours, depositing you and your chosen allies there.
** ''Fury:'' The tentacles slam into your foes. Pick up to 5 creatures that you can see within 30 ft. of the portal. Those creatures must make Dexterity saving throws against your Warlock spell save DC. Creatures that fail their saving throws take 10d6 bludgeoning damage and are restrained for 1 minute. Creatures that succeed take half the bludgeoning damage and are not restrained. On its turn, a restrained creature can use its action to attempt a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to end its restrained condition.

The Kraken Patron above eventually got bumped up to a slightly higher tier of Semi-official with the release of the September UA's '''Lurker in the Deep Patron''', which pays a lot of homage to the above. It can be seen as an upgrade to the Kraken Patron. The bonus spells are exactly the same.
* At level 1, you get the ''Grasp of the Deep'', which is basically the same thing as Grasp of the Kraken, but instead of grappling with the tentacles you get to smack someone repeatedly for 1d8 (upgrades to 2d8 at level 10) cold/lightning damage as a bonus action. It also reduces their speed by 10 feet temporarily. Also at level 1, you get ''Scion of the Deep'', which lets you telepathically communicate to anything with a swimming speed like Aquaman.
* At level 6, you get ''Fathomless Soul'', which gives you a bunch of sea-themed goodies: the ability to breathe air and water, resistance to cold damage, and a swimming speed equal to your walking speed. You also get ''Guardian Grasp'', which allows you to halve any incoming damage for you or your buddies by wrapping your tentacle around them. This will make the tentacle go away, but it's well worth it.
* At level 10, you get ''Devouring Maw'' which summons a giant gaping maw that restrains foes in an area on a failed save, deals them an automatic 3d6 cold/lightning damage, and nets you some sweet temp hp equal to your Warlock level as long as there is someone near the maw.
* As your capstone at level 14, you get ''Unleash the Depths'' which is more or less the same thing as Unleash the Kraken above. The only major difference is that the Fury half of unleash does 6d10 cold rather than 10d6 Bludgeoning, and knocks people prone.

===Class Feature Variants===
The November 2019 UA granted quite a few things to the Warlock aside from the ability to swap out a spell each long rest (A necessity with how cramped the Warlock's slots are) and some new spells.

Each of the existing pacts gain some new Invocations, with Tomelocks gaining more spell-like powers and Advantage on concentration saves, Bladelocks gaining automatic armor proficiency, and Chainlocks being able to make their pets attack as a bonus. However, the biggest update here is the new Pact - The Pact of the Talisman gives you a talisman that allows whoever wears it (which can be you or anyone else, no attunement slot required) to add a d4 to an ability check roll (and saving throw if you have the pertinent invocation) if they aren't proficient in the pertinent skill. The other eldritch invocations specific to this pact require someone other than you to be wearing the talisman, as the first one allows you and said person to teleport to each other as an action, and the other lets you counter-attack something who hurts the person wearing your talisman.

===A minor footnote on D&D 4e and 5e Warlocks===

One of the roleplaying possibilities for Warlocks that sometimes gets mentioned is that once empowered, the Warlock is under no obligation to keep obeying their Patron. The rules explicitly do not contain any references to any of the patrons being able to strip the powers from a Warlock, unlike, say, a Paladin--in other words, the implication is that once granted, a Warlock's powers are theirs to keep. (It's mildly worth mentioning that "Warlock" descends from the old English ''"wǣrloga"'', meaning "traitor or deceiver" ("wǣr", meaning "covenant, truce, or pact" and "loga", meaning "liar"), and that kind of name cuts both ways.)

This was intentional (as, among other things, it allowed for Lawful Good Infernal Warlocks without the need for some very creative roleplaying), and influenced the initial three 4e Patron choices (and a few later ones): Who would give away free power to mortals that you could not revoke? Somebody whose cause is advanced by the mere usage of that power; Devils, Archfey and The Great Old Ones all obviously qualify (as did [[Vestige]]s)--all were (in 4e's default cosmology, at least) restrained in some way from the mortal world, and higher level 4e Warlock powers, at least, frequently gave them some temporary purchase on said world when used. On top of that, from the immortal patron's point of view, letting the recalcitrant Warlock keep their power is a good PR stunt: sure, one mortal might balk, but others will start wondering where he got his powers from. Others that might be more amenable to the patron's goal...

([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiS5mkIff_8 Here's a Mike Mearls interview] that explicitly notes this possibility in 5e, as well. Then again, Mearls also implies in that interview that Clerics can turn against their Deity and still have their Divine Magic, so take that claim for what it's worth. Admittedly, Divine classes did lose their "powers are revoked if your deity is pissed" trait in 4e, so it's not unprecedented.)

DMs should also note that while the Patron cannot directly withdraw the Warlock's new powers, they are also not restricted from sending repo men to get the recalcitrant Warlock back in line if the Warlock still has debt outstanding.

===How to build a warlock that the [[Paladin]] won't try to kill===

At first glance the warlock would look like a class that would be difficult to justify having a Good alignment. This is not true; all it takes is some roleplaying creativity and lore familiarity. Here are some ideas sorted by pact:

''Archfey''
*There are just as many Good or Neutral Fey as there are Evil ones. Just take your pick.
*You actually work for a full Faerie Court. The Evil jerk you take orders from is just your immediate supervisor and/or teacher, and you sometimes report to somebody non-Evil further up the chain of command on what he has you doing, just to make sure he's not using you for his personal benefit.

''Fathomless''
*This category includes water elementals and "merfolk demigods" neither of which are necessarily evil by default. For example, your patron could be [[Ben-Hadar]], Elemental Prince of Good Water Creatures, though he's not canon to 5e yet.
*The Fiendish ideas can also work here if your patron is [[Dagon]], demon prince of all things aquatic.

''Fiend''
*You offered someone on one side of the [[Blood War]] your services against the other, on the condition that you *only* be sent to kill people connected to the enemy (This is easiest with whoever's currently [[Archdevil|Archduke]] of the first layer of [[Baator]], since they have to fumigate their lawn of demons every freaking morning and are always looking for help).
*You made the old classic "Sell the soul of my future firstborn child to the devil in exchange for power" bargain... but conveniently failed to mention that you're gay (this also works with the archfey pact if none of the good or neutral options appeal to you, since fairy tale creatures sometimes have a habit of abducting children).
*You straight-up bought the powers from Mammon, Archduke of greed, with ordinary freaking money. Because Mammon is a fiend who actually does that.
*Like the Hellknights of [[Pathfinder]], you are more concerned with order and empire-building than being evil. Stability is your primary concern. (Be warned, some Paladins will probably still kill you for this)
*You were a prostitute (the "hate this job but am fucking broke" kind), and got a visit from [[Graz'zt]] or [[Malcanthet]] one day, who opted to give you the powers instead of money as payment. You still [[/d/| don't like to talk about that day]], but in the end, it allowed you to pursue other means of employment.
*There have been ''extremely'' rare cases of fiends working to redeem themselves, such as [[Planescape: Torment|Fall-From-Grace]] and [http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fc/20050824a Eludecia]. Your patron could be one of these rare fiends that is either working to achieve redemption, or has already been redeemed.
* You're a Purified and your pact is with the [[Church_of_the_Silver_Flame|Silver Flame]] itself. It's just influenced by Bel Shalor.

''Genie''
* While [[Dao]] and [[Efreeti]] are evil, [[Djinn]] are chaotic good by default, and [[Marid]]s are chaotic neutral. Just pick the latter two.
* If you really want an Efreet or Dao patron, you could say that you freed one from imprisonment and he offered you a wish in gratitude. Your wish was for the powers.

''Ghost In the Machine''
* Just because a brain is made of metal doesn't mean that the resulting personality is automatically predisposed towards any one particular mindset, worldview, or attitude towards fleshies. Just look at the Warforged of Ebberon. Really, you could give your patron any characterization under the sun here.

''Great Old One''
*This one is actually a lot easier than you might think. Firstly, it's important to remember that Far Realm entities aren't evil-aligned, they're [incomprehensible symbol] or [different incomprehensible symbol]-aligned. Secondly, most GOO's are by-nature nearly-if-not-completely impossible for beings native to the [[Great Wheel]] to cognitively process, so if you're lazy you could just say that your patron, Covfefe the unknowable, never explained their motives to you and thrust these powers upon you without you ever having asked for them in the first place.
*Heck, the PHB itself outright says that a GOO patron doesn't even need to be '''aware''' of you, and that your powers might've just come from reading a copy of the Necronomicon!
*If you insist on having a backstory more fleshed-out than that however, then you could say that your patron finds the Great Wheel reality and its denizens just as alien and incomprehensible as we would the GOO's, and is using you to try to make sense of it as best they can; they might for example periodically take over your body and crudely try to mimic common human activities (the way an ape or toddler would) in an attempt to discern the meaning behind them.
**Or your Patron sees through your eyes, and asks you strange questions; but as long as you survive, and seek out "interesting" things, it's happy just to observe the mortal world through you. (Think "Very strange overly-inquisitive six-year old".)
*You developed a beef with devils for some reason, and were offered warlock powers by [[Zargon]], the leader of the Baatorans and the guy who ruled [[Baator]] before Asmodeus kicked him out. Also works as a fiendish patron.
*Your patron is Caiphon, a [[Awesome|giant, sapient, purple star that wanders around the night sky]], said to have an important role to play in the future of the world. (This being is listed among the "Elder Evils," [[What|but those beings, despite the name, are noted to only ''generally'' be evil]]).
**Or your patron is Ulban; a sapient comet made from the last surviving souls after a future apocalypse which has traveled back in time to recruit agents to prevent that apocalypse from coming to pass.

''Undying''
*Remember, the description for this patron is that they have "Cheated death" somehow, so they don't have to be undead; As mentioned above, entities like originally-mortal gods or The Nameless One (the PC from the videogame [[Planescape: Torment]]) would work just fine here.
*Your patron is an ''Arch''lich, which is a type of lich who isn't evil (they've been in D&D lore for longer than the "must periodically feed mortal souls to phylactery to stay around" aspect of lichdom has, so they probably sustain themselves on bandits and murderhobos, the plane of positive energy, or maybe just sheer force of willpower and magical might).
*Another non-evil pseudo-lich is the Baelnorn, elven liches that become undead so that they can guard a particular area, clan, or object. Maybe something important was stolen from the place they're protecting, but they can't go after it themselves because that would mean abandoning their post and leaving it vulnerable to thieves or attackers.
*Most of the Fiendish ideas can also work here if your Patron is [[Orcus]], the Demon Prince of the Undead (doubly so since he was originally a mortal). Loopholes, ho!

''Hexblade''
*The [[Shadowfell]] is no more an inherently Evil plane any more than [[Feywild]] is an inherently Good one. Maybe your Patron weapon really hates Fey creatures or some such.
*There is no reason you could not refluff the hexblade to be any kind of high powered magical sentient sword and the archetype could also work if you, say, had Excalibur as your patron. or maybe it's just an axe that's always eager for you to hit stuff with it.
*Since the Shadowfell is (among other things) the "waiting room" where the recently deceased get sorted into the proper [[Outer Planes|Outer Plane]], your Patron could be something that seeks to destroy undead and send them where, in its eyes, they should've arrived long ago.

''Celestial''
*Normally this pact should present even less of a problem than the Archfey one, but it can be just as problematic as any of the others if, say, the DM is running an Explicitly Evil Campaign set in [[Ravenloft]]. So in a situation like that, you could for example say that your Patron gifted you your powers as an act of goodwill in the hopes that it might change your outlook on life.
*Or more believably, your patron could be an evil Empyrean.
*A fallen angel could also work as an evil Celestial patron, though some DMs may rule them as only being eligible as Fiend patrons.

''Any''
*Your powers come from your (likely Aberrant) [[Dragonmark]]. This one is an officially suggested option, albeit [[Eberron]] specific.
*You won your powers in a game of chance, The-Devil-Went-Down-To-Georgia style.
*Your pact is tied to your bloodline like a sorcerer, not anything ''you'' in particular did; maybe some distant ancestor of yours helped one of the archdevils get into their current position for example, so they guaranteed that all that person's firstborn descendants would be warlocks. (Surprisingly common with Fiends. In the [[Nentir_Vale]] setting, this is implied to be the case with many [[Tiefling]] Infernal Warlocks.)
*Your patron isn't asking you to do anything particularly evil; for example, the Lawful Evil Fiend wants you to fight off the Orcish Horde which is endangering his long-term plans (and killed your family), or the entity is more interested in having a reliable diplomatic courier.
*You're somehow important to your patron's long-running scheme, whether as a chosen one or in a simple "for want of a nail" kind of way. What matters is that your patron needs you to survive long enough to serve your purpose, which the warlock powers are useful for.
*You and your patron share a common enemy; particularly reasonable if the enemy wants you dead to the point that they will throw serious resources at you.
*You sold not your soul to your patron, but your memories, and as such don't have a clue who you are or why you wanted the power in the first place (works great for when you need to write up a warlock in a hurry and only have time for the crunch).
*You genuinely did not know that the entity you bargained with was evil, as it was masquerading as a more benevolent entity.
*You were tricked or coerced into becoming a servant of your patron and they gave you warlock powers so you could be a more versatile pawn, not because you actually wanted them.
*You got your powers by theft or trickery, not because your patron actually wanted to give them to you.
*You killed the previous person your patron empowered, justified or by accident, and the patron has decided '''you''' are going to replace them, like it or not.

*You went stag on your boss, as mentioned above.
*You keep the paladin constantly charmed.

===Custom Warlock pacts and Patrons===

A lot of fans like to design their own custom warlock patrons, which doesn't necessitate homebrewing a new pact. After all, there are a lot of powerful entities in the [[Great Wheel]] that would theoretically be fully capable of granting such a pact: [[Archomental|Archomentals]], [[Modron]] hierarchs, [[Slaad]] lords, and [[Rilmani]] Arurumachs, just to name a few. The patron doesn't even need to be very powerful, since 5th Edition fluff paints the patron as more of a "tutor" than the actual source of the warlock's power. Even relatively weak entities could potentially act as a warlock's patron as long as they have access to strange, arcane secrets and a reason to trade those secrets with a mortal.

If however you ''do'' want to homebrew a new warlock subclass, then there's a free PDF on the DM's guild that's a handy guide for doing so: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/259521/CreateAPatron-A-Warlock-Patron-Creation-Guide

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