The idea of a patron may be the exciting, defining factor in choosing to play the warlock class in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons. Patron-warlock dynamics differ from deity-cleric dyಞnamics🐷 in that they lend their power to a warlock, rather than using them as conduits for their divinity, and, due to this, have a more personal relationship.

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Because many warlocks ask for involved patrons, the pressure of defining how those patrons behave will invariably fall on the shoulders of the Dungeon Master. The archfey in💧 particular may seem to be more complicated to understand due to the nature of fey. Luckily, you have us to help you navigate this beguiling being.

What Is An Archfey?

Guests from the material plane and the feywild come to a palace to party
Party At Paliset Hall Chapter Art Via Wizards of the Coast

In Dungeons & Dragons, "fey" refers to creatures of the Feywild, or, colloquially, Faeries. Fey are often inscrutable in their motivations. This is traditionally because their moral codes tend not to align with those on Material Plane, making their intentions hard to discern, even among other fey. Typically, fey have a weakness to cold iron, delight in bargains, and may adhere to arcane rules that prevent them from lying.

While lesser fey may be known as creatures like rusalka, blink dogs, 1🃏68澳洲幸运5开奖网:annis hags, redcaps, verdant princes, and korreds, archfey are a bit more complex. An archfey is a fey being who has become so powerful that they've surpassed their former classification, leading them to become god-like among the inhabitants of the Feywild. They may also give themselves a title or claim land. Here are some ex🐻amples of archfey and their titles:

Titania

Queen of the Seelie Court

Oberon

The Green Lord

Hyrsam

The Prince of Fools

The Prince of Frost

The Lord of the Long Night

Iggwilv

The Witch Queen

While some archfey may have origins, such as a rusalka who had become so magical and dangerous that the fey around her pond started paying her tithe, others may be nature spirits of mountains, rivers, paths, or trees 🐷that have ascended due to age or magica𒁃l interference.

Some archfey may even be eladrin sorcerers or wizards who have transcended mortality. Hags have also known to cross the boundary from fey to archfey, and may be supported by a coven.

Most archfey control regions of the Feywild and will clash bitterly with one another over serious matters and vague slights. Typically, fey will group around them into 'courts.' The two most prominent courts are that of the Seelie and Unseelie: the former being more focused on art and beauty, and the latter being more focused on power and conquest. Both are just as cruel as the other.

Archfey Bargains

A darkling elder sips tea in Bavlorna's cottage in DND.
Darkling Elder by Brian Valeza

Living as an immortal would undoubtedly affect the archfey, and as such, many amuse themselves with making deals with mortals. Some mortals may crave power and reach out to the archfey themselves, begging🔯 to make such a🔯 deal to achieve it.

Archfey articulate their bargains duplicitously, often leaving out crucial details to the conditions of the pact or wording their deals as riddles𒐪 to confuse whoever is striking the accord. As such, many adventurers have found themselves giving much more tꦡhan they get when entering pacts.

For instance, an adventurer who seeks to heal his child's sickness may promise to give one hour of every night of his life to an archfey in exchange for a magical remedy, only to find out she's been using that missing hour to have him unconsciously burn the forests of the archfey to the south of her, leaving him open for her enemy to exact revenge on him in her stead.

Such is also the nature of warlock pacts. Often, they may take a warlock as part of a tithe owed to them, as entertainment, or because they may covet more influence in the plane on which the warlock lives.

However, unlike fiends, archfey tend to focus less on grand schemes of conquering and more on what the individual warlock can provide in terms of leverage, whether it's political sabotage in the Feywild or the retrieval of a magical item that could free them from their plane.

Where fiends may get to demand souls, archfey have to be more creative with their pacts, frequently demanding unconventional things in exchange for your warlock's power. Here are some examples you can use to understand how they bargain:

1d4 teeth from the skulls of every third kill

The name of an influential rival fey

Your first kiss

The color of your eyes

1d4 nights in the Feywild at the start of every ful🅷l moon

Your last breath

Your firstborn child

To fire🏅 an arrow of iron directly into the heart of a stag

The sword of your ally

A treasured memory

Many archfey believe themselves to be so above mortal concerns that they may endow power-seeking adventurers with their magic as a way to amuse themselves. For fey, the mortal may also be just another thing to have. After all, what is a mortal lifespan to that of an archfey? To them, it may♓ be like comparing the life of a butterfly to a human: hardly a comparison at all.

Due to the multiple ways archfey can come into existence, the personalities of archfey are highly varied. The personality of your warlock's patron may be highly influential when it comes to the development of a bargain, so be sure to make sure the line of communication between the player and Dungeon Master is open while developing the pact.

The Benefit Of An Archfey Patron

Dungeons And Dragons - Wild Beyond The Witchlight artwork of two people racing giant snails
Snail Races By Sam Keiser

Not only does the archfey provide your party's warlock with charming effects to keep enemies at bay and controlled, but also gives your warlock the ability to counteract charming effects by enemies in turn.

The expanded spell list is good, and the support that the warlock can supply will be invaluable in campaigns where political intrigue or large-scale battles loom large.

Otherwise, the roleplay value in the archfey patron is vast. Not only may the entire party become swept up in courtly politics, but playing a patron who may demand anything from petty thievery to moving a stone off of a path, to slaying a dragon in their honor could lend itself to bringing the party to plot points they may otherwise miss. The archfey's whims may also inspire engaging interaction with the fey, bringing a new plane into the campaign should the party exhaust the one they're on.

Whether your patron is beautiful and vicious or horrifying and clever, 🍎the archfey is no doubt a powerful patron to contend with and may grow to become a boon to the party, or the next great threat.

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