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The Fathomless Patron was introduced into 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons Tasha's Cauldron of Everything as a new Otherworldly Patron, a being who may bestow magic upon their warlocks. The Fathomless may be difficult to understand as it's an incomprehensible being with very little established lore. In fact, it may seem as if the definition of what it is and how the Fathomless patron behaves seems to be loosely understood.
D♋ungeons & Dragons: How To Build An Oath Of The Wat🧔chers Paladin
Defend the party from the unknow꧒n as this versatile paladin subclass.
There are intelligent, leviathan-like creatures that lurk in the deep; these creatures will bꩲind themselves to hapless sailors or adventurers, extending thei🀅r influence beyond the waves and onto the land they cannot tread upon.
What Is The Fathomless?
The Fathomless, in the simplest terms, is a warlock patron that lives beneath the sea. If you want to get more complex, the Fathomless typically has an air of mystery surrounding its existence, making it Lovecraftian in nature without stepping too heavily on the Great Old One's toes. This could make for an incredibly tenuous relationship, with the warlock barely seeing any humanity reflected back to them by the creature giving them power.
The problem with the Fathomless patron is that there are no defined rules. Fey hate iron and cannot li🐟e. Devils an🐻d demons froth excitedly over deals and have magical resistance. Celestials tend to oppose evil and serve under divine powers.
With the Fathomless, more interpretation needs to happen. Not only are there few designated subaquatic patrons who can canonically bestow magic, but their resistances, methods, morals, and existences are all vastly assorted.
There's no "one rule" for a Fathomless patron, which leaves you with no real parameters. Your patron could be a leviathan or aboleth just as easily as they may be a sea captain cursed with undeath. The good news is that if it's underwater, it can more or less qualify!
Lots of patrons tend to have laws or control over a populace. The Fathomless does not necessarily guarantee this, as their power comes primarily from themselves, assuming they aren't worshiped by a fringe cult. You may find this patron appealing for this very reason!
Pacts With The Fathomless
𓆉Deciding what exactly this being gets out of the bargain is undoubtedly the hardest part of figuring out a warlock and patron. After all, if a creature has the magic to spare, why would it funnel it through a mortal?
It may be helpful to consider that Fathomless frequently cannot machinate above water and are almost universally limited to their domain beneath the ocean. Further, many have planar restrictions and are confined to places like the Elemental Plane of Water. A ꦏwarlock may be necessary for these creatures to get anything done on land or elsewhere.
The pacts themselves don't rely on written contracts or duplicitous wording. Instead, an interesting way to approach a bargain with the Fathomless would be to focus on the actual transference of power. They may grant warlock abilities so the warlock can act as a conduit for their might. After all, the Fathomless tends not to machinate: it's a force.
One could even hypothesize that a lot of Fa🐼thomless may seeꦍ organizing a scheme as beneath them.
Your warlock may be a mouthpiece or an ambassador just as easily as you may be an assassin. Conceivably, your warlock could have been tasked with eliminating the wards keeping your patron beneath the sea, or perhaps you have escaped their service with forbidden, thalassi﷽c ꦡknowledge you teach yourself, all the while being haunted by the visages.
He✅re are a couple of ideas t𒆙o build on or to spark inspiration:
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Elementals |
This is a great option for someone who wants to engage less with moral conundrums, as you can very easily craft a kinder elemental. Elementals are the purest form of an element-- a physical manifestation of water, in the Fathomless' case. Maybe a summoning went wrong, or an accidental capture resulted in the elemental trading power for freedom. Elementals also work well for familial connections, what with the existence of the water genasi and tritons. |
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Sea Hags |
Hags are highly unscrupulous creatures with motivations that usually end in their pawns drawing the short end of the stick. Still, hags love a deal. In particular, you can spin this patron into being a coven, which allows you to have multiple dynamics. |
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Kuo-Toa |
Kuo-Toa are known to have dreamed their god into existence. Such is the power of belief! For a god to exist, there must be a worshiper. An interesting thought to explore might be to have your warlock be the product of Kuo-Toan dreams, perhaps maintaining an illusion of control over the populace. In reality, it's the belief and evangelism of the creatures that keep the warlock getting stronger and stronger. |
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Undead |
The sea is a fickle mistress, and no one knows that more than all the sailors who have lost their lives to her. Drowned archmages, punished adventurers, skeletal captains, and ghost crews are all valid interpretations of patrons. Perhaps your warlock is the sole survivor of an ill-fated expedition, the watchful eye of the barnacle-encrusted former first mate ever regulating their magic, or perhaps your warlock stumbled upon a revenant seeking revenge for their murder at the hands of one of your warlock's ancestors. |
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Krakens |
Not everyone loves tentacles, but the flavor is baked into the subclass, so you might as well lean in! This patron works nicely with a creature wanting to be unleashed upon the world or be freed from its confines to conquer other sea areas. |
The Benefit Of The Fathomless Patron
The Fathomless Warlock relies on damage and control, providing ways to intercept damage and keep enemies at bay. This provides your party tanks with some support, and you'll get the ability to travel through bodies of water for up to a mile.
The expanded spell list is versatile and fun, with damage and utility being equally parsed throughout it. Spells like Create or Destroy Water are delightful at early levels, and control spells like Sleet Storm help negatively buff your enemies.
Aside from the warlock, though, the benefit of the Fathomless patron surrounds their customizable natures. While every patron can have some really creative aspects to them for both the player and the Dungeon Master, Fathomless' lack of regulation means that just about anything can go as long as you justify it.
Parties may find themselves in a myriad of side quests involving dead pirates, sapient whales, underwater fey, or psychic eels. It can also rearrange the flavor of your campaign, allowing a bit of the eldritch into the fantastic. The roleplay may also allow for new techniques, should you decide your patron communicates nonverbally, potentially intrꦆoducing visions for the party to guide them along in quests.
Finally, the Fathomless is beneficial because it can let the Dungeon Master introduce a big monster they can crush their party with in the endgame. Or, uh, to help them! After all, who doesn't love a Leviathan?
