Warlock

Elsif opened the thick, black tome with trembling hands, cursing his own frailty. The sickness had come on suddenly, and his days were fast running out. But after months of sacrifice and careful study, of people telling him he was mad, he finally understood. He looked down upon the eldritch runes, written in thick, blackened ink of a foreign material. Finally, after so much, he knew the translations, understood their meaning. Shaking, he spoke the words... and was reborn.
And so the newly fledged warlock sat alone in the dark room, listening to the endless whispers of his mind, promising power and salvation. Through the muddle, a sudden demand burst through the cacophony with painful clarity: CHOOSE.
"Strength," whispered Edgar, "I choose strength." The warlock clutched his head in sudden agony as aberrant knowledge seared his brain. When he awoke, hours later, a black knife glimmered in his hands. Edgar giggled madly in the dark...

Seekers of ancient—and often forbidden—knowledge, warlocks make a pact with an otherworldly being for the promise of power and reward.
A warlock rarely stumbles into power by accident. They seek it out, against all wisdom and at great personal cost. With intellect rivaling those of wizards, warlocks decipher eldritch runes, pierce the mortal veil, and bargain with otherworldly powers.
Warlocks are much like wizards, with a few key differences. They search and study the darker parts of the world and multiverse, focusing on tearing the weave, bringing out powerful and forbidden magics. Warlocks focus more around a few sparks of explosive magic over the constant firepower that are the wizard and sorcerer, often instead focusing on magical tricks learned through ancient knowledge, such as constant invisibility or an uncanny ability to read all types of writing, no matter the language. Such abilities are unlocked through sacrifice and drive known to a select few.
There’s no such thing as a typical warlock. If it was easy to make a pact, everyone would do it. Some warlocks might have gained power through sheer luck, just happening to be in the right place at the right time, when the moons and planes aligned over a particular manifest zone, allowing a deal to be struck with an extraplanar being. While other warlocks may have earned their pact through research and effort, learning long-forgotten rituals to conjure and negotiate with the patron. A warlock could be a member of a bloodline with ancestral ties to a fiend, or they might have claimed an artifact in a forgotten ruin.

Subclasses

Official

Patron: The Archfey

An Archfey patron is a lord or lady of the fey, a creature of legend who holds secrets that were forgotten before the mortal races were born. This being's motivations are often inscrutable, and sometimes whimsical, and might involve a striving for greater magical power or the settling of age-old grudges. Beings of this sort include the Prince of Frost; the Queen of Air and Darkness, ruler of the Gloaming Court; Titania of the Summer Court; her consort Oberon, the Green Lord; Hyrsam, the Prince of Fools; and ancient hags.

Patron: The Celestial

A Celestial patron is a powerful being of the Upper Planes. Warlocks who choose this path have bound themselves to an ancient empyrean, solar, ki-rin, unicorn, or other entity that resides in the planes of everlasting bliss. A pact with that being allows celestial warlocks to experience the barest touch of the holy light that illuminates the multiverse.

Being connected to such power can cause changes to your behavior and beliefs. Celestials might find themselves driven to annihilate the undead, to defeat fiends, and to protect the innocent. At times, their heart might also be filled with a longing for the celestial realm of your patron, a desire to wander that paradise for the rest of your days. But true celestial warlocks know that their mission is among mortals for now and that their pact binds them to bring light back to the dark places of the world.

Patron: The Fiend

Fiend warlocks have made a pact with a fiend from the lower planes of existence, a being whose aims are evil, even if the warlock strives against those aims. Such beings desire the corruption or destruction of all things, ultimately including the warlock themselves. Fiends powerful enough to forge a pact include demon lords such as Demogorgon, Orcus, Fraz’Urb-luu, and Baphomet; archdevils such as Asmodeus, Dispater, Mephistopheles, and Belial; pit fiends and balors that are especially mighty; and ultroloths and other lords of the yugoloths.

Patron: The Great Old One

The GOO patron is a mysterious entity whose nature is utterly foreign to the fabric of reality. It might come from the Far Realm, the space beyond reality, or it could be one of the elder gods known only in legends. Its motives are incomprehensible to mortals, and its knowledge so immense and ancient that even the greatest libraries pale in comparison to the vast secrets it holds. The Great Old One might be unaware of the warlocks existence or entirely indifferent to them, but the often forbidden secrets GOO warlocks have learned allow them to draw their magic from it.

Entities of this type include Ghaunadar, called That Which Lurks; Tharizdun, the Chained God; Dendar, the Night Serpent; Zargon, the Returner; The Great Cthulhu, may all praise his lordship; and other unfathomable beings.

Patron: The Undying

Death holds no sway over an undying patron, who has unlocked the secrets of everlasting life, although such a prize—like all power—comes at a price. Once mortal, the Undying has seen mortal lifetimes pass like the seasons, like the flicker of endless days and nights. It has the secrets of the ages to share, secrets of life and death. Beings of this sort include Vecna, Lord of the Hand and the Eye; the dread Iuz; the lich-queen Vol; the Undying Court of Aerenal; Vlaakith, lich-queen of the githyanki; and the deathless wizard Fistandantalus. However, even a lesser being could be an undying patron.

Unearthed Arcana

Patron: Lurker in the Deep (UA)

Deep warlocks have made a pact with an entity that lurks somewhere deep in the ocean, or even on the Elemental Plane of Water, such as a mighty kraken, an ancient primordial, or a monstrous being from creation’s earliest days. Warlocks who take this pact serve as the creature’s eyes and ears, watching the world beyond its domain and reporting your findings. These warlocks may have gained this pact as a member of a cult dedicated to the entity or after your patron saved your life when they nearly drowned at sea.

Patron: Noble Genie (UA)

Warlocks under a pact with the Noble Genie have made a pact with one of the rarest of geniekind, a noble genie. Such entities are rulers of vast fiefs on the Elemental Planes and have great influence over lesser genies and elemental creatures. Noble genies are varied in their motivations but are all arrogant collectors of creatures, knowledge, and treasure. A genie values their collection and will protect that which they claim ownership over. Through the warlock's connection to the noble, they can leverage the genies influence and extend their ownership of things in the multiverse.

Homebrew

Patron: The Ancient Dragon

Creatures of innate magic and eons-old intelligence, dragons are beings of legend, destruction, and destiny incarnate. Though a secret known to few, the truly ancient of their kind are able to share their inner magic with mortals by taking part in an eldritch ritual involving a contract and an elixir of the elder dragon's blood and magic. This ritual binds the mortal to their ancient draconic patron.

Dragons are fickle, however, and notorious hoarders of both treasure and power—neither of which they give up without good reason. As such, part of most pacts between mortal and dragon involve the warlock periodically bringing treasure and knowledge back to their patron.

Patron: The Arcanist

Though they may not be physical gods or extraplanar leviathans, the most powerful spellcasters can approach a level of skill and raw might that well exceeds the typical mortal experience. In the quest for enlightenment and true understanding of the cosmos, certain of these mages find themselves in need of other, lowlier agents to go about the physical world whilst their consciousnesses swim through ethereal seas.

Some warlocks make a pact with one such arcanist, receiving a portion of their unfathomable power in exchange for a service rendered, loyalty given, or otherwise fulfilling one of the mage's needs. An arcanist patron may be a court wizard in need of eyes across the empire while they spend their time researching. Or perhaps a secretive lich sold the warlock a seed of their ability in exchange for the last holy relic needed to complete their phylactery. Whoever an Arcanist Warlock's patron is, they have given them a shortcut in arcana that they may have never had, which could be either a sign of goodwill... or an omen of inevitable envy.

Patron: The Chaos

Some warlocks make a pact with a creature that revels in the madness and infinite possibility of the chaotic planes. A chaos patron could be a powerful slaad lord of Limbo, an ever-changing and roiling soup of impermanent matter and energy, or perhaps a god of madness, such as Cyric, or a demon lord-in-exile in the depths of Pandemonium, a dark plane of tunnels carved by howling winds, or a fearsome giant or celestial valkyrie of Ysgard, a heroic plane of soaring mountains, endless battles, and boundless creativity.

Unlike devils with their carefully crafted words and con-tracts, the Chaos patron is beholden to nothing but its twisted whims. Many chaos warlocks find their powers to be a cruel curse, but those who embrace the chaos learn that unpredictability is their greatest source of strength.

Patron: The Dead King

The Dead King is a powerful undead being who, through dark magics, commands the forces of death and eternal life. Such entities desire to preserve their unending life above all else. They seek immortality by amassing power and controlling other undead and living servants. Beings such as this include ancient wraiths and powerful necromancer liches like the Black Pharaohs of the Nyssian drow.

Patron: The Dearly Departed

Some receive a true calling, and create a pact with the spirit of someone they loved, or with the god of death that was their jailer. This spirit’s soul has been returned to them in the mortal plane, and is referred to as their Dearly Departed. A Warlock's Dearly Departed can be anyone of great importance to you, who passed away with unfinished business. In exchange for being reunited with this spirit, the pactholder must pay with their vitality. For every year that their Dearly Departed’s soul is in the mortal plane with them, a warlock loses a year of their own lifespan. Once the business of a Dearly Departed is concluded and they are at rest, their spirit will leave the mortal plane and return to their eternal grave.

Patron: the Devourer

The Devourer - an ancient, primeval sentience that is the purest essence of hunger and scarcity. The Devourer is insatiable, but its hunger and thirst must nevertheless be constantly slaked, lest it grow unending. Cunning and shrewd but never desperate, the Devourer loves nothing more than to consume - and it will not be denied its meals.

The Devourer is uninterested in senseless slaughter or destruction for its own sake, unlike the forces of yeenoghu or other similar power entities of evil and chaos. Energy and matter feed it just as well as flesh and bone, although it loves sentience most of all.

Instead; its motives are to balance creation with distruction: what was once made must be unmade to maintain the ultimate cosmic order. The Devourer is happy to bide its time when this suits it; it always hungers, so waiting a little while for its plans to play out is often no trouble.

Patrons of the Devourer are not just its servants, but its direct agents, living vessels that are an extension of its hunger. What they consume, it consumes. In this way, the Devourer both satisfies its hunger and drives its aims forward.

Patron: The Endbringer

Deep within the abyss of the Nine Worlds, terrible beasts wait to unleash the apocalypse on both man and god. Through dreams and prophetic quests, Endbringers reached one of these fiends and agreed to become the vessel of their hate toward the living and bring utter destruction in their name.

Patron: The Genie Lord

These warlocks have made a pact with a powerful ruler of geniekind on one of the Elemental Planes. The Genie Lord’s aims swing wildly from inscrutable to the mortal mind, to startlingly simple and straightforward. Genie lords struggle endlessly to one-up each other, and rivalries between these elemental rulers can engulf entire nations. They aren’t above bribing a rival’s mortal agents to switch sides if they think it will gain them an advantage.

Genie lords include Astallah, djinni Calipha of the Bright Wind from the Plane of Air; Ghorek, dao Khan of the Onyx Depths on the Plane of Earth; Ixingaltrix, efreeti Emir and Keeper of the Molten Tower on the Plane of Fire; and Saliandla, marid Pasha of the Pearl Fane from the Plane of Water.

Patron: The Goose

The patron of the goose worshiper is an unknown and untitled entity, simply known as the "Goose". Some scholars theorize that it is known as the Goose due to Geese being entitled, mean creatures of death. Whatever the true case, these warlocks delight in terrorizing their enemies, causing mayhem for an untitled master.

Patron: The Great Wyrm

The Great Wurm embodies entropy, destruction, and consumption. Its followers try to appease it in the same way, and the lucky ones marked by it embody the dark one to its very core, leaving sickness and death in their wake.

Patron: The Grove

Druids aren't the only ones who command nature, and rangers aren't the only protectors of the wild. Less fortunate to begin with, and without the proper talents and lacking the attunement to the forest, a select few stumble upon the Grovekeeper: a powerful entity that is usually shy from encounters, that protects all that the forest governs. To aspiring warlocks of the wild, the Grovekeeper grants otherworldly powers in exchange for using them to protect the grove.

Patron: The Kraken

Warlocks of the Kraken have made a pact with an especially powerful kraken that lurks somewhere in the oceans of the world. Krakens are ancient and terrifying creatures; incomprehensible alien knowledge lurks within their minds, and the motives of this patron are not always clear, although usually evil in motive. Krakens are known to control the rain and storms in the region around them, thus drawing many farmers or sailors to worship such creatures in hopes of fair weather.

Patron: The Mer

The Mer Warlock has been saved from drowning by a powerful sea creature lurking in the deep oceans. In return for their life, they have made a pact with the creature, making it their patron. Mer Warlocks serve the powerful sea creature as its loyal servant, promising to complete any missions the patron gives them and gaining the ability to conjure and manipulate water to their advantage in battle.
Through this pact, Mers have also been cursed to be forced to transform into a merfolk version of themselves whenever they are submerged in water, however. The curse has forced Mers to be more careful when near a body of water to prevent a sudden revealing of their merfolken form to other people.

Patron: The Monolith

The Monolith Patron seems to be a rumored entity known as the Monolith of the Arcane. This being is a massive obelisk resting on a tiny island of a little known location, existing in the center of Pandemonium, a place nearly impossible to traverse. It's said to be a being that both creates and destroys magic, and is theorized to be a direct manifestation of the Weave. The monotlith guides warlocks to its knowledge and let them learn its power as a policing force of the Weave. Only the greatest of its warlocks truly understand the knowledge contained within the Monolith's scriptures.

Patron: The Pactbreaker

The Pactbreaker made a pact with a powerful being, perhaps one that was beyond your understanding. The pact set terms for the exchange of powers, conditions that had to be met. Whether by your choice or your patron's, the terms were broken and the pact is no more. Your patron no longer actively issues you power, or teaches you to control it. In fact, your patron may even be spiteful and actively trying to hinder your efforts.
Regardless, the issuing of a pact is an eldritch contract beyond comprehension, and its formation leaves the humanoid vessel changed. Despite the destruction of your pact, you find yourself imbued with a new and different set of power.

Patron: The Puppeteer

The Puppeteer is an otherworldly entity with the power to easily bend the minds, bodies, and souls of mortals to fulfill their ambitions. Whether warlocks chose this fate for themselves or were manipulated into it doesn't matter, all that does matter is that as a chosen of the Puppeteer, you play the role given to you.

Patron: The Raven Queen

The Raven Queen is a mysterious being who rules the Shadowfell from a palace of ice deep within that dread realm. Her ability to reach into the world is limited. Thus, she turns to mortal warlocks to serve her will. She concerns herself with ensuring that those fated to die pass from the world as expected, and bids her agents to defeat those who seek to cheat death through undeath or other imitations of immortality.

Patron: The Seeker

Your patron is an inscrutable being who travels the Astral Plane in search of knowledge and secrets. In return for your patron’s gifts, you wander the world seeking lore that you can share with the Seeker.

Patron: The Tanuki

Patron: The Tempo

If you ask a bard of music, chances are they will tell you that music, dance, and the written word enfuses life and the very magic that surrounds us. Some who call themselves bards push themselves farther, however, developing a communication with the very energy of dance, a metaphysical thought within our existence. This presence is known simply as the Tempo, a force which guides the nature of dance and song, turning it into physical power.
Those with the will to form a pact with this connection are often spiritual dancers, magical entertainers, or even jesters, but some pursue paths entirely different. Either way, to be of the Tempo is to follow the dance of the weave.

Patron: The Triad

Distant and aloof, your patrons are a conclave of three immortals that guard the destinies of mortals. In Norse mythos, this triad is called The Norns, who sit at the Well of Destiny, sprinkling Yggdrasill with its water so that it may never rot. In Greek mythology, these women are The Fates, weavers of the destinies of man who guard the looms of fate.
Although these women control the fate of all creatures—gods, monsters and men alike—they cannot prevent all the ruinous events that the future will bring. So, they are willing to strike a bargain, conceding a strand of their power to a warlock ready to do their bidding.

Patron: The Warlord

Lordlocks been trained in the art of war by experienced knights and warriors who serve under the crown of an interplanar warlord. These warlocks made a pact with this warlord to enhance their physical prowess with magic, forging a bond with their your own resolve and blood.
The Warlord patron is an unpredictable and cunning entity, yet one thing remains clear: it channels its thirst for violence and dark knowledge through the warlock, allowing them to draw the power and knowledge of what it knows of the universe. Its predisposition for violence becomes thirst within these warlocks, whether they desire it or not. It desires infamy, territory, and power—and you are a means to that end.
Patron: The Hexblade (Removed from 5.5F - merged with Blade Pact Boon)
Old Unused UA: Ghost in the Machine

Official

• Patron: The Archfey
• Patron: The Celestial
• Patron: The Fiend
• Patron: The Great Old One
• Patron: The Hexblade (Removed)
• Patron: The Undying

Unearthed Arcana

• Patron: Lurker in the Deep (UA)
• Patron: Noble Genie (UA)

Homebrew

• Patron: The Ancient Dragon
• Patron: The Arcanist
• Patron: The Chaos
• Patron: The Dead King
• Patron: The Dearly Departed
• Patron: the Devourer
• Patron: The Endbringer
• Patron: The Genie Lord
• Patron: The Goose
• Patron: The Great Wurm
• Patron: The Grovekeeper
• Patron: The Kraken
• Patron: The Mer
• Patron: The Monolith
• Patron: The Pactbreaker
• Patron: The Puppeteer
• Patron: The Raven Queen
• Patron: The Seeker
• Patron: The Tanuki
• Patron: The Tempo
• Patron: The Triad
• Patron: The Warlord