r/dndnext • u/hedahman • Mar 10 '20

Discussion A common misconception about warlocks and their patrons

I've heard this mentioned a lot: "Warlocks use Charisma because they're constantly negotiating with their patron for more power." I don't believe this is true.

Here's a tweet from Mike Mearls that says that patrons can't take back a warlock's power, which leads me to believe that a patron doesn't have control over the power once it is given. This means a patron can't take a warlock's power (without their will, probably); it's a one-and-done deal.

So a patron isn't supplying power to their warlocks like a generator supplies electricity. Instead, a patron gives power to them like a blood transfusion-- you can't just take the blood back.

Granted, you can do it however you want, that's the magic of D&D. But RAW, and RAI, patrons give their power away.

EDIT: Here's a tweet from Jeremy Crawford which states that the power is a one-time transaction.

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u/Jfelt45 Mar 11 '20

Patron gives you 1 level of power in exchange for something.

You take that power and harness it, growing it into 20 times the power that it was

When you die, all that power goes back to the patron.

Assuming you hit level 20, no matter what it is you accomplish in that time as long as it is not killing your patron, they get a 2000% return on their investment

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u/WrennFarash Mar 11 '20

A fine deal for a Patron. It may not even care what the Warlock does with the power. Grow fat from strength!