I read the title as having a Warlock patron as a group. So a cult or something similar would be the warlock patron. It sounds like an interesting idea.
I thought it was a new type of patron for the warlock. Instead of it being one single powerful entity it is instead a group of powerful individuals like a mages circle or dragonmark House.
Good news everyone! Today we get to learn about how to play as the crew of the good ship planar express ship! Some of you may die, but that's a sacrifice I am willing to make!
Delivery doesn't need to be high level, though of course it could be. But the Planescape setting was basically perfect for that sort of game going off around the universe without being able to cast Planeshift. It established the idea that there are passageways between the planes and that over time these special access locations have been identified, recorded, and turned into a multiversal highway. That even the mundane and unmagical can traverse.
In the campaign I am currently running the players were "recruited" into a secret society which is basically a group patron. The recruitment process occurred shortly after they arrived in Waterdeep and I ran a standalone session for each player that involved their character waking up in an empty room with a letter informing them that they were to traverse a series of rooms as a "test" and that at the end all would become clear (yeah it was a railroad but all the players bought into it based off of the pitch, which comes next). Each room was a puzzle that had to be solved in order to move onto the next room. They had no idea how many rooms there were (there were 18 total) and I would end their session as they left the room just before the final one. At that point, after each player ran through this puzzle/escape room gauntlet when we had a group session I had all of them enter the hallway before the final room and see the rest of the party there. They then proceeded to go through the final room together and where then "recruited" into a secret society which wanted them to continue to do what they were doing but could "tap" the organization for information at times with the understanding when they did that they would need to assist the organization in return. Anyway, they agreed with it and the patron was someone called "The Founder". They have not yet discovered that "The Founder" is actually not one person but a group of ancient and powerful wizards/scholars with a thirst for knowledge who laid the foundations for Candlekeep (yeah, this is my take on Candlekeep although I still use the majority of the source material I have found to flesh things out). Instead of going the lich route for immortality they used powerful magics to transfer their essences into the libraries structure itself. They did so in secret after laying the groundwork for what was to become Candlekeep (because magic and divination... of course). Doing so allows them to access any book housed within the library making them the magical equivalent of was is basically the internet. They have access to mindboggling amounts of information (on top of being insanely powerful wizards). Most of the "help" requested by their patron involves retrieving ancient tomes and such on a dizzying array of topics (they want to know everything about everything after all). So far it is working out great and eventually I will reveal the true nature of who/what their patron is. This whole idea sprouted from the players always making libraries the "go to" location for gathering info (not to mention many of the PCs have sage backgrounds). I cannot wait to make this big reveal at some point. Oh and the whole point of the puzzle/escape room bit is to see how the players solve problems (and it was just fun to run puzzle/escape rooms) and if they had "the right stuff" that "The Founder" was looking for. :)
A small correction, VtM is not based around what clan you're in, it's literally ment to be based around what coteries, "an intimate and often exclusive group of persons with a unifying common interest or purpose", that you're in. It's one of the most important elements that makes a group of vampires an interesting roleplaying game endeavor and even possible in a setting built around few and powerful families. They handled that aspect beter in VtR though apparently to late to save the community from itself.
Another great thing is it allows your players to gt progress without leveling them up because there is only so many time you can level them up without rendering every challenge short of fighting a god pointless.
Like all tools, this can easily be used incorrectly and basically remove all player agency and it just becomes a Table Top MMO with quest givers. At the same time, I really think this can be useful for new groups, or can really help give the start of a campaign some direction. There's only so many times you can just happen to meet in a tavern...or you all get paid 10 gold to escort a wagon (like in Lost Mines) and just expect all the players to be like "hey, let's all stick together for no other reason other than we're a plucky group of adventures"
@@heathenpride7931 I meant in the MMO type style where you are pretty much assigned what to do by NPCs with big exclamation marks over their head. It's be very easy to railroad a group by having them work for an NPC who just tells the what to do. That possibility exists today without this book, but because it's not published, I imagine some DMs (especially newer ones) will basically take it as gospel that this can be done and turn their game into World of D&DCraft.
It's useful for new groups or groups like mine where most people spend a good amount of time arguing about what their agenda should be. They each attempt to RP their character to the point where they don't see eye to eye. A group patron quickly dismisses unites the party behind a common goal that all can agree on.
in a campaign I ran, our group wanted to become guild leaders for an adventuring guild. After a mission where they had to unearth a cult of a water genie, they ended up (some how?!!?!?!)) walking in, wiping out the cult, and even killing the Djinn, the took over the base above the den, and all spent time building the guild they wanted. We decided to retire those characters, and let them build the guild, and made new characters, working FOR the guild, that they just built. Kind of a cool meta.
I imagine a bard convincing a red dragon to sponsor a group with the dragon as their patron as a PR campaign of sorts. Where the evil dragons are essentially politicians who discover that they are safer from mercenaries if they pretend to care about the beings within their territory. Basically a scheme where if the dragon is killed, the group they are patrons of lose their backing. As well as the slayers of the dragon potentially making an enemy of that group, provided the dragon was deceptive and self controlled enough to make their sponsored group like them.
The idea that your patron changes over time, it gets a new leader or they start to gain a lot of power because of you. Does your party like the direction your patron is now moving into? Do they stick with the change, do they leave them, or do they take them over?
21:55 - Ravnica / Dimir would be fantastic as well! Everyone could be from different guilds, but Dimir has hooks in everyone, so they become the "team patron" for the team to get OUT of, but still getting benefits from being hooked while it lasts.
I was thinking a group patron a campaign i'm playing, It's a classic antiquity based setting and it's a heroes academy based on a combination of Plato's academy and Chiron the guy who taught heroes in Greek mythology.
im starting a campaign tomorrow for a bunch of new players who all wanted to play bards, in their first session they will be winning a 'battle of the bands' to impress the new Goddess of music who will become their patron and the more they spread her name etc the greater the boons she will grant, which is a nice way for me to reward the players without going 'here, you killed this monster, here is some loot it would never of had on it logically'
Can someone clarify what is special or unique about patrons? Itsnt this just the idea that someone is giving you work? We have always had that. I love the idea of having a patron, im just not seeing what they put in the book that is new or unique.
Campaigns can, frequently, be a bunch of free roaming adventurers getting random quests from farmer john, then the town mayor, then, etc. A Patron is a constant, singular group, or person, that you report back to after a days work, or send letters, and reports, to get guidance, jobs, funding.
Something that is an option is the patreon can be the the big bad and so your party is building him up giving them access to his objectives and then keep betrays the party
James is getting better & better at his vocal delivery, just wnated to throw that out there. Good delivery, strong cadence
Accidentally deep
"What can you do in the world beyond just killing monsters"
A travelling band that’s just trying to go on tour, but everywhere they go is overrun by monsters. Requires either Bard Class or Performer Background.
Check out Sirens DM’d by Satine Phoenix for this idea in action 😊
Battle of the bands
I think far traveler as a background gives proficiency with an instrument too.
@@sleepystar1638 yeah but the flavour isn’t really there.
@@PureGoldNeverCorrodes could be your wily manager taking you to new planes for gigs.
The one thing I wish they had included in Tahsa's that they didn't, is the appendix from Descent into Avernus about making deals with devils.
It originated in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
@@NxtGenDragon on what page?
I read the title as having a Warlock patron as a group. So a cult or something similar would be the warlock patron. It sounds like an interesting idea.
That was my original interpretation as well. Imagine a warlock who receives his power from a tribe of Grung that worship him (or her)
I thought it was a new type of patron for the warlock. Instead of it being one single powerful entity it is instead a group of powerful individuals like a mages circle or dragonmark House.
@@Ianwhale15 these are all neat ideas!
So, basically The Office in D&D. The Archfey employee and the Hexblade farmer keep having prank wars.
Good news everyone! Today we get to learn about how to play as the crew of the good ship planar express ship! Some of you may die, but that's a sacrifice I am willing to make!
Oh my god yes!!!
This would work perfectly in a party of all rogues. Your group patron is a thieves guild you all work for.
Delivery doesn't need to be high level, though of course it could be. But the Planescape setting was basically perfect for that sort of game going off around the universe without being able to cast Planeshift. It established the idea that there are passageways between the planes and that over time these special access locations have been identified, recorded, and turned into a multiversal highway. That even the mundane and unmagical can traverse.
Todd constantly spinning back and forth in his swivel chair
his mind is always racing, so his body trying to keep up, lol
It's a gigantic mood, honestly.
In the campaign I am currently running the players were "recruited" into a secret society which is basically a group patron. The recruitment process occurred shortly after they arrived in Waterdeep and I ran a standalone session for each player that involved their character waking up in an empty room with a letter informing them that they were to traverse a series of rooms as a "test" and that at the end all would become clear (yeah it was a railroad but all the players bought into it based off of the pitch, which comes next). Each room was a puzzle that had to be solved in order to move onto the next room. They had no idea how many rooms there were (there were 18 total) and I would end their session as they left the room just before the final one. At that point, after each player ran through this puzzle/escape room gauntlet when we had a group session I had all of them enter the hallway before the final room and see the rest of the party there. They then proceeded to go through the final room together and where then "recruited" into a secret society which wanted them to continue to do what they were doing but could "tap" the organization for information at times with the understanding when they did that they would need to assist the organization in return. Anyway, they agreed with it and the patron was someone called "The Founder".
They have not yet discovered that "The Founder" is actually not one person but a group of ancient and powerful wizards/scholars with a thirst for knowledge who laid the foundations for Candlekeep (yeah, this is my take on Candlekeep although I still use the majority of the source material I have found to flesh things out). Instead of going the lich route for immortality they used powerful magics to transfer their essences into the libraries structure itself. They did so in secret after laying the groundwork for what was to become Candlekeep (because magic and divination... of course). Doing so allows them to access any book housed within the library making them the magical equivalent of was is basically the internet. They have access to mindboggling amounts of information (on top of being insanely powerful wizards). Most of the "help" requested by their patron involves retrieving ancient tomes and such on a dizzying array of topics (they want to know everything about everything after all). So far it is working out great and eventually I will reveal the true nature of who/what their patron is. This whole idea sprouted from the players always making libraries the "go to" location for gathering info (not to mention many of the PCs have sage backgrounds). I cannot wait to make this big reveal at some point. Oh and the whole point of the puzzle/escape room bit is to see how the players solve problems (and it was just fun to run puzzle/escape rooms) and if they had "the right stuff" that "The Founder" was looking for. :)
A small correction, VtM is not based around what clan you're in, it's literally ment to be based around what coteries, "an intimate and often exclusive group of persons with a unifying common interest or purpose", that you're in. It's one of the most important elements that makes a group of vampires an interesting roleplaying game endeavor and even possible in a setting built around few and powerful families.
They handled that aspect beter in VtR though apparently to late to save the community from itself.
Also.... Having rival organizations helps the GM create random encounters.
I like group patrons, they're pre-installed plot hook and loot dispensers.
Another great thing is it allows your players to gt progress without leveling them up because there is only so many time you can level them up without rendering every challenge short of fighting a god pointless.
Like all tools, this can easily be used incorrectly and basically remove all player agency and it just becomes a Table Top MMO with quest givers.
At the same time, I really think this can be useful for new groups, or can really help give the start of a campaign some direction. There's only so many times you can just happen to meet in a tavern...or you all get paid 10 gold to escort a wagon (like in Lost Mines) and just expect all the players to be like "hey, let's all stick together for no other reason other than we're a plucky group of adventures"
I mean... what dnd doesn’t have quest givers?
@@heathenpride7931 I meant in the MMO type style where you are pretty much assigned what to do by NPCs with big exclamation marks over their head. It's be very easy to railroad a group by having them work for an NPC who just tells the what to do.
That possibility exists today without this book, but because it's not published, I imagine some DMs (especially newer ones) will basically take it as gospel that this can be done and turn their game into World of D&DCraft.
It's useful for new groups or groups like mine where most people spend a good amount of time arguing about what their agenda should be. They each attempt to RP their character to the point where they don't see eye to eye.
A group patron quickly dismisses unites the party behind a common goal that all can agree on.
@@colclark87 Agreed. The good definitely outweighs the bad for that very reason.
"Search-person's guide to Settingland"
Fingers crossed Santa brings me Tasha’s Cauldron 🤞🏻🎁
in a campaign I ran, our group wanted to become guild leaders for an adventuring guild. After a mission where they had to unearth a cult of a water genie, they ended up (some how?!!?!?!)) walking in, wiping out the cult, and even killing the Djinn, the took over the base above the den, and all spent time building the guild they wanted. We decided to retire those characters, and let them build the guild, and made new characters, working FOR the guild, that they just built. Kind of a cool meta.
I imagine a bard convincing a red dragon to sponsor a group with the dragon as their patron as a PR campaign of sorts. Where the evil dragons are essentially politicians who discover that they are safer from mercenaries if they pretend to care about the beings within their territory. Basically a scheme where if the dragon is killed, the group they are patrons of lose their backing. As well as the slayers of the dragon potentially making an enemy of that group, provided the dragon was deceptive and self controlled enough to make their sponsored group like them.
Aren't the guilds in Ravnica kind of the same direction?
Yes. Group Patrons is an expansion of that. I think Jeremy Crawford talked about that when Eberron was coming out?
@@Hey-Its-Dingo Oh As someone who started in early 2020 I never realized that Ravnica was older than Eberron.
@@DaDunge Yeah, Ravnica was from 2018, and Eberron came out in 2019.
@@Hey-Its-Dingo Yeah know I checked before my last comment.
Wow! I'm so happy to see James Haeck! Love your encounters of the week. I always learn so much from reading them.
The idea that your patron changes over time, it gets a new leader or they start to gain a lot of power because of you. Does your party like the direction your patron is now moving into? Do they stick with the change, do they leave them, or do they take them over?
21:55 - Ravnica / Dimir would be fantastic as well! Everyone could be from different guilds, but Dimir has hooks in everyone, so they become the "team patron" for the team to get OUT of, but still getting benefits from being hooked while it lasts.
30:35 - ya! xanathar kinda same!
I was thinking a group patron a campaign i'm playing, It's a classic antiquity based setting and it's a heroes academy based on a combination of Plato's academy and Chiron the guy who taught heroes in Greek mythology.
I'm saddened by the fact that they talked about organizations and institutions and never mentioned Ravnica.
Oooh that sucks.
im starting a campaign tomorrow for a bunch of new players who all wanted to play bards, in their first session they will be winning a 'battle of the bands' to impress the new Goddess of music who will become their patron and the more they spread her name etc the greater the boons she will grant, which is a nice way for me to reward the players without going 'here, you killed this monster, here is some loot it would never of had on it logically'
I have something like this I use currently in my group, but I use the supernatural gifts from mythic odyssey’s as a templete
Can someone clarify what is special or unique about patrons? Itsnt this just the idea that someone is giving you work? We have always had that. I love the idea of having a patron, im just not seeing what they put in the book that is new or unique.
Campaigns can, frequently, be a bunch of free roaming adventurers getting random quests from farmer john, then the town mayor, then, etc. A Patron is a constant, singular group, or person, that you report back to after a days work, or send letters, and reports, to get guidance, jobs, funding.
10:29 - Ravnica says hello!
Kingdoms & Warfare by MCDM. Group patrons, but with actual mechanical advantages and tools for intrigue. Just saying.
All this talk of group patrons, reminds me of 1st edition with named character levels.
Something that is an option is the patreon can be the the big bad and so your party is building him up giving them access to his objectives and then keep betrays the party
what do we think about a martial school like Shaolin as a patron?
Someone in Wizards is enamored with the fantasy mafia (and factions/institutions like it) and I'm here for it.
In one campaign I'm in, I've been playing a few different characters from a connected criminal underworld.
A Leverage themed group would be cool.
The dungeon master from the 80s D&D Animated TV show would be a good group Patron?
The guild from Final Fantasy 12 jumped out to me.
Currently adding monster hunts ff12 style into my worldbuidling !
@@Kanwarmahanvir nice that sounds amazing
I loved the dragonlance reference
Lauren's facial expressions, man. It's like she's looking through me, to watch the horrible monster on the inside.
She knows what you did
Either that or I'm contemplating lunch. One of the two.
i made a guild that links all of my character together
Fun video thanks!
I rolled 10 on my blue d12 🐉 🎲
Who else thought the guy in the thumbnail was using a cell phone?
no
Yes, definitely haha - can't unsee
DMing the Pateon like Cartmen from southpark in thegarden if betrayels XD
i want to become "the
Xanathar" ;p
No johns
+
first
This is awful. Just tell me about it. Please god. I want to know. Spit out the explanation.