Feylock RP

[SinisterEpitaph]

Anyone have some good source information or just general tips for Fey Pact Warlock roleplay? I understand that being a Feylock is -not- the same as being a fey, but how does the pact influence a character? Seelie vs Unseelie? Backstory creation? Ahhhh, so many questions!

(Please note: Not looking for this to become a build argument thread for Locks of any sort. Just interested in the RP)

[PinataPlethora]

I'm of the opinion that the most important part of any Warlock's backstory is a very solid, believable, and well thought out reason for why they took the pact, because that's what's going to come into question most often. You can sort of fudge information about your patron and pact, because that's going to be different for everyone, but when life gets tough, or someone presents a good argument against upholding the pact, your RP will fall to pieces if you can't justify the decision.

The easy way out is to be completely insane, and take the pact just because wubba lubba dub dub. Aside from that, there will need to be some defining event in the character's life that changed their perception of reality such that binding with a malicious otherworldly entity for power seemed like the most reasonable course of action. Building on that, the pact may have some psychological effect on a Warlock, bending their will to that of their patron, but I think it should branch off from the original reason for taking the pact, rather than being some wild personality altering shift.

You are a walking, talking gateway from whence spews forth the power of a maligned entity. Everyone hates you. Hide.

[Commissar]

There's not a lot prescribed for Feylocks with DnD - which can be wonderful, since it gives you a lot of freedom to play around. That said, there are a lot of excellent fey-themed pieces out there that are great for inspiration. My personal favourites are:

A Guide for Young Ladies Entering the Service of the Fairies

The Crux of the Matter (This one remains my very favourite Arelith feylock story. It's madness done right.)

World of Darkness' Changling: The Lost provides some awesome depth on the fey; too. A lot of it is specific to that IP's universe, but there's a lot of worthwhile things to pull out of the tone.

The Dresden Files also has a neat take on the idea of how bargains and rules work; which I'll happily confess to hijacking as often as I can.

[BegoneThoth]

Fey, in general, being very ancient and tied to 'old world' superstitions, tend to adhere to a deliberately hidden codex of rituals and beliefs and laws they can never breach. As such there are a few specific things;

Fey, if they do something for someone, want a favor in return. This is much like a diabolic contract, though the Fey are far less interested in souls and more interested in actions and material possessions. Help now could mean you need to give up your first born later once it's born, or go to a specific spot in a specific secret glade and plant a crimson red acorn on the next full moon for reasons that will not be disclosed. This is, to me, a rather important distinction, as usually other 'pacts' require you to, in some way, be AWARE of what you're trading, Fey are totally happy being written a blank check favor for some assistance, goading the pact-ed person into doing MORE acts for them just to attempt to get the deal thrown out, or make the Fey actually give them something that would even them out and end the deal.

Names have power, to Fey. Knowing someones true/real name gives them power, in a vague often unexplained way. In this a pact can easily form wherein a Fey exercises almost total control over the pact-sworn individual, because they have the name and therefore have his butt forever. Likewise, learning the true name of a Fey gives you immense leverage over them as those names are secret and deeply personal, likely never written down or spoken, and closely guarded. It's a belief that some Fey, upon death, reveal their true name, and inso doing define their entire existence, because that's how much power names have to these beings.

The courts themselves are alien and mysterious. They run plots that last longer then empires and you cannot know. Being pact-sworn to a courtly Fey means you may be tasked with preforming duties to advance the Fey's standing IN the court, but you should avoid instructions that have a clear result or explanation. A Fey may order a pact-sworn individual to take up herbalism, and demand they put all their energy into it. After 60 years of doing nothing but growing fruit, as instructed, they may take one single piece of fruit, before explaining that the only thing they needed was a fruit grown from someone with such intense dedication, and not reveal why or why it matters or what it's for, but they did make someone spend their whole life growing fruit. Which transitions into...

Symbols signs and rituals. These matter to Fey, a lot. While some say the Fey like to 'legaleze' things in order to trap them, I've never considered it right for them to do so as that's more of a devil thing. Instead Fey tend to value the meaning or intent in such things. The fruit above may just be a fruit, but it came at the end of the life of someone who did nothing but grow fruit, which gave it significance and therefore power even though by all accounts it's just a fruit. Simple knowledge, such as a vampire being unable to cross running water is law to them, and citing such laws or threatening to hold a Fey in violation of some agreement effectively traps them, much in the same way they entrap individuals, even though no literal contract was struck or signed, because the meaning and intent at the time the agreement was made is what matters to them.

Here's some reading for you; Fae are very rooted in folk and I think it's a good place for inspiration, moreso then a tumblr blog.

A STUDY OF FAIRY TALES
BY LAURA F. KREADY
[1916]
http://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/sft/sft07.htm (Specifically chapter 4)

English forests and forest trees, historical, legendary, and descriptive
by National Art Library (Great Britain). Forster Collection
Publication date 1853
https://archive.org/details/englishforestsa00unkngoog

A peep at the pixies : or, Legends of the west
by Bray, Mrs. (Anna Eliza), 1790-1883; Browne, Hablot Knight, 1815-1882
Publication date 1854
https://archive.org/details/peepatpixiesorle00bray

Tales of the Dartmoor Pixies
by William Crossing
[1890]
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/tdp/index.htm

[Gods_Kill_People]

From my understanding, you cannot on this server make a Seelie feypact, only unseelie(5%'s not included in that). Also Fey are also very give and take, so if they "give" you something, they always want something back, but if you GIVE a fey a gift without reason, they feel as though they owe you the entire world, more so if they become your friend. If they do become friends, the strongest words you can utter to them is "It would mean the world to me if you could/would" as it is generally their belief that a friendship should include such things, but again, prepare to pay it back.

[Tourmaline]

Just to reiterate the above, look to European folklore, there's plenty of inspiration there.

I know this goes without saying but, you don't need to know everything starting out. You have a luxury a wizard or cleric doesn't as a warlock.. You can literally have just gotten your powers today with no training or knowledge of what it entails. You could focus for now on the backstory of why this character would voluntarily agree to such a pact in the first place, then seek out others to explain what they really got themselves into in-game.

[Queen Titania]

I'd also suggest reading some (literal) fairy tales, be they modern or classic as inspiration. There's very little fey lore in DnD, and what is there is more or less mimicking real life tales and lore.

As for the rest, they are fey warlocks in the end and less feylocks, so looking up warlock lore would probably better serve the best fulfillment, with a dash of fey lore doing the rest.

[One Two Three Five]

I played a feylock that was literally not figuratively based entirely on the Changeling: The Lost game, here, and no one batted an eyelash about it so that's a safe bet to read up on, I figure.

Xanathar's Guide to Everything in 5th edition has some little randomized warlock-stuff-tables, I'll dig it out and grab a screenshot or two later.

[BegoneThoth]

I'd also suggest reading some (literal) fairy tales, be they modern or classic as inspiration. There's very little fey lore in DnD, and what is there is more or less mimicking real life tales and lore.

As for the rest, they are fey warlocks in the end and less feylocks, so looking up warlock lore would probably better serve the best fulfillment, with a dash of fey lore doing the rest.

Yeah, that's the kind of stuff I always went to, and what I linked in my big ol post there.

[Old Kentucky Shark]

Adding to what was said above, another great resource for inspiration is Susanna Clarke's 'Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell'. Not only is it a great read, but it also has a really cool take on the fey. The Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair just begs to be repurposed as a warlock patron.