Warlocks in Dungeons & Dragons are spellcasters who have made dark pacts with otherworldly beings, granting them dangerous and terrifying eldritch powers. While mostly skilled with magic, they also can hold their own in physical combat.
'Locks are among the most popular classes for players to roll up, and due to the strange nature of their pacts and abilities, creative players tend to come up with some unusual concepts and backstories for their warlock characters. Happily for anyone looking for creative inspiration, some of those players shared their unique ideas on Reddit.
The Monster Under The Bed
Every warlock has a patron, an otherworldly being who grants the warlock their power, which can be pretty much anything they want. While there are a few stock patrons for players to use, players can design their own unique patrons. One Redditor in particular has come up with a very strange concept for a warlock's patron being based on a classic childhood fear.
Dragonwolf67 describes a warlock concept in which "the warlock is a kid and their patron is ... a monster under the bed kind of scenario." As any kid knows, the "monster under the bed" fear is one of the most common fears to have growing up. Taking that concept and turning into a warlock patron being is certainly unique, albeit strange. While it's weird to see a warlock character that is a kid, given the circumstances of the proposed patron being, it makes complete since and shows a lot of creativity.
The Accidental Pact
Tragic player backstories are easily memeable, and many of these tragic stories belong to warlocks, mostly revolving around the warlock's story on making the pact. But some of the strangest stories players come up with are more amusing rather than tragic.
Cornpuff122 has come up with one such concept, describing a warlock that "stumbles into a Great Old One and swears a pact sarcastically because they think it's their friend grifting them." Friends tricking other friends like this can be amusing, but using this concept to make a character accidentally make a pact with a being really takes the cake - and really shows that the character isn't the smartest. It's a very weird concept, but it still works while no doubt providing entertainment for everyone that knows the character's story.
Edgy Warlock, Sparkly Archfey
Archfeys may not be the most physically powerful races in the game, but they make a great patron being for warlocks. However, one Redditor's concept for a warlock-archfey patron relationship is both strange and hilarious.
This odd concept from marshmallow_figs describes a dark warlock who "made a pact with an archfey, but they instead got an archfey in training, who is a tiny, sparkly, bubbly little pixie." The clashing of personalities on this scale is odd to think about, but also funny to imagine. It also could potentially lead to much character development for both the warlock and the archfey, something that every player loves to see in a successful campaign session.
The Time-Traveling Descendent
Time travel will always be a strange concept hard for anyone to understand, but this warlock concept takes the weirdness of time travel to a whole new level. Reddit user champion_ryan describes their odd concept of a warlock whose patron is actually their descendent who "travels back in time to grant them the power" so the descendent can actually be born in the future.
The strangeness of this concept goes even further due to the time travel aspect of it. It's a common trope for people from the future to seem powerful due to advancements in technology in the future, but to take it this far and make the time traveler seem like an otherworldly being is very weird, especially in a game such as D&D.
Granny Patron
It's awkward enough for warlocks to meet their patrons, but it's even more awkward if their patron just happens to be related to them. This is the concept that ThomCat1950 has shared, describing "a warlock patron who is ... the PCs grandmother."
The idea may be strange, but it also is an absolutely hilarious one as well. Being related to a patron adds a more familiar relationship between the two, and this particular concept in which the patron is the PC's grandmother, adds an even closer bond between them while also increasing the chance that the patron helping the warlock more than a normal patron would.
A Unicorn Snack
Lizardfolk aren't the most popular races to play in D&D mostly due to their personalities and the restrictiveness of a default member of the race. But this strange warlock concept could make the race even better to play that normal.
Rice-a-roniJabroni describes their concept of a lizardfolk finding and eating a dead horse without realizing that it's a unicorn, and that by eating it, "he is slowly being "corrupted" by the goodness." Many stories are about warlocks getting corrupted by the evil magic of their patrons, but this odd concept shows the complete opposite. The idea of a more sinister being of a race becoming a warlock and being turned good by a patron adds more character and creativity to this concept.
A Mutually Beneficial Relationship
There are multiple campaigns out there for masters of D&D, perfect for warlock characters to continue serving their patrons. And this warlock concept shows that, sometimes, the goals of both patron and warlock can work hand in hand.
Redditor daseinphil's concept describes an odd relationship between the patron and the warlock, describing a devil fiend patron that, "purposefully enters into a pact with a good aligned PC in order to take out his or her rivals in the infernal hierarchy." Often warlock patrons tend to make their followers do evil things for them, especially if they are good aligned. But this relationship seems mutually beneficial to both parties, as the PC gets to take out evil beings and the patron gets to rise up in the ranks.
Insect Swarm
Warlocks and warlock patrons can take all shapes and sizes, including some forms that are both creepy and terrifying.
One of the most horrifying and strangest warlock concepts ever comes from Aplesedjr, who describes an undead warlock whose patron is a being that has become an insect swarm. After a fire nearly killed the warlock, the patron swarm reformed his body and "basically always has a part of himself completely covering the warlock." The idea of a patron always present for a warlock, albeit as a massive insect swarm, is a strange one and really terrifying to think about overall.
The Voices Within
Warlocks aren't always the most stable beings out there. With this strange concept, the warlock becomes even more unstable. A strange concept from Ninni51 describes a Great Old One Warlock who, rather than getting power from one being, gets their power from "hundreds of thousands of tiny little sparks of outer planes magic," which culminate into hundreds of voices echoing in the warlock's head. As their power grows, so do the voices.
This concept adds a crazier twist to the common backstories of warlocks, who often only have one patron source of power. With this source of power coming from thousands of voices, it's certainly an odd concept that still could work.
4th-Wall Breaker
While metahumor exists all throughout various franchises, players would find it hard to uncover examples of it in D&D. But this strange warlock concept might just be the example people need to make it work.
BigHawkSports describes their warlock concept as a one who realizes they are "a character in a game/story," and one who draws their power from this knowledge. Essentially, the idea is what Deadpool would be in D&D. While many players are annoyed by fourth-wall breaks and metagaming within their D&D sessions, a concept like this, requiring massive time and commitment from the players and the DM, makes the whole thing, while strange, completely worth it.