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The Machine
Your patron is an incomprehensible machine that wields both intelligence and incredible power over reality. This device may have been created through mortal design, only to far exceed its intended capabilities; or it may have been the instrument of a higher power, preserving order since the birth of the multiverse. The motives of these constructs are often inscrutable, either through deliberate manipulation or a bizarre protocol of communication; nonetheless, their ultimate goals range from carrying out the original directives of their creators to achieving the insane fantasies of a rogue artificial intelligence.
Expanded Spell List
The Machine lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.
Machine Expanded Spells
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 1st | grease, shield |
| 2nd | heat metal, knock |
| 3rd | lightning bolt, sending |
| 4th | fabricate, stoneskin |
| 5th | passwall, telekinesis |
Machina Arcana
Beginning at 1st level, you know the mending and shocking grasp cantrips, which do not count against your known cantrips and are considered warlock spells for you.
Warped Reality
Also at 1st level, you can choose to bend and contract space when you make a ranged or melee attack roll to extend its range or reach by 60 feet and grant advantage to the roll.
You can also use this feature when you interact with an object, perform the Use Object action, or cast a touch spell on a willing creature to increase your reach by 60 feet. If you use this feature to pick up a distant object, it can't weigh more than 10 pounds.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Forged Body
Starting at 6th level, you become your master's canvas, declaring the perfection of artifice over flesh. Whenever you take damage, you can use your reaction to halve the damage dealt to you.
You gain two uses of this feature, which are regained after finishing a short or long rest.
Steel Resolve
Starting at 10th level, your patron's logic-driven rigour teaches you to compartmentalise your thoughts and emotions. You are immune to the frightened condition, and you don't lose concentration on your spells when you are incapacitated unless you are petrified or rendered unconscious.
In addition, when you are forced to make a Constitution saving throw to maintain concentration on a spell, you can choose to automatically succeed after seeing your initial roll but before any of the roll’s effects occur. Once you maintain concentration this way, you can't do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
The Maker's Monolith
Starting at 14th level, you can summon an imposing column of stone or metal as an action; raising a 15 foot tall monument in an adjacent 5 foot space.
This nigh invincible monolith acts as a conduit for your patron's power into this realm. You can spend 10 minutes forming any basic structures or objects made of non-magical materials, or altering terrain within 30 feet of this monolith. Objects or structures removed from this area will disintegrate after 1 minute, and terrain will revert to its natural form. In addition, you are mentally alerted when a creature of size Tiny or larger enters this area, as long as you are within 5 miles.
You can also teleport yourself and up to 4 other willing creatures within 10 feet to the base of the monolith as an action, as long as you are within 5 miles of it. Once you teleport like this, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest.
This monolith is active as long as you maintain concentration (as if concentrating on a spell). If you concentrate for 1 hour, the monolith and surrounding creations are made permanent until you use this feature again to create another one.
Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest.
Credits
- Written by /u/PeanutJayGee
- Special thanks to the Discord of Many Things for review and feedback.
Art
The Order
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Quirks
The behaviour of the warlock of a Machine patron is not often directly influenced by their benefactor, but serving a being so alien to the thoughts and emotions of most living creatures tends to have lingering effects. The following quirks for a Machine patron warlock are made to give a little flavour to one who has made a pact with constructs of immense power.
Machine Warlock Quirks
| d8 | Quirks |
|---|---|
| 1 | You are obsessed with the form and function of all objects, particularly ones with moving parts. |
| 2 | You have an overbearing contempt for any tradition that defies logical reasoning. |
| 3 | You find it difficult to read or convey subtle emotion. |
| 4 | You always blink at regular intervals. |
| 5 | Your movements are always methodical and deliberate unless you make an extra effort to appear natural. |
| 6 | Your face appears unnervingly perfect, similar to a porcelain mask. |
| 7 | You can fall asleep immediately if you will it. |
| 8 | Everything must be ordered, everything must be in place. That book should be in the shelf, that mop should be next to the bucket... |
Your Pact Boon
The following are suggestions for the appearance and style of your pact boon as a warlock of the Machine.
Pact of the Chain. Machine patrons place great value on surveillance and accumulating meaningful knowledge; while most minions are capable of performing these tasks, the sentinel drone has the methodical intelligence and faculties to see these duties executed with great efficiency.
Pact of the Blade. Your pact weapon may appear extremely utilitarian, with straight edges giving no room for artistic flourish on dull chrome metal. Alternatively your weapon could be a complex amalgamation of clockwork machinery, taking the desired shape through ingenious mechanics.
Pact of the Tome. Your Book of Shadows may take the form of an ancient tome of forgotten designs, with rituals detailed in exact and engineered precision; or it may be a heavy coded log, containing dense machine language only you or your master could understand.
Pact of the Talisman. Your talisman may take the shape of a corroded pocket watch, an enigmatic mechanical cube, or an ornamental socket key.
Pact of the Chain Familiar
The following familiar is provided as an additional choice for warlocks who have chosen the Pact of the Chain, and you can choose the construct type when you summon it.
Sentinel Drone
Sentinel drones are small hovering automatons created with self-awareness to aid in their duties as guardians and scouts. These constructs vary widely in shape and design, and may be powered by sources ranging from imbued magic to complex machinery and technology.
Sentinel Drone
Tiny construct, lawful neutral
- Armor Class 15 (natural armour)
- Hit Points 13 (3d4 + 6)
- Speed 0 ft., fly 40 ft. (hover)
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 6 (-2) 16 (+3) 14 (+2) 15 (+2) 14 (+2) 5 (-3)
- Skills Investigation +6, Perception +6
- Damage Immunities poison
- Condition Immunities exhaustion, poisoned, prone
- Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16
- Languages understands the same languages as its master but can't speak
- Challenge 1 (200 XP)
Assimilation. The sentinel drone can spend 1 minute to completely destroy a Tiny or Small nonmagical object within 5 feet and regain 2d4 hit points.
Immaculate Memory. The sentinel drone can recall a specific creature or object that it has seen or heard before with almost perfect accuracy, even among those of a similar type or appearance
Interface. The sentinel drone can take the Use Object action as a bonus action.
Projection. The sentinel drone can beam images and emit simple sounds of its thoughts and memories anywhere within 60 feet to communicate.
It can also cast the minor illusion spell at will with a range of 60 feet and a spell DC of 12.
Actions
Flarebolt. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 60 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage, and the target creature is illuminated as if affected by the light cantrip; the creature can spend an action removing any bolts from its body to end this effect. This attack does not have disadvantage if a hostile creature is within 5 feet.
Searchlight. The sentinel drone begins emitting bright light in a 20 foot radius from itself for 10 minutes.
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Eldritch Invocations
The following invocations have been added as additions for the Machine patron. Your DM can lift this restriction to better suit the campaign if these invocations are also appropriate for another warlock patron.
Blood and Iron
Prerequisites: The Machine Patron, 7th level
When you expend a hit die to regain hit points, you can roll the die twice and pick the higher result, and you can also reattach any of your severed limbs during a short or long rest. You also fail only one death save when you would normally fail two, such as when you take a critical hit.
Cold Calculation
Prerequisites: The Machine patron
You gain proficiency in the Investigation skill. In addition, if you are not surprised at the beginning of combat, you can add your proficiency bonus to your initiative roll.
Forged Fist
Prerequisite: The Machine patron, Pact of the Blade feature
Your fists are transmuted into steel and your weapon becomes an extension of your arm when you summon your pact weapon, giving you a +1 bonus to your AC while you aren't using a shield and you can't be disarmed.
You can also replace a single weapon attack to strike a creature with your fist acting as a pact weapon with the finesse property, dealing 2d10 force damage and knocking the creature back 20 feet on a successful attack. Once you use this empowered strike, you can't do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
Gift of the Maker
Prerequisites: The Machine patron, 9th level
You can cast the animate objects spell once using a warlock spell slot. You can't do so again until you finish a long rest.
Seal of Primus
Prerequisite: The Machine patron, Pact of the Talisman feature
Your talisman can be placed on any entryway as an action, casting the arcane lock spell without expending a spell slot or material components. It can also be placed on any mechanism smaller than a 10 foot cube, such as a lever or set of gears, which will cause it to seize up and jam instead of lock. While the object is under this spell you can open, close, activate or deactivate it as a bonus action as long as you are on the same plane of existence and the object wasn't initially locked or disabled.
This spell will end if the lock is dispelled, if the talisman is removed from the target object, or if it is used to cast another spell. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
The Master's Designs
Prerequisites: The Machine patron, Pact of the Tome feature, 5th level
Your Book of Shadows contains pages that shift and change to represent the designs of any mechanical device (ranging from simple doors to clocks) or construct creature that you encounter. You can study a construct or device for 1 minute while you hold your Book of Shadows, at the end of this period you will know the following (where applicable):
- Movement speed
- Strength, Dexterity and Constitution ability scores.
- Damage immunities, resistances, vulnerabilities and/or thresholds.
- The rough difficulty to unlock or operate a mechanism (how this is described is at the DM's discretion).
If you study a device for 10 minutes, you gain advantage on any tinker's tools or Intelligence checks made with regards to this device.
