Otherworldly Patrons: Dragon Kings
The Dragon Kings are lords of the four seasons, kings of four cardinal rivers from their underwater palaces. Their main duty is to bring rain for crops to grow, to nourish life. However they are tied to the rivers that they reside in. Your pact marks you as a helper, not a direct subordinate or follower of the Dragon Kings, to bring rain and fertility to far-off lands that need it where the Dragon Kings can not reach.
Dragon Kings Features
| Warlock Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 1st | Expanded Spell List, Gift of Rain |
| 6th | Rain Shield |
| 10th | Underwater Palace |
| 14th | Blessings of the Dragon Kings |
Expanded spell list
The Dragon Kings let 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.
Dragon Kings Spells
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 1st | create or destroy water, fog cloud |
| 2nd | lesser restoration, warding wind |
| 3rd | wall of water, water breathing |
| 4th | control water, watery sphere |
| 5th | cone of cold, control winds |
Gift of Rain
At 1st level, you learn the Shape Water cantrip. It counts as a warlock cantrip for you, but it doesn’t count against your number of cantrips known.
In addition, as an action, you can call a 30-square feet rain cloud 10 feet above the ground at a point within 60 feet of you that lasts for 1 minute, or until you dismiss it as a bonus action. The area under the cloud is considered to be difficult terrain, and all creatures either standing within it or targeting creatures within this rain have disadvantage on ranged attack rolls. Creatures standing in this rain also have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight, hearing, or smell. This rain also extinguishes all exposed flames in the area. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish taking a short or long rest.
Rain Shield
At 6th level, you can use your bonus action each turn to grant you or any friendly creature within 60ft of you who is under either a natural or magical rain bonus AC equal to half your proficiency bonus. This bonus lasts until the beginning of your next turn or until that creature is not under the rain anymore. Creature under the effect of Rain Shield does not suffer from effects from Gift of Rain unless they choose to.
Underwater Palace
At 10th level, you gain resistance to cold and fire damage.
You can cast Leomund’s Tiny Hut and Wall of Water once without expending a spell slot as long as you are within 30 ft of a significant source of water like bodies of water, natural rain or your rain cloud from Gift of Rain. Once you cast either spell using this feature, you can’t cast that spell using this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Blessings of the Dragon Kings
At 14th level, whenever you use the Gift of Rain feature, you can choose between four effects to enhance the rain in addition to the normal effect using the tears of the Dragon Kings, each effect representing rain of a different season. Once you enhance Gift of Rain once using this feature, you can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Azure Dragon King: You can turn the rain into a rejuvenating rain of spring. Each creature in the rain gains hit points equal to your Charisma modifier at the beginning of its turn. As a bonus action, you can move the cloud up to 15 feet in any direction.
Red Dragon King: The rain now turns into a deluge of summer that affects an area up to 120 square-feet coming from a rain cloud 60 feet above the ground.
White Dragon King: The rain is accompanied by powerful wind of fall which tries to knock down whoever stands in it. Each creature within the storm at the beginning of its turn must make a Dexterity Saving Throw. It becomes prone on a failed save and takes 3d8 bludgeoning damage. As a bonus action, you can move the cloud up to 15 feet in any direction.
Black Dragon King: The rain turns into a freezing rain of winter. Each creature standing on a rain at the beginning of its turn must make a Constitution Saving Throw. On a failure, it is paralyzed until the beginning of its next turn. After the effect ends, it is immune to the effect of this freeze for the next 24 hours. Creatures who have immunity to cold damage, or immunity to effect caused by cold climate like Goliath's Mountain Born are immune to the effect of the freeze. Immunity to the effect of this freeze does not give immunity to the natural effects of Gift of Rain. As a bonus action, you can move the cloud up to 15 feet in any direction.
Eldritch Invocations
Coursing River
Prerequisite: Dragon Kings Patron, Pact of the Blade feature
The Azure Dragon King grants you a weapon from his vast treasury. You can summon a special pact weapon of any forms that does not have the reach tag. You can use Charisma for your attack roll and damage instead of Strength and Dexterity when using your pact weapon. As a bonus action you can extend the range of the weapon by 5 feet. The weapon resumes its original range at the end of your turn.
Water Mending
Prerequisite: Dragon Kings Patron, Pact of the Tome feature, 7th level
The Red Dragon King blesses you with the power of water healing. Whenever you cast a 1st level or higher spell that creates or manipulates water and deals no damage as stated in the spell description using a Warlock spell slot, you can reduce one level of exhaustion from you or an ally if either is at least half submerged in the water created or manipulated by the spell. You can not use this ability again until you have taken a long rest.
Royal Mount
Prerequisite: Dragon Kings Patron, Pact of the Chain feature
The equestrians are said to be the descendants of the Dragon Kings. While you have the Dragon Princeling (see below) as your familiar, it gains additional hit points equal to your Warlock level. It can shapeshift at will into a horse (draft or riding), mule, or pony. At 5th level, it can shapeshift into a warhorse as well. The Princeling retains its personality, alignment, languages, and its current Hit Points, otherwise it adopts the stat block of the mount. As a bonus action, the Princeling can change back to its original form.
Pearl of Wisdom
Prerequisite: Dragon Kings Patron
The White Dragon King grants you its Pearl of Wisdom. You can use an action to use the Pearl on a creature that you can see to gain information in one category: type, immunity or vulnerability, resistance, special feature. If there are multiple possible answers to a category, the DM will choose which one to disclose. Once you use the Pearl, you can not use it again until the next dawn.
Cloud Walking
Prerequisite: Dragon Kings Patron, 3rd level The Black Dragon King bestows you with the power to walk on the cloud. When you use the Gift of Rain feature, you can walk on top of the rain cloud as if it is solid land. However, other objects and creatures can still go through the cloud as usual. You can not do this if there is not enough space for you to stand. Whenever you use the Gift of Rain feature, you can choose to appear anywhere on top of the rain cloud as well. If you are on top of the rain cloud when the feature ends, you are put directly to the first viable location beneath where you last stand.
Control Rain
Prerequisite: Dragon Kings Patron, 18th level
The Dragon Kings allow you to create rain in a large area on their behalf. You can cast the spell Control Weather, but you set precipitation level and wind level to 4 immediately after 1d4 x 10 minutes from any level of precipitation and wind below level 4. Temperature level goes to Cool when it rains and reverts back to the original temperature once the rain ends if the original Temperature is Cool or higher, otherwise the original temperature remains. Importantly, rain created from the spell using this feature has the traits of Gift of Rain, but you can not use the Blessing of the Dragon Kings on it. Once you use this feature, you can not do it again until you have taken a long rest.
Pact of the Chain familiar
Warlocks who have been given the Pact of the Chain can choose to summon the Dragon Princeling, one of the many within the progeny of the Dragon Kings, as their familiar.
Dragon Princeling
Small dragon, Lawful Neutral
- Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
- Hit Points 18 (4d6 + 4)
- Speed 30 ft., fly 45 ft., swim 45ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 10 (+0) 14 (+2) 12 (+1) 13 (+1) 16 (+3) 14 (+2)
- Saving Throws Dexterity + 4, Intelligence + 3, Wisdom + 5
- Skills Insight + 5, Perception + 7, Stealth + 6
- Damage Resistances fire, acid
- Damage Immunities cold
- Condition Immunities grappled
- Senses Darkvision 60 Ft., passive Perception 15
- Languages Common and Draconic
- Challenge 1 (200 XP)
- Amphibious. The Dragon Princeling can breathe air and water. It is also not affected by any negative effects from Gift of Rain.
- Serpentine Form. The Dragon Princeling can not be grappled.
- Magic Resistances. The Dragon Princeling has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
- Invisible in Water: The Dragon Princeling is invisible while fully immersed in water or rain
Actions
- Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: (1d8) slashing damage
- Water Stream. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 30ft., one target. Hit: (1d6 + 2) bludgeoning damage + (1d4) cold damage. The target must also succeed a DC 13 Constitution Saving Throw or it is pushed back 5 ft.
Inspiration
This patron is based on (or more like wholesale ripped off) the Dragon Kings figures in Chinese mythology. Dragons in East Asian and South East Asian culture usually represent greatness and wisdom, creatures that would protect the land and its people, as opposed to destruction and evil that their Western counterpart represent. They are also creatures associated with rain and agriculture, of power, wealth and prosperity as well. They usually resides in bodies of water like lakes, rivers, seas, etc. The Chinese Emperor is usually referred to as the Yellow Dragon to represent his authority and power. Traditional myths claim that Vietnamese people is descended from a dragon lord. The Tibetan thunder dragon, Druk, is featured prominently on Bhutan's national flag. These all points to a prominent benevolent role in culture and history that the Eastern dragons have.
If it doesn't fit your campaign, emphasize that the Dragon Kings are foreign figures which both justifies their lack of presence and highlight the role of your character. DMs can also make the Dragon Kings not draconic minor deities but spirits, elementals, demigods or feys and a different alignment than good. You can reflavor this subclass in many ways as long as the major theme of rain and optional minor themes of seasons, number four and treasury are retained.
Designer's Notes
I have always wanted to make a subclass that is associated with rain instead of tempest, and this is the result of that. With this and my previous Four Wise Monkeys Patron, maybe a brew based on the Monkey King is coming soon.
Some might ask me that if Coursing River Charisma attack roll and damage is too good and/or stepping on Hexblade, I would say that Hexblade has a lot going for them and is agreed to be a very good dip. Bladelock is just quite weaker than Tomelock and Chainlock without Hexblade. So this addition is to make Bladelock outside of Hexblade feels good to use but feel free to remove it if you think it's troubling.
The Dragon Kings v1.0 credits
- Written by u/nguyendragon
- #003 by Artur Sadlos ArtStation
- Shenlong the Rainbringer by Natalie Gutierrez ArtStation
- Eye of the Dragon by Dao Trong Le ArtStation
- COFSA by u/GenuineBelieverer for brew tips