Continuing on our journey of understanding the Warlock, we’ve created another patron example you can use in your game. This week we’re diving into the world of Archfey Patrons with a singular homebrew example.
Archfey Patron: Som Liatria, the Eater of Dreams
Of all the Patrons a warlock could draw power from, few are as cruel as Som Liatria. A being that exists only in the realm of sleep, Som Liatria sustains herself on the dreams of her warlocks and their prey.
It is said she was once a grand being of the Feywilds until she mocked a celestial being traveling through. She trapped the creature with illusions and laughed as they tried to escape. That being eventually found Som Liatria, and as punishment for her actions she was cast into a realm beyond the planes, accessible only through dreams or nightmares. Som Liatria exists there, only able to see the world through the warped perspective of dreamers. She experiences everything second-hand and greedily gobbles up all experiences she encounters.
Meeting Som Liatria
A potential warlock’s first encounter with Som Liatria is always through their dreams. This is almost always a chance meeting, as few would ever seek her out.
She appears as a tall and slender woman with long green hair that seems to shift in and out of focus. As she approaches, you can see that her limbs and fingers are longer than you’d expect. Her smile can widen unnaturally across her whole face, exposing a sinister set of sharp teeth.
When she is seen in a dream, it appears as if she is erasing things from a scene. In actuality, she is consuming parts of the dream itself, which both sustains and grows her power.
She adores pleasant dreams most of all. She dislikes nightmares and typically avoids them. If she likes your dreams she may offer you a pact: a simple gift of power in exchange for your dreams and the dreams of others.
Som Liatria’s Pact
Accepting her pact means forfeiting your dreams to her entirely. She demands her patrons return to her through regular sleep. In sleep, warlocks offer up their dreams and awake with new wisdom, power, and abilities. As a side effect of accepting a pact with Som Liatria her warlocks can never cast Prestidigitation, or Wish by any means.
Being a warlock of Som Liatria also demands that you bring her others’ dreams to feast upon. Putting enemies to sleep rather than killing them is seen as an offering. Som Liatria is given their dreams before the warlock claims their life as both a show of respect and as a way to keep her happy and avoid her torment. Warlocks who fail to bring enough dreams may find themselves trapped in nightmares or waking quickly in a cold sweat, not getting the benefit of a long rest.
Races that cannot sleep are incapable of forming a pact with Som Liatria.
Communing With Your Archfey Patron
Som Liatria is only accessible through sleep, which she demands you get plenty of as her warlock. While sleeping, Som Liatria may share wisdom with her warlocks, instruct future actions, or torment them for her amusement.
Additionally, Som Liatria will take a warlock’s dreams. This manifests outside of sleep in several ways. Warlocks of Som Liatria can seem listless. Often they will seek out stories, music, and other entertainment as if trying to fill the void their dreams have left. If a warlock fails Som Liatria too often they may find themselves in a dreamless sleep from which they cannot escape.
Warlocks that Som Liatria favors may find themselves being gifted amazing dreams that fulfill a warlock’s deepest desires. This gift is rare, and Som Liatria always inserts herself into these dreams, acting out roles and enjoying the play she has created.
While these are rewards dolled out to her followers, they are often so well crafted as to become addictive and drive warlocks to fanatical devotion. Sadly for her followers, they often attempt to spend more and more time sleeping, which in time means they loose favor, as they bring less for their patron to eat. Som Liatria insists on balance in her followers, but does little to encourage it beyond making demands.
Breaking a Pact with Som Liatria
While it is difficult to break a pact with any Patron, Som Liatria’s reach is limited to dreams. If a character can find a way to magically avoid sleep indefinitely, they will be able break their pact through avoidance of the terms. While this would be difficult to do as items or magic that provide such benefit are expensive and rare, simply avoiding sleep for a long enough period is enough to break the pact.
A warlock who breaks a pact with Som Liatria looses the ability to gain more warlock spells, but they do not lose the ability to cast magic entirely. The now free warlock will loose all other features that their patron would offer as well.
If a warlock who has escaped Som Liatria falls asleep for any reason, they will take psychic damage until they die over the course of several hours. If this happens to a character, they have limited time to be revived and must be woken up magically, as normal methods will not produce results.
Warlock Builds for Som Liatria
When creating a warlock of Som Liatria, all Archfey patron options are available. Spell restrictions are only on Prestidigitation and Wish. When learning new spells, Som Liatria prefers that her warlocks learn Illusion or Enchantment based spells. As an additional bonus, followers of Som Liatria learn the spell Sleep at first level or upon forging a pact with her.
Role Playing a Warlock of Som Liatria
Warlocks of Som Liatria are in a way incomplete. By sacrificing their dreams they loose some level of creativity and desire that normal people would have. When role playing a Som Liatria warlock, players should seek to fill that void and devote themselves to pleasing their Patron in order to receive the pleasant dreams she grants her favorites. Additionally, players who choose this patron are heavy sleepers and should have trouble being woken up.
Using Som Liatria In Your Game
If you want to use Som Liatria in your game, be sure to remember she is cruel trickster. Players may choose her as a good option if they want to play a warlock with a problematic pact. Their choice can provide the DM with ample opportunities to insert your presence into the story and use the Patron as a way to guide your players on their journey. If you do use Som Liatria in your game, let us know by tweeting us @masterdadungeon.
If you want to try making your own patron, check out our article on homebrewing patrons.
Happy DMing!