Crossroads

[Suteinu]

I have a Warlock concept, a Warlock who plays like a Bard because of his story. I'm planning on using the Performer feat from UA: Feats for Skills, for flavor and a little utility, but the main idea is that he's a D&D version of the bluesman who sold his soul at the crossroads for his talent.

The Fiendish patron makes the most sense story-wise, but I'm stuck with how to develop it beyond that. I'm not even sure with which Pact Boon he should go. Any thoughts?

[Consensus]

For the boon you could have: chain and have an imp giving you tips on playing/preforming or a tome that doubles as a songbook ect.

[Suteinu]

The Tome gave me an idea, Consensus: go Pact of Tome, re-skin it to be his guitar.

I'm also thinking about making the Performer feat focus on Tools: Stringed Instruments instead of Perform. What's the difference between them? Is Perform all-encompassing? Does proficiency in an instrument simply allow you to use it as part of the Perform skill, or is it its own skill?

Also, I'm now up in the air about a Patron. Fiendish is definitely more classic "Devil at the Crossroads," but Archfae and GOO could be more Loa-like, or just plain weirder. GOO has really appealing special abilities and spells, in particular; Fiend has one spell I really like, though: Command.

[MrStabby]

So what kind of patron would Papa Legba be?

Actually you don't need Warlock at all for RP purposes (If you don't want it). Nothing to stop hard magic being fluffed as coming from a patron.

[Crgaston]

For invocations, the ones that grant Disguise Self, Comprehend Languages or Detect Magic at will would be thematically appropriate.

If you like Fey or GOO but still want Command, and you have the Wis for it, a 1 level Knowledge cleric dip (just for mechanics... you can ignore the rest of the cleric fluff) would get you Command as well as Bless and Bane, both of which would be super thematic for inspiring your allies and putting the hex on your enemies with your music. It’d also get you Expertise in 2 Int skills... say, History for knowing about all the bluesmen who came before you, and Religion because you’re trying to find a loophole in the bargain.