Today is the start of the #RPGaDAY2025.
This year, in addition to the prompts detailed below, I am going to write a lot on my Occult D&D project and some upcoming adventure ideas. It will help me focus on where those projects need to go.
We start this year’s #RPGaDAY with Patron, and I’m diving in with something near and dear to my design heart: Patrons for witches and warlocks.
Now, the usual suspects are easy to name; demons, devils, faerie lords and ladies, and Lovecraftian horrors from beyond the veil. And yes, I use all of them. Often. Enthusiastically.
But lately I’ve been thinking more about the other kinds of patrons. The less obvious ones. The ones that add flavor and complexity beyond the usual infernal bargain.
Here are a few I’ve been playing around with:
Dragons
Honestly, I should have done this ages ago. My oldest is dragon-obsessed, and I’ve lost count of how many dragon miniatures, plushies, and LEGO sets we have in the house.
Dragons are ancient, magical, and powerful. Why wouldn’t a warlock or witch swear themselves to a mighty drake of time or flame? Not just as treasure-hoarding monsters, but as elemental, almost divine beings with long memories and stranger agendas. Only the most ancient and cunning ones offer pacts, and they always come with a price.
Angels
This one’s a bit unexpected, but stick with me.
Crack open any New Age spellbook or Victorian spiritualist guide, and you’ll find incantations invoking angels, Raphael, Michael, Uriel, and so on.
Why should only demons offer deals?
The Watchers of Enochian lore taught witchcraft, after all. And their punishment? Eternal exile, watching their children, the Nephilim, fall. There’s something beautiful and tragic there. An angelic patron might offer guidance, power, or forbidden knowledge, but at what cost to their divine purpose?
Animal Lords
Briefly touched on this in one of my warlock projects, but worth revisiting. These are like the Archfey, but aligned with the primal wild. Lords of the Fox, the Raven, the Serpent, the Stag, each with their own ancient cults, taboos, and riddles. A warlock bound to the Panther Lord might wear shadows like a cloak. A witch devoted to the La Lechuza, the Owl Queen, might speak only in questions and dreams.
Witch Queens
When a witch becomes powerful enough, she doesn’t kneel to a patron, she becomes one.
Witch Queens are legendary figures of folklore and power. Some, like Aradia, are benevolent guides. Others, like Babylon, the Mother of Harlots, demand devotion, transformation, and sacrifice. These patrons are perfect for witches who walk the line between mortal and myth.
Daimons
Not demons. Not daemons. Not even spirits in the traditional D&D sense.
Daimons, in the Platonic and Gnostic traditions, are spirits of knowledge—divine intermediaries who speak in symbols, guide seekers to hidden truths, and sometimes lead them into madness. A warlock who binds themselves to a daimon may not fully understand what they've done. But the dreams come anyway. And the visions never lie.
Honestly, I have way more, an absurd number, really. But these are some of my favorites right now. I love patrons that aren’t just “here’s some spells, go cause chaos,” but instead add weight and weirdness to a character’s story. The best patrons change their warlocks and witches. Slowly. Irrevocably.
And that’s where the real fun begins.
Questions
There are also questions I can answer. So let's roll and see what I get.
I got "How," "Grateful," and "Person."
Translating..."Who is a Person I am Grateful for and How?"
Hmm...Assuming I am keeping this in the game sphere...I am going to say Len Lakofka. Len passed away a few years ago, but not before we could establish a good online correspondence. His articles in Dragon were some of my favorite, so being able to talk to him much later in my life was a real treat. I am sad to see he is gone.
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