Warlock Patron: Royal Guardian

</style>

>DM's Note: This subclass was created for the [Dark Tower Ascent](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-NMkbl0WF_YW_qN-dAwR) campaign on a special request from one of my players for a "princess" class. Enjoy!

### Warlock Patron: Royal Guardian

You are descendant of royal heritage. Whether raised in a castle or perhaps recently discovered your noble bloodline, you have bound your soul to the land and people your family defends, protects, and serves–and rule. That's part of it, of course. As the heir of this bloodline, your pact gives you access to a Royal Guardian such as fairy godmother, dragon spirit, ancestral pantheon, or powerful artifact that is bound to the same purpose. It guides you, protects you, and impels you to fulfill your destiny.

You gain the following 1st Level features and additional features as you gain levels in this class.

#### Royal Disposition
*1st Level Royal Guardian Warlock Feature*  
Your royal will is infamously compelling. Choose two royal dispositions from the list below. You have a number of royal disposition dice equal to your Charisma modifier. As a bonus action you can evoke your royal disposition. Once you do so, you cannot change it until you complete a short or long rest. When you have chosen your royal disposition, once each turn you can choose to spend one of your royal disposition dice with the following results. The die is a d6, and increases to d8 at 5th level, d10 at 10th level, and d12 at 15th.

You recover all spent uses of your royal disposition dice when you finish a short rest.
	
##### Imperious Curiosity
*"I must know."*  
When you make an Insight, Investigation, Perception, or Stealth check add the die roll to the check total.

\columnbreak

##### Impetuous Demand 
*“Daddy, I want a squirrel.”*  
When you make Persuasion or Animal Handling check add the die roll to the total. Alternatively, as a bonus action you may make a verbal demand. Before the beginning of your next turn, the first creature that uses their action to attempt to fulfill your demand adds the die to their attack roll or ability check.

##### Majestic Defiance 
*“Don’t test me.”*  
When you make an Intimidation check add the die roll to the total. Alternatively, as a reaction to an attack against you, roll and add the die result to your AC, potentially turning a hit into a miss. You may choose to do so after you know the total attack roll, but before the effects are resolved.

##### Pretty Little Liar 
*“Me? Never.”*   
When you make a Deception, Performance, or Sleight of Hand check add the die roll to the total.

##### Royal Tantrum 
*"Now you've done it!"*  
When you hit with a spell or weapon attack, add additional psychic damage equal to the die roll.

##### Vengeful Spite 
*“If I were wearing that, I would crawl into a hole and pray that nobody ever found me.”*  
When an enemy that can hear and understand you makes an attack roll or a skill check, you can use your reaction to give them a piece of your royal advice and subtract the die roll from its total.

\pagebreakNum

#### Royal Artifact
*1st Level Royal Guardian Warlock Feature*  
You have a magical artifact, a legacy of your royal heritage. This artifact can cast several spells of level up to your current warlock spell level. Any spell with target as self, targets you instead. As an action you can speak a command word to activate the artifact. Once the artifact casts a leveled spell, it cannot cast that spell again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast these spells using warlock spell slots. Any spell the artifact casts uses your spell save DC and requires no material components, except material components which are consumed, the value for which is halved.

The artifact holds concentration on any spell it casts, potentially allowing you to concentrate on a different spell. However, since the artifact draws power from a connection to your bloodline, when you take damage, you must attempt on a Constitution saving throw of DC 10 or half the damage taken, whichever is higher. On a fail, you cannot sustain the power and the spell ends. If you succeed on this saving throw you can use your reaction to end the artifact’s spell in order to succeed automatically on a concentration check for your active spell of equal or lesser level. You must declare this intention before you roll the concentration check. Otherwise, if you are concentrating on a spell, you must roll a concentration check for that as well.

If you lose this artifact or it is destroyed, you can perform a 1 hour ritual and spend a royal disposition dice to obtain another from your royal guardian patron. The other vanishes.

Choose one of the following. You may change this selection whenever you gain a level in this class.

| Artifact | Spells |
|:--:|:-|
| Ring of Disguise | *minor illusion, disguise self, invisibility, feign death, greater invisibility, mislead* |
| Love’s Locket | *resistance, protection from evil and good, protection from poison, counterspell, freedom of movement, dispel evil and good* |
| Broach of Enchantment | *friends, charm person, suggestion, fast friends, charm monster, dominate person* |
| Royal Scepter (staff or club) | *shillelagh, wrathful smite, branding smite, elemental weapon, staggering smite, holy weapon* |
| Fae Wand | *druidcraft, speak with animals, find steed, phantom steed, find greater steed, insect plague* |
| Magic Mirror | *guidance, comprehend languages, borrowed knowledge, clairvoyance, arcane eye, scrying* |
| Tears of Mercy Vial | *spare the dying, heroism, lesser restoration, revivify, death ward, greater restoration* |
| Enchanted Broom | *prestidigitation, feather fall, kinetic jaunt, fly, dimension door, far step* |
| Royal Ward Amulet | *blade ward, sanctuary, warding wind, intellect fortress, Mordenkainen's private sanctum, circle of power* |
| Circlet of the Sorceress | *vicious mockery, Tasha's hideous laughter, blindness/deafness, bestow curse, blight, geas* |

\columnbreak

#### Imperial Envy
*6th Level Royal Guardian Warlock Feature*  
As you connect with your royal identity, you become acutely sensitive to being outdone. As a reaction to another creature making an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can elect to use that d20 result as well for your next attack roll, ability check, or saving throw before the end of your next turn. Once you use this ability, you cannot do so again until you complete a short rest.

#### Fickle disposition. 
*10th Level Royal Guardian Warlock Feature*  
You can change your royal disposition at will. You also gain two additional royal dispositions.

#### Invoke Royal Boon
*14th Level Royal Guardian Warlock Feature*  
You may petition your Patron Guardian to cast a spell of 5th level or lower from any of the following schools of magic: divination, enchantment, illusion, or transmutation. Once you use this ability, you cannot use it again for a number of days equal to half the spell level, rounded down.

\pagebreakNum

### Credits

All artwork is original and created by the author with the Midjourney tool. Feel free to use for noncommercial purposes.

### Additional Reading
___
The following homebrews and resources also work well with the [Dark Tower Ascent](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-NMkbl0WF_YW_qN-dAwR) campaign setting.
* [Prankster Bardic College](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-MuGePG5vhy91C8jW2xs)
* [Battle Potioner Class](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-MvgVSsjwMwoabZZ3qEU)
* [Sigilist Wizard School](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-MwPi9KIb3S88Rg0XJV0)
* [Sorcerous Origin: Bubble Magic](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-N1vY55FK84Rkxlrj3CW)
* [Warlock Patron: Digital Entity](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-N8BqZa5_8q-zdTjfv3A)
* [DM's Guide to Better Roleplay through Stress Effects](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-MxbDaaIT0cQVn2ZJ8LX)
* [DM Tips for Better Roleplay](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-NFMklK65O-GdyO8ODpE)
* [Common Sense Ships and Airships](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-My0l0zufM1KiSZ9fnKn)
* [Upcast Mage Armor](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-N8ZV0xX9asGmUGNFCgU)

### Version History
| Date | Version | Change |
|:-|:--:|:-|
| 2024.07.13 | 1.5 | vengeful spite nerf: saving throw-->skill check too OP at low levels and with multiclassing and cuts in on bard territory too much |
| 2023.05.16 | 1.4 | Feedback: buff royal disposition dice to d6 to start |
| 2023.04.07 | 1.3 | Playtest feedback: made all royal artifacts have the same number of spells. Can cast each spell once rather than use disposition dice, so disposition dice refresh on a short rest. |
| 2023.03.05 | 1.2 | Added bonus action to imperious demand |
| 2023.03.02 | 1.1 | Added reaction use to vengeful spite |
| 2023.02.27 | 1.0 | intial release |