The Nature Spirit Patron: When Warlocks Go Back to Nature

Thibalt hated when Oxnard and his band arrived in the woods. He would of course offer to be their guide, but only because his presence kept damage from the barbarian’s predatory instincts. This case was different: Oxnard had, unsurprisingly, ticked off a platoon of mercenaries, and so they were looking for help getting away from them. He sighed. Over the next few days, he made sure that they left no tracks due to his connection with the woods, talking them down from attacking non-hostile animals (which saved their lives multiple times, considering how any bears seemed to be about), and was able to negotiate help from plants to hide the barbarians.

The barbarians weren’t the brightest, and insisted on relieving themselves in some of the worst places, meaning he had spend time creating rash cures. It got worse when they foraged: One of the barbarians hit him with an arrow on accident when hunting a deer while he was trying to talk to a squirrel, but he was able to ignore the pain and find out where a great foraging spot was. Thankfully, his current experience with the barbarians was only a few days; he quickly enough got them away from the mercenaries and off to a local village, where they were someone else’s problem.

Some people naturally encounter powerful nature spirits: They either are introduced to the nature spirit by a shaman, chance upon the nature spirit and an accord is struck, or are actively recruited by the nature spirit due to their actions. They don’t necessarily serve Nature of even the nature spirit in question, but act as a buffer between nature and civilization, and help out during crises involving nature. However, don’t make the mistake that these are nice people: Some nature warlocks hate people by default, while others celebrate the harshness of nature. These warlocks tend to be conservative and little changing in their attitudes, but can be the difference between life and death for party.

[Design Considerations: This is pretty much a druid under a different name. The idea is that Nature frequently has a personification, and you’ve been able to make a contract with that personification to protect a specific area. Druid and rangers are your friends, and it’s likely you may multi-class into those classes as well. If your party is in the same area for years at a time, you’re likely to set up caches in the area; these will have arms, armor, survival items, and plenty of dried food. You’re frequently on your own and survival is your forte, so you may want to look at the Alert, Athlete, Chef, Durable, Healer, Observant, Poisoner, and Skulker feats. Magical Initiate may not be bad idea for the druidcraft, elementalism, shillelagh, and thorn whip cantrips and create or destroy water and healing word spells.]

Level 3: Spells of Nature

You always have certain spells ready. When you reach the level noted you gain the spells listed for that level, and they are considered prepared.

• Level 3: animal friendship, entangle, goodberry, locate animals or plants, speak with animals
• Level 5: plant growth, speak with plants
• Level 7: conjure woodland beings, dominate beast
• Level 9: commune with nature, tree stride

Level 3: One With Nature

Your patron wants you to be prepared for the rigors of nature. You gain proficiency in Nature, Survival, and Herbalism tools.

Level 6: Nature’s Favor

You can cast pass without trace without using a spell slot. You can use this ability once per Short Rest.

Level 10: Nature’s Friend

When you communicate with animals or plants, you gain Advantage on the check. Also, plants or animals that were not going to attack you or your party will not attack you unless you initiate combat.

Level 14: Life of Trees

Your patron blesses you with longevity. You age 10 years for each year that normally passes. You also gain proficiency with Constitution saves.