Where did all the warlocks go to?

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

I've been reading the Doomsday Gazetteers lately ("S" is awesome. Also, at some point I need to analyse the literary quality of RL's in-world lore books.) and something bugs me:
The Gaz offers for each domain a section about 'the native hero' explaining what races and classes would fit in each domain and how they'd be treated by the locals. And the thing is, warlocks aren't mentioned *at all*.
In any way.
Not even as 'warlocks are basically unheard of in Lamordia'.
As if the class isn't even an option.
Which is weird, cause warlocks are the perfect horror class! What can possibly be more gothic than selling your soul for magic?
Azalin is, like, the textbook Pact of the Undead/Undying patron (I think he's literally mentioned in one of those subclasses' description). I bet you The Gentleman Caller is offering Pact of the Fiend to unwitting teenagers like some freak with marijuana-filled chocolates in the park. How many psions do you think multiclassed into the God Brain's GOOlocks as an alternative to becoming a mindflayer thrall, cause they were going to serve it either way and this way at least they maintain what's left of their sanity? Hexblade is literally connected to the Shadowfell, so... IDK, it must have *something* to do in the Demiplanes of Dread.
I'm even thinking about homebrewing a 'Pact of the Darklord' subclass.
Of course, as far as I know it could be that Warlocks were only introduced in 4e, but it just doesn't make sense.
Am I missing some basic piece of information?

[alhoon]

You have to remember that for 3e, warlocks were not a core rulebook class. They were introduced in 3.5, in the complete arcane.

In game, warlocks aren't mentioned doesn't mean they are not there... they are just not a native option for any domain, i.e. they are rare.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Warlocks in Ravenloft 2e were the male counterparts of Halan witches. They got their magic powers by manipulating a magic source called the Weave. The class was strictly gender binary In 2e with Halan witches/female casting priest spells and warlocks/male casting wizard spells. In 3e there was no continuation of this if I am not mistaken having only the prestige class of Hallowed Witch (or Warock if male) Van Richten's Arsenal p. 96-98, so still gender binary while the Warlock as a class was introduced in the 3.5e Complete Arcane, so it wasn't in the Player's Handbook classes. In 5e Ravenloft that was created after the outcry of discriminations in Curse of Strahd there is no such binary distinction and as you say warlock is an official class, while before in 2e it was a class kit and in 3e a class but not from the main classes. Patrons were introduced in 5e, I believe in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything so they were added later than the Gazetteers.

According to anyones discretion anywhere they worship Hala there are warlocks.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

What?!
Warlocks (as they're known in D&D nowadays) really didn't exist back then?!
Seriously?!
Is this a prank or something?

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

I checked... It's true... My whole life had been a lie...

[The Dark]

Warlocks in Ravenloft 2e were the male counterparts of Halan witches. They got their magic powers by manipulating a magic source called the Weave. The class was strictly gender binary In 2e with Halan witches/female casting priest spells and warlocks/male casting wizard spells.

If they were solo, that holds true. Covens gained spells of the type they were originally excluded from, so witch covens picked up some wizard schools and warlock covens picked up some priest spheres.

[alhoon]

What?!
Warlocks (as they're known in D&D nowadays) really didn't exist back then?!
Seriously?!
Is this a prank or something?

They didn't exist at all...
As they are now, with patrons? Yes, that's 5e stuff.

[Mistmaster]

What?!
Warlocks (as they're known in D&D nowadays) really didn't exist back then?!
Seriously?!
Is this a prank or something?

They didn't exist at all...
As they are now, with patrons? Yes, that's 5e stuff.

The Patron was there since 3.5.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

The Patron was there since 3.5.

Where? Is it the same as in 5e? Cause I haven't found any description of patrons in game mechanics , patrons are mentioned as background info for a PC, from where they get the powers from but there is no specific rule for them according to whom they serve as in 5e, or am I mistaken?

[Mistmaster]

Well, the concept was there. You had a superatural being who fueled your powers. It was more flashed out in 4th ed, though.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

Okay, I'm done panicking.
We can't change the past. The warlocks joined too late to appear in the Gaz, but now they're here and we gotta do something with them.
Where would they fit?

I'd start with Pact of the Undying & Pact of the Undead.

Darkon.
Most of those who join the Kagratane do so hoping to be rewarded with undeath. They hear promises all the way throughout their training. But it doesn't feel real until they get their first taste of pact magic.
You could be a low-ranked agent, blissfully unaware yet of your organisation's corruption, or aspiring to exploit your superiors in a (hopefully not too) evil scheme of your own. Your patron is most likely your commander, a vampire with centuries of experience in espionage, great magical powers and an even greater ego.
Alternately, you might have been sent by Azalin himself on some bizzare quest. (You could even play an "S" expy!)

Mordent
Congrats, you have the worst boss in history!
Maybe you're an indirect descendent of him and got the family curse, maybe he's holding your dead boyfriend hostage, maybe you tried sneaking into his haunted manor as a kid thinking it would be a fun adventure than got caught, and maybe you were just dumb enough to want this. Whatever the reason, you're working for Lord Godefroy now. If the campaign happens inside Mordent, he propbably jumpscares you at night just to shout at you that you're the laziest minion he ever had. If you're traveling in other domains, you communicate with him using a ghostly messenger who probably never wanted any of this.
Alternately, your might be more of an indie warlock. Your patron is a ghost you're intimately familiar with. Maybe it's your deceased grandmother watching over you from the other side. Maybe at some point in your life you moved into a haunted house, but eventually befriended with your incorporeal roommate. Maybe it's a mentor whose legacy you swore to continue, or a lover you've never moved on from. That ghost might not be especially powerful, and it acts more like a partner than a master. They might be forgetful regarding the events following their death (or even the fact they died), or stubbornly stick to the behaviour patterns that characterized them in life, but your bond offers them a conncetion to the living world - and with it, more mental clarity and flexability than is typical of their kind. The more you rise in levels, the more self-conscious your ghostly patron becomes.

Barovia
Few people in Barovia are aware of Count Strahd's nature, and of those who are, even fewer want to have buissness with him. But for some reason, you're one of those few.
Strahd is a strict and distant master, but not an unneccessarily cruel one - not to ones he'd trusted with your power and knowledge. The real issue might be the job itself - what if he sent you to, let's say, capture the current reincarnation of Tatanya?
You have obviously sworn to never expose his - or your - true nature. Openly using your powers in Barovia would anyway label you as a nefarious and untrustworthy type in the eyes of the suspicious and superstitious locals.
Additionally, Strahd expects his warlocks to adhere to the same code of behaviour as adventuring members of the Von Zarovich family (See 'Legacy of the Blood').

[alhoon]

I would think Strahd would not work well as a Warlock pact master. He has been burned by pacts in the past... honestly, I don't think he would go for it. He has other ways to compel mortals.
That's my take on it, though. I simply don't see him like that.

As for warlock patrons for fiends and fey... there are a lot more opportunities.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

I would think Strahd would not work well as a Warlock pact master. He has been burned by pacts in the past... honestly, I don't think he would go for it. He has other ways to compel mortals.
That's my take on it, though. I simply don't see him like that.

You have a point. I thought that he's powerful enough to be capable of granting pact magic, and that if I wanted to play a character associated with a villain I'd probably go for the most iconic one in the game. (also it could be hillarious to have one of Azalin's warlocks and one of Strahd's warlocks in the same party) But maybe it's not really his thing.

[The Dark]

Personality-wise, Lyssa would be more likely to be a patron, but she's probably not powerful enough. Baron Urik von Kharkov would probably be my top candidate for a vampiric patron, looking for more followers after his werepanthers weren't enough to prevent revolts during the Grand Conjunction. A dark horse candidate would be Duke Nharov Gundar after his resurrection in Children of the Night: Werebeasts, where he's now an ex-Darklord wandering freely through the Core.

The other other "obvious" option would be Kas, but Kas has had a firm grasp of the Idiot Ball for a while now and might not be the best choice for a patron.

(Seriously, there are a lot of vampire Darklords - I didn't offer ideas for Prince Ladislav Mircea or Dr. Dominiani or any of the 4e additions like Magroth the Mad...)

[alhoon]

v-Kharkof is IMO a very attractive option but for homebrew pact.