Otherworldly Invocations (2013)

From publisher blurb:

Patrons Like You’ve Never Seen Them Before

Wizards get their magic from studying tomes. Sorcerers inherit their magic from their parents. Clerics get their magic from their god. Druids get their magic from nature. And witches get their magic from an eldritch pact made with a supernatural patron…at least in theory. But the mechanics behind the witch’s patron class feature just don’t promote that sort of thing. When choosing between patrons like “wisdom” and “moon,” and knowing that the only real effect is a handful of bonus spells known, the excitement of choosing an otherworldly patron seems to just fade away.

This book takes witch patrons in a wild new direction that greatly expands them into something that can be fun and interesting at the game table. The book contains 10 new patrons, each of which is an individual entity rather than a vague concept, and each of which has extensive descriptions of his or her personality, background, and goals, as well as the types of familiars that the patron typically grants, information on other followers of the patron, and so on.

Even more exciting, choosing one of the patrons in this book does more than grant you bonus spells. Each patron comes with a number of mechanical benefits and drawbacks associated with making a magical pact with them, which function similarly to an archetype, meaning that one’s choice of patron is meaningful mechanically, as well as flavorfully. With 10 patrons to choose from, there are plenty of options, including:

• Al’Rajan, a crafy efreeti cursed to grant any wish asked of him, who attempts to pass this burden on to those to whom he grants magic.
• Irashen, a celestial general who is happy to loan out some of heaven’s power to mortals who will use it to fight evil.
• Jodan, an insane spirit obsessed with humor, whose magic is incredibly unreliable.
• Tesherazz, a powerful devil who empowers witches in his employ with the ability to make magically-binding contracts.
• Thyrvinistar, a powerful dragon who is willing to share his magic in exchange for nothing more than raw gold.
• And many more!

So if you’ve ever wished that your witch’s patron was a little less one-dimensional, or just want some new options and archetypes for the witch class, this is the book for you. Even if you don’t care one bit for witches, GMs looking for powerful cosmic entities to serve as enemies, allies, patrons, or temptations for their party will find a wealth of ideas and useful information on the various entities included in this book. Don’t miss out on this chance to make your game a little more magical.