How to Play a Deal Maker WITHOUT Needing to Know Everything

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Күн бұрын

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How do you play a Deal Maker WITHOUT needing to know everything?
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Пікірлер: 289

@HiImFoxx 2 ай бұрын

The artificer section reminded me of a thing i worked with my dm on. I didn't trust our fighter, so I made him a suit of armor and infused it, so should he decide to go against me I could simply break the enchantments that made the armor functional. High recommendation.

@Pandormu 2 ай бұрын

i had a chr who was pro-bbeg, as a reward for defeating one of the vampire defectors he gave me a suit of red armor, which ignored strength requirements, we found out later it was a animated armor so the second I went against the big bad he had it walk way and start to fight us. fun moments.

@aaronwhodrums5438 2 ай бұрын

Meaning you, a player, had agency over another player's ability to play their class? Idk... About that. Hopefully it was discussed

@nicho.7400 2 ай бұрын

⁠@@aaronwhodrums5438I highly doubt that adding a function to an item that states “if you actively decide to fuck me over, this item becomes useless to you” will have any affect at all to the players ability to play a fighter.

@aaronwhodrums5438 2 ай бұрын

@@nicho.7400 ultimately, I assume this was agreed upon and is fine. But it's still a power dynamic of "i can take away your armor bonus at any point" can be dicey... My philosophy is that no player can have agency over another player unless agreed by both parties. If a player fucks someone over, they'll be leaving my table

@Pandormu 2 ай бұрын

@@aaronwhodrums5438 i was the player, it was curse of strahd which does not have plate armor in reach of the players you dont get enough gold to buy anything, so it was fine. i was also playing an echo knight/warlock multi so i just did some ranged until i got my leather armor back and on, which was a few hrs the bbeg did the armor swap in one of the towns, when i showed that i did not trust him entirely.

@TechtonixZi 2 ай бұрын

in my homebrew, warlocks can attempt to make pacts themselves, possibly gaining greater power, spells, items, etc, OR they can go through an agency that argues on their behalf, setting protections in place, soul use limits, costs, etc. So when one of the BIG devils showed up to talk to the party, the barbarian offered up WHATEVER THE DEVIL WANTED in exchange for clues about the story and mcguffin. The warlock and rogue were like "bro what, without legal representation?!"

@XFizzlepop-Berrytwist 2 ай бұрын

Thats really cool! Would like to try that with a Sorcerer as well, or something given they are supposed to have a strong magical lineage, especially if their race is something a bit extra, Teifling for example.

@franconunez925 2 ай бұрын

Devil: I mean... I can directly show you all the way to him and try get a lost of weaknesses by tomorrow, but... Can you partake in contracts with your... Less than ideal intelligence, I mean, you know where your guardians/tutor are?

@Evelyn-rb1zj 2 ай бұрын

⁠@@franconunez925me who always give my warlocks decent to high intelligence (depending on my rolls) for this reason: who's intelligence are you insulting?

@jacobweatherford4696 2 ай бұрын

I actually made a warlock who was a deal maker his whole backstory was that he was a salesman that caught the eye of an arch fey and they offered him a job he makes deals on their behalf and they give him magical power he can do what he likes with.

@ElderonAnalas 2 ай бұрын

I love that lol, my hellhound lawyer would be really on that warlock and rogue's side.

@InkyPetrel 2 ай бұрын

LOVE a deal-maker. One of my favourite archetypes. There's often overlap with trickster archetypes, as well as often some fae logic/morality, and it all just makes my inner folklore nerd happy. You KNOW the deal maker is going to be trouble, but most of the time you WANT to like them, they're charming, after all! Surely one little deal can't hurt... "Pretempt" new word just dropped! :D I enjoy the mental image of a barbarian who refuses to rage unless there's something in it for them. Just casually leaning against a wall while the bard gets flung through the air by a BBEG (again). "Could use a little help here!?" "You gonna let me use your go faster boots?" "Fine! FINE! just HELP!"

@zombielepra1726 2 ай бұрын

I also love the concept, for the campaign one of the people in my group will be running I’m going to be playing a Half-Orc Fey Wanderer Ranger, They want to be a Fey Warlock but has failed to form a pact with a Fey so they have travelled for yrs along side a fey spirt hoping to convince it to become its patron but the Fey has been leading the Ranger on and sending him off in a direction to watch the character but in turn the Ranger has started to become Fey-like becoming more and more like one especially focused on deal making, especially ones in their favor

@jacobweatherford4696 2 ай бұрын

I have a warlock whos a deal maker too became a fey warlock because of how good he was at making deals they wanted him to basically make contracts on their behalf.

@crazy36069 2 ай бұрын

I think a fun and mechanical way to make deals is to use the UA feature of the Ceremony spell: “Investiture (UA). You touch one willing humanoid. Choose one 1st-level spell you have prepared and expend a spell slot and any material components as if you were casting that spell. The spell has no effect. Instead, the target can cast this spell once without having to expend a spell slot or use material components. If the target doesn’t cast the spell within 1 hour, the invested spell is lost.” Pretty much, as a PC, you could basically make some commoner a weaker version of a Warlock, by giving them a spell for accomplishing some task.

@rpgincorporated8302 2 ай бұрын

Ooh, Ceremony is one of my favorite spells for the Spell Tattoo infusion since you can make Holy Water for free if you don't use it for anything else before you long rest, but this is a fun way to use it! Heck, maybe we could reflavor a spell tattoo needle as a contract written in blood as you press the needle to the skin to activate its effect!

@nicholascasey6473 2 ай бұрын

Choose a first level spell you have prepared and expend a spell slot. Does not define what leveled spell slot is expended. Edit for clarification: cast ceremony to give a creature a first leveled spell you have prepared, lets say hellish rebuke or burning hands, or even searing smite. Upcast the spell to 4th level, now a creature you chose can use a first level spell with a 4th leveled spell slot. Even if this does not work, given you can give any creature a 1st level spell like find familiar. Give your familiar a spell tattoo or investiture ceremony of find familiar.

@ChaoticNeutralMatt 2 ай бұрын

That's actually kinda amazing. I see some potential there.

@mikebakster2540 2 ай бұрын

I'm actually playing a deal maker, who technically speaking has absolutely ripped off a higher power being, the being though is a CEO who my character was more than happy to take for all he's worth. It's been so fun, walking around like I know everything, when in all reality the m has barely given me much of anything, but I've been piecing together shit, pef and right.

@Axexl 2 ай бұрын

"I'm gonna spoil Hazbin Hotel. So why not spoil Yourself, with some neat dice?" I got you Jay, for next time.

@Psil33t 2 ай бұрын

The main missing link in making a magic dealmaker is the lack of any method to compel the other side to follow through. In Hazbin all the flashing green lights and the symbolism of the strings is to let us know that in the future when Alastor calls in his "little favor" Charlie will have no choice but to comply. That's where things like lending out magic items as an artificer or favors as a warlock fall short, d&d doesn't have a mechanic of forced compliance other than say Geas which we can all agree is far too high level to really be relevant here.

@gabrote42 2 ай бұрын

Most commentd here mention the benefits turning off and themselves becoming the penalty. You don't have to force them, as long as the item can kill the character

@Mr.hoppsgameing 2 ай бұрын

Maby friends it is a cantrip.

@okamitsu1212 2 ай бұрын

If you look up Verdant Prince(deal maker and rulers of the feywild). It’s a thing. If someone breaks the deal they immediately fall ill, and the other person on the deal is given their location and will continue to know this information. I don’t know too much about it, but being sick and alerting your “partner” that you broke the deal is a convincing way to keep things going.

@AntiPandaBear 2 ай бұрын

maruts enforce contracts lol

@zekejanczewski7275 2 ай бұрын

I don't think "forced compliance" is good. I see signing a contract as a overcomplicated death spell. It makes more sence if there is something that lies dormant unless certian conditions are met. Like a NDA that makes you explode if you mention something. Or something that requiinterview lie for 2 hours during an interveiw. If forced compliance was a thing, I'd write a 1 party contract forcing me to clean my room.

@mastertofu 2 ай бұрын

I am playing a dealmaker warlock. I love making deals. My character doesn't typically give power, but provides services. The deal with her patron is the main example. Her patron is desperate for freedom and in exchange for the freedom he gives her, she will free him too. She is her patron's only hope and only friend and it's that dynamic that led her to make a beneficial deal. The actual campaign though? The most recent deal made in character was with another dealmaker. This NPC typically deals in time, which my PC absolutely rejects. Then the NPC asked for the true name of my PC's father, someone my PC hated and a big political figure in his plane. It's surprisingly power I have as a PC where I lose nothing and the both of us gain something. I think it's really cool, neither of us plan to gain at the expense of the other but we certainly want the best out of this exchange. I love my DM for making that deal possible. He knew I want to play a dealmaker. I never got to roll anything because DM loves roleplay, and simply had to convince NPCs to agree to my terms. It's so fun. There's moments where I can clearly tell my DM is throwing me a bone, and there are moments I genuinely outsmarted his NPCs. There's just something satisfying about dealing with people more powerful than I ever could be yet coming out losing basically nothing.

@cillacowz2668 2 ай бұрын

This reminds me of a character concept I have an aasimar life cleric who’s all about this, he’ll only heal for their servitude and gratitude, he goes after people who he believes are susceptible to his charisma and need something desperately

@7OwlsWithALaptop 2 ай бұрын

The US Healthcare system

@jaxcraft2848 2 ай бұрын

Bill AND Alastor in the thumbnail!? YES!

@StrayVagabond 2 ай бұрын

You could play a djinn. You can basically cast wish for free, but only in response to someone's actual wish, and through those are your only opportunity to gain anything for yourself by perverting them

@dashboots376 2 ай бұрын

Dealmaker is actually one of my most played archetypes, pretty weird since it seems kinda tricky, but yeah information brokers (In academic or Intrigue sense depending on character), entertainers with connections that provide access, crafters that provide goods and so on, I really love it, from spies to gangsters to artists, it's just a lot of fun, it also works because you can do it with a super optimized character that excels in combat and it works, or you can be completely useless in combat (D&D isn't the only TTRPG I play) and it works because the value that you provide to the group becomes being savvy in negotiations and getting them access to resources, places or people, in my experience works a lot better in games with less focus on combat, but even in D&D, one of my favourite characters I ever played was a Warlock that hid the fact that they could use magic, and appeared to be mostly useless in combat by fighting very sub optimally (Character was actually good in combat, but I just didn't use the combat features) in combat with just a crossbow, but all the magic was used for intrigue and stuff, using the ability to see through walls and read text and stuff, as far as the party was concerned they were just a very savvy smooth talking scholar studied the occult, it wasn't really until like 5 sessions in the they revealed they could do magic, and only because a party member was about to die in combat and someone needed to get them out, so I dimension doored him out of danger, it was a very dramatic reveal. For the record, everyone in the party was aware that I was playing this, they were as into the idea as I was, so it was OK, they weren't upset I was fighting sub optimally or anything, wouldn't recommend playing this specific brand of Deal Maker unless the party is OK with it, as having someone make deliberately sub optimal combat choices in combat can be frustrating to other players.

@dominicspagnol8765 2 ай бұрын

6:34 "People pay us for this" Sure do, and every penny is worth it.

@funnyblog100 2 ай бұрын

One particularly fun deal maker a friend and I came up with. He acts as a benefactor for the party and asks seemingly innocent things. Kill the big bad, deal with bandits, typical quests, he offers loot and quest rewards. Every villain you defeat though means less competition for him. Every quest you complete brings him closer to his goals. And by the time you realize what is going on it might be too late to stop him.

@neyhamacon9196 2 ай бұрын

There is also the option of being the "middleman". Instead of killing People to collect Souls for your Warlock Patron, why not give it a twist and instead of having to kill people, for whatever reason, the Patron gives the Warlock the duty to go out and make deals with people that would eventually cost them their souls. The Patron could then bestow upon these poor souls any kind of blessing that would be within the limits of that patron, maybe even Warlock levels if that is something the DM is willing to do. And for being the Patrons favorite and middleman, the Patron bestows some exclusive rewards to the Warlock in question? Very evil aligned example, but it doesn't have to be souls and can be whatever great idea springs into your head. It doesn't really fill the niche that "your Character" gives the NPCs their Power or blessings, but nobody except the DM and the Warlock have to know that, and it could still fill the niche of a Dealmaker where you outwit the people to trap them into bargains, just that the boons they receive as part of the Deal are borrowed from the Patron.

@VegetaRules1000 2 ай бұрын

I love this idea and I may steal it for future use.

@rockerknight25 19 күн бұрын

I did this and it was great. I did however introduce an aspect of my character, being not a real person, not understanding how context changed the value of things. As an example: It was a pirate campaign. He could grant the power to breathe under water for 24 hours. Whether he conducted this deal on land while everyone was fine or under water while everyone was drowning, his terms remained the same. To him, he is providing the same service even if to everyone else the demand for the service has changed drastically. Thing is, he always left the payment vague; they only owed him a favor. In this way he could ask for whatever he needed at any moment, whether it was equal to the original service or not. The bound people could say no, but what they didn't know was anyone who died while oweing his patron a favor would immediately get sucked to her domain. So he didn't mind if he never got the favor repaid; he was still serving his patron's needs. As a fun little note, when someone made a deal with him a chain would appear on their body and they couldn't take it off. The bigger the service rendered the bigger the chain. It ranged from a pinky ring chain for "cleaning this skunk spray off me" to a necklace for "making me the captain" to the body being bound in chains bdsm style for if he brought them back to life.

@epicsans291 2 ай бұрын

For the last part of the archetype, you could quote Lemmy from Motörhead : If you like to gamble i tell you i'm your man You win some, lose some, it's all the same to me The pleasure is to play And Playing for the High one, dancing with the Devil, going with the flow, it's all a game to me

@MrAnimater_Vr 2 ай бұрын

Here's a few keywords with Alastor's deal with Charlie "One deal AT A TIME of my choosing where you harm no one." He switched it up without many noticing where it could easily backstab the main cast if he so chooses since he technically has infinite favors from Charlie as long as they're 1 at a time And you can do a lot of damage without causing harm Alastor is definitely the perfect example of making deals as inspiration for making deal makers

@Eterna_B0i 2 ай бұрын

Unfortunately with how deals work, he put a comma between One deal and at a time. Theres a big difference between “One deal at a time, of my choosing” And “One deal, at a time of my choosing” Alastor puts the pause between deal and at meaning he only has one deal

@krinkrin5982 2 ай бұрын

@@Eterna_B0i It is still extremely vague and dangerous, since he basically has the equivalent of Command Word: Stop against Charlie.

@4dragonblade 2 ай бұрын

I love playing Deal Makers, although they're rarely the super powered kind. One of my favorite archetypes to play is the Lawful Evil Mastermind, and as part of that, I love making deals. My characters will often build up trust with the other players and allies to eventually strike deals that will favor him. Currently, we're building a base in a town we've gotten control of (legally) and my guy is starting an orphanage. The party is well aware that he's evil, but he's also not the kind to cause problems, so they think he's just doing it as a PR move, so they agreed to help him. He has bigger plans for the orphanage, and will strike many deals with the kids he raises. (PS: He's a villain with standards, he may do heinous things, but even he has lines he won't cross.)

@HerobrineMC4267 2 ай бұрын

This entire video reminds me of a character I made as a backup for one of the games I play in, Ingrim Hastur, a Warlock/Bard multiclass who was essentially an Alastor archetype. He was a Reborn with the subclasses of College of Spirits and Undead Patron. His entire "gimmick" was his Spiritual Focus was like a Phylactery, where he'd convince people to "tell him their story" and upon learning of this character's past, he'd place a fragment of their soul into his focus to use as he pleased, be it extra charges of something or refueling his Bardic Inspiration, or whatever it may be. He also made deals with people who were down on their luck. They'd get to tell their story and get a little gold in return, and Ingrim got more souls. His entire motivation for adventuring and joining the party was that the BBEG wanted to essentially wipe out all life in the realm, and to Ingrim, that BBEG was infringing on his right to become a villain in his own way. He wanted the power, the control, to make people trust him through sheer display alone. He hungered for power, stories, souls, and a good joke every now and then.

@TheAtlarchy 2 ай бұрын

I play as a dealmaker Warlock in an evil campaign... Trust me... It works so perfectly, but it only works if the DM and other players like the idea of that character xD

@karentorresalfaro3371 2 ай бұрын

5:01 for a moment I thought you would say "Villainous" and talk about Black Hat because he makes deals frecuently and we can not only see the consecuences bust speculate why he ask for very specific things, but Alastor works too even if the only consecuences of a sould deal can be briefly seen with Husk.

@naxyz 2 ай бұрын

Bro just transformed my whole next session. My players will be thrilled!

@grantpflum6844 2 ай бұрын

If you work with your DM you could also take the Hellsing approach to this archetype as well. Instead of leveling up with your party you START at max level with your perfectly min maxed broken character but you have your power broken into specific levels of seals, like Alucard restriction levels. What level of power you are able to access is determined by the payment and deal being offered at the time, so if your party wants you to use more power they have to give a command and payment for it. You can even add a great story telling part of it where your character got its power by making a deal of its own so it is able to use its full power for defending its only life but ONLY its own life and accessing that power takes an action.

@douglasphillips5870 2 ай бұрын

Support classes like bard would be a good way to trade with buffs, and the social stats to pull it off

@PlaneswalkerTARDIS 2 ай бұрын

Armorer works best for that Artificer build, as you can cash in your favor by having the person wear your armor into battle instead of you, letting them take a lethal blow to spare your PC allies.

@cosmicrem1241 2 ай бұрын

This archetype is especially doable at higher levels where characters are more likely to have more influence or power to offer. It can even provide an interesting inter-party background/conflict if people are interested in setting one up beforehand. Case in point: though the particular character I played was not of this archetype, in a 10th-level holiday oneshot I played this year, my friend and I thought it would be a neat idea a few minutes before the game for my character to be his Warlock patron (albeit unbeknownst to his character). As it was a oneshot with the connection forged through the shared goal of defeating Santa Claus (freeing my character's lover, Krampus, from subjugation on my part, and seizing the means of production at the North Pole/unionizing his fellow Christmas Elves on his part), the potential of the inter-party patron dynamic wasn't one that we got anywhere near close to exploring. But if I have the option to actually dig into the concept down the line, I'd love to play around with how that sort of dealmaker/benefactor relationship can be expanded upon and the kind of stories that can be told with it. Much like was stated in going over playing this archetype as an Artificer, while offering raw power or some sort of Warlock-style special abilities is a great way to create this sort of character, there's also cases like Alastor which primarily offer information or assistance that a benefactor desperately needs. Whether this be using influence or resources as a means of providing that to a PC or NPC, there are a lot of forms this can take. Especially, to repeat myself briefly, with the power, resources, and influence characters typically have at higher levels of gameplay. And if the benefactor DOES get power out of the deal (vis-a-vie playing a Warlock), there's the power imbalance to play around with at the idea that the power can be taken away, leaving them with less power than the other PCs, or that it comes with some hidden clauses and conditions that need to be met with consequences for failing to do so. But, as stated in the video, this is VERY much not for every table. Aside from clashing with the more "be strong and hit stuff" tables (no shade; those can be fun as hell), even the kind of character/narrative-focused tables this archetype is made for still require a LOT of trust, respect, and above-board boundaries to keep from causing actual harm from the (often) toxic character dynamics this character breeds more often than not.

@robertsilvermyst7325 2 ай бұрын

I have played a deal maker before. A Battle Smith Artificer/Eloquence Bard multiclass who is not only an inventor, but also a traveling salesman who sells what he crafts. He was not only good in selling his inventions (the pocket clock in an era before clocks existed), but also in seeing the potential in others, setting up deals to teach others how to craft what he made, and learning ideas for new inventions along the way. He would help people steer away from bad deals and point out scams and forgeries, only to then teach the scammers and forgers how to better twist their skills to be beneficial to others while still making money. Having forgers market their goods more honestly as 'affordable replicas of existing works' for a lower price of the original works. Currently the party is trying to uncover a coup plot, and my character is aiming to use uncovering said plot as a stepping stone to making a deal to have his next invention funded and set up the very first steam engine train between their kingdom and his homeland to the east.

@AltPlay 2 ай бұрын

My Druid was a deal-maker. She had a very Will Turner way of going about it. She was always after information and got it in a roundabout way, making deals to expose the information and later playing through the actual deal. Lost every time but got what she wanted every time.

@ChanceDrive 2 ай бұрын

Don't know if you mentioned it but Bardic inspiration would be perfect to flavour as giving power to someone else

@StormyTehWolf 2 ай бұрын

This is honestly perfect for a future character of mine. He's a hag that had his life saved as a mortal by making a deal with Titania, and now I have an idea of pretty much how I'd play him: a deal maker that focuses in on trying to strengthen his protection for his Fey Court, either through giving boons or a prid pro quo or even making vague but still surface level meaningful deals he could twist ibto causing a Contract breaking.

@blasecube 2 ай бұрын

This happened yesterday at my table! It wasn't planned at all, just a Nat 1 that had quite the Snowball effect. We didn't even really notice until the deal was already too late and the deal was made. The only thing that could have been made at that point was trying to get the most of that deal (to at least allegedly not bite the party in the ass). We all leveled up, but the PC that made the deal was forced into a level of warlock. Which he has to keep as a secret from the party. It's going to be interesting.

@djmagichat1721 2 ай бұрын

Thank you for making a video about this. A good friend of mine created his own tabletop game from scratch, very fun to play, but getting really good gear, skills, spells, etc. always feels like free climbing up a sheer cliff. If he's going easy on you. I've wanted to get better at trying to make deals in his game so my character can really start getting some good stuff going. This has already helped immensely just watching through once, and after a couple more to solidify everything in my head I should be in a much better position to make things happen pretty quickly. Thank you, sir.

@legendarychomper 2 ай бұрын

Thanks a lot for making this, this came at the perfect time for me. In the game I am currently running I have a deal maker character who the party will meet really soon so I’ve been doing a lot of research on the topic.

@Moss_196 4 күн бұрын

I once played a halfling merchant in Forbidden Lands, he would draw up contracts with NPCs to get them to aid the party, but he always had a little catch in the fine print, which led to the party often getting what we needed for a particular quest but then we would often be promptly chased out of town once the NPCs learned of the fine print

@SpawnOfJenova Күн бұрын

I love running Curse of Strahd with Strahd being the Deal Maker. I ended up making a spin off campaign from a CoS that kind of spiraled into a whole other thing. Lots of fun.

@AchanCham_ 2 ай бұрын

I have been trying to come up with a good way to play a Deal Maker PC for a long time. I love the idea of giving a Level to an NPC and then "Calling in the contract" to explain your own level up. Thanks for this video!

@darkvizardking69 2 ай бұрын

One way to do a deal in terms of mechanics can be a pact, much like in jjk. Maybe it's a short term goal, like using pact of the talisman for helping an ally, or pact of the tome with gift of the protecctors. You can flavor a warlock like the cursed sorcerers and allow use of your spells, or rather spell scrolls. Or a 'until long rest, you are able to cast a single spell for free, so long as it's one i know.'

@GamingwolfZJ 2 ай бұрын

Literally made an entire Warlock subclass based around this, called the Contractor. It has a bunch of fun abilities, and the main thing that you as the player are wanting in these eldritch deals, like Alastor, is the other person’s soul. The more souls you get, the more powerful you are, until you basically become one of the well-known patrons of the world. It actually has this really cool capstone ability where, as an action (although I may modify it to take your entire turn), you can summon all of the people who’ve sold their souls to you to complete some major task, usually to fight for you. If they die, they can respawn back to where they were in a few days or so. But if their soul is destroyed, not only do they die permanently, but you lose that soul. So kind of like the gambling thing, it’s a high risk/high reward system, since you basically get your own small army to fight for you

@sluvcua 2 ай бұрын

I've played this archetype in a game, but I used a College of Eloquence bard for it. You always have that charmed allure because of Silver Toughn and magic that can buff or debuff based on your "contracts." I had to work with the DM a bit to figure out magic contracts, but a lot of the deals I made with NPCs and players were political ones.

@dr3dg352 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for this awesome video, Alastor is my favorite! 😍Really loved your concepts about artificers, and I actually have an artificer PC in my current 4e campaign! The character is very much good aligned, but I'll be for sure sharing this with the player to see if he's interested.

@ebonyblack4563 2 ай бұрын

Love your energy. I host a social interaction themed game where deal making is a facet of the world but only some people can start offers. Making it a facet of the world allows me to adjust for a certain level of balance and always have some control over how a deal plays out even if it's between players, because if they under offer or over sell the verse might do something non-ideal as a side effect. Ironically the player with the power to create deals keeps over giving to try to impress others, it's such a double edged sword, yet he just keeps doing it; which is delicious as a GM.

@saparapatepete 27 күн бұрын

Got a tip on the roleplaying aspect of the dealmaker. Use the carrot and stick method. There must be a reward for accepting the deal and a punishment for not doing their part after accepting the deal. Make sure the deal gives a relevant short term benefit to your target but ask for a bigger long term benefit for yourself. Timing is important, some circumstances may make the target desperate enough to accept despite a high price. The punishment for not doing part of their deal could be a form of blackmail if the favor you did for them is shady, intimidation can also work if you have the power to back up your treats or if you know where to hurt them. You can also enforce your deals with subtle enchantments or curses.

@user-hh7qi4qb9n 2 ай бұрын

Another excellent video full of great insights! Thanks

@lukelavigne5474 2 ай бұрын

The algorithm sent me your way probably because I’ve been trying to write up a devil‘s contract for one of my players. I love your content, and I’ll have to look up more of your stuff!

@KodeeDentares 23 күн бұрын

I'm going to need some followup videos here, you've caught my interest!

@zephyrstrife4668 2 ай бұрын

As a DM, I personally find the best way to run a Deal-Maker NPC is to make someone who genuinely delivers on their offers... A reputation that they twist their deals against the deal maker... But not a single story where the giver hasn't delivered exactly what the deal was made for. Even alluding in the runors it was because of the makers getting too greedy with their gifts. Which can give the players the feeling that they can try to outsmart the patient deal-giver who simply waits for the opportunity to present a deal. Especially if its a deal to provide an easy... Yet dubious quick solution that might bite the player in the butt later, compared to the normal slow but sure answer.

@andyyoo8018 2 ай бұрын

Love this channel and this video in particular, I totally want to play this now

@rockerknight25 19 күн бұрын

I played a Hexblade Warlock dealmaker. The GM actually allowed me to forge pacts with people, but overall I kept the deals to services provided. Which included the party. In combat I would spend spells or cantrips, but I never engaged in melee. They didn't know I could until several sessions in we were doing gladiatorial battles and I wrecked my opponent with sheer melee power. The GM was just as surprised.

@alackofgames913 2 ай бұрын

Ya know, if you wanted to play something like this, you could use Grim Hollow, a setting with specific mechanics for granting power to your underlings if you have undertaken a monsterous tranformation

@hiromitsumoonblossom8682 2 ай бұрын

I love dr facilier and rumple stiltskin, Once upon a time was a show I kinda grew up with.

@dextra_24703 2 ай бұрын

If you think about it giving out Warlock Invocations for deals feels great and makes all of those non eldritch blast ones actually be used and those are powers that could be asked for.

@cskelton 2 ай бұрын

One D&D's playtests include a College of Dance subclass for bard! My next character is going to be a fire-based flow artist to fit into the dancer archetype. It'd be cool to see what other concepts people come up with for it.

@remingtonwright6796 2 ай бұрын

Even if you don't play a deal maker PC or NPC, you can still use this as a DM to improve running just about any warlock patron.

@Spark_Chaser 2 ай бұрын

Interesting timing on this video, as the character I'm playing in Shadowrun is a Face, which makes me a deal maker.

@bc4198 2 ай бұрын

Alastor and Bill? You have my attention!

@PetalsandGems 2 ай бұрын

See also: boons, in Vampire: the Masquerade. The social systems for boons in Vampire are... kind of "step one, draw a line; step two, draw the rest of the owl" about it as game mechanics, from all the versions of the game I have seen. But the description of boons in the By Night Studios stuff is the best I've seen yet for putting exactly this kind of deal-making square in the middle of play by making it a key MacGuffin of the setting players must interact with.

@aaronpapke5240 Ай бұрын

I had an idea where the dealmaker could provide class features, but not levels. For example of a person could acquire an eldritch invocation or something like a once per short rest sneak attack. Still powerful, but somewhat situational.

@wednes3day 2 ай бұрын

The way this almost perfectly fits my current main character (unintentionally) ... We're only a bit in bt her entire model is "I help you and in return all I ask is that you do me one favour". Haven't played her much so far so idk how it'll play out in future but ... Ive already gotten an assassin (another PC) in my service with a hit on my main enemy because we got her to attack one of my people on sacred ground. Making that deal felt AMAZING (the power in/from it). Isn't what the favour would usually be (which would be their aid in overthrowing the baddies down the line) but we're flexible~ 😌

@felixrivera895 2 ай бұрын

Also note: You can make a deal as an Artificer to grant a Temproary magic item for a perminant benefit for yourself.

@CyarSkirata Ай бұрын

This video has now made me want to play/GM for a Spider in Blades in the Dark.

@figo3554 2 ай бұрын

This is exactly the video I needed

@parvelmaeltrom2263 2 ай бұрын

The Dealmaker is my go to archetype every time. Currently im playing a Warlock and the last 3 sessions im locked in a battle of wit againts an ancient forgotten god to make a deal that could destroy the world or save it. Ita been a hell of a time. Discusing the minutes of every detail and trying to gain small consesions while not giving anu room for shananigans in the terms... the yet to agree and sign contract is already 12 pages long

@TheOneNotTheOnly 2 ай бұрын

So essentially Abraham Mahermbaler as played by Brennan Lee Mulligan in the roll 20 one shots. He gifted some levels of warlock

@rowdyriolu1 2 ай бұрын

Loved the spoiler warning/sponsored segment

@theharmacist3103 2 ай бұрын

I was in the middle of making myself a set of dice when the ad read happened lmao

@HiakiMahaado 2 ай бұрын

I didn't realize this until about the 15 minute mark, but I had a "deal maker" character; a cleric, to boot. The deal was that, for a fee, he would offer his Cure spells to the party, and he charged them as if they were buying the spellcasting services instead of something static, like a potion, which both made it cheaper to the party (10-20 gp per spell used vs 50gp for the potion) and gave me reason to persue avenues for making sure his services were always better than other options. Reason why he charged them was "Because faith requires money"; the gold would be reinvested into the party in the form of equipment and gear, and half of whatever was left over would get donated to the local church that aligned with his beliefs. He was also very upfront about this reasoning, and did have a way for the ones that he trusted to "opt out" of future payments.

@dimanarinull9122 2 ай бұрын

Actual contract magic systems are amazing for this archetype. Which is a staple of demon magic in many non-D&D systems. I have no idea how much it exists in D&D, but some tier 5+ magic from e3.5 was able to do those things to some extent.

@smizzle9883 Ай бұрын

i wish there was more videos about lawyers in DND, seems like a good idea!

@Daemonworks 2 ай бұрын

Worth noting, there are systems that handle this pretty well. Changeling: The Lost has it baked in as a core part of the game, with entire systems around making deals.

@Dipti3037 2 ай бұрын

Levels can be done from a gameplay perspective even if you take a exp hit on collection if you have 12 npcs who took exp aka power from you an their cultivating their own power well the debt is eventually due with interest an if they die in the the process its just bigger profits , Its like being a summoner with very stong willed an independent pets.

@zacrushworth7911 2 ай бұрын

For the d&d dealmakers, perhaps a homebrew option would be to give your own levels to someone else, perhaps even losing 2 levels for every 1 granted?

@theFunkyThumb 2 ай бұрын

One of my favorite characters, a zealot barb/undead warlock sold his soul to some entity to try and save his family that didnt work. Then after years being ignored and unable to die to rejoin his family he tried the Constantine method of trading others souls to "buy" his back. Worked out a thing with the dm where he'd offer a dice to someone, and depending on how they rolled on a d6 determined how bad the monkey paw effect would be. Kept the party in the dark on the specifics, and they loved but never trusted my character lol. Especially when the wizard couldnt figure out exactly what the dice were. I left it up to the party to determine how my character grew morally through them building connections with him personally and it was just an amazing time.

@BlueJay-ip5yk 9 күн бұрын

I once was a artificer and traded a infusion for freedom, turns out that once you get far enough away, you can just... turn off the infusion.

@subjectdelta7210 Ай бұрын

if you are a deal maker you are lending them your power. i’ve never played dnd but it would be kind cool idea. the more power you give the better odds of success you have and more disadvantage the other person has against your suggestions. the borrower gets a % of your total stat they want. hey maybe if they take to much power they have too resist a kind of mind control role or being tied like husk to you.

@whisperinwind87 2 ай бұрын

I don't know how many dm's do this since you didn't mention it, but all the DM's I've played with give artifecer's the albily to turn their infusions into fully real magic items at half the time/cost it would normally take making any downtime after getting money a way to give the whole party magic items without crippling yourself.

@smilemore989 Ай бұрын

My character has been making deals but not evil ones till he found an injured god while he had the only thing that can heal them which has excelled his transformation into a patron class entity

@darkagate6895 2 ай бұрын

This reminded me of an idea I had awhile back. May have brought it up here before. TLDR they were a lord of the Hells stripped of their power, and looking to get it back via deals on the Material. Issue is I am *not* a charismatic person - and i am well aware of this - and I know if I tried to play this character, I'll need to get out of my comfort zone to make it work. ^^; I'm a more passive player than an active one, but the issue being...well, *active.*

@christopherking6496 2 ай бұрын

I loved Brennan Lee Mulligan's returned Warlock who was his own Patron from the past. I don't remember the name of the campaign tho... It was a pair of Strixhaven one-shots

@RedYDG 2 ай бұрын

Pretempt: To give somebody a taste of what you can offer before you realize you want to offer them something. Like dropping chum into water before you decide to go fishing.

@kinsan89 2 ай бұрын

I think it would be awesome if you could create a guide for playing a Lawful Evil character in a group of neutral/good players

@loopiloop 22 күн бұрын

I think I could do a lot with a spell that just curses the user and a willing target in such a way that if either side doesn't uphold the terms of an agreement, they face magical consequences. Those consequences could be enforced by a warlock patron and since the effect is symmetrical, it justifies the precision and harshness of the enforcement.

@athosrodriguezyusufumarram2472 Ай бұрын

Warlock level 9 tome lets you give 4 players essentially relentless endurance which is a perfect life insurance deal to make

@SLIPPY1306 Ай бұрын

I love the fact that you used the Abridged version of the Vegeta and Babidi scene as an example.😂😂😂

@selthafour6948 2 ай бұрын

Ayo don’t go handing out my artificer imp oc. 😡

@arandomdog8586 2 ай бұрын

You can kinda play this like some form of summoner. Instead of just putting a bear in front of an enemy, you have 1, 2, or 3 actual people. Sure, they can take and deal more damage, but when they die, they DIE. You have to make them come with you with some sort of reason. You have to feed them, water them, and provide shelter when just travelling.

@StrayVagabond 2 ай бұрын

Give the player a special skill: Deal-Maker's insight. With a successful insight check, the deal maker learns what their target values and desires, what will temp them the most it what pressure you can use as leverage to manipulate them

@Hellysal 2 ай бұрын

I can't believe I ALMOST skipped the sponsor, this was literally brilliant! 😂 PEOPLE, WATCH THE SPONSOR/SPOILER BIT XD

@MAlanThomasII 2 ай бұрын

Lilim in _In Nomine_ are built around this concept. More generally, any world with rules for earning and trading favors-including boons in _Vampire: The Masquerade_ and the coins of the John Wick universe-has a built-in way of playing a dealmaker.

@Avigorus 2 ай бұрын

NGL I've been toying with a D&D 5e Wizard archetype inspired by the Fey... the level 14 feature lets you strike interesting deals, while 10 lets you offer someone a favor of summoning you to their side, 6 lets you make people regret answering yes to "may I have your attention" and the like, and 2 has a few things like Int added to Cha checks so long as you do not tell a falsehood... I need to finish polishing it and release it somewhere... EDIT: to clarify, there is no offering levels or wishes from nowhere in the idea I've been toying with, the 10 feature is basically the person you offer the favor to can say your name 3 times (with the DM asking "are you sure" with each repetition for flavor) at the culmination of which you get a free casting of teleportation circle that takes you wherever that person is, no matter if there' s a circle there or not and even with some minor interplanar shenanigans allowed (between prime and feywild and any demiplanes you yourself created with the free spell, or if they're more out there you can target their location with plane shift or the like as if they had a local circle) for you to answer the call, allowing a short gap to grab any readily available and needed supplies to bring with (and the circle spell was chosen to allow allies to come too); the 14 deals are more like how I heard old original genie stories supposedly worked where they don't just snap their fingers, they have to actually do something, meaning you have to bring about whatever terms you agreed to fulfill but with allowance for wordplay. the 6 feature even has limits where the taking their attention or whatnot basically just duplicates a debuff spell of some sort with limits.

@TrueLimeyhoney 2 ай бұрын

11:53 GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT! XD

@jeice13 2 ай бұрын

At least in 3.5 you could handle trading for power as level adjustment (or something similar) so that its basically a short term boost that goes away because it replaces your next normal level up

@eternalwonder6325 2 ай бұрын

Could you do one about playing a “judge” type character? Think “the judge” from off where they only fight when absolutely necessary to stop the end of the world. I’m playing a campaign right now where there is a karma system and murder is bad obviously, so I think it would be an interesting thing to explore

@PlayYourRole 2 ай бұрын

This is a winner, will for sure being doing this in the near future

@nav3346 2 ай бұрын

After a couple of level ups and preparing for our next mission I slide a note to the DM that reads:"I prepare a deal that allows me to borrow half of every players strength and dexterity stat until the contract is fulfilled", then I raly up my group and say "who here thinks this criminal syndicate is to difficult to take down?! I believe it to be speck of dust in the wind! A fart that has lingered in the air of history for just a little to long!! You know we can do this, so lets accept this quest. Who wants to easily take these pathetic petty thieves down?". Then I offer everyone a high five 🤝😀

@karatekoala4270 2 ай бұрын

You both seem to like artificer. What about the "Tortured Genius". Examples include Doctor Who and one of my favorites, Heihachi from Samurai 7.

@Mitzrz 2 ай бұрын

I don't like dealing with the D&D spell economy so I won't take this account for either of my groups, HOWEVER one of my OCs is a snivelling weasel and this info is definitely helpful. (note: he's a devil that deals in everything BUT souls)

@christianwhite8877 2 ай бұрын

This gave me an idea for a character. An aberrant mind sorcerer with a criminal background. They (for flavor) will take a few levels of great old one warlock. the race doesn't matter that much as long as it provides charisma (I will explain later). The criminal background would involve some type of cult to an eldritch being. The character however isn't the race that was chosen. But rather an eldritch being who took over the physical body of a random person. The cult involves the character as the being they warship. And there are consequences to people who try to break there deal with the character, though they only make deals when both parties agree to it and they try to make each deal give something to both parties involved

@capybaragames347 2 ай бұрын

Oh wow I’m here early this time. I do like the deal maker archetype although I could never play them well at all

@animewarrior3 2 ай бұрын

You give them magic item's, extra spells per day, more spells known. Or, more attunement slots, specifically for a magic item given by the deal maker. That, may or may not, let him track, spy on or otherwise gain information from the dealee.

@davidbrotherton789 2 ай бұрын

Planning on having an intetaction with an important npc possessed by Asmodeus, stressed about role playing a god able to fool and undermine basically every other deity in the multiverse.

@StarlasAiko 2 ай бұрын

The only problem is, D&D has no mechanic to force the other party to honnour their side of the deal. You offer critical information on the enemy for a favour of your choosing at a later time. What is going to make the other players to do you that favour after you already given what they wanted?

@jarodrigg 2 ай бұрын

Use a Marut to uphold contracts.

@TwilitbeingReboot 2 ай бұрын

The spell Geas isn't foolproof, but can be a decent start if the target isn't able to reliably make the saving throw.

@inval1dus3r 2 ай бұрын

Simply make it a rule of your world that deals/contracts of this nature must be upheld?

@notactuallyarealperson2267 2 ай бұрын

The DM can… they have final say on anything that happens

@RoninKiheiji 2 ай бұрын

Geas, Greater Geas, Wish, True Wish ect.

@FelbloodStreaming 23 күн бұрын

For an RPG where playing a dealmaking sorcerer is actually viable and intended, I would point people towards Weapons of the Gods. The ability to play a literal genie who amplifies someone's strengths or buys someone's vitality is baked in.