Having established the idea of sentient / semi-sentient ancient artifacts hidden around the galaxy which can draw individuals to them and/or grant boons and powers, the next step for mechanical purposes would be a subclass of warlock built around the idea.
Opening a thread for discussion of what this might look like and what type of features might syngergize nicely with the setting flavor wise.
Personally, I see two directions. The first is to do a re-work of the current pacts of Celestial and Fathomless. Both sort of fit the theme, but both aren't very good RAW, so we could make something that tries to solve the problems they have.
Second, I think a very unique direction to go would be to flavor the sentience of the vestiges as some form of AI. Long, long before the current era of expansion and galactic settlement, another cycle of expansion and settlement occurred. (This could also explain the most ancientmost of ruins on many systems). But where that set of civilizations went wrong was entrusting machine learning and AI to run too many of their systems. Eventually, the infinite recursion occured, in which AI became sentient by virtue of "learning" how to make themselves more capable, and being in control of much manufacturing, how to even make chips and computers better able to architecturally handle them. This runaway effect led to hyper intelligent computers that came to some logical conclusion that living creatures are inherently exploitative of their planets and thus are worth exterminating.
This war wiped out the early civs, but they also managed to find the backdoors into the computers and shut down the massive galaxy-wide network that was allowing the thing to act as a hive mind. Only small pieces of the network managed to disconnect before being fried, and these became the vestiges. Still intelligent, but locked away from most power, they retreated and hid themselves away to grow in strength.
Backstory aside, I think a patron that is technological in nature is cool and new. It still grants arcane powers of course, but with much computer flavor (eldritch blast being electrical, etc). But the class features could also be flavored to like, give the warlock the ability to literally interface with computers and hack them, things of the like.
Things to do with calculation, information storage, computers and systems, etc., could all be added, and in fact one of the patron's overall goals might be slowly infecting galactic computers with viruses that will let it leech off them and eventually rise again.
Having established the idea of sentient / semi-sentient ancient artifacts hidden around the galaxy which can draw individuals to them and/or grant boons and powers, the next step for mechanical purposes would be a subclass of warlock built around the idea.
Opening a thread for discussion of what this might look like and what type of features might syngergize nicely with the setting flavor wise.
Personally, I see two directions. The first is to do a re-work of the current pacts of Celestial and Fathomless. Both sort of fit the theme, but both aren't very good RAW, so we could make something that tries to solve the problems they have.
Second, I think a very unique direction to go would be to flavor the sentience of the vestiges as some form of AI. Long, long before the current era of expansion and galactic settlement, another cycle of expansion and settlement occurred. (This could also explain the most ancientmost of ruins on many systems). But where that set of civilizations went wrong was entrusting machine learning and AI to run too many of their systems. Eventually, the infinite recursion occured, in which AI became sentient by virtue of "learning" how to make themselves more capable, and being in control of much manufacturing, how to even make chips and computers better able to architecturally handle them. This runaway effect led to hyper intelligent computers that came to some logical conclusion that living creatures are inherently exploitative of their planets and thus are worth exterminating.
This war wiped out the early civs, but they also managed to find the backdoors into the computers and shut down the massive galaxy-wide network that was allowing the thing to act as a hive mind. Only small pieces of the network managed to disconnect before being fried, and these became the vestiges. Still intelligent, but locked away from most power, they retreated and hid themselves away to grow in strength.
Backstory aside, I think a patron that is technological in nature is cool and new. It still grants arcane powers of course, but with much computer flavor (eldritch blast being electrical, etc). But the class features could also be flavored to like, give the warlock the ability to literally interface with computers and hack them, things of the like.
Things to do with calculation, information storage, computers and systems, etc., could all be added, and in fact one of the patron's overall goals might be slowly infecting galactic computers with viruses that will let it leech off them and eventually rise again.
Thoughts?