[RPG] Can a mute warlock make normal use of the Voice of the Chain Master class feature

dnd-5ewarlock

Consider a Warlock with The Great Old One patron and Pact of the Chain, who is mute because his tongue has been removed. He communicates with most characters through Awakened Mind, granted by the Great Old One.

The invocation Voice of the Chain Master says:

Voice of the Chain Master

Prerequisite: Pact of the Chain feature

You can communicate telepathically with your familiar and perceive through your familiar’s senses as long as you are on the same plane of existence. Additionally, while perceiving through your familiar’s senses, you can also speak through your familiar in your own voice, even if your familiar is normally incapable of speech.

(Emphasis mine.)

Voice of the Chain Master uses the warlock's voice to communicate, but this character is mute and does not have a "voice" in the general sense.

Could this character speak through it's familiar, even if he cannot speak himself?

Best Answer

There likely isn't a RAW answer, but...

Being permanently mute is not a condition that the core rules represent, so any answer here is going to be speculative and highly subject to the DM's rule on the matter.

However, I would encourage a DM ruling on this to allow it, particularly because the character is taking on a significant disadvantage that isn't compensated for anywhere else in the rules. So giving a free "out" isn't exactly letting the character get away with anything.

A more important question for you before you decide to volunteer your character for this disability is how you plan to use spells that have a verbal component. A character who can't speak (due to a gag or silence spell) generally can't use verbal spells, and speaking through your familiar may or may not make up for this limitation, according to your DM.