Introduces my own Oath of the Bleak Walkers subclass for Paladins to Baldur's Gate 3, heavily inspired by the homonymous Paladin subclass from Pillars of Eternity.
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Added a dye that matches the starting armor, so you can use the same color scheme after upgrading your armor! Can be found in the tutorial chest and at various vendors.
Cleaned up some script entries.
Version 1.2
Removed the Oath Framework files until it's been more fleshed out, since they were causing some problems.
Added the correct version number for the mod manager.
Version 1.1
The Death's Maw text no longer appears overhead to avoid annoying spam.
OATH OF THE BLEAK WALKERS HAS COME TO BALDUR'S GATE 3!
This is my very first attempt at creating my own subclass for BG3/5e, which is heavily inspired by the Bleak Walker Paladin subclass from Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity. All features and abilities reference Bleak Walker spells, talents, items and lore from both PoE games, and aims to give Paladin players an additional "evil Paladin" choice without having to resort to oathbreaking. Mechanically, it borrows themes from Oathbreaker, Conquest and Treachery (UA), and in a roleplaying sense, you're less of a divine warrior and more of a merciless mercenary that neither requests nor gives quarter.
I've included abilities up to level 20 for this one, so feel free to use level cap mods if you want access to the ones above level 12. I will not be making a separate version with reduced level thresholds. That being said, I've tried my best to make it fun to play while retaining a sense of balance, and as it's not based on 5e or any other homebrewer's work, I'm very much open to feedback and ideas since this is in no way a finished product. I hope you enjoy it!
I would like to extend a special thank you to ThisRockIFound and Celes for providing feedback and additional help during development!
I'm currently in the process of adding custom oathbreaking events, and will update the mod to include them when finished. You are very welcome to share any suggestions for events in the game where it would make sense for an evil Paladin to break their oath until then!
CLASS FEATURES
OATH SPELLS
3rd level: Inflict Wounds, Command 5th level: Crown of Madness, Darkness 9th level: Bestow Curse, Fear 13th level: Blight, Phantasmal Killer 17th level: Dominate Person, Artistry of War
The quickest resolution to a battle is one in which the Bleak Walker's arrival is announced and a surrender immediately follows. At 1st level, you gain Expertise in Intimidation.
NOTES Since the idea behind the Bleak Walker is to terrify their enemies with their sheer presence and to end battles before they can even begin, gaining Expertise in Intimidation felt appropriate for the subclass. Enjoy an additional perk for your high Charisma!
When you take this Oath at level 1, you gain the following Channel Oath option:
As an Action, charge headfirst into the fray, dealing weapon damage to a single target and forcing it and enemies within 3m to make a Strength saving throw. On a fail, a target will be knocked back 3m and fall Prone.
NOTES No Quarter is a bit different from other Channel Oath abilities, in that it's a directly offensive ability while most other grant buffs. Used properly, you can knock back several enemies to deal fall damage, or you can (hopefully) simply render an entire group of enemies Prone simultaneously.
At 3rd level, you gain an additional Channel Oath ability:
As a Bonus Action, wreathe your weapon in bleak, black flames, causing your next attack to deal an additional 1d10 Fire damage + 1d10 Necrotic damage, or 10 Fire damage + 10 Necrotic damage if you have Advantage on the attack roll. Furthermore, the target of your attack becomes Sickened, reducing its health points by an amount equal to its level + 1 while also imposing Disadvantage on Constitution saving throws.
The flames last for 1 minute or until you hit a target.
NOTES This one is heavily inspired by one of the central Bleak Walker abilities from Pillars of Eternity, and is probably your main source of burst damage to show your true might. If you have Advantage on your attack (and even if you don't, honestly), you can deal an absurd amount of damage if you pair it with a Divine Smite to fell a tough foe in one mighty strike. Mechanically, it's almost identical to the Oath of Treachery Channel Divinity spell Poison Strike, except that I split the 2d10 Poison damage into Fire and Necrotic, and removed the scaling bonus damage and replaced it with a thematic Sickened debuff to reproduce the debuff with the same name from PoE.
Uses VFX from Shivero's VFX library, so if you don't use that mod, no VFX will show up on your weapon.
You also gain the following Channel Oath option at 3rd level:
As an Action, channel the viciousness of the Bleak Walkers who quelled the revolt of Rakhan Moor. Whenever you defeat an enemy, enemies within 2m of you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become Frightened until the start of their next turn.
Furthermore, when standing within 2m of a corpse, all damage you take is reduced by an amount equal to your Proficiency Bonus.
This effect lasts until your next long rest.
NOTES This one is inspired by the Bleak Walker talent with the same name, and one of my favorite Bleak Walker items in PoE, Death's Maw. Does what it says on the box so it doesn't really need clarification.
Rakhan Moor is one of the most famed battles in Bleak Walker history, and is referenced in both this feature and the one granted at level 15.
Starting at 7th level, you constantly emanate an aura of unnatural zeal while you're not Incapacitated. The aura extends 3m from you in every direction. The battle prowess of yourself and nearby allies is increased, reducing the number needed to roll a Critical Hit while attacking by 1. This effect stacks with other such effects.
At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 9m.
NOTES Use this together with other items that increases your crit range (of which there are quite a few) and you'll make short work of any enemy you come across.
At 15th level, your zeal burns with increased fervor. The damage of your Black Flames increases to 2d10 Fire damage + 2d10 Necrotic damage, or 20 Fire damage + 20 Necrotic damage if you have Advantage on the attack roll.
In addition to afflicting the target with the Sickened condition, you cause the black flames to cling to and eat away at the target, dealing an additional 1d10 Necrotic damage per round for 3 rounds.
NOTES *Requires a mod that allows levelling past level 12.* As advertized, this is simply a buff to your Black Flames feature to make it even deadlier at higher levels.
At 20th level, you gain the ability to embody the full might of the Bleak Walkers for 1 minute. As an Action, you gain Resistance to Slashing, Bludgeoning and Piercing damage, while causing each of your attacks to deal an additional 1d10 Necrotic damage. Furthermore, enemies that start their turn in melee range of you have to succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become Frightened until the start of their next turn.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.
NOTES *Requires a mod that allows levelling past level 12.* The capstone ability of Bleak Walkers is somewhat inspired by the one from Conquest. It's quite difficult to balance this one out, so feel free to offer feedback on how to make it better.
SUBCLASS-THEMED DYE
Uses the black and gray theme of the Bleak Walkers scalemail. Can be found in the tutorial chest, and with numerous vendors throughout the game.
POTENTIAL ISSUES/DISCLAIMERS
• It seems like the Black Flames VFX won't show up on scimitars, which appears to be a problem with the game files themselves. If you really want to see the flames, you'll have to use another weapon.
• Despite it being only obtainable as a spell scroll and thus properly learnable only by Wizards, I added Artistry of War as a spell unlocked at level 17 since it felt too thematic to leave out. You're going to have to fight me on this one if you disagree.
1. Start BG3 Mod Manager and press the "Open Mods Folder" button on the top bar, or press Windows + R and type %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Larian Studios\Baldur's Gate 3\Mods\. 2. Open "OathoftheBleakWalkers.zip" and place "OathoftheBleakWalkers.pak" in the Mods folder. 3. Refresh the mod list in BG3 Mod Manager by pressing F5, and move the mod from inactive mods to active mods in the mod manager window. If you encounter any issues, try placing it further down in the load order. Make sure you use the "Public" profile. 4. Click "Save Load Order to File" in the top bar and launch the game.
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