#Oath of Conquest

[inkeyjay]

iulia post iulia post

Like the stars chase the sun, over the glowing hill i will conquer -

Meet iulia, one of my dnd characters, formerly an Oath of Conquest paladin. Like Leondras, the founding mother of her former order, she decided to break her oath and raise her sword towards the very institution that instructed her.

She's my character in @royalsea-art's grand scheme of things

First image is how she started on the campaign. Recently turned 19, fresh in a different city, trying to be lawful and impose peace (yes, she was a cop, bear with me)

Second image is from the customary masquerade session.

Aaaand then the incident* happened *we got bamboozled (she trusted her order and an old friend against the party's advice and all she got was treason)

I did not choose the song so do not perceive me, Iulia's song is Queen of peace by florence + the machine but they made me use ed sheeran against my will

So! Long story short, she sacrified so the rest of the party could escape, dying in the process. This is the moment when i think she definitely broke her oath and cut ties with her order.

Eeeexcept she did not die, and was saved from the fire and rubble by Nirilde (the eyepatch one) (gay behaviour enemies to lovers shit if you ask me) (i may have some homoerotic swordfighting sketches) a member of the cult the party has been fighting against from the beggining. (the party members still think she died)

She was held hostage for some time but in the end managed to escape and partially recover from her burns. she looks like this right now:

She now marches for The Sun, ready to defend the people she loves from the same people that managed to corrupt Leondras' legacy, the same ones she fought all those years ago.

Sunlight brings warmth, but it can also start a fire.

The night she died, iulia was a spark.

[zephyrbug]

I’ve posted this before but I wanted to share an alternate version of a piece I did a while ago for @leidensygdom of their character Yxala as she has recently lost her horn and gotten a replacement one made of bismuth !!  🌋🔨🔥

God she cannot catch a break  😭

[salokorai]

ok this comes in a set of four, actually.

The first is the High Priestess featuring Lady Helie Foncee, the countess of Fallay that fell prey to the rotten curse of an eldritch, timewarped god, Yal'Thaar. With her, the old Church of the Bloodmother fell, too.

Then we have the Empress, Gaelle Sgadoix, another countess that tried to keep the Church of the Bloodmother alive, but was also the core corruption of it.

We have two Emperors, one was the original first tarot card I created and belongs to one of the first quest givers, the players met: Lady Lucille Fuilenoir, a countess that decided to start the entire rebellion in Gilliarda and set the campaign in motion. And one of the player characters, Calahan Victus de Sang, an oath of conquest paladin and Lucille's biggest simp. He got kind of corrupted throughout the campaign. I guess that's an oath of conquest kinda thing.

[hansdampfinallengassen]

Paladin Cavill.

Oath of Conquest.

[myrkar]

Level 7 drip for Valis ft. the mish-mash of armors she's had, a tankard of neverending coffee, and an unseen bag of holding filled with a hoard at this point.

Ko-fi

[calculusbandit]

Auberon Riesenbrecher - The Giant Crusher

[toaarcan]

Mercy (Alu-Fiend, Oath of ConquesttheAncients Paladin) mets @paladin-official's Nurghal (Half-Orc, Oath of Devotion Paladin).

[jettyfisher]

"Each time I die, a star disappears in your sky."

[bugpysforge]

In combat, Bastiodon utilises her spear and shield to both strike and defend. When facing adversaries up front, she is an overwhelming threat, but she finds it difficult to defeat those in her rear.

Race: Saurial Class: Paladin Subclass: Oath of Conquest Location: Lumiose City Army Alignment: Lawful Good

View the pokedex of all dungeon pokemon by following the link in the menu.

[rosymourning]

The Apostate of the Absolute - a Minthara build

"Ready for battle."

Minthara is an Oathbreaker Paladin, smiting enemies with ease. She betrayed Lolth and was discarded by the Absolute, what comes next?

[check out my other builds!]

Gameplay Notes

This is a full class Paladin build, so the main gameplay loop is to hit hard and smite for a bunch of extra damage. As expected, the build has several good options for spellcasting outside of smites as well, with a bit of an added bonus of itemizing towards Poison damage. I chose to keep a mace as the main weapon, largely based on some character consistencies. To be honest, I am not a huge fan of playing paladins, so I’m sure there are a ton of ways for this to be much better than it is.

Stats and Leveling

Final build: Level 12 Oathbreaker Paladin

[see my comments about making/breaking Minthara’s oath below]

Minthara’s (default) stats: STR 16 / DEX 15 / CON 14 / INT 10 / WIS 12 / CHA 17

Level 1 - Oathbreaker Paladin Level 1

Level 2 - Oathbreaker Paladin Level 2

Fighting Style: Protection

Divine Smite [wow! you’re a paladin now!]

1st Level Spells [Command and Bless are top tier]

Level 3 - Oathbreaker Paladin Level 3

Level 4 - Oathbreaker Paladin Level 4

Feat: ASI+ DEX>16, CHA>18

Level 5 - Oathbreaker Paladin Level 5

Extra Attack

2nd Level Spells

Level 6 - Oathbreaker Paladin Level 6

Aura of Protection

Level 7 - Oathbreaker Paladin Level 7

Aura of Hate [aka the best Paladin aura ever]

Level 8 - Oathbreaker Paladin Level 8

Feat: Savage Attacker

Level 9 - Oathbreaker Paladin Level 9

3rd Level Spells

Level 10 - Oathbreaker Paladin Level 10

Level 11 - Oathbreaker Paladin Level 11

Level 12 - Oathbreaker Paladin Level 12

Feat: ASI+ CHA>20

Items

Armor - Blackguard's Plate (3 Murder Tribunal) [I always loot her armour in Act 1 and give it to Astarion lol]

Melee Weapon -

Xyanyde (1 Goblin Camp) [this has to be looted from Minthara at the Goblin Camp, she won’t have it in Act 2 - it’s not incredible, just cute for her to get her old weapon back]

Handmaiden’s Mace (3 House of Grief) [if you want a sword, use Blackguard’s Sword (3 Murder Tribunal) for the Dazing Smite feature, and instead take ASI+ STR>18 at Level 12]

Shield of the Undevout (3 Murder Tribunal) [I love this shield on Minthara, so once you get it, I think it’s worth dropping the dual wield]

Ranged Weapon - Gontr Mael (3 Steel Watch Foundry) [I try to spread out legendary items amongst the companions, which is why not every build has the Helm of Balduran (lmao), but I think this bow works well for Minthara]

Amulet - Broodmother’s Revenge (1 Emerald Grove)

Helmet - Diadem of Arcane Synergy (1 Creche)

Ring 1 - Poisoner's Ring (2 Moonrise Towers)

Ring 2 - Ring of Mind Shielding (1 Myconid Colony)

Gloves - Blackguard's Gauntlets (3 Murder Tribunal) or Poisoner's Gloves (2 House of Healing) [I genuinely cannot decide, so I will present both options and leave it at that]

Boots - Blackguard's Greaves (3 Murder Tribunal)

Cloak - Derivation Cloak (2 Moonrise Towers)

Lore and Flavor

I gotta be completely honest when I say that I think it is absolutely, entirely ridiculous for Minthara to be an Oath of Vengeance Paladin in this game. Minthara is not fighting the greater evil - she IS the greater evil. Given the options that we have in game, Vengeance is definitely the better option, but I really don’t think it fits her character. So… Oathbreaker it is!

Here’s where it gets weird and metagame-y and immersion breaking, which I am disappointed in myself for… Minthara has to break her oath. Apparently, betraying two gods is not enough. There are a few frustratingly immersion breaking ways to do this, including:

Respec into Oath of the Ancients or Devotion and kill a non-hostile NPC (like Z’rell in her office, for example)

Select an odd, out of character option for the He Who Was quest, forgiving Madeline

Personally, of these decidedly bad options, I’d prioritize option 2, since it doesn’t require a respec. Minthara does have some dialogue absolving herself of guilt for her actions under the Absolute’s influence, so it’s possible forgiving Madeline could make sense for her character. I just don’t know - there isn’t a nice, easy solution.

But I feel strongly that Minthara’s “canon” subclass should be Oathbreaker — strongly enough that I’ll do some janky shit to get there. Because when did Minthara swear an oath for the first time? Surely it would have been during her days serving Lolth. Then she betrayed Lolth and presumably broke her oath. If not then, then maybe she swore an oath to serve the Absolute after being tadpoled which now, under the protection of the Prism, she is turning her back on again. Or maybe, it was intended that she swore to get revenge on the Absolute for abusing her after being set free (which makes a LOT of sense to me… if Oath of Vengeance was actually about getting revenge…). Is it this exact dialogue scene? Is this when she swore her Oath of Vengeance? Regardless, here is the oath she supposedly took:

Fight the Greater Evil. Exerting your wisdom, identify the higher morality in any given instance, and fight for it.

No Mercy for the Wicked. Chasten those who dole out their villainy by wiping their blight from the world forever.

The DND 5e language is similar, but with notable differences:

Fight the Greater Evil. Faced with a choice of fighting my sworn foes or combating a lesser evil, I choose the greater evil.

No Mercy for the Wicked. Ordinary foes might win my mercy, but my sworn enemies do not.

By Any Means Necessary. My qualms can't get in the way of exterminating my foes.

Restitution. If my foes wreak ruin on the world, it is because I failed to stop them. I must help those harmed by their misdeeds.

Most of these paladins end up being Neutral (often Lawful Neutral), because the vibe is very much that they’re doing good things but getting their hands very dirty while doing it. An Oath of Vengeance Paladin with the Cult of the Absolute as their sworn enemy is aiming to kill all the cultists and destroy the Netherbrain… Minthara is very much not trying to do that. She explains her goals very clearly: “In killing Ketheric, we fractured the cult’s leadership. When we break the other Chosen and claim their Netherstones, we can take control… The power of the enslaved elder brain could reshape the world. We could reshape the world… First we take the Netherstones, then the brain, then the world.” To wrap up the conversation, she mentions her oath, clearly expressing that her motivations are tied to it: “We have a purpose and a bond. By my oath, I will fight with you while that purpose holds.”

Like with Shadowheart (who I desperately want to play as a Twilight Domain cleric after she betrays Shar), the actual best subclass for Minthara is simply not an option in the game. Minthara really ought to be an Oath of Conquest paladin. Check out the DND 5e Oath of Conquest, and tell me it doesn’t match perfectly:

Douse the Flame of Hope. It is not enough to merely defeat an enemy in battle. Your victory must be so overwhelming that your enemies’ will to fight is shattered forever. A blade can end a life. Fear can end an empire.

Rule with an Iron Fist. Once you have conquered, tolerate no dissent. Your word is law. Those who obey it shall be favored. Those who defy it shall be punished as an example to all who might follow.

Strength Above All. You shall rule until a stronger one arises. Then you must grow mightier and meet the challenge, or fall to your own ruin.

Like… come on. That is Minthara forwards and backwards. (To be clear - she’s definitely trying to get revenge as well, I just think that’s not the primary motivation.) But anyway, Oath of Conquest isn’t an option in game (at least vanilla - there are incredible subclass mods out there for those who are interested) so I don’t totally know why I’m even talking about it. Without that option, Oathbreaker is the way to go. She’s abandoned more gods than most people worship in their lifetime, and the main gameplay features of Oathbreaker are pretty fun to play with (Aura of Hate??? Like come on???)

My last comment is that, I know, I’m building Minthara late game with a mace. What the heck. But here me out - this is a cool and character-appropriate mace! The Handmaiden’s Mace appears in Baldur’s Gate 2 as well, where it’s looted off a Handmaiden of Lolth and has this description:

This mace has been crafted finely by the drow and specially treated to survive the glare of the sun. It was made for surface raids by the subterranean race... and its black metal glistens with a dark poison that seems to be generated from within and causes incredible damage upon a successful impact. The mace seems almost alive and warm to the touch, and slithers away from those whom it does not like... namely drow or those who are similar enough to not make a difference. In the hands of anyone else, the mace becomes mere dead weight.

In Baldur’s Gate 3, it’s looted off Viconia in the Cloister of Sombre Embrace, with a description that references the previous game. Basically, this is a mace originally belonging to a Lolth-sworn drow that ended up with Viconia and eventually back with a Lolth-sworn drow! I think Minthara would be comfortable wielding it (she uses maces to begin with) and is one of a subset of people that actually can (if we go based on the Baldur’s Gate 2 lore). I also like Poison damage on Minthara, because it seems fitting with her drow heritage, but I guess that’s more of a personal vibe check than anything I’ve researched. The other mace is just to generally continue her dual-wielding maces set up until switching to a shield - keeping Xyanyde and giving it back to her once you save her (after she presumably lost it) is adorable, in my opinion.

[check out my build disclaimer for info about how and why I don't min/max or completely optimize builds, prioritizing lore and vibe instead]

[hearthdraws]

Ashira is next on the design update chopping block. Only change here was getting rid of the long back part of her cloak because I couldn't figure out how it worked or what past me was thinking.

[zephyrbug]

I while back @leidensygdom commissioned me to design their character Yxala Erant! A conquest paladin forged in flame who had found herself in a stormy contract 🌋🌩🔥

I don't get the opportunity to design sci-fi fantasy characters often but when I do its an absolute treat^^

[salokorai]

last two cards and we are through this huge project! I loved working on it. It has been my favourite style to draw in and I might keep drawing like this from time to time.

Judgement is the OG card of the player character, Calahan Victus de Sang, oath of conquest paladin. That was his beginning, still bound in service to a ruthless country and holding hands with the Lover's card and Fabienne de Sang.

The other character is the secretive god, Dhioma. The Forgotten One, Kind of Ravens, Lord of Thieves, Master of Scholars. God of Fate, Strife and Hunger. Bound in an endless loop of the cycles of fate, and he is bored by it. One might argue, that he is the reason, most problems came to be in the campaign. I love this rat bastard of a man. Coincidentally, this is also my favourite card of the set.

[myrkar]

So we fought a Rakshasa a while ago...

[wearepaladin]

Rose Knight by Kyutae Kim

[sourcherrysconezz]

Another DnD character!!!!!

Pose was from HeroForge