#pact of the blade

[artofcarmen]

Oh you thought I was gonna sketch Evil AU Fjord with a shirt on? Nah, we gotta get some ornate chest tats in there 🤌

*added in a pic of the 3 side by side so far

[jenofthefar]

Baldur's Gate character sheet commission! A very handsome Durge half Elf Warlock named Kitzal! If you like this and want one of your own BG3 tav/durge or DnD character hit me up my commissions are open! 😊

[milkybishop]

nessie making her warlock pact

she wanted to have sex with a god so summoned the satyr chaos god to do so and he liked her so much he made the pact with her to give her powers.

he catches feelings because she’s so sly and chaotic and although he hopes she lives a very long adventurous life, he has made a place beside himself for her when she dies

nessie’s not big on commitment and doesn’t mind her patron but he can be a bit clingy

[ninamodaffari]

Wanted to show off a commission I got of my boy Yuri Galkin that was done by the amazing Nesy on Twitter. Seriously consider getting something done by them! 

[darantha]

Another weekly pollsketch, another instance of "Awww, I'd play her". :') Pact of the Blade warlock!

[justavulcan]

Backgrounds With Class: Rakdos Cultist

I'll be honest: Ravnica has always fascinated me. I was a high schooler when the first set came out, and I was immediately consumed creating characters for the setting. Now that we've actually received my long-awaited crossover, I thought it would be nice to write a love letter to the setting in the form of another Backgrounds with Class series. After all: some guilds have natural class choices tied in, from a conceptual standpoint. Boros and Fighter, Izzet and Wizard, Selesnya and Druid. But guilds aren’t class-restricted, and so I wonder what it would look like if you paired every class with every guild background, even the ones that seem at odds, like Izzet and Barbarian, or Gruul and Artificer.  So I thought about it, and this is what I came up with.  Some character concepts for each class, and each Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica background for each class.

Rakdos Cultist

The Rakdos Cultist Artificer is what you get when you cross a bartender with a stage pyrotechnician.  Not much of a talker, he’s pursued the mixture of dangerous liquids ever since his pa brought him to bring-your-child-to-work day with him in the Izzet lab he worked.  The fizz and spark of the fluids, the pop and bang of the explosives, and the screeches of dismay and inspiration sat heavy in his mind ever since, and he’s chased that high all the way from the top of a magister’s tower to the underground club where he makes sure the stage lights cast the best illumination and the pyro’s always on point.

The Rakdos Cultist Barbarian has been a fan of the circus his whole life.  From when his Orzhov parents first stood enthralled on the street by the carnival’s call to when his sister walked the razor-tightrope to her own end, he has always felt a burning for life and the fleeting performance that no cold coin can cool.  Now, roustabout in his free time and blade-juggler on stage, he chases his dream- to throw himself body and soul into the cult’s every move, be it stunts on stage, drinks in a dive, or a riot set to ruin neighborhoods.

The Rakdos Cultist Bard has skipped out on his parents’ legacy of kill-suiting in favor of better blades over more blades.  Born for the limelight like many of the cult of Rakdos, his small stature is as much a surprise to audiences as his opponents, as is the killer-slapstick routine he’s working on.  This routine, “The Bumbling Swordsman,” is an acrobatic marvel, integrating his natural athleticism and skill with the blade to make sure his co-performers meet various hilarious “accidental” ends throughout the performance and has, so far, even killed a member of the audience from sheer hilarity.

The Rakdos Cultist Cleric is walking proof that not every member of the Cult of Rakdos belongs on stage.  Painfully clumsy and gifted with a total lack of a sense of humor, he instead leverages his massive frame to roustabout for his troop.  Between shows, he studies tactics, convinced that Rakdos mobs shouldn’t limit themselves only to frenzied orgies of violence.  This unusual focus on warfare has started getting him some attention at parties- after all, every party needs a planner to blow it up.

The Rakdos Cultist Druid has an uncanny connection with the various beasts that make themselves at home in Rakdos clubs, fight-pits, and pitfight-clubs.  Capable of speaking to and guiding the many rats loyal to Rakdos himself in performance and defense of their buried territories, his ‘pets’ have earned him the honorary title of ratcatcher.  That this half-ogre is a runt for his kind and has a bad back to boot matters little when a chittering carpet of filthy fur and teeth can back him up in combat.

The Rakdos Cultist Fighter never could pick between fire-breathing or axe throwing. When his troop’s leader asked him drunkenly “why choose?,” the path became clear.  Now, he breathes fire without oil and blocks the other thrower’s axes with magic, the better to put death-defying stunts in his shows.  Part-time enforcer, part-time performer, and part-time miner, he’s operated on minimal sleep for years, claiming the sleep-dep hallucinations and irritability only sharpen his edge and heighten his performance.

The Rakdos Cultist Monk, like many in the Cult of Rakdos, is not one to miss a party.  Unlike most, though, his legendary constitution makes sobriety a daunting wall to climb- and not for lack of trying.  Despite a constitution given by his demonic grandfather, he can blackout with the best of them, and his appetite for new and stranger drinks and other intoxicants is insatiable.  And when the call goes out for entertainment, he’s always third to heed the call, bobbing, ducking, weaving, and knifing with the best bar brawlers in the Cult.

The Rakdos Cultist Paladin wasn’t always the proud middle-finger marauder he is today.  Once he was a Boros Legionnaire, training to serve as angelic honor guard.  Then everything changed when he was sent to Precinct Four for a month of border watch.  In that month, he saw Gruul raiders rip through disciplined troops like a ball through pins, izzet wierds level buildings, and his fellow legionnaires ignore noncombatants in danger.  It got to be that his nights unwinding at the local Rakdos clubs were the only thing that made sense, and when the rest of his squad pulled out, he stayed behind, forsaking his rank in favor of the mad hedonism of the club floor.

The Rakdos Cultist Ranger has a deceptively difficult job: taking care of the beasts for the cult’s performances.  Not so easy when the beasts include horses with nightmare sires, just-barely-not-hellhounds, and rats the size of cats with the temper of wolverines.  Still, she’s quick with a beastmaster’s blade and whip, and has an eye for training beasts to perform alongside her, so she might go far yet.  In the meantime, she also finds herself playing crowd control when the audience tries to escape to upstage the other cultists.

The Rakdos Cultist Rogue walks the path of the blade bravo, full of tall tales and braggadocio too grand to believe- almost.  In truth he is a talented swordsman, and an ambitious performer- his boasts are the show, and with a packed bar to play off of, he can claim greater and greater impossibilities- that he fought the sun, that Tin Street’s named after his family, that Isperia of the Azorious Senate is a casual ‘playmate’ of his.  Of course, making such boasts in mixed company has brought him trouble before, but that’s what a quick blade and a quicker step are for.

The Rakdos Cultist Sorcerer doesn’t really know where he came from or why.  Born in the Undercity and manifesting unusually scaly skin for a human, he aways assumed he was the runoff from a Simic experiment.  He spent a lot of his youth running with freaks and geeks from the Rakdos’s mining operations between his own stints in the mines.  It wasn’t until he was nearly an adult before the scale color came in and he realized he wasn’t a failed krasis or guardian project subject, but that he somehow ended up with high-octane dragon blood and the sorcery that came with it.

The Rakdos Cultist Warlock has always felt the thunder in her soul, like so many of her herd; unlike the rest, she is content to surround herself with drums and chase the pulse of the crowd. After lancing three of her roustabouts in a grim comedy routine Rakdos himself chuckled at, she swore to make the ringmaster laugh- and he pulled a lance from his own flesh to hand to her, mark of her promise.  Now she’s a rider after his own humor, aiming to plant her charge where it can hit the hardest- a striker fit to bust a gut.

The Rakdos Cultist Wizard puts a lot of effort into only burning the right things for his performances.  A fire-juggler by trade and a student of Evocation magic by fancy, he specializes in acts of pyrotechnic grace and complexity on the stage.  Currently he’s thrown his lot in with a handful of like-minded souls, and they lowkey compete to see who causes the most property damage at their venues.  To the winner go the nightly spoils- a new brand and a drink.  He’s got four brands already, but there’s always room for one more.

[crunchetime]

Raula Datheros [she/her]

High Elf Warlock, Pact of the Dao

Until just recently, Raula was an unassuming bartender who wasn't being paid what she was worth. Then, one day, a fugitive Genasi warlock stumbled into her tavern, demanding asylum. Raula looked around for the tavern keeper, who was nowhere to be found. Before she could make the decision for herself, the warlock's pursuers appeared. W̴͈͔̜̿e̷͚̝̚͠ ̸͍̓w̴̧̳̏̉͘͜o̷͙̼͚̒͐̂ň̶̻'̵̝͐ț̵̨̅̓̊ ̴̢̿̄g̶͍̘̝̉͐e̷͈͉͆̓̆ṭ̵̛͉͑͝ ̵̧̗̤̓̏́ǐ̷̘̀͑n̵̛͈͑̕t̶̨̒ô̸̧̻̭̏ ̶̗̺̌w̵̛͕͙̺͆̐h̷̡̒̋̚ȁ̸̡͎̱̽̈́t̸̢̘̀͛́ ̶͕̈͝t̶̢͗̔h̸̛̥̩ͅȩ̶͓̈͠ÿ̷̲̘̳́̍͝ ̶̳͖̯̃̇̋w̶͇̩͑͊͛͜e̵͍͇̔r̵̙͑͗ĕ̷̻͚͊.

The warlock was killed in moments, his belongings scattering across the floor of a sleepy tavern that now was very much awake. As the patrons fled, Raula stood frozen behind the bar, gripped with terror as she stared into h̷̩͈̱͌̂̐̽a̸̠͑̋͐̇l̶̗̈́f̷̜̗͙̆̄̈ͅ-̴̤̞̹͋͊l̶̫̬̲͂͗̓̇ỉ̷̯̭̉v̵̩̂i̸̪͗n̴̛̯̍͝g̴̣̩̰̪̋ ̸̧̹͇̆̂e̵̛͈̦̣̹y̸̬͈̎̾ĕ̷͖̪͑͆̋s̵̩̾̽.̶͇̳̱̇͐́͘ At that moment, a voice called out to her. It captured her attention just long enough for her to seek it out; her eyes darted to the floor next to her, where now rested a large, curved longsword. Its blade was made of stone, and widened at the tip like a pickaxe. It spoke to her in a language that she didn't yet understand, but she looked back to the pursuers engulfing the door and knew that all she could do was fight. Having only ever used a sword as a teenager in an ill-fated summer training to be a town guard, Raula was unquestionably well-equipped to wield something that weighed nearly as much as her as she struggled to lift it from the ground. The o̵̬͚̓̔͐p̶͔̞̯͚̑p̷͑̄̆͜r̵̢͉̾̑e̷��̖̤̅̿̍s̴̝̰̮̊s̸̗̔̅̅̇ͅo̵͇͠r̶̝̼̦͓̀͑́͠s̷̬̬̒ began to advance, and Raula's adrenaline kicked in. Whether it was a fluke of inertia, or some newfound strength, she suddenly wrenched the blade from the floor and swung it in a wide arc, releasing a wave of flaming green energy that cleaved through the front of the building, and instantly routed the intruders.

Raula was celebrated by the clientele that didn't have a chance to dive out a window, and she was subsequently fired for destroying company property and "bringing an eldritch artifact onto the premises." She wasn't that concerned, though; the blade had her attention now, and the creature, while clearly frightened, also had proven to be immensely powerful. Raula had heard stories about the things she'd faced that night, and knew that it was likely that they would be back for her. So, she left town in search for help.

Through her meeting with some of her new companions, Raula learned that the creature within the sword was a young version of an incredibly powerful Elemental - a Dao (or earth genie) - that must have been bound to the blade through some kind of ritual. As she does her best to communicate with the Dao and maintain the blade, Raula has found that it's growing lighter and lighter, and that has started granting her other, more sinister conveniences.

[Can you believe to learn that she's not a hexblade???]

[For those just joining us, I made a list of D&D ocs with one based on each playable class, including Artificer and Blood Hunter (14 total). Then, I decided to make a second set. As of typing this, I'm close to finishing a third set, bringing the total oc count for this list up to F O R T Y - T W O (42). Someone Help]

[mrsthunderkin]

Why is it always a Horny Bard thing when the the better/funnier option would be a Horny Warlock?

Its the same freaking charisma check.

[dungeonofthedragon]

Day 7 of Subclasseptember: Fey

Combined with Day 7 of Swordtober: Barbie

I like unique pact weapons, and I'm forever salty that the charisma perk for Pact of the Blade warlocks was a subclass instead of an eldritch invocation. Raven Queen out there having the bladelock monopoly, sheesh!

Ko-Fi

[gobs-o-cs]

"Well, that may take some time, but yes, I have sources that can acquire that for you, regardless of how the authorities feel about it. However... That's not really what you're looking for, is it? It won't actually solve your problems. It's just going to put a bandage on the surface wound, when your issue runs right to the bone, so to speak. You might perhaps instead be interested in a conversation with my, shall we say, benefactor. They might have a suitable solution for you as well. I see that you're worried about payment. Don't be. They're quite accommodating at finding solutions for that sort of thing."

Izar "Izzy" Alili

(She/Her)

Drow Warlock, Archfey Patron, Pact of the Blade

Chaotic Neutral

Criminal Background - Fence

Dice Set #7 - Gold and Black

[janicatart]

[wastelandkatze]

Pact of Blade? More like Pact of "Idc if this sword is bigger than me, I'll wield it like I was born for it"

[jenofthefar]

Here's a Speeddraw of my last commission Kitzal ☺

Hope you're all having a nice Sunday! ✨

[chrisvonfahnestock]

Finished the character my brother is playing in my family game of D&D, the Leonin Hexblade Warlock, Kreigus Lonepride. 

[lichromantic]

Last thing you see before getting engulfed in magical darkness and bludgeoned to death. Letting Quberto conjure weapons was the worst idea. (i designed his hex war hammer after the historical Polish war hammer i saw on tv. war hammer is bae.)

[fernrisulfr]

Pact of the Blade

Been playing Baldur's Gate, and it's given me some thoughts. For reasons likely related to change in medium, they've changed certain mechanics and classes. In some ways they've honestly fixed certain mechanics and subclasses.

One thing I really hope the new edition of DnD takes away from Baldur's Gate 3 is the change they made to Pact of the Blade. They basically took Hex Warrior from Hexblade and hard baked it into Pact of the Blade, allowing you to use your spellcasting modifier in place of Dexterity or Strength when attacking with your Pact Weapon. It's a GREAT idea that makes Pact of the Blade a lot more useful, and opens up a lot of Melee Warlock builds with other subclasses that are suited to it.