Oath of the Watchers - Paladin Subclass

The Oath of the Watchers binds paladins to protect mortal realms from the predations of extraplanar creatures, many of which can lay waste to mortal soldiers. Thus, the Watchers hone their minds, spirits, and bodies to be the ultimate weapons against such threats. Paladins who follow the Watchers' oath are ever vigilant in spotting the influence of extraplanar forces, often establishing a network of spies and informants to gather information on suspected cults. To a Watcher, keeping a healthy suspicion and awareness about one's surroundings is as natural as wearing armor in battle. For more information, see the sourcebooks Tasha's Cauldron of Everything or visit this link.

The Oath of the Watchers is a paladin subclass that often goes under the radar, but has a lot of great strengths focused on bolstering allies' strength against mental saving throws and making it easier to remove creatures from other planes from the battlefield. With the mind-flayer centric story of BG3 in mind, this Oath makes for a flavorful and fun addition to the game, so I decided to take a crack at modding it in myself!

Class Features

Level 1 - Oath Tenets and Oathbreaking

• Vigilance. The threats you face are cunning, powerful, and subversive. Be ever alert for their corruption.
• Loyalty. Never accept gifts or favors from fiends or those who truck with them. Stay true to your order, your comrades, and your duty.
• Discipline. You are the shield against the endless terrors that lie beyond the stars. Your blade must be forever sharp and your mind keen to survive what lies beyond.
  


Implementation Notes: While these are just the flavor of the subclass, it is important to note that I tagged this subclass so it should have the same oath-breaking conditions as Ancients paladins. According to the flavor of the class, it would be breaking your oath to needlessly kill creatures from the mortal plane or disrupt the natural order. That being said, make sure you save carefully if you're worried about the consequences of breaking your oath.



Level 1 - Unwavering Gaze - As a Bonus Action, you can Channel your Oath to gain the vigilant eyes of the Watcher for three turns.  You gain Darkvision out to 12m / 40ft and have Advantage on Perception checks. When you make an attack against a creature who is Lightly or Heavily Obscured, your attack deals an extra 1d4 Force damage.

Implementation Notes:  In BG3, Larian opted to give paladins an additional Channel Oath option at Level 1, probably due to paladin subclasses not having any features between levels 7 and 12.  I wanted to follow the same patterns for balance, so I added this ability. Watchers paladins specialize in fighting creatures beyond the stars, so being able to track them down in the dark and deal extra damage seemed like a flavorful ability that would be balanced with the other paladins.

Level 3 - Oath Spells - You gain the following Oath spells at the levels listed.  These spells are always prepared.

• Level 3 - Chromatic Orb*, Protection from Evil and Good*
• Level 5 - Moonbeam, See Invisibility
• Level 9 - Beacon of Hope*, Counterspell
  


Implementation Notes:  In 5e, the spell list includes Alarm, Detect Magic (Level 3) and Nondetection (Level 5). These spells are currently not in BG3, and while some other mods include renditions of these spells or I could mod them in myself, I elected to choose substitute spells for the list. This lets the mod be standalone for those who may not want to use additional spell mods and keeps implementation simple (I may make them myself later, if I can recreate them accurately). I chose spells that seemed flavorful to the goals of the class or came from earlier versions of the subclass before it was published.



Level 3 - Watcher's Will - You can use your Channel Oath to invest your presence with the warding power of your faith. As an action, you can choose up to 3 creatures you can see within 30 feet of you. For 1 minute, you and the chosen creatures have advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws.

Implementation Notes: In 5e, the number of creatures you could choose was equal to your Charisma modifier. As far as I'm aware, the BG3 code for choosing targets is a bit finicky and needs a whole number instead of reading your Charisma modifier. I went with 3, because that is the maximum modifier you would realistically have at the level you'd get this, but it's subject to change if I can sort it out.



Level 3 - Abjure the Extraplanar - You can use your Channel Oath to castigate unworldly beings. As an action, you present your holy symbol and each aberration, celestial, elemental, fey, or fiend within 30 feet of you that can hear you must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is turned for 3 rounds or until it takes damage.

Implementation Notes: This works exactly as in 5e, save for the duration being 3 rounds as opposed to 1 minute (10 rounds). This is standard for Larian's version of the Turn features from clerics and other paladins.



Level 7 - Aura of the Sentinel - you emit an aura of alertness while you aren't incapacitated. When you and any creatures of your choice within 10 feet of you roll initiative, you all add +3 to Initiative rolls.

Implementation Notes: In 5e, you add your proficiency bonus to Initiative rolls. Again, BG3's code wants a specific number for Initiative bonuses, so I went with what your proficiency bonus would be when you get the feature. This stays plenty strong, since initiative roles in BG3 are d4 and not d20.


Future Versions

• Level 15 and 20 Features - I am working on implementing the subclass features up through Level 20 (Vigilant Rebuke and Mortal Bulwark). I don't use a Level 20 mod myself as of yet, but when I do I will test those features to ensure they are functional and release an update that includes them.
• Custom Equipment - For now, when selected in Character Creation the subclass comes equipped with a Breastplate as armor.  I don't have a lot of confidence in my visual modding ability, but I am looking to make custom subclass armor like the other paladin classes have. If you are good at that type of thing and want to help me add custom Scale Mail of the Watchers, please reach out!
• Class Icon - I have a class icon made (see top of mod page), but do not yet have it implemented to work alongside other class icons using ImprovedUI Assets. Until I do that, the default subclass icon from the Compatibility Framework will appear.
• Bugfixes and QOL - as I said earlier, please let me know if there are any aspects of the mod that don't function as they should, and I will try to get them fixed as soon as I can! Also, if additional mods come out that make the implementation of the class features better, I may release changes that work better with those in mind.
  

Installation Instructions (Using BG3 Mod Manager)

• Download and Extract Oath_Watchers.zip (to give Oath_Watchers.pak)
• Open BG3 Mod Manager and either 1) open Shortcut to Mod Folder and drag Oath_Watchers.pak into Mod Folder, then Refresh, or 2) click File -> Import Mod, navigate to Oath_Watchers.pak and import into Mod Folder
• Move Oath of Watchers from inactive mods to active mods
• Save Load Order to File, launch the game, and enjoy!
  

Special Thanks

• LaughingLeader, ShinyHobo, the Compatility Framework folks, and others in the BG3 Modding Community who make great tools accessible to the community!
• KiderionLykon for their Class Icon Generator
• Larian Discord Modding community for inspiring this!