If you’re a Baldur’s Gate 3 fan who thought your time spent with the Dead Three was over, think again. With the new Dungeons & Dragons Rogue subclass Scion of the Three, it’s like Bane, Bhaal, and Mrykul never left. Does it feel a bit like a shameless tie-in to a popular video game? It sure does, especially looking at all the promotional art for these books. Am I extremely excited to try it out anyway? Absolutely.
The new Forgotten Realms books releasing this November include the player-centric Heroes of Faerûn, which will add eight new subclasses to the game. The Rogue subclass is undoubtedly the most evil, though they technically don’t have to be — a recent D&D Beyond post summarizing the subclasses states, “Some scions embrace their patron willingly, reveling in divine cruelty, while others are cursed into service.”
With the powers given to the Scion of the Three Rogues, though, being evil certainly helps, as they all revolve around bloodlust and striking fear into the hearts of enemies. All these subclasses were first presented for playtest in Unearthed Arcana, so we have an idea of the subclass specifics, starting with two that begin at level three: Bloodthirst and Dread Alliance.
The former allows Rogues to do extra damage to bloodied enemies, as well as teleport as a Reaction when one reaches zero hit points. The latter lets Scions pick one of the Dead Three to channel each long rest, granting them a certain type of resistance and cantrip for the day — Bane gives Psychic Resistance and Minor Illusion, Bhaal Poison Resistance and Blade Ward, and Myrkul Necrotic Resistance and Chill Touch.
Things get increasingly evil at higher levels, like level nine’s Strike Fear, which gives a new Cunning Strike option, Terrify, to make enemies frightened. The wickedness becomes palpable at level 13 with Aura of Malevolence, a constant damaging emanation from the Rogue that ignores resistance. It peaks at level 17, with Dread Incarnate granting Battle Tyrant and Murderous Intent, which help with attacks on frightened enemies and Sneak Attacks, respectively.
It’s arguably the most evil Rogue subclass ever put to paper — even the Assassin subclass is doing their killing for money. Scion of the Three Rogues are in it for the love of the game. It’s par for the course when dealing with the Dead Three, a popular trio of evil gods who, despite their repeated appearances in other media, had few ties to D&D classes until now. Prestige classes linked to Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul appeared in 3e, but that’s about it.
It definitely feels like a very purposeful tie-in to Baldur’s Gate 3, and not just because of its inclusion of the Dead Three. There’s also the fact that it helps the creation of an evil Rogue character, much like everyone’s favorite harlequin bloodsucker Astarion. Speaking of Astarion, the Forgotten Realms Ultimate Bundle even includes Astarion’s Book of Hungers, a vampire-themed expansion “shared by Astarion himself” — they’re not exactly being subtle about it.
However, as someone who let Astarion kill me during the infamous feeding scene, I do not mind in the slightest. A shameless tie-in is fine when it’s done well, and this bigger inclusion of the Dead Three in 5e is a great way to handle it, peppering in lore while still letting players put their own spin on it. It’s also not a surprise that Wizards of the Coast would keep at it with a formula that works after the success of the Astarion Magic the Gathering collection. The people are hungry for more Baldur’s Gate 3, and they’re certainly being fed with this new subclass.
It may even help to draw in fans of BG3 to give D&D a try. It can often feel intimidating to jump into a TTRPG, but being able to base a character around things they know — like the Dead Three and an origin story based around Baldur’s Gate, where the trio are most prevalently worshiped — could make it all feel more doable.
I’ve never done a Dungeons & Dragons campaign as an evil character before, but the Scion of the Three subclass is the most convincing reason I’ve seen yet to give it a whirl. I love the idea of picking one of the Dead Three each day to do my evil bidding with, and the concept of being so evil I cast a constant aura of bad vibes that hurts everyone around me is honestly hilarious. It may be a shameless Baldur’s Gate 3 tie-in, but that won’t stop me from making an evil Rogue and enjoying it immensely.
