The Paramander
A Paladin Sacred Oath
An almost conspicuously unadorned knight hushes his wizardly colleague in the middle of their conversion. He points a bit to the south, and now the wizard also sees the troop of hill giants marching against the horizon. The knight scowls a bit at the appearance of creatures so monstrously extreme, prepared to ride against them in battle if necessary.
His halberd at the ready, an iron-clad dwarf murmurs a mystic prayer of comfort, countering the fearsome dragon's aura of menace. As his allies catch their breath and ready their offense, the dwarf utters but one syllable. Yet it is this secret word that sears its way through the dragon's mind, nearly forcing it into retreat. Suddenly the drake understands that the conflict before him is far greater than he had thought.
A smiling half-orc shares in the merriment of her colleagues, laughing with them at their minstrel friend's absurd tales. She quests with them in the hopes of striking down the rising demilich. She'd had no quarrel with the magus before, but in its ascension to lichdom the power dynamic of the realm had shifted too much. It was time for her to set things aright.
Many Dungeons & Dragons worlds are surrounded by the grand struggles of cosmic forces representing good, evil, law, and chaos. Those paladins who take on the Oath of the Paramander are paladins who choose to step back from this conflict, viewing alliance with any extreme to be dangerous and disrespectful to the truth of the universe. These paladins are often referred to as Secret Finders, Impartialists, or, more simply, Paramanders.
Paramanders uphold parity between cosmic ideology as the greatest virtue: just as the evil of a tyrant should not overpower the good of a knightly order, so too should the law of that knightly order not overpower the druid circle's chaos. Those who take upon the Paramander's oath distrust extremity and believe that wholehearted support of any philosophical alignment only blinds a person to the harsh realities of the world. The tyrant is only evil to the knights, their law is only just to themselves, and so forth.
In their quest for balance, Paramanders see truth as an object of ultimate objectivity, and many devote themselves to uncovering lost lore or forgotten secrets. For similar reasons, many also have a great respect for arcane magic, as such power is born out of the artificial manipulation of a natural force - a neutral meeting of two contrasting notions - and is no respecter of belief. The power of arcana is as impartial as a a Paramander hopes to be.
Being merely mortal, a Paramander cannot literally fight the very forces of cosmic ethics. However, it is common for such warriors to target monsters they see as the physical incarnations of extremity, and dragons and giants especially earn a Paramander's ire for how their violent tendencies and disproportionate strength can affect the surrounding world.
Tenets of the Paramander
The Oath of the Paramander may be sworn by servants of arcane gods, pantheons of knowledge, or worldly fellowships. Though the exact requirements may vary, the oath's core principles are unchanging.
Uphold the Balance. Distance yourself from all extremes and the strife inherent to such division. The world is what it is, and each player has their part. Strike against that which would threaten this harmony.
Moderate Your Passion. Intense emotion is the birthplace of the conflicts you seek to quell. As in all things, be sober and employ your mind over your heart.
Seek After Truth. Of all things that are, truth is the greatest of them all. Its objectivity enables reason and reveals the blindness of vehement dogma.
Guide the Lost. Though you be a conqueror of imbalance, you sow only sectarianism if you forget to be an aid to those without your insight. Offer your respect to those who do not understand the virtues of balance. In time, your compan-ionship will turn them to your cause.
Oath Spells
You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.
Oath of the Paramander Spells
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | detect magic, identify |
| 5th | blur, calm emotions |
| 9th | clairvoyance, magic circle |
| 13th | banishment, *elemental bane |
| 17th | contact other plane, legend lore |
Channel Divinity
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.
Channel Arcana. You can use your Channel Divinity to tap into a well of arcane power. You can choose a spell from the wizard spell list and cast it using a spell slot. The spell you choose must be of a level you are capable of casting and must be cast with an action or bonus action
Turn the Extreme. As an action, you speak an ancient word of power that drives away cosmic imbalance, using your Channel Divinity. Each dragon or giant that is not of a true neutral or unaligned alignment within 30 feet of you that can hear you must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is turned for 1 minute or until it takes damage.
A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can't willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. It also can't take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there's nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action.
Occultist
By 3rd level, you have thoroughly plied arcane lore as a student of magic. You gain proficiency in the Arcana skill.
Cognitive Detachment
Starting at 7th level, your mind is disconnected from the petty quarrels and shifting opinions of the world. You gain proficiency in Intelligence saving throws, and you are immune to effects that would magically change your alignment or inflict madness or insanity.
If you are already proficient in Intelligence saving throws, you instead gain proficiency in Charisma saving throws.
The First Edition Paramander and Thoughts on Alignment Restrictions
The Oath of the Paramander is primarily inspired by the Paramander class for the first edition of Dungeons & Dragons as presented by the article "A Plethora of Paladins" found in Dragon #106. Though this oath is inspired by that class, it is not a strict conversion and draws more thematically from the Paramander than mechanically.
In first edition, some classes had alignment restrictions, including the Paramander, which was restricted to only true neutral characters. The general tenets of the Oath of the Paramander are broadly reflective of a true neutral perspective; whether or not this means that only true neutral characters can take the Oath of the Paramander is best discussed and decided with your DM or player(s).
Elemental Bane
The spell elemental bane is found in the Elemental Evil Player's Companion and in Xanathar's Guide to Everything.
Consecrated Casting
Starting at 15th level, you can channel holy energy into your spells, empowering them beyond your normal abilities. When you expend a spell slot to cast a spell, you can raise the level of the spell slot by spending Lay on Hands points. You must spend 10 Lay on Hands points per level of increase, and the spell's effects reflect the slot's new level.
You cannot increase a slot beyond the highest level spell slot you are capable of casting.
You Just Had to Pick a Fight
With Everybody, Didn't You?The Paramander believes in the virtue of neutrality, and thus does not side with either good or evil or law or chaos. This is reflected in the original Paramander's class features, which included detection of and bonus damage against creatures that are not neutral.
For players and DMs interested in more fully reflecting the Paramander's theme within its mechanics, the following optional features can be included as part of the Paramander Oath when it's taken or as part of the paladin's progression starting from first level:
Detect Imbalance
When you use your Divine Sense, you detect the presence of dragons, giants, and undead instead of celestials, fiends, and undead.
Smite the Radical
The bite of your blows is focused not on the unholy, but on the extreme. When you use your Divine Smite, you inflict an extra 1d8 radiant damage against dragons and giants instead of fiends and undead.
For example, a 15th level paladin casting a 1st level spell with a 1st level spell slot could spend 30 Lay on Hands points and cast the spell as if they were using a 4th level spell slot.
Impose Compromise
At 20th level, as an action, you can emanate an aura of moderation, forcing others to see the error of their cause and weakening their will to fight. For one minute, creatures of your choice that you can see within 30 feet of you have disadvantage on all attack rolls. An affected creature can end this effect on itself by succeeding on a Charisma saving throw against your paladin spell save DC as an action, and it cannot be subjected to this effect again for 24 hours.
Additionally, you gain the following benefits for the duration:
- You have truesight out to 60 feet.
- You have resistance to all bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.
- You are capable of maintaining concentration on two paladins spells simultaneously. The sum of the levels of the spell slots you use to cast both spells must be less than or equal to 5. You cannot concentrate on more than two spells at the same time, and if you fail a concentration check while concentrating on two spells, you lose your concentration on both spells.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.
Credits
Created by /u/BunnygeonMaster using GMBinder.
Thanks to /u/AeronDrake for the formatting guide and watercolor stains.
Thanks to the Discord of Many Things and the UA subreddit for feedback and design assistance.
Credit to the following artists for their lovely work: