Sacred Oath - Justicar
A coven of winged faeries that doted on Corrigan the Changeling buzzed out towards the group of adventurers and began tugging at beards, pulling at tunics, and rifling through pockets for sport.
“A lackey of the gods!” taunted the changeling. “Do absolve us of our sins before Nidris devours you and I use your holy staff to pick the sinew from his teeth.” The faeries tittered mischievously. Nidris growled, shaking the forest.
“You wee winged demons misunderstand my faith. I am not here to absolve you. The god of battle showed me how that fat toad you call master could be beaten.” The faeries giggled and continued to painfully braid his beard. “But the strength of my faith lies not in sermons, and this is no preacher’s staff.” The Dwarf brandished his maul of cold iron.
“Absolve you? I’m here to smash you!”
The maul landed with a mighty thud, flattening a flittering faerie. Nidris howled in challenge, and Thorvin glared into its eyes. He swung his bludgeon at the tiny sprites, knocking some to splatter against the great wolf’s pelt.
Thorvin’s soldiers charged, their courage bolstered by his conviction. Teeth and metal clashed, and though Nidris bit and clawed the invaders, the soldiers’ wounds healed with every blow their cleric struck.
The tide of battle turned, and soon the mighty beast found himself bloodied and nearing death. “Flee! Flee!” screamed the terrified changeling, his mocking tone drained away. “This is no mere mortal, but an avatar of war!” Nidris yelped like a pup and turned tail, but Thorvin crippled the beast’s leg with a swing of his maul.
His heart pierced by the spears of the soldiers, Nidris collapsed with a final anguished cry, Corrigan tumbling from his back. Scrambling uselessly, the Changeling tore himself on brambles as the stout cleric strode toward him.
“I repent! I repent!” the changeling sniveled.
“I know you do, lad,” said Thorvin as he hefted the bloodstained maul. “And I’ve got your absolution right here.”
Strengths
A Justicar can loose waves of divine magic that can heal their allies or damage their foes, thus surviving and thriving in the thick of battle while ensuring their allies do the same.
Weaknesses
While powerful, a Justicar's divine magic still depends on their melee prowess, so can be mitigated by wise foes who can keep the Justicar from the frontlines.
Tenets of the Justicar
Justice for All. A Justicar must deliver justice to friend or foe when they deem it worthy.
Shelter the Weak. You control some of the greatest magic, and so can use it to keep those incapable of saving themselves protected.
Decimate Evil. Your abilities enable to to shatter, destroy and utterly annihilate the evils of the world. Use them.
Stand Tall. You stand at the forefront of a neverending conflict, always threatening to bubble to the surface. When it does, you are the first line of defence.
Oath Spells
You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.
Oath of the Justicar Spells
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Healing Word, Sanctuary |
| 5th | Hold Person, Warding Bond |
| 9th | Life Transference, Spirit Guardians |
| 13th | Freedom of Movement, Guardian of Faith |
| 17th | Dawn, Hallow |
Channel Divinity
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.
Provoke. You can use your Channel Divinity to attempt to force a creature to focus on you, and only you. As an action, you bellow a mighty taunt imbued with holy provocation. A creature of your choice within 30 feet of you that you can see must succeed on a wisdom saving throw or be affected by this ability.
A creature affected by Provoke is incapable of attacking or focusing its attention on anyone but you for up to 1 minute. On each of its turns while provoked, a creature must use its movement to take the shortest route to being in range of you. A ranged creature can still attack you from range. A creature will not take a route that moves through an obviously dangerous area such as lava or over a cliff. When you take damage from a source other than the provoked creature, you must succeed on a concentration saving throw, with the effects of provoke ending on a failure.
Hammer of Faith. You can use your Channel Divinity to launch a spectral hammer towards a foe that can affect multiple creatures around it. As an action, you summon a hammer of divine power into a free hand.
Make a ranged attack roll against a creature within 30 feet of you that you can see. On a hit, you deal 4d10 radiant damage to it, and make up to 4 more attack rolls against any other creature within 10 feet of it that you can see. Any creature after the first takes 2d10 radiant damage.
Righteous Mandate
Beginning at 7th level, your devotion to the protection of others extends to your allies. At the start of your turn, you can choose a friendly creature within 10 feet of you to gain +1 AC until the start of your next turn.
At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet, and you can choose two friendly creatures by expending two uses of this feature.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier between long rests.
Mien of Leadership
Starting at 15th level, you gain proficiency in the persuasion or performance skill if you do not have it already, and you restore an additional 1d8 hit points whenever you restore hit points to a creature. Additionally, if you hit a creature within 5 feet of a friendly creature with a melee weapon attack on your turn, you can use a expend a spell slot to force that creature to attack you until the end of that creatures' next turn. If you expend a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, all enemy creatures in a radius (centered on you) within 5 feet of you are drawn to also attack you, with the radius increasing by 5 feet for each spell level expended past 2nd level.
Absolution
At 20th level, you can become an avatar of holy light. Using your Action, you become a shining corporeal beacon of divine power. For 1 minute, you gain the following benefits:
- When you use this ability, every friendly creature within 30 feet of you that you can see gains +1 AC for the duration of this ability.
- Your creature type is considered celestial.
- Whenever you use your Divine Smite, the creature you hit is forced to attack you on its next turn.
- You shed bright light in a 60 foot radius, and dim light in a 30 foot radius.
- At the end of each of your turns while this ability is active, you can choose a creature within 30 feet of you that you can see and expend a spell slot to deal 2d8 radiant damage to it.