Sacred Oath: Oath of Drama
The Oath of Drama is driven by an intense passion for the art of theater, acting, and storytelling. They devote themselves completely to their roles, imbuing themselves with the courage and strength of the heroes they play on the stage, whether they be from historical dramas, fantastical tales, or mythological epics. Some paladins who take this oath are followers of gods who support the arts, while others have no connection to gods at all, and are simply so passionate about getting into character that it manifests magically.
Tenets of Drama
Paladins of this oath often frame their action in real life by the structure of plays and stories, and design their tenets to reflect that.
The Hero's Journey. You are the protagonist of your own story. You will face trails and tribulations, struggle endlessly, and perhaps fall deep into the belly of the whale, but that is all a part of the process. You know you will succeed as long as you have determination.
All the World's A Stage. Performance doesn't stop when you walk off the stage. The world is your audience, and so your story should be an entertaining one. Your every action should be done with dramatic flair.
Moral of the Story. As an actor, you are a lens through which others can view the tragic truths of life that they would otherwise block out. Whenever there is strife, you must be a heroic role model and openly discuss the themes of the situation in order to guide those who are lost.
Conflict Builds Character. Everyone has flaws and inner demons, and the only way to root them out is through conflict and struggle. Do not reject people for being imperfect, because that's what makes them interesting. Still, growth is necessary. You must face your own challenges head-on and encourage others to do the same with theirs.
Oath Spells
| Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | disguise self, tasha's hideous laughter |
| 5th | enthrall, pyrotechnics |
| 9th | feign death, tongues |
| 13th | fabricate, hallucinatory terrain |
| 17th | seeming, skill empowerment |
Channel Divinity
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.
The Show Must Go On. As a reaction, when you are reduced to 0 hit points, you may use your Channel Divinity to regain hit points equal to your Paladin level.
Soliloquy. As an action, you begin a dramatic monologue that distracts everyone around you, using your Channel Divinity. All creatures who can hear you within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. If they fail, they are stunned for as long as you continue monologuing, which requires concentration. You can monologue for up to 10 minutes, and while you are monologuing you cannot move or take actions, bonus actions, or reactions. Attacks against you while you are monologuing have advantage. You can end this effect on your turn at will.
If a creature stunned by your monologue is attacked, is forced to make a saving throw, or takes damage, they are no longer stunned and become immune to your monologuing for the duration.
Aura of Performance
Starting at 7th level, you are able to empower your compatriots to perform alongside you. You and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you have advantage on Charisma (Deception) checks and Charisma (Performance) checks while you are conscious. In addition, all friendly creatures within range can cast the disguise self spell on themselves at-will. The effect of this spell ends if they move out of range of your aura or if you fall unconscious.
At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.
Dedication To Character
At 15th level, you never break character. You are immune to being charmed and possessed. In addition, when you make a Charisma (Deception) or Charisma (Performance) check, you can treat a d20 roll of 9 or lower as a 10.
Method Acting
At 20th level, you are able to get so deeply into character that you become that character. When you get this feature, you can make a character that you are prepared to play the part of. They may be fictional or based on a humanoid creature you have met. This character can be up to 18th level, and will get their own character sheet made according to the rules of creating a player character. The only equipment this character will have is the starting equipment for their class and background, plus an additional 50 gp worth of non-magical items of your choice. They cannot start with any currency.
At the end of a long rest, you can choose to become one of your prepared characters. For the next 8 hours, you physically transform into that character. You can choose to transfer any amount of your equipment to that character. Equipment that you don't transfer will magically disappear, then reappear on your person when you change back. Any equipment from you character disappears when you change back.
While you are this other character, you lose access to all of your race and class abilities, except for your channel divinity and your other Oath of Drama subclass features. You gain all of the racial and class abilities of the new character, and you use the statistics and hit points of the new character. You can dismiss this form as an action. If you die while in this form, your body will revert back to your original form, but only after your death saving throws are failed.
Becoming a whole other person takes a lot out of you. After you turn back to your original form, you are reduced to 1 hit point, and you can not use any of your class features until you finish a long rest.
You can gain more characters that you can transform into by spending 30 days researching and practicing. You can have up to 3 prepared characters. If you create a new character after this limit has already been reached, you must choose one character to forget.
Roguish Archetype: Showman
Many rogues hide in the shadows, but some prefer the spotlight. Showmen are charismatic performers who combine the nimbleness and skill of a rogue with a little touch of bardic magic. They've discovered that the right kind of song and dance can send ripples through the weave of magic, allowing them to charm and manipulate the people around them with infectious music.
Song and Dance
At 3rd level, you know how to tap into the weave through rhythm and song, giving you some arcane influence over others when you perform. You may spend your bonus action to sing. While you are singing, you have advantage on Charisma (Performance) checks but disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks.
If a creature with an Intelligence of 4 or higher listens to your sing for at least 1 minute, it must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier). Creatures that are immune to being charmed automatically succeed. If it fails, you have advantage on all Charisma checks against it for 10 minutes. If a creature succeeds against this, it is immune to the effects of your singing for 24 hours.
Cadence
At 3rd level, by timing your hits to the high points of your songs, you can put more power into your blows. You gain an additional way to use your Sneak Attack; you don't need advantage on the attack roll to use your Sneak Attack against a creature if you are within 5 feet of it, you are singing, and you don't have disadvantage on the attack roll. Once you make a Sneak Attack this way, you may not use this feature again for 1 minute. All the other rules for Sneak Attack still apply to you.
Improvised Choreography
At 9th level, your dancing makes you supernaturally fleet-footed. If you use your bonus action to sing, you ignore difficult terrain and have advantage on all Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks until the end of your turn.
Musical Number
At 13th level, as a bonus action, you can release a contagious song through the weave, forcing others to sing and dance along. Any number of creatures of your choice within 60 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier). A willing creature can choose to fail the saving throw automatically. If they fail, they are now a performer in the musical number. You are also considered a performer.
For 1 minute, the following effects apply:
- All performers are forced to sing and dance on their turn to the best of their ability. This does not cost any actions or movement. All performers can hear an instrumental track that seems to be coming from nowhere, and they magically know the words to the song.
- All performers have advantage on Charisma (Performance) and Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks, but disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks.
- You gain the benefits of using your bonus action to sing without spending your bonus action.
- Choose one of the following additional effects:
Confession Song. As a bonus action, you can cause one performer within 30 feet of you to confess a secret. The creature makes a Wisdom saving throw (DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier). If they succeed, they are no longer a performer. If they fail, they confess a secret through song.
The confessions become deeper and more impactful the more times you use this on a creature. The first secret they reveal will be small and relatively inconsequential, such as an embarrassing moment they've never shared or a guilty pleasure they have. The second will be a deeper emotional secret, like hidden love or hatred they harbor for someone else. The third will be highly sensitive information that they could get in trouble for sharing, like the location of an artifact they stole or the name of their secret employer. If a creature does not have a secret of a higher tier, they will share another lower tier secret.
Dance Number. This musical number involves a more complicated and lively dancing than most. On your turn, you can spend your bonus action to move up to 3 performers, including yourself, up to half their movement speed in any way that you choose. You cannot move creatures into positions that will cause them immediate harm, such as over a ledge or into a fire. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.
Teamwork Song. You sing a tune that motivates people to work together. Choose 1 skill or tool. All performers have advantage on using this skill or tool for the duration.
11 O'Clock Number
At 17th level, you learn how to really stop the show by sending a deadly wave of arcane force cascading through the weave. If you spend your bonus action to sing, you can use your action to hit a deadly note. All creatures within a 30 foot radius of you make a Wisdom saving throw. Creatures who are under the effects of your Song and Dance feature have disadvantage on this save. On a failure, the creature takes force damage equal to your Sneak Attack damage, and the creature is stunned for 1 round. On a success, it takes half damage.
Once you use this ability, you cannot use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Art Credit
Oath of Drama art by Nicholas Kay
Showman Art by Suda Ayaka
