Paladin Oath of Absolution
Fallen and Repentant
The Oath of Absolution is rare among paladins. Unlike other so-called Oathbreakers, Paladins of Absolution are fully penitent for their actions, and wish to return to the graces of good and rightness. Unfortunately for them, the path of redemption is perilous; the slightest misstep can make their entire quest fruitless. An Absolver, as they are often known, fights with the shreds of power they can salvage from what remains of their former Oaths, for the benefit of the good and innocent.
The Absolver does not kill needlessly; even one innocent life taken can damn them for the rest of eternity. Despite this, they take up an Oath that requires evil be purged from the world; a villain released can cause far more damage than a good man executed. This mix of extremes cripples most Absolvers, who must struggle at every moment with potentially allowing evil to flourish under them while safeguarding those they wish to protect.
If a paladin falls but is still willing to maintain the path of good, they may choose to adopt this Sacred Oath rather than the Oathbreaker detailed in the Dungeon Master's Guide.
Tenants of Absolution
Personal Failure. Whatever acts made you pick up the Oath of Absolution, they are your failures and your failures alone. You must bear the weight of shame for your actions, and ensure that no one has to repeat or suffer for them. Death alone will wipe your actions away.
Protect the Pure. Protect those who do not bow to the temptations of evil. Act in their name to better the world. Allow none to corrupt their intentions, and punish the wicked who would. You must bear the evils they cannot.
Guide the Mislead. Not all who do evil are lost to it. For those fortunate few who can be saved, grant them mercy so they may try again. The mislead must be constantly righted, however; evil already has its roots within them. Guide all you can from evil.
Proportionate Retribution. For those lost to evil, punish them appropriately. A thief deserves jail, an assassin execution, and a tyrant deposement. Not all beings of certain stature are truly lost: a demon may be redeemed, as an Angel may fall.
Responsibility. For those who may recover you kill, you must accept that you could have saved them. For those who do not repent you spare, you must accept responsibility for allowing their sins.
Absolution Spells
You gain Oath spells at the paladin levels listed.
| Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | guiding bolt, sanctuary |
| 5th | branding smite, warding bond |
| 9th | crusader's mantle, protection from energy |
| 13th | guardian of faith, Otiluke's resilient sphere |
| 17th | destructive wave, raise dead |
Channel Divinity
When you take this Oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.
Radiant Retribution. As an action, you may choose one ally within 10 feet of you that you can see and wrap them in bands of radiant energy. Until your next turn, any enemy that damages the chosen ally while within 10 feet of them takes 1d6 + your Charisma Modifier Radiant damage.
Weight of Guilt. As an action, you may force any creatures within 30 feet of you that can see and hear you to bear the psychological toll of their sins. Non Fiends or Undead affected by this are Blinded and knocked Prone, and suffer 1d6 Radiant damage. Fiends or Undead affected by this are Blinded and knocked Prone, have disadvantage on the saving throw, and suffer 2d6 Radiant damage. You are not immune to this effect; you are always targeted by this ability. A target can make a Wisdom saving throw to only be knocked prone.
Blood for Blood
At 3rd level, your forsaken status removes your ability to use Lay on Hands' pool of healing power, and later Cleansing Touch's uses.
Instead, you may sacrifice your own hit points to use Lay on Hands, and spell effects you cure Cleansing Touch affect you instead.
Putrescent Radiance
At 7th level, you may use your soul as a lens for summoning divine power. Whenever you cast a spell or use a feature that deals radiant damage, you may choose to use the maximum possible roll for that damage. Such power comes at a cost: whenever you use this feature, you still roll the damage the spell or feature would normally do, and deal this damage to yourself. You must use this feature before rolling damage for the initial spell or feature. The damage you take is untyped and unresistable; you always take the full rolled damage. If you die from this effect, your soul is destroyed, burnt into oblivion by radiant divinity.
At 18th level, you only suffer half the rolled damage you would otherwise. The damage may not be mitigated or reduced in any other way.
Light at the End
At 15th level, you regain the attention of the deity you forsook. The deity remains distant and cold, but grants you a small amount of grace. You may call upon the deity to answer a single yes or no question; the deity will answer either yes or no, according to its knowledge. You may use this ability once, refreshing on a long rest.
Fulfilled Penitence
At 20th level, you regain the favor of the deity you forsook. As a mark for your past failures, you must continue with the Oath of Absolution, however your deity does gift you the ability to act as an Avatar of Penance once per day.
As an action, you may choose to transform into an Avatar of Penance, in which you have 10 points that can be used to fuel your abilities in this form. This transformation lasts until all of these points are used up, and immediately ends after. You may take the following actions in Avatar form:
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1 Point - All enemies within 30 feet must make a Wisdom saving throw, or suffer the effects of the spell command with the phrase “Repent”.
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1 Point - Use one of your Channel Divinities without taking up a daily usage. If Weight of Guilt is chosen, you are not targeted by its effects.
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2 Points - You cast four guiding bolts as the spell at up to four targets of your choice.
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3 Points - You make two melee attacks against an enemy within reach of your weapon. These attacks are made with the benefit of both staggering smite and a minimum level Divine Smite.
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5 Points - All enemies within 30 feet must make a Wisdom saving throw or be stunned until the end of your next turn.
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10 Points - Cast the spell power word: kill. You take 100 damage if the target is not a fiend or undead, or 50 damage if the target is. This damage may not be reduced or mitigated in any way.
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10 Points - Cast the spell true resurrection, without needing materials.
This ability refreshes on a long rest.
Variant Rule: Sacred Oath Entry Features
The Oath of Absolution makes use of a 3rd level Oath feature, inspired in part by the Unearthed Arcana publication of the Oath of Redemption. While the official Xanathur's Guide to Everything version of the subclass does not contain 3rd level features, the flavoring potential and expanded design space offered by using a 3rd level feature was considered too good to go unused in the design of the Oath of Absolution. As such, its potential design space was also considered for the Wizards of the Coast official Sacred Oaths.
Oath of Devotion
Incorruptible Spirit. At 3rd level, your hit point maximum can't be reduced as a result of suffering necrotic damage or from an effect forced on you by another creature.
Oath of Ancients
Nature’s Chosen. At 3rd level, choose one type of terrain from arctic, coast, desert, forest, grassland, mountain, or swamp. While traveling in this terrain, you gain the following benefits:
- Difficult Terrain doesn't slow your party's travel.
- Your group can't become lost except by magical means.
- Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling (such as foraging, navigating, or tracking), you remain alert to danger.
- When you forage, you find twice as much food as you normally would.
Oath of Vengeance
The Vengeful Hunt. At 3rd level, choose a type of creature from aberrations, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, giants, one type of humanoid such as goblins or orcs, oozes, or undead. You immediately learn one language spoken by the type of creature you chose. You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track these enemies, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them.
Oathbreaker
Profaned Touch. At 3rd level, you can use your reaction to a creature within 5 feet of you making a saving throw to end a spell's effect to give them disadvantage on the save. Once you use this ability, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.
Once you gain the Cleansing Touch feature at 14th level, you may expend uses of Cleansing Touch to use this ability.
Oath of Redemption
Emissary of Peace. At 3rd level, when you are not wearing armor or using another Unarmored Defense feature, your AC is 10 + your Charisma Modifier + your Dexterity modifier. As well, you have advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks while you are not wielding a martial weapon or wearing armor.
Oath of Conquest
Bloody Hands. At 3rd level, in place of using Divine Smite, you may expend your Lay on Hand pool to deal additional necrotic damage when one of your attacks hits, equal to the amount you choose to expend. Alternatively, you may expend 5 points from this pool to ignore the damage resistances and immunities the target has for that attack.