Sacred Oath
Oath of Blood
The Oath of Blood is a bond a paladin has with an inner curse. You are part of divine mission to restore honor to your bloodline, whether cursed by hubris or madness - you have devoted yourself to carrying out a divine duty to uphold your honor against your supernatural savagery. Each moment of your life you has lead you on a path of harrowing glory and dark redemption.
Tenets of Blood
A paladin who takes this oath often has a banner or weapon marked with these tenets, lest they forget themselves.
Carry Yourself with Dignity. Your honor should be without question, and no one should ever suspect you a cheat or a liar. Any brutality or ruthlessness should be done without betraying another.
Duty before Passion. Your curse does not allow pleasantries, remind yourself why you fight before you waste time indulging in needless affairs.
Insight over Instinct. Always approach any situation with caution and cunning. Impulsive behavior without calculation is the rule of beasts and fools.
Never Succumb to Thirst. Despite your curse, never draw a creature's blood to indulge in wanton savagery. You draw blood to survive, never out of desire or vice.
Oath of Blood Features
| Paladin Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Oath Spells, Channel Divinity |
| 7th | Sanguine Strike (2d6), Sense Mortality (20 ft.) |
| 15th | Profane Might, Sanguine Strike (3d6) |
| 18th | Sanguine Strike (4d6), Sense Mortality (40 ft.) |
| 20th | Unnatural Vigor |
Oath Spells
You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed in the Oath of Blood spells table. See the Sacred Oath class feature for how oath spells work.
Oath of Blood Spells
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | false life, shield of faith |
| 5th | suggestion, zone of truth |
| 9th | life transference, vampiric touch |
| 13th | shadow of moil, sickening radiance |
| 17th | hallow, raise dead |
Channel Divinity
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options. See the Sacred Oath class feature for how Channel Divinity works.
Blood Right. You can use your Channel Divinity to empower your words based on the power in your blood. As a bonus action, you grant yourself a +5 bonus to your next Charisma (Intimidation) or Charisma (Persuasion) check. If it succeeds, you can choose to have the creature you intimidated or persuaded to be charmed by you for 10 minutes.
Sanguine Strike. You can use your Channel Divinity to imbue your strike with your blood curse. When you make a damage roll with a melee attack, you can use your Channel Divinity to deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage. The target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken, and you regain hit points equal to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
When you reach 7th, 15th, and 18th level, the extra damage increases by 1d6.
Restriction: Vampires and Shifters Only
Only vampires or shifters can take the Oath of Blood, having bloodlines or curses that have augmented their blood. Often members of these races or afflictions will take these Oaths on as way to reassure themselves and others that they are not governed by their blood, but commanders of its power and willing to be honorable members of society.
Your DM can lift this restriction to better suit the campaign. The restriction reflects the thematics of the subclass, but it might not apply to your DM's setting.
Sense Mortality
Starting at 7th level, you can sense when nearby creatures are on the precipice of death. You sense when a creature within 20 feet of you is missing more than half of its maximum hit points. As a bonus action, you can sense its general direction and creature type. This feature doesn't work on constructs or undead. Once you see the creature, you gain the following effects:
- Your speed increases by 10 while moving towards the creature.
- Your unarmed strike becomes a bite, it deals piercing damage instead of bludgeoning. When you bite, you may gain temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier.
At 18th level, the range of this feature increases to 40 feet.
Profane Might
At 15th level, your training has given you the prowess to coalesce your profane blood. Whenever you gain temporary hit points or regain hit points, you may double the damage and effect of your next bite attack or sanguine strike.
Unnatural Vigor
At 20th level, you gain the ability to harness unnatural bloodline. As an action, you can tap into your bloodline, gaining the following benefits for 1 minute:
- You are fueled by your supernatural constitution. When you activate this feature, you gain temporary hit points equal to your missing hit points. While you have these temporary hit points, you are resistant to necrotic and radiant damage.
- When you take the attack action on your turn, you can make one additional bite attack as part of that action.
- While you are missing hit points, your blood mystically protects you. You have 2 bonus AC while missing hit points.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
Rule Tip: Temporary Hit Points Don’t Stack
If you have temporary hit points and receive more of them, you don’t add them together, unless a rule says you can. Instead, you decide which temporary hit points to keep. For more information on temporary hit points, see chapter 9 of the Player’s Handbook.
Credits
This subclass was created by Chilroy, otherwise known as Jesse. I can be found as /u/Jagganoth on /r/UnearthedArcana, or on twitter @True_Byrdman. If this contents of this document or any other of mine inspired you, please give credit duly.