Oath of Winter
The Oath of Winter is traditionally sworn by Knights of Auril, those dedicated to ensuring the might of winter is not forgotten. Often regarded as cold hearted, intimidating, and cruel, in reality Oath of Winter Paladins are unyielding in their morals, unstoppable in their fury, and unrestrained in their passion and love for the natural beauty of the world.
Tenants of Winter
The Tenants of the Oath of Winter seem surprising to those who think they know Auril and her ways. The Frostmaiden typically finds favour shown to her through intimidation and fear, the prayers for her mercy being the most common. A Winter Knight is not directed to inspire fear nor show mercy, in fact, they direct the adherents to show no emotion, to not let it influence you at all. They are also directed to act not just as a enforcer of winters might, but as a herald of a springs thaw. The Tenants are as follows:
Cold of Heart. Like the cold uncaring winter nights, you are not swayed by sadness, joy, love, fear, anger, jealousy or any other emotion that may crack your stoic icy visage. Do not let emotion corrupt you, or sway you from your convictions.
Implacable. On the rare occasion you are spurned into rage you are like the unstoppable avalanche or the furious ice storm, you cannot be matched, slowed or swayed from your destroying your enemy. Should you fight, fight like a blizzard, fierce and unrelenting
Protect the Cycle. Just as winter is associated with death, it is also the doorway to spring, and the preserver of life for the next cycle of nature. Protect the natural, the young, and the weak from forces unnatural that seeks to harm them, but do not obstruct the natural order.
Foster Beauty. Beauty can be anywhere and within anything, from the lightly snow dusted branches of a tree, to the delicate frosty lace on a window, and the sparkling crystals floating in the crisp clear air. The beauty of nature, and of nature's creations, shall be preserved and protected, and the creation of new beauty should be encouraged wherever you go.1.
Oath Spells
You gain oath spells at the Paladin levels listed.
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | armor of agathys, fog cloud |
| 5th | shatter, Snilloc's snowball swarm |
| 9th | protection from energy, sleet storm |
| 13th | ice storm, elemental bane |
| 17th | cone of cold, maelstrom |
Channel Divinity
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the the following two Channel Divinity options
Turn the Otherwordly. You can use your Channel Divinity to call upon the divine powers to send planar beings fleeing from your power. As an action, you present your holy symbol, and each elemental, celestial or fiend 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 only use 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.
Call of Winter. You can use your Channel Divinity to call upon a the powers of the cold to encase an enemy in ice. As an action you cause the moisture in the air to freeze around an enemy you can see within 30 feet of you. The creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for a minute. A creature can remake the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success.
Aura of Cold
Beginning at 7th level, magics of ice and winter surround you, warding you from the harsh cold. You and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you have resistance to cold, fire and necrotic damage and are not effected by changes of temperature.
At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.
Winter's Sanctuary
Starting at 15th level, you have advantage on death saving throws. Also, when a creature hits you with a melee attack they take cold damage equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1).
Frozen Crusader
At 20th level, you emanate the winds of winter, dropping the temperature around you, your skin turns blue and hair turns white.
Using your action you gain the following benefits for 1 minute:
- You emanate an aura of 30ft, which is considered difficult terrain for hostile creatures.
- You are immune to cold and fire damage.
- Hostile creatures within your aura lose their resistance and immunity to cold damage. Creatures without a resistance or immunity to cold damage gain vulnerability to cold damage.
- When you use your Divine Smite feature, you can choose to deal Cold Damage instead of Radiant Damage.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.