## The Oath of the Crucible When paladins break their oaths to acheive selfish goals, they become Oathbreakers. Some paladins, however, still have the spark of good within them when they turn away from their oaths. In these cases, a paladin may be chosen to undergo a long, arduous test of faith known as The Crucible. A paladin of The Crucible acts as an independent agent, flying the flag of no order or god. Their mission is to seek out places where blood can be shed and offer themselves to the oncoming violence. The Crucible reforges the fallen paladin in the fires of combat, fueled by blood and steel. As they act, they may be deemed worthy of redemption and regain their holy powers as before. Others, however, are damned to shoulder the burden of the Crucible until they finally succumb. ### Oath of the Crucible A paladin that accepts The Crucible does so knowing the fate that may befall them. The path that lies before them is one of pain, blood, and death. #### Tenets of the Crucible The tenets of the Oath of the Crucible are defined by the god that the paladin has turned away from. **Self-sacrifice.** Sacrifice your light to protect the light of others. You must subject yourself to violence so that others do not have to. **Bloodthirst.** Violence is your faith. Blood is your fuel. Do not stay your blade when blood needs to be shed. **Self-reliance.** No one can help you carry your burden. Do not seek assistance to ease your pain, for it is what keeps you on your path. #### Oath Spells You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed. ##### Oath of the Crucible Spells | Paladin Level | Spells | |:----:|:------------------------------------| | 3rd | *hunter's mark, zephyr strike* | | 5th | *crown of madness, warding bond* | | 9th | *life transference, vampiric touch* | | 13th | *elemental bane, shadow of Moil* | | 17th | *conjure volley, steel wind strike* | #### Channel Divinity When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options. **Shift Burden.** You can use your Channel Divinity to free others from their hardships, so that you may carry them in their stead. As an action, you can touch a creature that has been charmed, stunned, restrained, blinded, or deafened, and transfer the condition onto yourself. If the condition can be removed by succeeding on a saving throw, you automatically fail it at the end of your current turn, but gain advantage on the roll at the end of your next turn. **Bloody Regeneration.** You can use your Channel Divinity to draw wrath towards you. As an action, you present your weapon and speak a command. Your AC is reduced by 4 and up to three hostile creatures within 30 feet that you can see must make a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it must spend its next turn to move towards you and, if possible, make a melee attack against you. If an affected creature hits you on their next turn, you may reduce the damage of the attack by 1d10 + your Constitution modifier + your paladin level. If you reduce the damage of an attack to 0 while under this effect, you regain one lost spell slot of a level equal to your paladin level divided by four. On a successful save, they suffer no effect and may act as normal. Your AC returns to normal at the beginning of your next turn. #### In Harm's Way Starting at 7th level, you emit an aura that halts the restorative properties of healing. When a hostile creature within 10 feet of you regains Hit Points, they must succeed on a Charisma save or have the healing negated. On a successful save, they only gain half of what they would normally receive. At 18th level, the range of this ability expands to 30 feet. #### Flagellant Reversal Starting at 15th level, you learn how to channel the pain you have felt into your foes. As a reaction to taking damage from a hostile creature, you deal psychic damage equal to the amount of Hit Points you have lost in the last 3 rounds. Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest. #### Victim Soul At 20th level, you become able to wreath yourself in a tumult of pain and subject your foes to your undying agony. As an action, you can choose to transform into an avatar of suffering for 1 minute, which wreathes you in jagged metal shards that dig into your skin and give you the following benefits: * Whenever a creature starts its turn within 5 feet of you, they take 2d8 piercing damage from the rippling shards of metal. Additionally, as part of the Bloody Regeneration action, you can choose to attack yourself using the shards as a proficient weapon. * If a hostile creature you can see succeeds a saving throw, you can use your reaction to force them to reroll it. They must use this new roll. * You are immune to effects that would restrain, stun, or charm you. Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.