Paladin subclasses by Dargon Black

# Paladin Subclass reworks

##### By Dargon Black

> #####  Author's Note: Halo Mechanic explained
> Within either some of my subclass reworks or homebrew Paladin subclasses you are likely to encounter a new mechanic called Halo.
>
>Mechanically this is a side grade to the Aura Mechanic, where you *convert* an aura into a class buff. This is done in the case of auras like Aura of Alacrity where the current effect and the proposed increased range by WotC for 18th level Paladins is undesirable or subpar compared to the effects of other auras from other subclasses.
>
> Lore wise, Paladins emanate an aura which mirrors the type of Oath or God they serve. Normaly, as Paladins gain stronger their aura becomes larger. However, as part of their training, some Paladins have prayed for the ability to strengthen the effect of their aura and be more self-sufficient. As a result, through the use of their willpower, some Paladins have gained the ability to temporarily *condense* the auras representative to their order into Halos.

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## Paladin: Oath of the Crown

##### Tenets of the Crown
The tenets of the Oath of the Crown are often set by the sovereign to which their oath is sworn, but generally emphasize the following tenets.

**Law.** The law is paramount. It is the mortar that holds the stones of civilization together, and it must be respected.

**Loyalty.** Your word is your bond. Without loyalty, oaths and laws are meaningless.

**Courage.** You must be willing to do what needs to be done for the sake of order, even in the face of overwhelming odds. If you don't act, then who will?

**Responsibility.** You must deal with the consequences of your actions, and you are responsible for fulfilling your duties and obligations.

##### Oath of the Crown Spells
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|:---:|:---:|:---|:---:|
| 3rd | Sanctuary, Bane | 
| 5th | Warding Bond, See Invisibility | 
| 9th | Aura of Vitality, Spirit Guardians  |
| 13th | Banishment, Guardian of Faith  |
| 17th | Hold Monster, Circle of Power  |

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### Channel Divinity
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.

**Turn the Wretched.** As an action, you present your holy symbol and speak a prayer censuring fiends and aberrations, using your Channel Divinity. Each fiend or aberrations that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes damage.

**Obliterate Evil.** As an action, you present your holy symbol and speak a prayer to decimate the powers of evil. All aberrations, fiends and undeads must make a Dexterity Saving Throw against your spell casting DC. On a failed save the creatures take 4d8 Radiant Damage or half as much on a successful save.

### Stalwart Champion
Starting at 7th level you can use your bonus action, to issue a challenge that compels other creatures to do battle with you. Each creature of your choice that you can see within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC.

On a failed save, a creature can't willingly move more than 30 feet away from you. This effect ends on the creature if you are incapacitated or die or if the creature is more than 30 feet away from you.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency modifier and must then finish a short or long rest to use this feature again.

### Unyielding Guardian
Starting at 15th level, you have advantage on saving throws to avoid becoming paralyzed, possessed or stunned.

### Exalted Protector
At 20th level, your presence on the field of battle is an inspiration to those dedicated to your cause. You can use your action to gain the following benefits for 1 hour:

- You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons.

- Your allies have advantage on death saving throws while within 30 feet of you.

- You have advantage on Wisdom, saving throws, as do your allies within 30 feet of you.

This effect ends early if you are incapacitated or die. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

### Roleplay Flavour

The Oath of the Crown is sworn to the ideals of civilization, be it the spirit of a nation, fealty to a sovereign, or service to a deity of law and rulership. The paladins who swear this oath dedicate themselves to serving society and, in particular, the just laws that hold society together. These paladins are the watchful guardians on the walls, standing against the chaotic tides of barbarism that threaten to tear down all that civilization has built, and are commonly known as guardians, exemplars, or sentinels. Often, paladins who swear this oath are members of an order of knighthood in service to a nation or a sovereign, and undergo their oath as part of their admission to the order's ranks.

> ##### Aututhor's Note
>
> For Paladins who are tasked with protecting king and country from the disasters, the greatest threat is being posed by aberrations and fiends due to the fact that they may have mind altering powers that can cause both the King and his subjects to cause irreparable harm in some way.
>Based on this factor, I added Channel Divinity options that help slay these creature types faster, while the class abilities are designed to help protect king and countrymen from physical threats.

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## Paladin: The Dark Oath

##### Spells of the Dark Oath
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|:---:|:---:|:---|:---:|
| 3rd | Hellish Rebuke, Inflict Wounds | 
| 5th | Crown of Madness, Darkness | 
| 9th | Animate Dead, Bestow Curse  |
| 13th | Blight, Confusion |
| 17th | Contagion, Dominate Person |

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### Channel Divinity
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.

- Control Undead. As an action, you target one undead creature you can see within 30 feet of you. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the target must obey your commands for the next 24 hours, or until you use this Channel Divinity option again. An undead whose challenge rating is equal to or greater than your paladin level is immune to this effect.

- Dreadful Aspect. As an action, you channel the darkest emotions and focus them into a burst of magical menace. Each creature of your choice within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw if it can see you. On a failed save, the target is frightened of you for 1 minute. If a creature frightened by this effect ends its turn more than 30 feet away from you, it can attempt another Wisdom saving throw to end the effect on it.

### Aura of Hate
Starting at 7th level you, any friendly creatures and any fiends and undead within 10 feet of you gain a bonus to the first melee weapon damage rolls you make each round equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of +1).

**At level 18 your aura will only affect targets you consider to be your allies.**

### Dark Aegis
Upon reaching the 15th level, you gain resistance to two damage types of your choice, choosing from this list: bludgeoning, necrotic, piercing, fire, cold, poison and slashing. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can change the damage types to which you are resistant to.

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### Dread Lord
At 20th level, you can, as an action, surround yourself with an aura of gloom that lasts for 1 minute. The aura reduces any bright light in a 30-foot radius around you to dim light. Whenever an enemy that is frightened by you starts its turn in the aura, it takes 4d10 psychic damage. Additionally, you and any creatures of your choosing in the aura are draped in deeper shadow. Creatures that rely on sight have disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures draped in this shadow.

While the aura lasts, you can use a bonus action on your turn to cause the shadows in the aura to attack one creature. Make a melee spell attack against the target. If the attack hits, the target takes necrotic damage equal to 3d10 + your Charisma modifier.

After activating the aura, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest.

### Roleplay Flavour

Paladins who undertake this dark oath confine themselve to a grim fate paved with violence and blood. Members of this order have sworn to walk the darkest path possible in the name of their God, cosmic balance or self interest.

Often referred as Death Knights, these Dark Paladins will do the greatest the horrors in the name of the great cosmic balance or glory of their patron God.

> ##### Aututhor's Note
>
> This is a redesign of the Oath Breaker Paladin. The goal of this rework is to update this subclass to modernize it to the current standard of DnD subclass design. This redesign also aims to give plausible reasons from a in game lore standpoint as to why you can still use good themed abilities such as Lay on Hands and Divine Smite, despite your sublcass offering you dark or evil themed abilities.

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## Paladin: Oath of Glory

##### Tenets Of Glory
The tenets of the Oath of the Crown are often set by the sovereign to which their oath is sworn, but generally emphasize the following tenets.

**Actions over Words.** Strive to be known by glorious deeds, not words.

**Challenges Are but Tests.** Face hardships with courage, and encourage your allies to face them with you.

**Hone the Body.** Like raw stone, your body must be worked so its potential can be realized.

**Discipline the Soul.** You must marshal the discipline to overcome failings within yourself that threaten to dim the glory of you and your friends.

##### Oath of Glory Spells
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|:---:|:---:|:---|:---:|
| 3rd | Guiding Bolt, Heroism | 
| 5th | Enhance Ability, Magic Weapon | 
| 9th | Haste, Protection From Energy  |
| 13th | Find Greater Steed, Freedom Of Movement  |
| 17th | Commune, Flame Strike |

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### 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.

- Peerless Athlete. As a bonus action, you can use your Channel Divinity to augment your athleticism. For the next 10 minutes, you have advantage on Strength (Athletics) and Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks; you can carry, push, drag, and lift twice as much weight as normal; and the distance of your long and high jumps increases by 10 feet (this extra distance costs movement as normal).

- Inspiring Smite. Immediately after you deal damage to a creature with your Divine Smite feature, you can use your Channel Divinity as a bonus action and distribute temporary hit points to creatures of your choice within 30 feet of you, which can include you. The total number of temporary hit points equals 2d8 + your level in this class, divided among the chosen creatures however you like.

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### Aura of Alacrity
At 7th level, you emanate an aura that fills you and your companions with supernatural speed, allowing you to race across a battlefield in formation. Your walking speed increases by 10 feet. In addition, if you aren't incapacitated, the walking speed of any ally who starts their turn within 5 feet of you increases by 10 feet until the end of that turn.

**This aura does not improve at level 18. In place of an aura upgrade, you gain a halo ability at level 18.**

### Glorious Defense
When you reach 15th level, you can turn defense into a sudden strike. When you or another creature you can see within 10 feet of you is hit by an attack roll, you can use your reaction to grant a bonus to the target's AC against that attack, potentially causing it to miss. The bonus equals your Charisma modifier (minimum of +l). If the attack misses, you can make one weapon attack against the attacker as part of this reaction, provided the attacker is within your weapon's range.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

### Halo of Might
When you reach 18th level in this class, you can use your bonus action to condense your Aura of Alacrity into a halo. While you have this halo, your Aura of Alacrity is disabled, but you gain a bonus to all weapon damage rolls equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of +1)

This effect lasts for 10 minutes or until canceled. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier and regain all uses when you finish a long rest.

### Living Legend
At 20th level, you can empower yourself with the legends — whether true or exaggerated — of your great deeds. As a bonus action, you gain the following benefits for 1 minute:

- You are blessed with an otherworldly presence, gaining advantage on all Charisma checks.

- Once on each of your turns when you make a weapon attack and miss, you can cause that attack to hit instead.

- If you fail a saving throw, you can use your reaction to reroll it. You must use this new roll.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest, unless you expend a 5th-level spell slot to use it again.

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## Paladin: Oath of Secrecy

##### Tenets of Secrecy
Though the exact words and strictures of the Oath of Secrecy vary, paladins of this oath share these tenets.

**Courage.** You must be willing to do what needs to be done for the sake of order, even in the face of overwhelming odds. If you don't act, then who will?

**Discretion.** You are sworn to secrecy. You must never reveal that which you protect to those outside of the order. *Failiure to do so carries heavy penalties.*

**Duty.** Be responsible for your actions and their consequences, protect those entrusted to your care, and obey those who have just authority over you.

**Vigilance.** The threats you face are cunning, powerful, and subversive. Be ever alert for their corruption.

##### Oath of Secrecy Spells
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|:---:|:---:|:---|:---:|
| 3rd | Zephyr Strike, Disguise Self | 
| 5th | Silence, Pass Without Trace | 
| 9th | Nondetection, Gaseous Form | 
| 13th | Dimension Door, Divination |
| 17th | Modify Memory, Seeming |

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### Channel Divinity
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.

**Mental Aegis.** You can expand one use of your Channel Divinity as a reaction to being forced to make a Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma saving throw to give yourself advantage on the saving throw and a bonus equal to your Charisma modifier.

If you pass the save you then deal 2d6 + Paladin level worth of Psychic damage to the creature who forced you to make that saving throw.

**Mark of Woe.** As an action, you choose one creature you can see within 30 feet of you, cursing it until the end of your next turn. The next time you or an ally of yours hits the cursed creature with an attack, the creature has vulnerability to all of that attack's damage, and then the curse ends.

If the marked creature knows your secret it will take 2d8 + your Paladin level worth of Radiant Damage when the curse ends. **You will take just as much damage if you revealed the secret to the target.**

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### Sacred Cypher
You know the secret code of your order. You can speak it as a language and use it to leave hidden messages. You and others who know this language automatically spot such a message. Others spot the message's presence with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check but can't decipher it without magic.

Additionally, you become proficient in Deception.

### Guardian of Secrets
At 7th level, you don't suffer disadvantage when making saving throws against being charmed or frightened.

In addition, you become proficient in making Intelligence saving throws.

### Exalted Might
Starting at 15th level, you have advantage on saving throws to avoid becoming paralyzed or stunned.

Additionally, you can roll one additional weapon damage die when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with a melee attack.

### Mythic Vindicator
At 20th level, you manifest a spark of divine power to enhance your martial prowess. As a bonus action, you become infused with God like powers, gaining the following benefits for 30 minutes:

- You can roll 3 additional weapon damage die when determining a critical strike.

- After taking the Attack action, you can make one additional attack using your bonus action on subsequent turns.

- You have resistance to all damage.

- While in this form, the damage of your Improved Divine Smite feature is increased to 2d8 Radiant Damage.

This effect ends early if you are incapacitated or die. Once you use this bonus action, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest, unless you expend a 5th-level spell slot to use it again.