Paladin - Oath of Purgation

by somanyrobots

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Paladin Oath

Oath of Purgation

The Oath of Purgation is dedicated to burning away the unclean, saving society from its foulest elements and then sealing the rot with fire. Their quest is never-ending, for corruption never ceases to spread; but a paladin of Purgation is up to the challenge, their hearts burning with a zealous flame equal to their armaments.

The Oath of Purgation may have different interpretations, of course. Some of its adherents purify the damned or the undead; others focus on psionicists or tainted sorcerers. Still others may interpret their oath through a nationalist lens, purging revolutionaries or other enemies of the state.

Tenets of Purgation

Paladins who swear the Oath of Purgation vow to burn away the evils that cripple society.

  • Spare Not the Flame. Let no trace of evil remain in your wake.
  • Unceasing Zeal. Be steadfast in your hunt, for even the noblest hearts can hide villainy.
  • Seal the Wound. Leave no trace of rot unburnt, lest it spring back fouler than before.

Oath of Purgation Features

Paladin Level Features
3rd Oath Spells, Channel Divinity
7th Aura of Immolation
15th Cleansing Flames
20th Flaming Zeal

Oath of Purgation Spells

Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the table below. The spell counts as a paladin spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of paladin spells you can prepare.

Paladin Level Spells
3rd burning hands, protection from evil and good
5th burning strikeK, enkindleSDS
9th remove curse, whirling conflagrationK
13th fire shield, wall of fire
17th holy fireSDS, blazing bladeSDS

Spells marked with S were created by somanyrobots. Spells marked with SDS were created as part of the Spells That Don't Suck project. Spells marked with K were created by KibblesTasty and used with permission. All are linked in the Spell Sources appendix.

Channel Divinity

You gain the following two Channel Divinity options. See the Sacred Oath class feature for how Channel Divinity works.

Fires of Truth

You can use your Channel Divinity to expose foulness for what it is. As a bonus action, you summon a 30-foot radius ring of fire, which lasts for 1 minute. Within the ring, no creature can take the Hide action, and all illusion spells of a level less than or equal to your proficiency bonus are instantly dispelled. Additionally, every creature within the ring must make a Charisma saving throw, or every other creature in the ring knows its alignment.

Any creature moving into or out of the ring on its turn suffers fire damage equal to your paladin level.

Purge

After you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can use your Channel Divinity to envelop them in flames. The target must make a Charisma saving throw or be engulfed in holy fire for 1 minute. At the start of each of its turns, it takes fire damage equal to half your paladin level, and it loses any resistance to fire damage it has. At the end of each of its turns, it can reattempt the saving throw, ending the effect on a success.

Aura of Immolation

Starting at 7th level, you emanate an aura of searing heat. When a hostile creature within 10 feet of you takes fire damage, the damage is increased by an amount equal to your Charisma modifier. A creature can only take this damage once per round. Additionally, you and all allies within 10 feet gain resistance to fire damage.

At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.

Cleansing Flames

At 15th level, you can channel your holy fire to heal as well as harm. As a reaction after a creature within 30 feet fails a saving throw, you can envelop that creature in healing flames. That creature gains the following benefits:

  • It gaisn temporary hit points equal to your paladin level.
  • It may immediately end one condition affecting itself.

You can use this ability a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier, regaining all uses after a long rest.

Flaming Zeal

At 20th level, as a bonus action, you can ignite the fire of your oath and envelop yourself in holy flames. For 1 minute, you gain the following benefits:

  • Your movement speed increases by 10 feet, and you can jump a distance equal to your full movement speed.
  • The damage of your Purge and Aura of Immolation are doubled. Creatures can now take damage from your Aura of Immolation as many times as they suffer fire damage.
  • As a reaction when a creature within your aura attempts a Wisdom or Charisma saving throw, you may force it to reroll the die, keeping the new result.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

Cleansing Light

Anytime a creature is enveloped in fire due to any ability of a Purgation paladin, you can consider them to cast light as if they were holding a torch.

Oath of Purgation quirks

The following are some optional quirks for a player of this Oath to choose from.

d6 Quirk
1 You address even casual acquaintances as "heretic" or "unbeliever".
2 You cannot stand spicy food.
3 Your pupils occasionally reflect a flickering fire, even when there is no flame around.
4 You hate to back down from an argument, and you hate to admit when you are wrong.
5 You hate to back down from an argument, and you have definitely never, ever been wrong.
6 You like to relax with a glass of ice water.

Appendix 1: Spell Sources

Spells used are available in these collections, all of which are free to use and reference for any purpose.

  • Spells That Don't Suck is a set of spells by Omega Ankh and somanyrobots, creating replacements for problematic spells contained in first-party WotC materials. These are marked with SDS.
  • So Many Spells is a set of wholly original spells written by somanyrobots. These are marked with S.
  • Kibbles' Casting Compendium is the complete set of spells written by KibblesTasty. These are marked with K.

Change Log

v0.3

  • Replaced non-SRD spells
  • Replaced spells appendix with spell sources

v0.2

  • Nerfed Aura of Immolation
  • Reworked Cleansing Flames to better fit paladin 15th template
  • Swapped in remove curse on the spell list

v0.1.1

  • Added a note about torchlight

v0.1

  • Rough Draft
Credits & References:
Spells
  • Enkindle, Imbue Sunfire by somanyrobots and Omega Ankh
  • Burning Strike, Whirling Conflagration by KibblesTasty
Art
  • Ash Zealot, by Eric Deschamps © Wizards of the Coast LLC
  • Legion Guildmage, by Zack Stella © Wizards of the Coast LLC
Background Image Stains
Fan Content Policy

This work is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

Licensing

All rules & spell text in this document is licensed as CC-BY, under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC-BY). Broadly, it can be republished freely or incorporated into commercial works as long as credit is given to the original creators.

Includes spells from Spells That Don't Suck by Omega Ankh and somanyrobots, which is licensed CC-BY and available here.

Includes spells from So Many Spells by somanyrobots, which is licensed CC-BY and available here.

Includes spells from Kibbles' Casting Compendium 2.0 by KibblesTasty Homebrew LLC, which is licensed CC-BY and available here.

5E SRD Content

  • This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available here.

  • The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available here.