Oath of Darkness Class Features
| Level | Class Features | Oath Spells | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Soul Stones, Vision Through Darkness | -- | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2nd | Fighting Style, Soul Strike, Spellcasting | -- | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| 3rd | Oath of Darkness, Channel Darkness | Disguise Self, Compelled Duel | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| 4th | Ability Score Improvement | -- | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| 5th | Extra Attack | Darkness, Shadow Blade | 4 | 2 | - | - | - |
| 6th | Shadow of Protection | -- | 4 | 2 | - | - | - |
| 7th | Soul of Darkness | -- | 4 | 3 | - | - | - |
| 8th | Ability Score Improvement | -- | 4 | 3 | - | - | - |
| 9th | Vision Without Light | Bestow Curse, Life Transference | 4 | 3 | 2 | - | - |
| 10th | Shroud of Courage | -- | 4 | 3 | 2 | - | - |
| 11th | Improved Soul Strike | -- | 4 | 3 | 3 | - | - |
| 12th | Ability Score Improvement | -- | 4 | 3 | 3 | - | - |
| 13th | ?? | Shadow of Moil, Banishment | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - |
| 14th | ?? | -- | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - |
| 15th | Veiled Step | -- | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - |
| 16th | Ability Score Improvement | -- | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - |
| 17th | Improved Channel | Banishing Smite, Hallow | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 18th | Shroud Expansion | -- | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 19th | Ability Score Improvement | -- | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 20th | Blackened Soul | -- | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
Oath of Darkness
Those who bask in the grace of the light are blind to the looming darkness beneath their feet. To ward off the shapeless abyss beyond the material plane, one must tear themselves away from the light of day and take the plunge into the endless ocean of darkness.
The Oath of Darkness is one not to be taken lightly. Those who swear by it, are burdened by eternal darkness, blinding themselves to the beauty of the world as penance for those who bask in it. They must cover their eyes, or sacrifice their light, as an eternal act of devotion. In return, they are granted the ethereal vision known only to the shadows, along with it's many powers.
In order to fight back against the true source of darkness hidden beneath the surface, their very essence must be eradicated from the world of light. To achieve this feat, those who swear this oath must seal the fading energy of a defeated creature inside a special gem, called a Soul Stone, where it's confined energy can then be burned away to fuel their own powers until the essence of darkness is reduced to nothing.
Tenets of the Shadow
To fight for the light, one must plunge themselves into the abyss, only then, can they ward off the source of darkness.
- Torn from the Light. In honor of your oath, the colors painted upon the world have been lost to you, as the beauty of the world doesn't belong to any denizen of darkness, not even you.
- Unsightly Foes. To protect my mind and my oath, I have vowed to not gaze upon the darkness, lest I be swallowed by it. When combating the sources of darkness, I may choose to cover my eyes, have them removed or magically stripped of their light for as long as the darkness persists.
- Fight Darkness with Darkness. By harnessing the fading energy of the darkness left behind by Aberrations, Nightmares and all the denizens of darkness in between, I must ward off all enemies of the light.
- Shades of Gray. All those that fight for the light are worthy of my protection or allegiance. Just as I have become enveloped by the darkness I fight, others too must exist who fight justly with dastardly or unknown powers.
- The Path Between. My journey is one of a tight rope. To be burdened by other philosophies would tip the balance of my steps, plunging myself into darkness. No, there is room only for one true tenet: to protect the light and all those that bask within it's grace. No matter the cost.
Oath of the Shadow Spells
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Dissonant Whispers, False Life |
| 5th | Darkness, Shadow Blade |
| 9th | Bestow Curse, Vampiric Touch |
| 13th | Shadow of Moil, Phantasmal Killer |
| 17th | Banishing Smite, Hallow |
Class Features
You gain the following class features.
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d10 per Paladin Level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 + Constitution modifier
Proficiencies
Armor: All Armor, Shields
Weapons: Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons
Saving Throws: Wisdom, Charisma
Skills: Choose two from Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Persuasion, and Religion
Spellcasting Ability
Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your Void Spells.
Spell Save DC = 8 + proficiency + Charisma modifier
Spell Attack Modifier = proficiency + Charisma modifier
Soul Stones
At 1st level, to protect yourself from becoming that which you fight, you have been granted 4 empty Soul Stones, each capable of sealing a single creature at a time. Once the essence of a creature has been sealed within a Soul Stone, you can begin to eradicate the creature from existence by drawing upon it's essence to fuel your abilities.
After witnessing a creature's death within 30ft of you, you can use your reaction to seal their essence into an empty Soul Stone. Landing a killing blow on a creature seals away the creatures essence into a Soul Stone automatically.Each Soul Stone has 2 charges. Once a Soul Stone is filled, it's essence can be used in one of the following ways.
- As an action, you can expend 2 charges from a Soul Stone and gain resistance to that damage type for 1 hour. The damage type is determined by the essence sealed within the chosen Soul Stone.
- As a bonus action, you can touch a creature and expend 1 charge from a Soul Stone to restore Hit Points equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1) to that creature.
Once all charges have been expended, the creature is destroyed and the Soul Stone becomes empty.
Each Soul Stone gains 2 additional charges at 3rd level (4), 7th level (6), 15th (8) and 20th level (10).
| Damage Type | Creature Type |
|---|---|
| Elemental | Dragons, Elementals, Plants |
| Force | Beast, Construct, Giant, Humanoid |
| Necrotic | Fiend, Monstrosity, Undead |
| Psychic | Aberration, Nightmare, Unspecified |
| Radiant | Celestial, Dragon, Fey |
Vision Through Darkness
At 1st level, in preparation for taking your oath, you have begun to shield your eyes from the light when combating the sources of darkness. Whenever your eyes are closed, covered or sealed, you are granted the vision known to the denizens of darkness, blindsight, with a range of 15ft.
The range of your blindsight increases to 30ft at 3rd level, 60ft at 7th and 120ft at 15th.
Fighting Style
Starting at 2nd level, you adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can't take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again.
- Defense. While you are wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.
- Dueling. When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.
- Great Weapon Fighting. When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.
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Interception. When a creature you can see hits a target, other than you, within 5 feet of you with an attack, you can use your reaction to reduce the damage the target takes by 1d10 + your proficiency bonus (to a minimum of 0 damage). You must be wielding a shield or a simple or martial weapon to use this reaction.
-
Protection. When a creature you can see attacks a target other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll. You must be wielding a shield.
Soul Strike
At 2nd level, as a reaction to hitting a creature, you can expend a number of charges from a single Soul Stone to deal additional damage to the target. The extra damage is 1d8 for each expended charge, up to a maximum of 4d8 and the damage type is determined by the essence sealed within the chosen Soul Stone.
Spellcasting
At 2nd level, you have learned to draw upon the souls trapped within the planes of darkness to cast spells.
Oath of Darkness
At 3rd level, you swear the oath that binds you as a paladin forever. Up to this time you have been in a preparatory stage, committed to the path but not yet sworn to it. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 15th, and 20th level. Those features include Oath spells, the Shadow Veil feature.
Channel Darkness
At 3rd level, your oath allows you to channel the sources of darkness to fuel one of the following magical effects.
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Sightless Enemy: As an action, you can target a creature within 30ft of you. That creature must succeed a Constitution saving throw or become Blind for 1 minute.
-
Summon Darkness: As an action, non-magical darkness spreads from a point you choose within 30ft to fill a 15ft radius sphere for 30 seconds.
You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Shroud of Protection
At 6th level, you and any friendly creature within 10ft of you must make a saving throw, the creature gains a bonus to the saving throw equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of +1). You must be conscious to grant this bonus.
At 18th level, the range of this shroud increases to 30 feet.
Soul of Darkness
At 7th level, if you or any friendly creatures within 10ft of are hit by an attack, you can use your reaction to expend a number of charges from a Soul Stone and reduce the damage of the attack by a number of d8 equal to the number of expended charges, to a maximum of 4d8.
Vision Without Light
At 9th level, due to your devotion to your oath, whenever your eyes are closed, covered or sealed, you are granted the vision known only to the Shadows, truesight, with a range of 30ft.
The range of your truesight increases to 60ft at 15th level and 90ft at 20th.
At any time, you may choose to take the eternal sacrifice and forgo the grace of the light for rest of your life. In exchange for this unparalleled devotion to combating the sources of darkness and protecting the grace of the light, you are granted truesight, with a range of 120ft.
Shroud of Courage
At 10th level,
At 18th level, the range of this shroud increases to 30 feet.
Improved Soul Strike
At 11th level, the maximum number of charges you can expend at a time increases to 6.
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At 13th level,
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At 14th level,
Veiled Step
At 15th level, you have gained control over the veil between the source of darkness and the material plane, allowing you to slip between them at will. As a bonus action, whenever you are in an area of dim light or darkness, you become invisible until you use your action to attack or cast a spell, or if you move into an area of bright light.
Improved Channel
At 17th level, whenever you roll Initiative, you regain use of your Channel Darkness feature.
Blackened Soul
At 20th level, you are an edge lord.
???
When an attack hits you, you can use a reaction to add the energy to empty soul stone, gaining a couple charges.
Created by Maxwell Chase
Thank you for reading. Like all homebrew, this new class is a constantly being updated, tested and tweaked in an ongoing campaign by experienced veterans. Please feel free to give the Oath of the Shadows a try for yourself!
Suggestions, Corrections and Discussions are always welcome. Feel free to contact me at: MaxwellChase@iCloud.com