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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Paladin Archetype: Oath of the Guardian



Ghost Dragon
2015-03-01, 08:13 PM
Hey all, this one's an attempt to focus on protecting others and damage mitigation, standing in front of the blow for thy brother type deal. I think its fairly balanced, though I always appreciate feedback if anyone sees anything OP. Let me know what ya think. Cheers

Oath of the Guardian
The Oath of the Guardian binds a paladin to the defence of those who cannot defend themselves. Sometimes called knight protectors, pious templar’s, or divine crusaders, these paladins know that there will always be a place for them at the front lines of the battle with evil. Whether it is a small village, a singular maiden or an entire city that is threatened with destruction, they hold themselves to the expectation of protecting all who do not have the means to protect themselves. Many who swear this oath are devoted to gods of life and war, and use their gods’ tenets as their guide through the trials they face. They do not stay in any one place too long, as those in their charge are protected and the danger passes, another’s are in need of defence.

Tenets of the Guardian
The tenets of the Oath of the Guardian vary by paladin, but all the tenets revolve around the protection of the weak or misjudged. Paladins who uphold these tenets are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to protect the innocent from evil or injustice, using their own sensibilities to differentiate between someone who needs their assistance, and someone who might manipulate others for their own ends. These paladins are often lawful neutral or lawful good in alignment.

Valour. Always be prepared to stand before evil or injustice to save a life, even in the face of impossible odds.

Discernment. Your ability to defend the weak is wasted on those who feign helplessness. Always know the truth of your charges need.

Resolve. Always continue on in the face of adversity, persevere when others fall short, and be prepared to end a threat permanently to ensure lasting protection of those in your charge.

Character. Your words and your deeds should engender trust, dependability and hope to all those you encounter. You do not know who will be the next to need your protection and your name should be beyond reproach, so as to be the first called upon when destruction is foreshadowed.

Oath of the Guardian Spells
3rd: False Life, Shield
5th: Blur, Warding Bond
9th: Protection from Energy, Spiritual Guardians
13th: Death Ward, Stone Skin
17th: Dispel Evil & Good, Wall of Force


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

Divine Challenge. As a bonus action, you compel a creature within 30 feet of you to focus its attacks upon yourself. The creature makes a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it has disadvantage on attack rolls for any attack that doesn’t include you as a target for 1 minute. Also, it takes radiant damage equal to your Charisma modifier + your paladin level (minimum 1) each time it makes an attack that doesn’t include you as a target.

Divine Ward. As a reaction, you protect an ally from harm if they are within 30 feet of you and are hit with an attack. You must use this ability before the damage result is known. When you use this ability, whatever damage or conditions that would have affected your ally affect you instead. You make any saving throws as normal. The ward remains on the target for 1 minute, and you can use your reaction on subsequent turns to redirect further damage or effects to yourself.

Aura of Resolve
Starting at 7th level, your divine power protects you and friendly creatures from harm. You and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you reduce all non magical damage taken by an amount equal to your Charisma modifier. At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.

Soul of the Defender
Starting at 15th level you can choose to empower yourself with healing energies. On your next turn immediately after being reduce to below half your hit point total, you may use a bonus action to begin healing hit points equal to your Charisma modifier + your Constitution modifier every round for 1 minute. Once you use this ability, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Angelic Protector
At 20th level, as an action, you can cause yourself to become an impenetrable bulwark of divine energy. For one minute, you gain the following benefits:
• Your skin hardens and changes into a platinum sheen, your eyes turn gold, and you have resistance to all damage.
• You emanate an aura of compulsion in a 30-foot radius. The first time any enemy creature enters the aura or starts its turn there during a battle, the creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or direct all of its attacks against you. If a creature has an area of effect attack it must include you as a target.

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

Strill
2015-03-01, 09:26 PM
Looks awesome! Great job!

Pramxnim
2015-03-03, 05:29 AM
Looks great! The abilities all seem balanced and flavourful, but Divine Challenge could use a buff. I think it's reasonable to change it to activate with a bonus action, allowing you to attack your target on the same turn, or cast a spell to help your allies.

Ghost Dragon
2015-03-03, 08:22 AM
Looks great! The abilities all seem balanced and flavourful, but Divine Challenge could use a buff. I think it's reasonable to change it to activate with a bonus action, allowing you to attack your target on the same turn, or cast a spell to help your allies.

Thanks! Glad you like it. I tend to agree, was looking at it this arvo and thinking the same thing, so I'll change it. Cheers and thanks for feedback. :smallwink:

Liberivore
2015-12-02, 02:10 PM
I've started playing using this homebrew. I'll give you feedback if that's of any interest to you.

So far though, nothing to report, I haven't used any of the homebrew abilities yet! :smalltongue: This is because of a combination of factors: I feel my character has leveled faster than he has had character growth so I'm saving the big guns for when I really need it; my character has only been hit once thanks to a high AC; we are protecting an ambassador so I keep Divine Ward stashed away just in case the battle goes wrong or one of the monsters decides to bypass us and go straight for the ambassador ;we've usually been outnumbered so the Divine Challenge loses its power anyway; the Smites feel way more awesome than Shield and False Life :smallbiggrin:.

Also, you might want to know that I changed the contents of the oath. I'm CG and my goddess is quite like Ilmatar in Forgotten Realms: I draw strength from pain and fight those that inflict suffering on others. Oath of Retribution but with a "protect and console people" element added to it. Reading back through yours, I realise it's pretty much the same but with a very chaotic spin to it.

Also, go put this on the Reddit Homebrew section (/r/UnearthedArcana). If you get someone to draw a page for this it could make it to the curated collection.

Ghost Dragon
2015-12-02, 06:38 PM
I've started playing using this homebrew. I'll give you feedback if that's of any interest to you.

So far though, nothing to report, I haven't used any of the homebrew abilities yet! :smalltongue: This is because of a combination of factors: I feel my character has leveled faster than he has had character growth so I'm saving the big guns for when I really need it; my character has only been hit once thanks to a high AC; we are protecting an ambassador so I keep Divine Ward stashed away just in case the battle goes wrong or one of the monsters decides to bypass us and go straight for the ambassador ;we've usually been outnumbered so the Divine Challenge loses its power anyway; the Smites feel way more awesome than Shield and False Life :smallbiggrin:.

Also, you might want to know that I changed the contents of the oath. I'm CG and my goddess is quite like Ilmatar in Forgotten Realms: I draw strength from pain and fight those that inflict suffering on others. Oath of Retribution but with a "protect and console people" element added to it. Reading back through yours, I realise it's pretty much the same but with a very chaotic spin to it.

Also, go put this on the Reddit Homebrew section (/r/UnearthedArcana). If you get someone to draw a page for this it could make it to the curated collection.

Hey Liberivore, thanks so much for your feedback. Glad to here its being used in game. Smite usually wins out against other first level spell slot options, apart from bless if there is no cleric. Still I like the options those provide, nothing wrong with +5 AC as a reaction throughout your entire career, especially when your trying to get hit most of the time.

Its a good point regarding divine challenge, but I suppose if it were to effect more than one target it would be op. Was designed with the "Main bad guy" in mind, even if that is just the toughest guy amongst many type deal. Like how you were playing the Divine ward by the way it that ambassador situation :smallwink:

I will put it on Reddit Homebrew for sure. I don't know what you mean by getting someone to draw a page for it though. Who is doing the curated collection?? Reddit?? Thanks again for your feedback, very much appreciated.

Sindeloke
2015-12-04, 02:41 PM
I like this a lot. Simple, thematic, and appears pretty balanced. Only things I'd look at are the capstone - it could probably be a little stronger offensively - and the wording on Soul of the Defender. When in the round? The start of your turn? The end of your turn? The end of the round?

I might end up stealing this for my group. :smallsmile:

Arkhios
2015-12-06, 11:29 AM
Aura of Protection might need another name though, since all paladins get Aura of Protection (cha to all saves) at 6th level :)

Maybe Aura of Resolve? :)

Ghost Dragon
2015-12-06, 06:56 PM
Aura of Protection might need another name though, since all paladins get Aura of Protection (cha to all saves) at 6th level :)

Maybe Aura of Resolve? :)

Good catch Akhios, and yes I like your suggestion for the name "Yoink!" Thanks :smallwink:

Ghost Dragon
2015-12-06, 07:03 PM
I like this a lot. Simple, thematic, and appears pretty balanced. Only things I'd look at are the capstone - it could probably be a little stronger offensively - and the wording on Soul of the Defender. When in the round? The start of your turn? The end of your turn? The end of the round?

I might end up stealing this for my group. :smallsmile:

Hey Sindeloke, glad you like it :smallsmile: Good pick up on the Soul of the Defender, I will edit it to clarify using a bonus action at the start of your next turn. I thought about using a reaction, but it may get muddy if you have already used your reaction for a OA or something, so I think bonus action is still the way to go.

As for the capstone, would adding Charisma modifier to damage rolls be enough or would that be to OP? Another idea would be to maybe give advantage on all attack rolls? What about giving the ability to make an additional attack using your bonus action each round? Any of these work for you? Thanks again for feedback :)

Ghost Dragon
2015-12-06, 07:25 PM
I like this a lot. Simple, thematic, and appears pretty balanced. Only things I'd look at are the capstone - it could probably be a little stronger offensively.

Ok, so I had a look at capstone and changed the defensive ability to be simpler and not interact poorly with Aura of Resolve. It is stronger now as it is resistance to all damage (and then a reduction of that damage if it is non-magical due to Aura of Resolve working with it).

Does it still need something offensive you think? Is it now too OP? I like it and think it works, simpler and now you don't have to have the whole "It doesn't stack with your Aura of Resolve" shenanigans (didn't like that as it didn't feel 5e. If you have to say something like that it is either too complicated or needs to do something different, hence the change).

What say you?

the15thpaladin
2017-01-09, 11:34 PM
Nice homebrew! I've been running it in my campaign, as of late - transitioning from 4E to 5E. The balance is nice!

One thing that we changed though was that the Challenge is broken upon unconsciousness. I've aggro'd a white dragon for six rounds (downing myself in the process for each time) without that limit. It may just break because of common sense - I'm unconscious, I'm not deadly. I don't know if you've addressed this in a post (I will reread this), but perhaps just add a short clause if that is the case.

Retil
2018-01-19, 12:03 AM
As a Paladin who's focus is on protecting life i find it hard to use false life. If you were to create a similar spell where you are blessed by a life-domain diety that does 1d4+4(+5 per spell slot lv) that would be fine but i cant use necromantic powers

Blackbando
2018-01-19, 07:13 AM
Nice thread necromancy, Retil.

Arkhios
2018-01-20, 05:30 PM
As a Paladin who's focus is on protecting life i find it hard to use false life. If you were to create a similar spell where you are blessed by a life-domain diety that does 1d4+4(+5 per spell slot lv) that would be fine but i cant use necromantic powers

Nice thread necromancy, Retil.

Well, Retil, apparently you just did use necromantic powers :smallbiggrin:

Anyway, Necromancy isn't inherently "evil" magic. Raise Dead, Resurrection, Revivify, and True Resurrection are all Necromancy, and Raise Dead along with Revivify are already on the Paladin's spell list. Why can they be but not False Life? How are they not spells that protect life? On the contrary, they restore life.