Zerachiel
2016-08-29, 03:15 PM
This is my first homebrew and first post here. This was inspired by the Dragon Age Templar and Seekers abilities so I tried my best for my first homebrew to make the oath balanced.
I felt the paladin didn't have enough utility, so rather than two channel divinity options, I went with one and then added ritual casting. Most rituals are divination, so the spell list and rituals added are meant to allow the paladin to find and learn about enemies or magical items. This made sense because the Seekers in Dragon Age are meant to track down and learn about their enemies, and I wanted to reflect that.
For spells, Obviously some combat is needed, hence the hunters mark and retreat, to allow the paladin to quickly close the distance. Silence because it prevents verbal spells, and Trace because stealth allows them to drop in quickly. Counter-spell and dispel magic because it gives that chance or stopping clutch moments. Arcane eye to track or scout ahead, and DD to teleport there and surprise people. Legend Lore and Scrying for more utility purposes. I hope this build also makes DEX or CHA focused paladins a little more viable, since the spells don't necessarily focus more on combat, but rather your utility and your casting stat.
The actual divinity option is modeled after sacred weapon, but since the save is only once a round on your first attack, it means if they succeed you just do a normal hit, as your weapon is not considered magical. Most monsters have a decent CON score, so likely to sucked. On a fail though, it means spellcasters are practically useless, since unless they cast spells beforehand like haste, etc, they are reduced to weapon attacks or cantrips. Not nearly as strong. I added at-will spells for this because some monsters can do that, and this oath is about negating magic so I felt it needed to be there for some cases.
The 7th, 15th and capstone are the ones I am unsure about. I didn't want to make to powerful, so I felt for the aura trading a spell slot for a slot on monsters was fair, since it requires your ally to hit, your reaction meaning no OA, and you still spend a slot, meaning you lose those quicker. And of course, its only works on spells up to 5th level. I swapped damage because losing a spell slot is way worse, and adding damage felt like too much.
The 15th ability is just a AOE smite, you burn your highest slot available, do that damage to every enemy but spellcasters get hit hard. If they fail there save, being stunned means no nasty spell slots or attacks or at-will spells being thrown your way.
The capstone. I felt the verbal component was strong, since it means no verbal spells for enemies unless they move out of range. But even when out of range, AOE or single target spells need to penetrate the barrier. I chose Charisma for the saving throw since most monsters use Charisma to cast there spells anyways, but at disadvantage so it is more likely they will burn through legendary resistances in order to hit unless they roll well. The final ability is copied from Ancients which just seemed to fit.
Edited changes below with help, making it more save based and adding some clarifications.
The Seekers Oath
This paladin learns to seek and destroy corrupted arcane magic in all forms. Working closely with Knight-Vigilants, these paladin are far better equipped to learn about their enemies. These paladins learn powerful divination and abjuration magics to track wayward mages and to discern where dangerous magic lies in wait to harm innocents. They stop at nothing to protect all people from the dangers of unregulated arcane magics and kill those who delve too deep into the forbidden.
Tenets of the Seeker:
Protect the Innocent. A seeker is a guardian to those innocents, and your first duty is to protect them from unregulated arcane or forbidden magics by investigating, and if need be, hunting those who would destroy or harm the innocent.
Purge the Corrupt. When magic is used for evil, it must be purged and all traces of how to use it wiped out.
For the Future.
Knowledge is power. While evil magic should be purged, there should be a record kept of how exactly to defeat these magics for future heroes to learn and study so it can always be stopped long after your oath has ended.
Channel Divinity:
Dispelling Weapon: As an action, you can imbue one weapon you are holding with dispelling magic. For 1 minute, you add your Charisma modifier to the attack rolls of your weapon (with a minimum bonus of +1) and the first time you strike a spellcaster they must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the target is unable to expend any spell slots or cast any at-will spells until your Channel Divinity has ended. If they succeed on the saving throw, they become immune to this ability for 24 hours. This ability does not affect spells that are already active such as concentration spells like haste, duration based spells like spiritual weapon, magical non-spell abilities like draconic breath weapons, a beholders eye beams, etc. and Cantrips.
Ritual Casting: Starting at third level when you choose this oath, rather than gaining a second Channel Divinity option, you gain the ritual casting feature from the wizard using their spell list, and the spells you choose must have ritual tag. You also gain a spellbook that may only hold ritual spells. Any other ritual spells that are written down, such as in a magical scroll or spellbook, that you come across in your journeys may be learned and transcribed into your book so long as they are of the divination or abjuration magic school, and the ritual spells level can be no higher than half your level (Rounded up). For each level of the spell the process take 2 hours and 50 gp. You automatically gain the following ritual spells Identify and Detect Magic.
Seeker Oath Spells:
3rd- Expeditious Retreat, Hunter’s Mark
5th- Pass without a Trace, Silence
9th –Counter spell, Dispel Magic
13th- Arcane Eye, Dimension Door
17th- Legend Lore, Scrying
Abjuration Aura
Beginning at 7th level, your powerful abjuration magic creates an aura. You gain the ability to smite using your allies’ attacks to do so and your reaction by expending a spell slot as normal. When an ally within 10 feet of you hits an enemy creature, you can choose as a reaction to expend a spell slot to divine smite but rather than doing damage, you can instead drain a spell slot from the caster equal to the spell slot you expended. The target must make a Constitution saving throw or have the spell slot expended. Example: You spend a first level slot to smite, and instead of damage, you take one 1st level spell slot away from the target. This ability does not affect spells that are already active such as concentration spells like haste, duration based spells like spiritual weapon, magical non-spell abilities like draconic breath weapons, a beholders eye beams, etc. and Cantrips.
At 18th level, this aura increases to 30 feet.
Holy Smite
Starting at 15th level, you gain the ability to call down a burst of divine energy on every single enemy creature. As an action on your turn, you expend your highest remaining spell slot to cast your divine smite ability on all enemy creatures within a 20 foot radius. All normal enemies must make a Dexterity saving throw or take damage equal to your normal divine smite damage. On a success, they take half damage. Any enemy creature who can cast at-will spells or has spell slots does not take this damage, but instead must make a Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of your next turn. At the end of their turn, stunned creatures can make another Constitution saving throw to shrug off the effects. This ability does not affect spells that are already active such as concentration spells like haste, duration based spells like spiritual weapon, magical non-spell abilities like draconic breath weapons, a beholders eye beams, etc. and Cantrips.
Right of Annulment
At 20th level, as an action, you emanate an aura complete nullification for 1 minute which has the following effects.
• Any enemy creature within 30 foot radius of you cannot cast any spells that have a verbal component.
• Enemy spells that are cast outside the barrier and who attempt to pierce it with a spell, like Fireball, Hold Person or Fire Storm must make a Charisma saving throw in order for their spell to pierce the barrier.
• Enemy creatures within 10 feet of you have disadvantage on saving throws against your paladin spells and Channel Divinity.
Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest. This ability does not affect spells that are already active such as concentration spells like haste, duration based spells like spiritual weapon, magical non-spell abilities like draconic breath weapons, a beholders eye beams, etc. and Cantrips.
Thats my homebrew, I'd love to hear any feedback and whether people think the trading your spell slot to destroy one of their spells slots is too powerful and whether the ritual casting is worth it for the trade of not having a second divinity option in addition to everything else. I'm going to be playtesting it in some of my games I GM, let my players try it out and see if it works.
I felt the paladin didn't have enough utility, so rather than two channel divinity options, I went with one and then added ritual casting. Most rituals are divination, so the spell list and rituals added are meant to allow the paladin to find and learn about enemies or magical items. This made sense because the Seekers in Dragon Age are meant to track down and learn about their enemies, and I wanted to reflect that.
For spells, Obviously some combat is needed, hence the hunters mark and retreat, to allow the paladin to quickly close the distance. Silence because it prevents verbal spells, and Trace because stealth allows them to drop in quickly. Counter-spell and dispel magic because it gives that chance or stopping clutch moments. Arcane eye to track or scout ahead, and DD to teleport there and surprise people. Legend Lore and Scrying for more utility purposes. I hope this build also makes DEX or CHA focused paladins a little more viable, since the spells don't necessarily focus more on combat, but rather your utility and your casting stat.
The actual divinity option is modeled after sacred weapon, but since the save is only once a round on your first attack, it means if they succeed you just do a normal hit, as your weapon is not considered magical. Most monsters have a decent CON score, so likely to sucked. On a fail though, it means spellcasters are practically useless, since unless they cast spells beforehand like haste, etc, they are reduced to weapon attacks or cantrips. Not nearly as strong. I added at-will spells for this because some monsters can do that, and this oath is about negating magic so I felt it needed to be there for some cases.
The 7th, 15th and capstone are the ones I am unsure about. I didn't want to make to powerful, so I felt for the aura trading a spell slot for a slot on monsters was fair, since it requires your ally to hit, your reaction meaning no OA, and you still spend a slot, meaning you lose those quicker. And of course, its only works on spells up to 5th level. I swapped damage because losing a spell slot is way worse, and adding damage felt like too much.
The 15th ability is just a AOE smite, you burn your highest slot available, do that damage to every enemy but spellcasters get hit hard. If they fail there save, being stunned means no nasty spell slots or attacks or at-will spells being thrown your way.
The capstone. I felt the verbal component was strong, since it means no verbal spells for enemies unless they move out of range. But even when out of range, AOE or single target spells need to penetrate the barrier. I chose Charisma for the saving throw since most monsters use Charisma to cast there spells anyways, but at disadvantage so it is more likely they will burn through legendary resistances in order to hit unless they roll well. The final ability is copied from Ancients which just seemed to fit.
Edited changes below with help, making it more save based and adding some clarifications.
The Seekers Oath
This paladin learns to seek and destroy corrupted arcane magic in all forms. Working closely with Knight-Vigilants, these paladin are far better equipped to learn about their enemies. These paladins learn powerful divination and abjuration magics to track wayward mages and to discern where dangerous magic lies in wait to harm innocents. They stop at nothing to protect all people from the dangers of unregulated arcane magics and kill those who delve too deep into the forbidden.
Tenets of the Seeker:
Protect the Innocent. A seeker is a guardian to those innocents, and your first duty is to protect them from unregulated arcane or forbidden magics by investigating, and if need be, hunting those who would destroy or harm the innocent.
Purge the Corrupt. When magic is used for evil, it must be purged and all traces of how to use it wiped out.
For the Future.
Knowledge is power. While evil magic should be purged, there should be a record kept of how exactly to defeat these magics for future heroes to learn and study so it can always be stopped long after your oath has ended.
Channel Divinity:
Dispelling Weapon: As an action, you can imbue one weapon you are holding with dispelling magic. For 1 minute, you add your Charisma modifier to the attack rolls of your weapon (with a minimum bonus of +1) and the first time you strike a spellcaster they must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the target is unable to expend any spell slots or cast any at-will spells until your Channel Divinity has ended. If they succeed on the saving throw, they become immune to this ability for 24 hours. This ability does not affect spells that are already active such as concentration spells like haste, duration based spells like spiritual weapon, magical non-spell abilities like draconic breath weapons, a beholders eye beams, etc. and Cantrips.
Ritual Casting: Starting at third level when you choose this oath, rather than gaining a second Channel Divinity option, you gain the ritual casting feature from the wizard using their spell list, and the spells you choose must have ritual tag. You also gain a spellbook that may only hold ritual spells. Any other ritual spells that are written down, such as in a magical scroll or spellbook, that you come across in your journeys may be learned and transcribed into your book so long as they are of the divination or abjuration magic school, and the ritual spells level can be no higher than half your level (Rounded up). For each level of the spell the process take 2 hours and 50 gp. You automatically gain the following ritual spells Identify and Detect Magic.
Seeker Oath Spells:
3rd- Expeditious Retreat, Hunter’s Mark
5th- Pass without a Trace, Silence
9th –Counter spell, Dispel Magic
13th- Arcane Eye, Dimension Door
17th- Legend Lore, Scrying
Abjuration Aura
Beginning at 7th level, your powerful abjuration magic creates an aura. You gain the ability to smite using your allies’ attacks to do so and your reaction by expending a spell slot as normal. When an ally within 10 feet of you hits an enemy creature, you can choose as a reaction to expend a spell slot to divine smite but rather than doing damage, you can instead drain a spell slot from the caster equal to the spell slot you expended. The target must make a Constitution saving throw or have the spell slot expended. Example: You spend a first level slot to smite, and instead of damage, you take one 1st level spell slot away from the target. This ability does not affect spells that are already active such as concentration spells like haste, duration based spells like spiritual weapon, magical non-spell abilities like draconic breath weapons, a beholders eye beams, etc. and Cantrips.
At 18th level, this aura increases to 30 feet.
Holy Smite
Starting at 15th level, you gain the ability to call down a burst of divine energy on every single enemy creature. As an action on your turn, you expend your highest remaining spell slot to cast your divine smite ability on all enemy creatures within a 20 foot radius. All normal enemies must make a Dexterity saving throw or take damage equal to your normal divine smite damage. On a success, they take half damage. Any enemy creature who can cast at-will spells or has spell slots does not take this damage, but instead must make a Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of your next turn. At the end of their turn, stunned creatures can make another Constitution saving throw to shrug off the effects. This ability does not affect spells that are already active such as concentration spells like haste, duration based spells like spiritual weapon, magical non-spell abilities like draconic breath weapons, a beholders eye beams, etc. and Cantrips.
Right of Annulment
At 20th level, as an action, you emanate an aura complete nullification for 1 minute which has the following effects.
• Any enemy creature within 30 foot radius of you cannot cast any spells that have a verbal component.
• Enemy spells that are cast outside the barrier and who attempt to pierce it with a spell, like Fireball, Hold Person or Fire Storm must make a Charisma saving throw in order for their spell to pierce the barrier.
• Enemy creatures within 10 feet of you have disadvantage on saving throws against your paladin spells and Channel Divinity.
Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest. This ability does not affect spells that are already active such as concentration spells like haste, duration based spells like spiritual weapon, magical non-spell abilities like draconic breath weapons, a beholders eye beams, etc. and Cantrips.
Thats my homebrew, I'd love to hear any feedback and whether people think the trading your spell slot to destroy one of their spells slots is too powerful and whether the ritual casting is worth it for the trade of not having a second divinity option in addition to everything else. I'm going to be playtesting it in some of my games I GM, let my players try it out and see if it works.