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View Full Version : 5e Oath of Penitence, Pally Oath



CaptainSarathai
2016-12-02, 09:43 PM
So, based on another thread where it was discussed that 'Oathbreaker' seems a bit evil/severe and there should be a recourse for players who want to play a flawed or fallen Paladin without "going to the Dark side," I offer the Oath of Penitence.
This oath is for both DMs who want to impose a set of rules on Paladins who are working on repenting for breaking a vow, and for players who want a flawed character working on redemption.
The idea of this oath is to create a feeling of deep self-sacrifice and flagellation, where you are putting flesh and blood on the line to make amends to your oath, or die trying. Thus, a lot of stuff allows you take damage in place of another, or requires you to take damage or become easier to hit in order to trigger effects.

Oath Spells
3rd Armor of Agathys, Compelled Duel
5th Warding Bond, Zone of Truth
9th Crusader's Mantle, Dispel Magic
13th Locate Creature, Banishment
17th Circle of Power, Geas

Channel Divinity (3rd level)
Penitent Wrath - As a bonus action, you enter a fury of penitent zeal, lasting for 1 minute. During this time, all your melee attacks have Advantage, but any attack which targets you also gain Advantage.
This effect ends early if you are knocked unconscious or of your turn ends and you have not attacked a hostile creature since your last turn, or taken damage since then.
Repentant Smite - when you hit with a melee weapon attack, you may choose to deal extra Radiant damage. The amount of this damage is any number of d10s up to your Paladin level.
After this damage has been resolved, you then take damage equal to half the additional damage dealt. This damage cannot be resisted or reduced in any way.

Selfless Sacrifice
Beginning at 7th level, when a non-hostile creature takes damage within 5ft of you, you may use your Reaction to substitute your health for that of the target, causing that target not to take damage. Instead, you take the damage. This damage cannot be reduced in any way.

Grim Resolve (15th level)
Once per Long Rest, when you would be knocked unconscious, you may declare that you are using your Grim Resolve. Rather than fall unconscious, you may continue to fight on for 1 minute. During this time, you are still required to make Death Saving Throws at the start of each turn, and if you fail 3, still die as normal.

Prayer of the Martyr
"Blade with whom I have lived, blade with whom I now die, serve right and justice one last time, seek one last heart of evil, still one last life of pain. Cut well, old friend, and then farewell"
At 20th level, once per Long Rest, you may impart the essence of your very soul into an attack. You may trigger this ability as a Bonus Action. You immediately take another turn. During this turn, you are subject to the following effects:
> You have a 30ft Fly speed
> At the start of the turn, you regain a single 3rd level spell slot
> You have Resistance to all damage sources
> When you make a melee weapon attack, if the attack hits, double all damage dealt (including sources of extra damage, such as Smites). If the attack would miss, it still deals normal damage as though it had hit.

At the end of this bonus turn, you immediately take damage equal to 10 times your Paladin Level. This damage cannot be reduced in any way.
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And so, what does everyone think? I'm open to suggestions on changing the Oath Spells, as I'm not really sold on much after Zone of Truth.

The build also seems to cop a lot from Barbarian, but that's because Barbarian has many of the "hit me, so I can hit you better" effects, and I would rather poach existing effects that we know are relatively balanced.

I also know that the 20th level ability is pretty crazy. Basically, kill yourself to throw a single, potentially huge Nova round. Basically, if you haven't gotten redemption by 20th level, going out in a massive blaze of glory seems fitting.

khadgar567
2016-12-03, 12:11 PM
wrong sub forum mate ask mods to let it moved to homebrew sub forum

CaptainSarathai
2016-12-03, 03:33 PM
Right on. Who should I ask?