Breaking your oath and become a baddie;

[Corran]

Now that there are more than the classic (lawful good) approach to being a paladin, in the form of the various oaths we get (devotion, ancients, vengeance, crown; and why not, UA too -as it is for roleplaying purposes-, so adding conquest & treachery -bleah-), there are possibly more approaches to the concept of ''falling'' too.

So, I would like to hear your take at it, from whichever roleplaying angle (oath) you want. I can be just a refference to a pop culture character, or a whole story, I dont mind; whatever and however much you want to share.


Devotion: We all know that tale...
I like to do it after getting aura of courage first. Something about losing all fear (''fear is knowing where the edge is'' - I love this line...:smallsmile:), so you are not afraid of ... ''falling''?

Ancients: Lose all hope, become emo, sing melancholic songs, write bad poetry...
At least keep the serious part, lose hope, and yourself in the proccess.

Vengeance: These guys tend to ''go far'', but perhaps they went too far and became oathbreakers...? Doesn't feel right...
Or better, after vanquishing whomever it was that they had swore vengeance against (assuming it was a single individual or at least a group of people), they dont get the satisfaction they had imagined, and they are left bitter and broken down inside?

Crown: Arthas???

Conquest: That's easy! You are.... Dracula!

Treachery: I am not sure these guys qualify for ''falling''. For them to become oathbreakers would probably be an improvement...
(I'll mail a cookie to whomever manages to present a plausible case for the treachery paladin turning oathbreaker.:smalltongue:)
No cookies, these guys cant break their oath, as they apparently dont have one in the first place.

[Khrysaes]

You forgot oathbreaker. Literally the ONLY oath that requires an alignment. Although, if you are an oathbreaker I guess you can't break your oath. Also, why would breaking an oath automatically give you the ability to control or raise the dead? I like the concept, not the execution.

Edit: didn't see you mentioning Oathbreaker in the spoiler. Other beliefs on the oath still stands.

[Corran]

Also, why would breaking an oath automatically give you the ability to control or raise the dead? I like the concept, not the execution.
Well, I was thinking the exact same thing some time ago. Then it hit me. I'll just never use that spell...
The aura is permanent though, and a lenient DM could perhaps neglect the part about undeads, I guess.


Edit: didn't see you mentioning Oathbreaker in the spoiler. Other beliefs on the oath still stands.
Well, the original title of the thread was ''how to turn oathbreaker'', so I am just equating ''falling'' with becoming an oathbreaker. And focusing on the roleplaying elements of how you go about it if you started playing with oath X.

[Millstone85]

Also, why would breaking an oath automatically give you the ability to control or raise the dead?
Well, I was thinking the exact same thing some time ago.
I am just equating ''falling'' with becoming an oathbreaker.I would say you created the problem yourself.

A paladin who breaks their oath and falls can just stop being a paladin. It takes a little something extra to become the (anti)paladin subclass known as "oathbreaker".

[JackPhoenix]

Also, why would breaking an oath automatically give you the ability to control or raise the dead? I like the concept, not the execution.

It doesn't. Oathbreaker is misnomer... most paladins who fall don't become Oathbreakers, they just fall (with no clear mechanical implications for the act of falling). Oathbreaker is someone who not only falls, but falls so hard he comes back on the other side of the alignment spectrum, completely turns his back on the previous oath and decides to serve some dark power:

An Oathbreaker is a paladin who breaks his or her sacred oaths to pursue some dark ambition or serve an evil power. Whatever light burned in the paladin's heart has been extinguished. Only darkness remains

Trecheary paladin can't fall as such, because they have no tenets to break in the first place, and falling means breaking the tenets of your oath (PHB 86)

[suplee215]

I was playing an Oath of the Ancients Paladin in a game that began with only one pantheon at the beginning but then the other more traditional pantheons landing on the Earth. The pantheon my guy worship slaughtered the heroes of the land in preparing for the fight. My character was an entertainer and saw telling stories as one of the ways to spread the light. Eventually my guy met Loki, who offered him the choice of renounce my gods or die and I was not comfortable dying for a god who in my eyes betrayed me. I took the UA version Oath of Treachery instead of the DMG version as it fits a lot better for a character who lost his faith.

[Corran]

I would say you created the problem yourself.

A paladin who breaks their oath and falls can just stop being a paladin. It takes a little something extra to become the (anti)paladin subclass known as "oathbreaker".
Fair enough.



Trecheary paladin can't fall as such, because they have no tenets to break in the first place, and falling means breaking the tenets of your oath (PHB 86)
Hmm, that makes sense. I knew it didnt feel right. Forgot it wasn't an actual oath and rather an alternative to an oathbreaker.

[Millstone85]

with no clear mechanical implications for the act of falling
At the DM's discretion, an impenitent paladin might be forced to abandon this class and adopt another, or perhaps to take the Oathbreaker paladin option that appears in the Dungeon Master's Guide.More a guideline than a rule, yeah, but I find the concept adequate.


Oathbreaker is someone who not only falls, but falls so hard he comes back on the other side of the alignment spectrum, completely turns his back on the previous oath and decides to serve some dark powerThis.


I took the UA version Oath of Treachery instead of the DMG version as it fits a lot better for a character who lost his faith.
The Oath of Treachery is an option for the paladin who has strayed from another Sacred Oath or who has rejected the traditional paladin life. This option exists alongside the Oathbreaker in the Dungeon Master’s Guide.Indeed, Oath of Treachery is as much a paladin oath as Oathbreaker is. People forget that.

Edit: Ninja'd.

[furby076]

Treachery "finds religion" and develops an oath. Depending on what oath, he may swap....heck, he falls in love, and takes oath of devotion :)

[Millstone85]

Treachery "finds religion" and develops an oath. Depending on what oath, he may swap....heck, he falls in love, and takes oath of devotion :)Just like the "Oathbreaker Atonement" box on page 97 of the DMG. And yeah, that can be regarded as falling, only in reverse.

Oddly enough, the box doesn't talk about the character changing class, like the PHB's "Breaking Your Oath" box does. Instead, the atonement box would first have the character be a paladin without oath features, something that is not in the breaking box.

I don't like it. If a falling paladin is going to loose their mojo entirely unless they consort with dark powers to keep it, why would a repenting antipaladin never have to consider just renouncing the power?

Unless maybe they need a taste of true paladinhood to cleanse themselves from the evil taint, and then they can consider becoming a fighter or whatever?