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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next [Peach] Paladin Oath of Extermination



bc56
2018-06-14, 11:38 PM
This is a homebrew paladin archetype.

I'd like some critique on the mechanical side, especially the capstone and 15th level features.

Oath of Extermination (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IdiosTFrtdvUQxUGVgP4_68s72iOOqO5oIaG12l-iyM/edit?usp=drivesdk)

bc56
2018-06-16, 08:33 AM
No takers?
Too bad, I guess.

Yddisac
2018-06-16, 05:40 PM
Oath Spells: A pretty good list overall, I think. Hunter's mark and shadow blade solidify this class's place as a melee bruiser, while fear adds solid flavour and a nice crowd control aspect that works really well with Aura of the Executioner. Magic circle, banishment, and dispel evil and good make it clear this class is about fighting outsiders. Detect thoughts gives solid out-of-combat utility, and I see how the flavour lines up. Detect evil and good is basically a wasted spell, since the paladin's Divine Sense class feature does the same thing, and I'm not 100% sure it's worth wasting the slot. Protection from evil and good is still pretty situational, but at least it's not redundant, and I think it accomplishes the same goals flavour-wise.

Channel Divinity
Executioner's Tool: The name doesn't quite fit the ability, does it? It's about knocking opponents over, not killing them per se. Something about forcing opponents to kneel before the guillotine might be apropos for the title there... I dunno. Anyway, my main concern with this one is just how many saving throws the ability forces. If a paladin gets two attacks and an opportunity attack each round, that's three saving throws per round, which makes it massively more likely to succeed even against high-Str foes and slows down gameplay.
I see two main ways to address this. If you want the Executioner to focus more on a single target, I'd limit the saving throws to once per round. If you want the Executioner to specialize in fighting groups, maybe have this ability activate as an action, then have the Executioner use a bonus action to force every enemy within 5' of it or so make the save? (Or within 5' of whoever they hit, make it just a blow that falls that hard.)

Turn the Unnatural: It's Turning, what can I say :V

Aura of the Executioner: I love how this works together with Executioner's Tool, as well as with spells like bane and fear (the latter of which is even on the class spell list!). I'm not sure how much the damage adds up in practice, but I wouldn't say it was underpowered without trying it out for myself. If the paladin's allies pitch in, this could add up quite nicely; I like that this ability offers group tactical options.

Eternal Vigilance: Not so fond of this ability, actually. It doesn't fit with the executioner feel the rest of the class's abilities have, nor does it fit with how I expect this class would play: charging into melee with a greataxe and knocking people around with Executioner's Tool to trigger Aura of the Executioner damage. Since this class is real heavy on melee, something slightly more defensive might be helpful at this level? Either that or maybe increasing the class's ability to deal with groups of enemies, like a horde of zombies or something, which would have the neat side effect of distinguishing it from the similar Oath of Vengeance.

Grand Executioner: Looks more or less fine for a capstone. Applying a -5 penalty to all saving throws within 30' is quite impressive, but it is a capstone, so it's hard for me to say it's overpowered. (Then again, I never play anywhere near level 20, so you should probably ignore my feedback here.) I do like that this works well with the other class features, allowing for more devastating melee attacks in the throng.


The nitty-gritty of Executioner's Tool is my biggest concern right now, since that's what really defines this subclass. It's forcing too many saving throws for my liking right now, but that shouldn't be too difficult to play around with. I like that this subclass has a definite Thing That It Does, even if the flavour is a tad close to the Oath of Vengeance for my tastes.

bc56
2018-06-16, 09:34 PM
...
Thanks for the tips.

I didn't think of that with Detect Evil + good and Divine sense. I'll change that, probably to Protection from Evil or Detect Magic

Executioner's tool is a bad name. I knew what I wanted, but didn't have a good name for it. It was about the idea of kneeling for the executioner, but if you have any suggestions, that'd be good. That said, I don't see the problem with adding extra saves, it doesn't significantly slow the game in my mind, since it's just one die roll each time, and only on a hit.

Yeah, vigilance doesn't really fit. A good defensive move would be better, I just need a good idea. Maybe something that forces a save on enemies that attack you. Maybe when an enemy hits you with a melee attack, they must make a dex save or take 1d6 radiant damage?