Which oath do I take to protect my allies?

[Rallek25]

Hello everyone,
I had a question regarding paladin. The build I want to make is a paladin who wants to protect those he fights along side. This character will do whatever it takes to keep his allies alive. He will even sacrifice his own HP/life if it means someone else lives.

Right away I thought about Oath of the Crown, with Warding Bond, spirit guardians, and channel divinity abilities. My only issue is the later game abilities seem lackluster. Divine Allegiance only works within 5 feet, and the later abilities don't do a whole lot.

Oath of redemption seems viable as it has a better version of Divine Allegiance that works out to 10 feet. My issue with this class is the spells. I would really like to have Warding Bond to protect spell casters and my reaction to take damage from melee characters.

I can also see Vegenance as a possibility where I can drop enemy movement to 0 feet.
All in all I don't know which Oath to take so I can be defender of allies.

I don't know what Oath would fit this build that I have in mind. I have also considered Oath of the crown or Oath of redemption 7 and Celesital Lock 13. But if you could help me decide what Oath would fit this type of character I would really appreciate it.
Thank you once again, as you guys are always so helpful with questions I have and builds I need fine tuned.

[Rukelnikov]

What you want is a Human Mark of Sentinel from WGE:

As an action it can designate an ally, and if you are within 5 ft of him/her when it is attacked, you can use your reaction to swap places with your ally becoming the target of the attack.

It has +1 Str, +1 Wis, +1 Any, +1d4 on initiative and Wis(Perception), knows the blade ward cantrip (meh), and allows you to cast shield 1/short rest.

The other good thing about it, is that after lvl 8 you can take the Greater Dragonmark feat, which is a half feat that allows you to cast Compelled Duel and Warding Bond 1/short rest.

[jaappleton]

I know its Channel Divinity pretty much sucks, HOWEVER, the lv7 feature of Oath of the Ancients can't be beaten. Also, its pretty much the only spell list capable of any AoE when it comes to Paladins.

[Rallek25]

After some further thinking I might actually do a multiclass of Oath of Redemption with Divine Soul to gain access to Life Tranference and spirit guardians. I want to limit the enemies movement from getting to my party members and I want to drain my own HP in order to save those I adventure with.

[Blood of Gaea]

Conquest can lock opponents down hard, not letting them get away.

Ancient adds a potent magical defense.

You already mentioned Crown's great spells, Redemption has good high-level spells as well.

If you're going for the whatever it takes angle, I would heavily consider Conquest, read over the oath and see how it fits your PC. A Conquest Paladin with high Cha and the Sentinal Feat is a force to be reconned with.

It's also worth noting redemption gets wall of force and hypnotic pattern, which can be very potent additions if your party does not have a control caster.

[Rallek25]

Conquest can lock opponents down hard, not letting them get away.

Ancient adds a potent magical defense.

You already mentioned Crown's great spells, Redemption has good high-level spells as well.

If you're going for the whatever it takes angle, I would heavily consider Conquest, read over the oath and see how it fits your PC. A Conquest Paladin with high Cha and the Sentinal Feat is a force to be reconned with.

It's also worth noting redemption gets wall of force and hypnotic pattern, which can be very potent additions if your party does not have a control caster.

The angle I'm going for it more of a bodyguard more or less. I want to protect my allies at all costs. It's not so much about crushing my foes. It's more about stopping them from hurting my friends and giving my life to protect those I travel with. That's why I like the lvl 7 abilities of Crown & Redemption. I can substitute my health instead of my ally taking damage. I just wonder if perhaps I should multiclass into divine soul sorcerer to obtain Life Tranference as it would fit in with what I want.
This character is just basically ready to make the ultimate hero sacrifice whenever it's needed.

[ProsecutorGodot]

This character is just basically ready to make the ultimate hero sacrifice whenever it's needed.

Redemption Paladin is the way to go. The 7th level aura is, in my opinion, the most satisfying protection ability that 5E has.

Currently playing one in DoTM, we triggered a trap that would have knocked out our Sorcerer. I took 96 damage (48 to each of us, since we both failed) and walked away from it. I'm positive that we'd have had to deal with character death if I wasn't such an effective damage sponge.

And on top of all that, you're still a Paladin who can can smite.

[Rallek25]

Redemption Paladin is the way to go. The 7th level aura is, in my opinion, the most satisfying protection ability that 5E has.

Currently playing one in DoTM, we triggered a trap that would have knocked out our Sorcerer. I took 96 damage (48 to each of us, since we both failed) and walked away from it. I'm positive that we'd have had to deal with character death if I wasn't such an effective damage sponge.

And on top of all that, you're still a Paladin who can can smite.

Yeah, I'm thinking that's the way to go honestly. I'm thinking like maybe 5 Divine Soul Sorcerer/ 15 Redemption Paladin.
I just want to have Spirit Guardians, Life Transferece, and Warding Bond as ways to slow enemies movement, sacrifice my health to heal someone, and to limit damage on casters by giving them resistance to all damage.
Doing damage isn't what I care about it's more about having HP and CHA to help with DC.

[Rukelnikov]

Redemption Paladin is the way to go. The 7th level aura is, in my opinion, the most satisfying protection ability that 5E has.

Currently playing one in DoTM, we triggered a trap that would have knocked out our Sorcerer. I took 96 damage (48 to each of us, since we both failed) and walked away from it. I'm positive that we'd have had to deal with character death if I wasn't such an effective damage sponge.

And on top of all that, you're still a Paladin who can can smite.

You can still smite, but you have the strictest code of all the Oaths, to the point where you can almost only attack the vilest and most irredeemable of creatures.

[Rallek25]

You can still smite, but you have the strictest code of all the Oaths, to the point where you can almost only attack the vilest and most irredeemable of creatures.

That is true. Probably to make it feel more right I could use a quarter staff. Something that isn't intended to kill. Meant more so to knock unconscious in case something happens.

[ProsecutorGodot]

You can still smite, but you have the strictest code of all the Oaths, to the point where you can almost only attack the vilest and most irredeemable of creatures.

Dungeon of the Mad Mage is pretty forgiving in that respect. It's filled with criminals completely unwilling to reform, demons, strict lolth worshipping Drow and several types of extraplanar evils.

Your mileage will vary of course, not all campaign settings will accommodate Redemption Paladin.

[Rallek25]

Dungeon of the Mad Mage is pretty forgiving in that respect. It's filled with criminals completely unwilling to reform, demons, strict lolth worshipping Drow and several types of extraplanar evils.

Your mileage will vary of course, not all campaign settings will accommodate Redemption Paladin.

Right now I only play AL.
Have yet to join a homebrew game or a book game.

[Rukelnikov]

Dungeon of the Mad Mage is pretty forgiving in that respect. It's filled with criminals completely unwilling to reform, demons, strict lolth worshipping Drow and several types of extraplanar evils.

Your mileage will vary of course, not all campaign settings will accommodate Redemption Paladin.

"Following the code" is pretty DM dependant, but for instance if I were DMing a Redeption pally, Ousider Evil and Undead would be fair game, but criminals and Lolth worshippers should get the benefit of the doubt.

I guess CoS would be a good place to play one :P