Paladin Subclass Feature - Need Advice

[CaptainMendax]

Hey y'all,

I'm working on a paladin oath I'm calling the "Oath of the Bacchante," essentially a subclass for a follower of Dionysus. For the 7th level, I want to make a feature called "Aura of Madness." The text I've written down for this feature is:

Aura of Madness
Beginning at 7th level, madness radiates from you in intoxicating waves. Enemies within 10 feet of you have disadvantage on Wisdom saves.
At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.

I'm a little worried this is overpowered, considering how many spells use WIS saves, especially the spells I'm looking at for oath spells. Is it overpowered? If so, any other ideas that would fit the flavor but won't break the game?

[MrStabby]

Yes, I think this is overpowered. It isn't just the frequency of wisdom saves but the fact that they would also become even more frequent as a result of this. A lot of the really powerful spells are wisdom saves as well, it isn't like it is just raising the quality of weak spells.

Maybe something like "whenever a creature within 15ft fails a wisdom save you may use your reaction to deal 2d8 psychic damage to that creature", any spell cast within the aura triggers a wild magic surge, or whenever you land a critical hit on an enemy they suffer the effects of the confusion spell (vengeance paladin is an example of a paladin with no aura at this level).

The power level that is right will depend on the power of other features around it and the interactions expected. It might be helpful to share more.

[CaptainMendax]

Yes, I think this is overpowered. It isn't just the frequency of wisdom saves but the fact that they would also become even more frequent as a result of this. A lot of the really powerful spells are wisdom saves as well, it isn't like it is just raising the quality of weak spells.

Maybe something like "whenever a creature within 15ft fails a wisdom save you may use your reaction to deal 2d8 psychic damage to that creature", any spell cast within the aura triggers a wild magic surge, or whenever you land a critical hit on an enemy they suffer the effects of the confusion spell (vengeance paladin is an example of a paladin with no aura at this level).

The power level that is right will depend on the power of other features around it and the interactions expected. It might be helpful to share more.

Yeah, I think you're right. I'd share more of the features if I had any fleshed out outside of "it does cool madness stuff", but most of the ideas I'm having would use WIS saves. I'll update once I have more concrete ideas (or maybe just make a new post if it's a lot of concrete ideas), I'm really just in the first stages of writing the draft.

I like the idea of a critical hit causing the effects of a confusion spell, I might steal that :tongue:

Thanks!

Edit: I suppose I could go ahead and share what I have for the channel divinity feature.

Nature’s Wrath: (Literally the same thing as OotA, I just changed spectral vines to grape vines. I'm open to other ideas too.)
You can use your Channel Divinity to call upon the wild to ensnare a foe. As an action, you can cause grape vines to spring up and reach for a creature within 10 feet of you that you can see. The creature must succeed on a Strength or Dexterity saving throw (its choice) or be restrained. While restrained by the vines, the creature repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns. On a success, it frees itself and the vines vanish.

Intoxicating Presence:
As an action, you can force a creature within 30 feet of you to make a Constitution saving throw, using your Channel Divinity. A creature that is resistant to poison has advantage on the save. On a failed save, the creature becomes drunk has disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws for one minute. An affected creature may repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a successful save.

The 15th level ability I'm not sure about yet, but I'm trying to figure out a way to incorporate the madness tables from the DMG (259-260).

20th level I'm holding off on until I get the other features set up.

[Nagog]

Yes, I think this is overpowered. It isn't just the frequency of wisdom saves but the fact that they would also become even more frequent as a result of this. A lot of the really powerful spells are wisdom saves as well, it isn't like it is just raising the quality of weak spells.

I'd have it as a non-aura ability (perhaps a Channel Divinity?) to use your reaction to grant somebody disadvantage on a wisdom save, or as part of your spell if it's a spell you're casting. Using it on the spells you cast still burns your Channel Divinity, but you're limited by the spells given to you, whereas if you did it on a 6th-9th level Cleric/Wizard/Sorcerer spell cast on the target, it will have much more effect, at the cost of an additional resource (your reaction).

[D&D_Fan]

I think that Aura of Madness is actually an ability that a 5e monster has already. I will look into this.

[D&D_Fan]

I think that Aura of Madness is actually an ability that a 5e monster has already. I will look into this.

Ok so I found the creature it is the Star Spawn Grue (https://5e.tools/bestiary/star-spawn-grue-mtf.html)