EdwardThereseJr
2020-05-09, 01:27 PM
First post here at my wife's suggestion, but I just spent the morning putting a 5e Paladin spin on one of my favorite 4e classes: The Ardent. In addition to doing this for fun, I am interested in game design as a whole, so I look forward to any criticisms on the design, feel, and balance. I'm not as familiar with 5e as I am with 4e (controversial, I know), so I expect to have missed the mark in some places.
My goal was to make a class that inspires the whole team and turns everyone into the Determined. As the core of this is "infectious emotions," I also buffed the auras heavily while nerfing oath spells and delaying Channel Divinity.
Anyway, on to the archetype!
Oath of Zeal
The Oath of Zeal commits a paladin to drive himself and his companions to achieve their goals and become the best version of themselves. They do so by tapping into the emotional wavelengths of a psionic field they generate. Sometimes referred to as Ardents, their magic is never giving up.
Tenets of Zeal
Persistence. Never give up.
Encouragement. Never let your comrades give up.
Forgiveness. Never give up on a lost soul.
Oath Spells
3rd Heroism
5th Aid
9th Aura of Vitality
13th Aura of Life
17th Skill Empowerment
Psionic Augmentation
Starting at 3rd level, you can use your reaction to add 1d4 to an attack roll, saving throw, or skill check made by you or an ally in your aura. This increases to 1d6 at 5th level, 1d8 at 9th level, 1d10 at 13th level, and 1d12 at 17th level.
You can do this a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier after completing a long rest.
Aura of Zeal
Starting at 3rd level, you and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you have advantage on Charisma saving throws. At 7th level, all of your paladin feature auras increase to 20 feet. At 15th level, after completing a long or short rest, you can change the ability that the Aura of Zeal gives advantage to, choosing from any of the six. At 18th level, the aura expands to 30 feet.
Channel Divinity
Starting at 7th level, you can choose among these options for your Channel Divinity action.
Zealous Strike. As a reaction, you can allow an ally within you Aura of Zeal to reroll damage on an attack and use either result. The damage is also considered magical.
Deter the Faithless. As an action, you can force a Wisdom save on all enemies within 30 feet that can hear your declaration of persistence or see your zealous posturing. On a fail, the creature cannot approach you or your allies, the lose their reaction, and have disadvantage on their next attack roll until the start of your next turn.
Not Done Yet
Starting at 15th level, when you or an ally in your aura is reduced to 0 hit points, you can use your reaction to keep them from falling unconscious or prone. They can continue to take actions as normal, but each time they take damage they must make a Constitution save, DC10 or equal to the damage, whichever is higher. If they fail, they fall unconscious and automatically fail one of their deaths saves. While they are at 0 hit points, whether they are conscious or not, they continue to make death saves at the end of their turns per normal.
Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you have completed a long rest.
Unyielding
Starting at 20th level, you can use an action to increase all your paladin feature auras to 50 feet for 1 minute. You and all allies in the aura have advantage on all saving throws, including death saving throws.
Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.
My goal was to make a class that inspires the whole team and turns everyone into the Determined. As the core of this is "infectious emotions," I also buffed the auras heavily while nerfing oath spells and delaying Channel Divinity.
Anyway, on to the archetype!
Oath of Zeal
The Oath of Zeal commits a paladin to drive himself and his companions to achieve their goals and become the best version of themselves. They do so by tapping into the emotional wavelengths of a psionic field they generate. Sometimes referred to as Ardents, their magic is never giving up.
Tenets of Zeal
Persistence. Never give up.
Encouragement. Never let your comrades give up.
Forgiveness. Never give up on a lost soul.
Oath Spells
3rd Heroism
5th Aid
9th Aura of Vitality
13th Aura of Life
17th Skill Empowerment
Psionic Augmentation
Starting at 3rd level, you can use your reaction to add 1d4 to an attack roll, saving throw, or skill check made by you or an ally in your aura. This increases to 1d6 at 5th level, 1d8 at 9th level, 1d10 at 13th level, and 1d12 at 17th level.
You can do this a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier after completing a long rest.
Aura of Zeal
Starting at 3rd level, you and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you have advantage on Charisma saving throws. At 7th level, all of your paladin feature auras increase to 20 feet. At 15th level, after completing a long or short rest, you can change the ability that the Aura of Zeal gives advantage to, choosing from any of the six. At 18th level, the aura expands to 30 feet.
Channel Divinity
Starting at 7th level, you can choose among these options for your Channel Divinity action.
Zealous Strike. As a reaction, you can allow an ally within you Aura of Zeal to reroll damage on an attack and use either result. The damage is also considered magical.
Deter the Faithless. As an action, you can force a Wisdom save on all enemies within 30 feet that can hear your declaration of persistence or see your zealous posturing. On a fail, the creature cannot approach you or your allies, the lose their reaction, and have disadvantage on their next attack roll until the start of your next turn.
Not Done Yet
Starting at 15th level, when you or an ally in your aura is reduced to 0 hit points, you can use your reaction to keep them from falling unconscious or prone. They can continue to take actions as normal, but each time they take damage they must make a Constitution save, DC10 or equal to the damage, whichever is higher. If they fail, they fall unconscious and automatically fail one of their deaths saves. While they are at 0 hit points, whether they are conscious or not, they continue to make death saves at the end of their turns per normal.
Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you have completed a long rest.
Unyielding
Starting at 20th level, you can use an action to increase all your paladin feature auras to 50 feet for 1 minute. You and all allies in the aura have advantage on all saving throws, including death saving throws.
Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.