Oath of the Crown Paladin

[Warpiglet-7]

Has anyone had fun with this oath? I always thought it looked bland but I was making a huscarl sort of character and the oath and abilities fit.

They seem offensively a bit on the weak side and don’t have the control ability of turning.

Just curious about others opinions before I go this route...

[Dork_Forge]

Has anyone had fun with this oath? I always thought it looked bland but I was making a huscarl sort of character and the oath and abilities fit.

They seem offensively a bit on the weak side and don’t have the control ability of turning.

Just curious about others opinions before I go this route...

They're not really offensively weak since most of a Paladin's damage capabilities come from the core class, they're the tank Paladin. Their Oath spells, Channel Divinity options and class features make them very sticky and protective of their other team mates. Being a tank may not be as flashy as being the DPR of the group (you do still have Smites though) but done right it can keep team mates alive, that's what this Oath is the best at.

[T.G. Oskar]

Haven't really played it, mostly for a one-shot which was basically level 20 characters vs. a beefed-up Tiamat. Since we went practically blinded, and I was mostly relying on the stuff from 2 levels of Warlock, I couldn't say much.

That said, it's the build I'm really itching to play. For one, it has the Spirit Guardians spell, which makes the Paladin absurdly sticky. (Fantastic combination with Sentinel, as well.) It also has Warding Bond, which is IMO the quintessential Paladin spell. The Channel Divinity options are pretty good, having a solid lockdown option in Champion's Challenge and an emergency AoE heal in Turn the Tide. And the capstone isn't half bad.

The issues with Crown Paladin is that other options are better. For one - the 7th level option is decidedly inferior to the Redemption Paladin's version of the same ability, if only because of range. The level 15 option is also a bit lackluster. And while it has some pretty good spells, most are either existing Paladin spells or so-so (Zone of Truth, for example).

At most, a Crown Paladin is meant to be a pretty sticky tank, but one that's rather mundane. It's not bad, but many people live and die for other options, and most see Paladins as nova damage dealers rather than tanks, something that Crown Paladins don't really aid with.

[Ogeeogelthorpe]

Has anyone had fun with this oath? I always thought it looked bland but I was making a huscarl sort of character and the oath and abilities fit.

They seem offensively a bit on the weak side and don’t have the control ability of turning.

Just curious about others opinions before I go this route...

I've got one. A lightfoot halfling paladin of the crown. One of my favorite characters.

Spirit guardians on a paladin plus their channel divinity makes him hard to escape from.

[Satori01]

Oath of the Crown has two good spells on their Oath Spell list at 9th level:
Spirit Guardians and Aura Vitality.

The Champions' Challenge, Chanel Divinity plus Spirit Guardians is a
"You Shall Not Pass, (plus here is some damage)" moment.

Champions Challenge will let one pied piper the opponents away so the party can nuke the mosh pit that formed around the Paladin from a distance.
It is a potent tactic.

I had a campaign that had two Paladins in the PC party, an Oath of Redemption Paladin and Oath of the Crown. The Oath of Redemption powers let you survive the Pied Piper tactic and support the Oath of the Crown, Pally.

Outside of this one tactic...Oath of Redemption seemed more useful overall then Oath of the Crown. Redemption certainly has the better spell list.

Advantage on saving throws against Paralysis and being Stunned, is overkill when you are already adding your CHA modifier to the saving throw.

Oath of the Crown has one very good gambit.