Recomendations for a paladin oath?

[Rfkannen]

I have been thinking a lot about rolling up a paladin recently, but I can't decide which oath would be best. My thoughts so far:

I am thinking I would want to play someone who leans more into the knight part than the holy part of holy knight. A young, extremely naïve, noble (or possibly a squire if i could make that work, but no backround really fits it) who goes out out adventuring to gain their honor. If this was 2e I would play a Chevalier, but nothing in 5e really gets the same feel. (Main fun thing about the Chevalier was that they went up in rank of nobility as they leveled, starting as a page, then becoming a lord's knight, then becoming a minor baronet, than a full on lord).

Conquest: I really like the idea of a crowd control support paladin, and I like the darth vader vibe. However, it doesn't really feel right for my first paladin, I would want to do something more classically "paladin-y"

Devotion. I adore the tenets, I like how they are hard to follow, and fit a very classic knight vibe, but the mechanics just seem really uninspired to me? It doesn't get any interesting spells, and I prefer playing tanky controller/support types to dps types, so sacred weapon seems boring. Also I have been playing 5e since it came out, and I have never gotten charmed. If I am wrong I would love to hear it, but this just seems like it would be boring in combat.

Oath of ancients. I ADORE this subclass. I love getting misty step, I love the control channel divinity, I love the support aura, I love the fairy theme to it, just the best paladin subclass. However, it REALLY doesn't fit the image I have of THIS character, who is support to be a very lawful person who fits society well. The green knight is an amazing concept I want to play some day, but for this character I want to go more classic knight.

Oath of the crown Fits the character concept vey well, but the tenets are kind of uninspired, and mechanically, is it just me or is this subclass literally just the oath of redemption but worse? Like entirely? Mechanically why would you take this? I am worried that playing this I would be thinking constantly about how oath of redemption would be doing everything I am doing better. My group jokes that I am the min maxer of the party, and is kind of true. I want my character to be good at whatever their main thing is, and just playing a worse version of something else would kind of bum me out.

Oath of glory. I do enjoy the idea of going full Camelot "C'est moi" and being a braggadocios knight obsessed with there honor and glory. On the other hand, I have heard a lot of negative things about this subclass, and it is really weird that the aura is only 10 feet. Also the tenants are kind of boring, its basically impossible to fall as a oath of glory paladin. I like the threat of falling. Also the channel divinity seems to really emphasize playing a grappler, but nothing else about the paladin class really fits grappling, so I am not sure if that would ever be useful. Overall, a cool concept with eh mechanics.

Oath of redemption: Really love the idea of a control paladin, and the subclass fits the idea of a young naïve character. The oath spells seem kind of weird on a paladin, do you really have enough spell slots to take advantage of stuff like hold person or hypnotic pattern? Also, i like fighting in dnd, trying to not fight seems counterintuitive.


Any suggestions?

[intregus]

The tenants are the rp and flavor. Take the devotion tenets and,the the ancients mechanics.

There should,be no reason a DM wouldn't let you do that.

[Rfkannen]

The tenants are the rp and flavor. Take the devotion tenets and,the the ancients mechanics.

There should,be no reason a DM wouldn't let you do that.

I hadn't considered that! Its an interesting idea, my one worry would be that one of the reasons I like ancients is how flavorful the mechanics are, grasping vines, teleporting, supporting, it all really works together to make you feel like a guardian of the forest. I am not sure how well it would work for a more society based character.

[Starman]

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Historically, the Oath of Redemption corresponds closest to the true paladin oath.

Roleplaying wise, I love playing an Oath of Redemption Paladin and shaming those who want to be murderhobos because combat is more fun. Never fight if there is a more elegant solution.

[Maan]

The tenants are the rp and flavor. Take the devotion tenets and,the the ancients mechanics.

There should,be no reason a DM wouldn't let you do that.

Totally agree: use whatever Oath you like for the mechanics, and the tenets you want to. Maybe even mix and match those.

I'll only make a quick note about Devotion and Redemption.
The first could be good for what you are looking for: remember, in 5e you don't have to actually be a servant of some god. Your powers could just come from the fact that your character is so devoted to their ideals of justice and purity etc. that they can channel the power of light and good. Also, Turn the Unholy gets often overlooked in favor of Sacred Weapon but it can be very powerful as it's thematic.
Redemption has just one problem - it turns the paladin into something more of a full caster, but one that has the slots of an half caster. Since you care about mechanics too, that is something worth considering.

[Starman]

Redemption has just one problem - it turns the paladin into something more of a full caster, but one that has the slots of an half caster. Since you care about mechanics too, that is something worth considering.

My power build is vHuman (mobility) Paladin 2 / Divination Wizard 18.

I play him like a Oath of Redemption Paladin because Peace is always preferential to War. Do note that a Paladin / Wizard has enormous supernova capability. Do you copy??

[Unoriginal]

its basically impossible to fall as a oath of glory paladin.

It's basically impossible to fall as a Paladin of any kind, in 5e. You have to really go out of your way for that and then keep refusing to atone.

[Aett_Thorn]

May I just ask why you're not looking at the Cavalier Fighter for this? They seem very "knighty" to me without going holy knight.


As a more off-the-wall idea, what about going VHuman Ranger, and taking Heavily Armored as your bonus feat? Subclasses like the Hunter or Monster Slayer, despite not being optimized, give the class a heavily martial feel. Hunter for a more traditional martial feel, Monster Slayer for that "I serve my Lord by fighting the big threats" feel. Choose spells that you can kind of flavor away by saying that they're more skill than magic (cure wounds is just training in medicine, nature spells are woodland survival training, etc.).

[Houster]

The tenants are the rp and flavor. Take the devotion tenets and,the the ancients mechanics.

There should,be no reason a DM wouldn't let you do that.
I totally agree.

Beyond that being more specific, vengeance is very open... Most of it is about killing that big threat or threats... You could be vengeance paladin(easy the min maxers choice) and have both crown and vengeance tenants. They have contradictions in the case which defeating the kingdoms threat might cause you to break some of it's laws. Seems perfect to me. A lot of story and place for character growth.

[Unoriginal]

May I just ask why you're not looking at the Cavalier Fighter for this? They seem very "knighty" to me without going holy knight.

Cavalier Fighter is awesome, also.

[x3n0n]

Oath of the crown Fits the character concept vey well, but the tenets are kind of uninspired, and mechanically, is it just me or is this subclass literally just the oath of redemption but worse? Like entirely? Mechanically why would you take this? I am worried that playing this I would be thinking constantly about how oath of redemption would be doing everything I am doing better. My group jokes that I am the min maxer of the party, and is kind of true. I want my character to be good at whatever their main thing is, and just playing a worse version of something else would kind of bum me out.

The one unusual benefit to Crown is the spell list, particularly the inclusion of Spirit Guardians. Paladins can be unusually well-suited to wading around in melee with bad guys glued to them. (Of course, SG doesn't come online until you get third-level spells.)

FWIW, subclass-less Paladin is just fine on its own; I don't think you'll be disappointed with its capabilities, regardless of what oath you choose.