[The artist, putting a simple cake next to a much fancier one: “Aw man, that guy’s cake is way better than mine.” The Audience, gleefully holding up a knife and fork “HOLY SHIT! TWO CAKES!”]
The Tenets of the Courier embody a paladin's commitment to delivering the mail with utmost integrity and professionalism.
Handle with Care: Treat anything entrusted to you as preciously as you would your own possessions.
Discrete Delivery: When others confide in you, do not betray their trust. Let none but the intended recipient pry upon what you carry.
Swift Postage: Do your best to fulfill your promises as promptly as possible. Punctuality is a virtue.
To the Letter: Strive to fulfill your oaths exactly as you pledged them. Your word is your promise.
Oath Spells
You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.
3rd Level: Expeditious Retreat, Illusory Script
5th Level: Animal Messenger, Arcane Lock
9th Level: Sending, Tongues
13th Level: Legally Distinct Secret Chest, Freedom of Movement
17th Level: Dream, Teleportation Circle
Channel Divinity
When you choose this Oath at 3rd-level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options:
Postage Stamp: As an action, you mark an object with a magical postage stamp. When creating this stamp, you choose a creature you or an adjacent ally are familiar with to be the object's recipient. This stamp persists for a number of hours equal to twice your paladin level, until the stamped object is delivered to its chosen recipient, or it is dismissed as a bonus action. While holding the stamped object, you can spend an action to magically detect what direction its recipient is in, and approximately how far away they are from you. If the recipient does not want to be located by you, it can make a Wisdom Saving Throw to elude this detection. If you are relying on an ally's familiarity, they get Advantage on this save. If they succeed, they are immune to this effect for 24 hours. You may only have one magical stamp at a time. If you place another, the previous one is immediately dismissed.
This Side Up: As an action, you can use your Channel Divinity to ward a creature or object against toppling. One creature or object within 10 feet becomes immune to the Prone condition. If the target is an object, it must be light enough for you to carry. If the target is an object, it gains Resistance to bludgeoning, force, and thunder damage. If the warded creature or object falls, it may ignore the first 10' of the fall when determining fall damage. These effects last for a number of minutes equal to your Charisma score, minimum 3.
Aura of Determination
Neither rain nor sleet nor hail will stop your delivery of the mail. Starting at 7th level, you emit an Aura of Determination. You and allies within 10' cannot have their speed reduced to less than their base speed when walking, crawling, jumping, or flying. This includes anything that would halve movement, such as Difficult Terrain or Exhaustion; or impose any other fraction-based penalty to speed. You cannot grant any of these effects while you are unconscious.
At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.
Return to Sender
Starting at 15th level, if you are targeted by a spell that targets only you, you may use your Reaction to instead have the spell target its caster. Use the original caster's Spell Save DC, Spell Attack Bonus, and Spellcasting Ability where applicable. If the spell required a Spell Attack Roll, re-roll the attack versus the caster. Once you use this ability, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.
Pen Pal
At 20th level, you can assume the form of a celestial courier. Using your action, you undergo a transformation that grants you the following benefits for 1 hour:
Wings sprout from your back and grant you a flying speed of 60 feet.
Allies who begin their turn within 30' of you gain a 10' bonus to their speed that turn.
Add your Charisma bonus to your Initiative Rolls.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.
Go forth, swift and trustworthy courier! You are the glue that holds society together!
Wow, considering I only recently started this account, this took off overnight!
Part of the reason I wrote the Oath of the Courier was to be a love-letter to the postal service (pun intended). The fact that this Oath has already made at least one real postal worker's day means everything to me :)
If you enjoyed this homebrew Oath, consider supporting me on ko-fi, where you'll also be supporting my other TTRPG projects. Or if you live in the US, maybe buy some stamps? The USPS is an essential public service which generally doesn't receive taxpayer funding, and was sabotaged by the previous administration (to put it briefly).
I hope you'll @ me if you decide to play an Oath of the Courier paladin and tell me about your character!
gracieabrams
blakekathryn
yousharknotpass
andulkaphoto
