image credit: Michael Phillippi, from the Stormwrack D&D 3.5e supplement
Oath of the Seas
A paladin that takes the oath of the seas is a protector of the ocean and all its inhabitants and visitors. In a broader sense, the paladin also believes in clarity, purity, and freedom: all aspects of the blessed water of the River Oceanus that runs through the good-aligned Outer Planes. Such paladins often worship sea deities and either work in service of their temples or go on quests over the seas and in coastal towns.
This knight of the waves has abilities that deal with water, ice, storms, and sea creatures. While suited for seaborne campaigns, they also can be an asset in less ocean-focused games. They have many ways to affect combat without even a drop of water in sight, and are actually quite versatile. That said, they can use their Channel Divinity abilities to bring the ocean to them if need be.
Vows:
I am tranquil as the ocean and do not let my emotions interfere with my divine mission.
Those who threaten the freedoms granted by the sea, or the freedoms of others, must be stopped.
Travelers, especially those of the sea, deserve your kindness and protection.
Evil can and must be cleansed like water to a wound.
Oath Spells:
Channel Divinity: You gain the following two Channel Divinity options:
Call Storm: You cause wind, rain, hail, and fog to fill a 20 ft. radius area for 1 minute. Creatures in the area treat it as difficult terrain and take 1d6 bludgeoning damage when they start their turn in the area.
Call Water: You summon a mass of water equal to about 4 five-foot cubes or about a 8 spaces of waist-deep water, causing difficult terrain. At higher levels you can call more water. At level 9, you summon 9 five-foot cubes of water, or 18 spaces of waist-deep water. At level 16, you summon 16 five-foot cubes of water, or 32 spaces of waist-deep water.
Aspect of the Seas: At 7th level, you can call upon different aspects of the sea. You can change which aspect you invoke using an Action. The aspect remains active as long as you are conscious. Aspects that require saving throws have a DC equal to your spell save DC.
Crashing Wave Aspect: The force of your attacks have a chance to knock enemies backward. Creatures you hit with melee attacks must make a STR saving throw or be knocked backward 5 ft. Your attempts to Shove creatures away from you shove them 10 ft. away instead of 5 ft. while this aspect is active.
Dire Current Aspect: You cause a creature to feel a strong force pulling them towards you. At the start of each of your turns, choose a creature you can see within 60 ft. of you. That creature has their movement speed doubled when moving toward you and halved when moving away from you.
Whipping Winds Aspect: You gain the benefits of a Warding Wind spell (Elemental Evil) with a smaller radius encircling only your space.
Tempest Aspect: Your weapon becomes a +1 weapon crackling with electricity. Critical hits strike your foe with a bolt of lightning, dealing a bonus 1d8 lightning damage to the creature hit, as well as 1d8 thunder damage to all enemies within a 10 ft. radius of the creature hit. Such a lightning bolt can be heard for up to a 240 ft. radius.
Tide Master Aspect: You can breathe underwater, gain a swim speed equal to your movement speed +10, and do not have disadvantage on melee attacks when fighting underwater.
Seafriend: At 15th level, you can cast Animal Friendship and Speak with Animals on sea creatures at will. You also gain the ability to cast Find Familiar but only to summon a crab, fish, octopus, or sea horse familiar.
Wrath of the Ocean Gods: At 20th level, you can create magical tentacles that you can control. Eight tentacles erupt from the ground, walls, and/or ceiling at locations you designate, taking up about a five-foot space in diameter each. When you use this ability, each tentacle attempts to grapple a Large or smaller creature within 15 ft. of it that you designate the turn that they appear. The tentacles each have a grapple bonus equal to your proficiency bonus + your CHA modifier + 2. A grappled creature becomes restrained and can only end the effect with a successful grapple check on its turn. The tentacles remain for up to 1 minute using your concentration. You may use your bonus action to command up to three of the tentacles to either make a grapple attempt against a creature within 15 ft. or to constrict a grappled creature, dealing 4d6+your CHA modifier damage.
image credit: Dragonknight by notLeon
Oath of the Dragonlord
Vows:
You pledge your unyielding loyalty to either Bahamut (god of justice) or Tiamat (goddess of tyranny). You serve their deity’s dogma and the whims of their progeny, either metallic dragons (Bahamut) or chromatic dragons (Tiamat).
Bahamut
You are chivalrous. You obey the laws of the land, the rules of honor, and respect righteous innocence.
You help protect those who are weak and guide them to become strong enough to defeat the forces of evil.
You seek out and destroy oppressive regimes and those who would subjugate or dominate others.
Tiamat
You strive to be the most powerful that you can be to serve Tiamat and enforce her whims.
You seek to dominate the weak, toppling rulers and replacing them with an iron grip of your own.
You seek wealth and treasure in all its forms, but your riches are pledged solely to Tiamat.
Oath Spells:
Channel Divinity: You gain the following two Channel Divinity options:
Dominion of the Dragon: You mark a single creature with the indomitable eye of your dragonlord. That creature must make a CHA save. On a failed save, that creature gains disadvantage on all attacks made against you for 1 minute.
Fear the Dragonlord: You cause a creature that can see you to make a WIS save. On a failed save, the creature becomes frightened of you for up to 1 minute, making a new save each round to end the effect.
Dragonlord's Blessing: At 7th level, you gain immunity to one energy type of your choice from the following: acid, cold, fire, or lightning. In addition, weapons you wield are treated as magical and deal a bonus 1d4 damage of that same energy type. In addition, you may change the damage type of your Divine Smite ability to the chosen energy type at will.
Dragon Flight: At 15th level, you can leap into the air at will and manifest draconic wings formed from divine light at will. You gain a fly speed of 60 ft. When you cast the Find Steed spell, the mount you summon gains a fly speed of 80 ft in addition to its other abilities and takes on a scaled, quasidraconic appearance.
Roar of the Dragonlord: At 20th level, you can use your action to unleash a great roar that has different effects whether you serve Bahamut or Tiamat. The saving throws use your spell save DC for their difficulty class. Once you use this ability it cannot be used again until you finish a long rest.
Bahamut: A 60 ft. cone of white energy emanates from your mouth. Creatures caught in the cone take 17d6 cold damage, or half that much if they succeed at a DEX save. Creatures slain by this damage are turned to dust. In addition, creatures within 120 ft. that can hear your roar must make a CON save or become deafened for 1 minute.
Tiamat: Five 30 ft. lines of energy surge outward from you, each one pointing in a direction that you choose. Each line deals 13d6 damage of a different damage type (acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison). Creatures that succeed at a DEX save take half this damage. You choose which line deals which damage type. Creatures in the area of multiple lines of energy are only affected by one of your choice. In addition, each creature within 120 ft. that can hear your roar must make a WIS save or become frightened for 1 round.
image credit: Skulking Knight by rk post
Oath of Madness
The Oath of Madness paladins are not born. Instead, they are nurtured by an eldritch being from the Far Realms. Perhaps they were once visited by an emissary of such a creature, or perhaps they witnessed a tainted vision. Whatever the catalyst, the paladin vows to uphold the tenets of madness as instructed by their foul lord. The true purpose of these knights of delirium is unknown, but it is certainly sinister. The world will tremble when their insane patrons reveal their intent.
The knight of delirium specializes in sowing insanity in others' minds. They have greater crowd control abilities than other paladins but less combat potential than other oaths.
Vows:
You spread madness and insanity wherever you can. Those who you are unable to show the "truth" of delirium deserve to suffer.
Those who are themselves mad deserve your mercy and care.
You seek to topple the pillars of order. You upend class systems, disband organizations, and remove leadership by any means.
Power bows only to greater power, and the entities of the Far Realms are the greatest powers in the multiverse.
Oath Spells:
Channel Divinity: You gain the following two Channel Divinity options:
Maddening Touch: Your touch dizzies the mind of a creature, causing them to see maddening visions for 1 minute. The creature must make a WIS saving throw at the start of each of its turns or else do one of the following at random for the rest of that turn instead of their intended action:
Attack a random creature within 5 ft. of them
Become frightened of a random creature it can see
Become stunned
Fall prone
Evil Eye: Choose a creature that can see you and that you can see. That creature must make a CHA saving throw or else become cursed with a warping deformity, halving its speed and imposing disadvantage on all saving throws, ability checks, and attack rolls involving STR or DEX. The creature can make a new save at the start of each of its turns to end the effect. The curse wears off on its own after 1 minute.
Form of Madness: At 7th level, your time serving the Far Realms has corrupted your form, giving you a horrific appearance. You gain advantage on Intimidation checks against non-Aberration creatures. Then choose one of the following. Any saving throws use your spell save DC for the DC.
Aberrant Skin: Your skin becomes slimy, discolored, and disgusting. Creatures who come within 5 ft. of you must make a CON saving throw with a DC of 12 or become poisoned until their next turn. Creatures who succeed at this save become immune to this effect for 24 hours.
Intelligent Growth: You grow a visible tumor, extra eye, or extra malformed head. Your INT score increases by 2 and you gain proficiency in one of the following skills of your choice: Nature, Arcana, Religion, or History.
Vestigial Wings: You have a set of useless alien wings. You can easily make vertical jumps of 20 feet and leap across gaps of 30 ft. You take half damage from falling.
Aboleth Visage: Your head lengthens to accommodate your three eyes which are now arranged vertically. A few small, useless tentacles droop from your arms and torso. You can use your action to charm a creature into not attacking you for up to 1 minute. Only one such creature can be charmed in this way at a time. WIS negates. You can also breathe underwater.
Beholder Visage: Your eyes grow into eyestalks and several other eyes grow in random places all over your body. Your teeth grow into sharp points. You cannot become flanked and gain advantage on Perception checks involving sight.
Chuul Visage: Your body is covered in a crustaceous exoskeleton and you grow several vestigial crab claws from your abdomen. Your mouth becomes a mass of thin red tentacles. You gain a +2 bonus to grapple attempts and rolls to maintain a grapple. You can also breathe underwater.
Cloaker Visage: Your mouth is locked in a permanent frown filled with sharklike teeth that dominates most of your white face save for your red eyes. You grow a cape of fleshy skin. You can bellow an unsettling moan that gives creatures within 60 ft. of you disadvantage on saves against effects that could cause them to become frightened.
Grell Visage: You become bald and the gyri of your brain bulge through your scalp. Your mouth grows a beak. Long thin tentacles drape from your torso. You may use your action to attempt to stun a creature within 5 ft. for 1 round using your paralytic tentacles. CON negates.
Illithid Visage: Your mouth sprouts four tentacles around it and your eyes sink in. Your hands grow into wicked claws. You may use your action to attempt to stun a creature with a weak targeted mind blast within 15 ft. for 1 round. WIS negates.
Neogi Visage: Your torso is covered in thick bristles and your legs turn into insectoid unguligrade legs. Your head and neck grow long and eel-like. You gain a bite attack with Reach that deals 1d4+STR damage and the creature hit must make a CON saving throw or have its speed reduced by 10 for 1d3+1 rounds. A creature can only be under the effects of one instance of this poison at a time.
Teachings of the Mad Gods: At 15th level, you deal a bonus 1d6 damage on melee attacks against creatures that are under the effects of an enchantment or illusion spell or under the effects of your Evil Eye, Maddening Touch, or Lord of Madness abilities.
Lord of Madness: At 20th level, you can become a form of living, contagious insanity for up to one minute once per day. Each round, you can attempt to physically leap inside the mind of a creature within 30 ft. of you or the creature you currently inhabit (a successful WIS saving throw negates). While inside of a creature's mind, you use your CHA modifier for your attacks instead of STR or DEX. You are invulnerable to outside attacks and all damage you deal is dealt as psychic damage. A creature inhabited this way is treated as if under the effects of a Confusion spell while you remain inside of them. The creature must make a WIS saving throw to expel you from their mind, which can be made once at the start of each of their rounds. You can leave an inhabited creature at any time during your turn. If a creature would die or fall unconscious while inhabited this way, you are automatically forced out of the creature's mind. If a Modify Memory or Feeblemind spell is cast upon a creature you inhabit, you must also save against the spell or be instantly killed, leaving behind no body.
image credit: Franz Vohwinkel, from Complete Scoundrel D&D 3.5e supplement
Oath of the Gray Guard
Some paladins decide that their vows are too restrictive in the pursuit of good and justice. They seek a new oath to fight the good fight. A paladin who takes this oath is a part of a secret order of knights known as the Gray Guard. They fight to bring justice to evildoers and fight for the common good no matter the cost, sometimes breaking their vows to do so. The loss of one innocent life to save the lives of many is something that a Gray Guardian must live with to do the right thing. Gray Guards also seek out corruption in those who claim to be good, including other paladins or clerics. This makes the order frowned upon by most other holy orders, but the Gray Guards believe in the hard truth of their ways.
The Gray Guard specializes in hunting down sinners and is less restricted by their vows with an assortment of spells that most paladins would turn their noses at. They are almost like ranger/wizard/paladin hybrids, and the definition of “lawful-good doesn’t mean lawful-nice”
Vows:
Choose another set of paladin vows and add the following:
You will do anything it takes to bring someone to justice, even if it means sometimes breaking your vows or morals.
You seek out and destroy corruption wherever it hides, especially in those who abuse their position or their sanctity.
Oath Spells:
Channel Divinity: You gain the following two Channel Divinity options:
Justice Blade: You can spend a bonus action to charge your weapon so that your next attack that hits within 1 minute deals a bonus 3d10 radiant damage.
Painful Touch: You can use an action to cause a creature you touch to feel great pain for up to 1 minute or until you dismiss it or fall unconscious. That creature must make a CON saving throw to negate the effect. On a failed save, the creature has disadvantage on all attacks and saving throws for the duration.
Unbound Justice: At 7th level, you double your proficiency bonus to the Deception and Intimidation skills. If you are not proficient one or both of these skills, you gain proficiency in the skills you do not have instead.
Righteous Fervor: At 15th level, whenever the paladin slays a creature that was dealt damage by their Divine Smite or Justice Blade the paladin gains a +1 bonus to attacks sand saving throws for one minute.
Sacrament of the True Faith: At 20th level, you can channel your inner purity of judgement to traverse the shadows without becoming corrupted. This effect lasts for 1 minute. Each round, you may use a bonus action to teleport up to 60 feet to a shadow you can see. If the room is dark, you may teleport to any location within the darkness of the room. In addition, your next attack made that round after teleporting has advantage and you deal a bonus 2d8+CHA radiant damage on the attack as the foe is bombarded with visions of their sins and their tormented destiny in the afterlife. Once you use this ability, it cannot be used again until you finish a long rest.
