Paladin Progression
Hit Dice
Your Hit Die is 1d10.Proficiencies
As a paladin, you are proficient in:Sacred Oath
At 1st level, when you become a paladin, you swear a Sacred Oath that gives you immense divine power from your religion as long as you follow a set of rules called Strictures. Your Strictures are generally stricter versions of the tenets that most followers of your religion must adhere to. At 6th, 12th, 17th, and 20th levels, you gain another ability from your Oath. In addition to the effects of your Oath (see below for details), you also gain the following benefits from having sworn your oath.Ordained
You are an official source of authority in your religion and can perform any of the religious rites and ceremonies that your religion observes. Some common examples include:- Weddings
- Funerals
- Burial Rites
- Confession
- Leading Religious Ceremonies (such as Mass or Synagogue meetings)
Supreme Devotion
Your devotion to your religion is well known and highly respected among the faithful. If your religion has a hierarchy, you rank higher than a standard priest, or even most clerics. Even those who outrank you are likely to treat you with respect due to your direct bond with your deity and the power it gives you. In most religions, this comes with perks and with responsibilities. Your religion's faithful are very likely to lend what aid they can to your quests, but are just as likely to ask you for help when trouble arises. And you are duty bound (usually) to assist them.Symbol of Divinity
You are a symbol of your religion and your deity. Creatures within 10ft of you per level can feel divine energy radiating from you. Most people are not truly aware of this, reacting instinctually to it. For example, if your deity is compassionate, people might naturally come to you to ask for aid. If your deity is ruthless or cruel, people might instinctually avoid your gaze and keep their distance as you pass. Clerics, Paladins, and creatures from other planes who are within this aura instantly know your alignment, your religion, and that you are a paladin of that religion. Effects that block Divination magic do not block this. Additionally, Paladins within 1 mile of you per level you possess can feel your presence. They do not get any details from this, such as distance, direction, name, or anything of the sort. Only the sense that there is another paladin in the region, and a general idea of how strong you are. Effects that block divination magic prevent other paladins from sensing you in this way, but do not prevent any of the other effects of your Symbol of Divinity.Language of Primal Law
Your adherance to your Strictures makes you particularly attuned to the ways of Primal Order in the universe. You speak and read the Language of Primal Law. Creatures of Chaos cannot speak, read, or comprehend this language in any way, though they can recognize its sound and its writing. If they attempt to speak it by copying the sound of the language, they suffer one Corrupted Hit Die per word spoken as they are blasted by the energies of Primal Law flowing through them. This blasting is not subtle, and makes it quite clear that a creature of chaos is speaking Primal Law. Similarly, you cannot speak, read, or comprehend the language of Primal Chaos in any way, though you can recognize its sound or writing. If you attempt to speak it anyway, you are subject to the blasting of Primal Chaos, suffering the same effects as a creature of Choas speaking Law. Neutral or Unaligned creatures cannot comprehend either the language of Law or the language of Chaos. If they attempt to speak either, they become Wracked with pain for 1 hour per word spoken.Fighting Style
At 1st level, you become Green in one Fighting Style of your choice. At 5th, 10th, 14th, and 18th levels, you can choose to either learn a new Fighting Style, or gain the next level of expertise in a Fighting Style you already know.Divine Smite
Starting at 1st level, you can call upon the power of your deity to smite your foes. Pick one kind of Smite from your Oath's list of Smites. You learn an additional Smite at 4th level, 8th level, 13th level, and 19th level. To use a Smite, you must spend your Bonus Action blessing a weapon you are wielding, causing it to glow with divine energy. When you touch a target with the weapon, the target is affected by the Smite in addition to the usual effects of the weapon. The Smite blessing lasts until the end of your next turn, or until it is used, whichever happens first. You can use Divine Smite a number of times equal to your Charisma Bonus. You regain all uses of Divine Smite when you complete a Night's Rest, or one use when you complete a Meal. All Oaths also have access to the Basic Smite:Basic Smite: the target suffers 1d6 damage of your Divine Damage Type per Proficiency you have. Against your Divine Enemies the damage dice are d8s instead.
Healing Hands
Starting at 2nd level, your touch can heal minor wounds. You can spend a Bonus Action touching a creature and spend and roll any number of your Hit Dice. The target heals HP equal to the total of the spent Hit Dice. Unlike with other forms of healing, Healing Hands is not halved when used on Life Drain.Instead of healing the target's HP, you can reduce the Severity of a single Ailment affecting the target by the same amount. Starting at 7th level, your touch can heal certain conditions as well. You can choose to heal conditions instead of HP when using Healing Hands. If you do, you can spend any number of Hit Dice, as usual. For each Hit Die you spend in this way, you can cure one of the following.
- One Corrupted Hit Die
- One point of Atrophy, Lethargy, Forgetfulness, Bewilderment, or Apathy
- Reduce one point of Withering, Petrification, Amnesia, Dementia, or Hopelessness to Atrophy, Lethargy, Forgetfulness, Bewilderment, or Apathy
- Reduce the target's Nausea by one level of severity (Sickened, Nauseated)
- Reduce the target's Concussion by one level of severity (Hindered, Staggered, Stunned, Dazed)
- Remove one damage die from an Ongoing Damage effect affecting the target (Chemical Burn, On fire, Bleeding Wounds)
- Remove temporary Blindness or Deafness
- Remove permanent Blindness or Deafness (costs 2 Hit Dice)
Aura of Power
Starting at 4th level, allies within 15ft of you add your Charisma to damage rolls against your Divine Enemies, and subtract your Charisma from damage dealt by your Divine Enemies. Starting at 11th level, divine power radiates from you, bolstering your allies. Your aura allows allies to add your Charisma to Saves against magic. Starting at 16th level, allies within your aura cannot be magically forced to do something that your religion would consider evil. Starting at 19th level, the radius increases to 30ft.Divine Bond
At 3rd level, you form a Divine Bond with a Weapon or Steed. The forging of this bond requires an 8 hour ritual during which you consecrate the Steed or Weapon to your religion and bond it to yourself. The ritual does not create the Steed or Weapon, so you must provide it yourself. As part of the ritual, you must also name your Weapon or Steed.Mount: then your mount must be a domesticated animal that would be a suitable mount for your character (the GM has final say in what counts as suitable). Once you are bonded with your Steed, it gains 3 levels in the Animal Companion Class, and it must choose the Mount subclass. Additionally, its intelligence is increased to 6, and it learns your religion's Sacred Language, though it cannot necessarily speak it. If your steed ever dies, you can resurrect it with magic as normal, except that you do not need to provide a gem as part of the casting of the resurrection spell (other casters still need to provide the gem). However, if it dies and cannot be resurrected, then you gain a Lasting Trauma as appropriate to the manner of its death. You cannot bond a new Steed until you recover from the Lasting Trauma.
Weapon: it must be one of your religion's Favored Weapons. Once you are bonded with your Weapon, it glows with divine energy, shedding dim light for 5ft, and becoming Resistant to all damage, and becomes a +1 weapon. Additionally, by shouting your weapon's name, you can recall it back to your side. It flies toward your hand at 60ft per round, traversing around simple obstacles to do so. Starting 9th level, your bond strength increases.
Mount: your mount can hear your summoning call no matter how far away you are from each other. While it is trying to answer your call, its speed and jump distance are trippled. Nothing short of an Antimagic Field can prevent your mount from hearing your call.
Weapon: the weapon adds your Proficiency Die to damage rolls, and this damage is maximized against Divine Enemies. It is now a +2 weapon. Starting at 13th level, your bond increases again.
Mount: your mount becomes infused with divine energies. It glows with power and gains an aesthetic effect as appropriate to your religion (such as grass growing where it steps or lightning crackling around it as it walks), and gains Resistance to your Divine Damage Types. When you summon your mount, it teleports to you. Additionally, while you are riding it, any beneficial spell that affects you affects it as well, and it can deliver your Smites with its attacks.
Weapon: you can use your Bonus Action bless your weapon with one of the following effects for 1 minute. Once you do, you cannot use this again until you complete a Night's Rest.
- Revealing: invisible creatures within the reach of your weapon are revealed (ranged weapons reveal a line instead of a radius).
- Radiant: your weapon deals Radiant damage instead of its usual damage type, and ignores manufactured armor.
- Wrathful: when you crit, there is a 30ft explosion of your Divine Energy Type that deals 1d6 damage per Paladin Level you have. It does not affect allies.
- Merciful: your weapon will not kill anyone. Creatures knocked to 0 HP are rendered unconscious for 1d10 rounds, then become Stable at 0 HP.
- Throwing: your weapon can be thrown like a tomahawk. If it can already be thrown, its range is doubled and enemies within 5ft of the path it takes must succeed a Toughness Save or be pulled 20ft along its path. If they collide with anything, they take 1d10 damage.
- Defending: your weapon defends you automatically. Its plus bonus goes to AC instead of attack rolls, and its damage bonus goes to your armor dice instead.
Mount: your mount becomes a full celestial being, though it is still native to the material plane. Its attacks deal your Divine Damage Type, and it is immune to that damage type. It no longer needs to eat, drink, or breathe, does not feel pain, and its speed increases by 30ft. When you summon your mount, it teleports to you. Effects that block teleportation or suppress magic do not prevent this, though there must be empty space for it to teleport to.
Weapon: your weapon becomes a manifestation of divine wrath. It becomes a +3 weapon, and when it crits against a Divine Enemy, they must succeed a Toughness Save or die outright. Additionally, choose one of the following summoning methods for your weapon. This choice cannot be changed once picked.
- Inexorable Return: your weapon flies toward you at 300ft per round from wherever it is, breaking through solid objects that bar its path. 1 inch of adamantine, 1ft of stone, 5ft of wood, or 10ft of dirt are enough to force it to go around. Creatures that are in the path must succeed a Dodge or Toughness Check. Failing a Dodge Check means suffering damage as if from a thrown attack from the weapon. Toughness Check does not avoid the damage, but on success reduces the damage by half and catches the weapon.
- Blinkback: your weapon teleports back to your hand.
Divine Senses
Starting at 5th level, you know when your divine enemies are nearby. This manifests as a rotten smell, a feeling of taint in the air, or just a general unsettled feeling in the pit of your stomach. You get this feeling when a Divine Enemy is wtihin 60ft of you, but it does not give you more information than that. This sense works even if the Divine Enemy is in a Sanctum or under the effects of magic like Nondetection or Mind Blank.You also detect other Paladins in the same way, except that the pleasantness of the sensation depends on how your religions feel about each other. A paladin of the same religion might give the feeling of a fresh breeze, while a paladin of a different but non-enemy religion might have a strong, earthy scent, not good, but not bad. You can detect Clerics in the same way, except that you can only sense them within 5ft of you because their auras are weaker. Starting at 15th level, you can also detect when a divine enemy or another paladin has been through this area recently. You can track one of these scents like a dog tracks a scent by making a Charisma (Survival) Check. A given scent remains in an area for up to 2 hours per Paladin Level the target has. Clerics also leave a scent like this, but it lasts half as long.
Oaths and Strictures
The Path of Stars
Paladins of the Path of Stars are champions of good and just rulership. Wherever their realms are established, or in whichever realms they decide to support, justice and peace rule and order is kept. They do not abide oppression.Divine Enemies
Your enemies are the ultimate in supernatural oppressors: Fiends and Undead.Divine Damage Types
You smite your enemies with Radiant damage.Appointed Weapons
Your deity has a special preference for the following weapons: Greatswords, Longswords.Strictures
Atonement Ritual
In order to attone for breaking the Strictures of the Path of Stars, you must put away your valuables and wander the land as a pauper. You must wear pauper's clothes and wander the land you are in, begging for aid for 2 hours per Level. When you have done so for the full time, you must give a gift from your treasury to each person who aided you. Each such gift must be at least Tier 3. This rite completes early if your treasury is emptied by one of these gifts. When the Rite ends, you suffer 1 level of Exhaustion.Burial Rites
Mortals are to be buried in a standard 6ft grave, marked in some way for loved ones to find, and blessed to prevent being raised as undead. This extends to all mortals, regardless of alignment, species, or religion.Divine Smites
Whenever you learn a new Smite, you choose it from this list.- Restraining Smite: the target must succeed a Grapple or Escape Artist Save or become Grappled until the end of your next turn. You can Concentrate to increase the duration up to 1 minute. The target suffers 1d6 Piercing damage per Proficiency at the start of each turn that they remain Grappled.
- Deciever's Bane: the target must succeed a Toughness Save or suffer 1d12 Radiant damage per Proficiency. If they are not in their natural form (such as by a Polymorph effect or because they are a Shapechanger) then they have Disadvantage on the Save, and revert to their natural form if they fail.
- Radiant Blast: the target must succeed a Toughness Save or explode with divine energy. If it fails, it and all enemies within a 20ft radius suffer 1d8 Radiant damage per Proficiency (other targets can attempt a Toughness Save to halve the damage). If the target succeeds, it takes half damage and is the only target.
- Turning Smite: the target must succeed a Resolve Save or become Frightened of you until the end of your next turn. If they are a Divine Enemy, then they become Panicked instead. You can Concentrate on this to increase the duration to 1 Round per Proficiency.
- Smite of Forced Mercy: if you deal damage with the attack that triggers this smite, the smite is wasted. Otherwise, the target must succeed a Resolve Save or be unable to kill anything as long as you maintain Concentration. The effect is ended if you or your allies damage the target. For the duration, if the target would drop a creature to 0 HP, they fall to 1 HP instead. If they have 1 HP, then the target cannot attempt to damage them. Any such actions are wasted.
- Restoring Smite: you channel divine energy into a strike that cleanses debilitating effects. The target suffers minimum damage, and they are cleansed of one of the following effects:
- 1 die of ongoing damage (such as Acid Burn or On Fire)
- 1 point of minor ability damage (such as Atrophy or Bewilderment)
- 1 point of major ability damage (such as Withering or Dementia)
- 1 Corrupted Hit Die
- Life Drain equal to the damage from one Standard Smite
- 1 Possessing creature suffers Standard Smite damage and the target is not harmed. The target can attempt another Save to resist the possession.
- Ablating Smite: the target must succeed a Presence Save or its equipment begins to break down. If they fail, each time they make an attack, their weapon suffers 1 Ding and its damage dice are reduced by 1 step. This effect lasts until the end of your next turn, or you can Concentrate to make it last up to 1 minute. This cannot be dispelled, but must be broken as a curse.
Ageless Sentinel
Starting at 6th level, you can use a Bonus Action to switch between your Aura of Power and Aura of the Sentinel. Allies within your Aura of the Sentinel have Resistance to damage from magic. You can also change to the Aura of the Sentinel as a Reaction when an ally within your aura that you can see is about to take magical damage. Starting at 17th level, your Aura of the Sentinel also prevents allies within it from being magically aged, and you can switch to the Aura of the Sentinel as a Reaction when an ally within the aura would be magically aged. Additionally, you stop aging.Unwavering Guardian
Starting at 12th level, when you drop to 0 HP, you can choose to drop to 1 HP instead. You must complete a Long Rest before you can use this ability again.Champion of the Stars
Starting at 20th level, you can channel the very power of the Stars themselves through your body. Your eyes, mouth, and hair glow brilliant white, and a translucent, white flame covers your body. The initial transformation takes 1 Action and costs 1 Hit Die. At the start of each of your turns, you can choose to spend 1 Hit Die (which cannot be Spent or Corrupted) to maintain the transformation, or to revert to your usual form. You can maintain this powerful form even if you have no Hit Dice left, but if you do, the immense power coursing through you begins to consume you. You can spend a Spent or Corrupted Hit Die instead of an unused one. If you do, that Hit Die is Destroyed. If your last uncorrupted Hit Die is destroyed in this way, you die as your body is destroyed in starfyre at the end of your turn. While in this form, you gain the following abilities:- Dreadful Beauty: enemies within your Aura of Power or Aure of the Sentinel who are immune to Fear lose that immunity. If they have more HP than you, then they still have Resistance to Fear.
- Power of the Stars: your smites against Divine Enemies automatically crit (this only affects the smite itself, not the attack that triggers it), and your smites against other enemies deal maximum damage.
- Holy Light: magical darkness that overlaps at all with your Aura of Power or Aura of the Sentinel is dispelled if it is less than 10th Tier.
- Light of Truth: you emit 9th Tier bright light for 100ft that counts as Sunlight. Within that light, illusions appear transparent and creatures not in their natural form are followed by a translucent image of their true form.
- Light Step: you can use all of your remaining movement to transform into light and teleport a number of feet equal to the amount of movement you had left over. You can pass through translucent objects but not reflective objects as part of this, and can only teleport in a straight line.
