Like steel being tempered, a paladin's oath strengthens and hardens them against corruption. However, when their oath and their own morals come into conflict, something must give. Either the paladin's oath makes them a zealot, or the paladin forswears their oath. Some choose to embrace this, becoming an Oathbreaker, but some still believe in the tenets of their oath, but have been forced into breaking their oath out of morality or necessity. These paladins can take on the benefits of the Broken Oath, below, until such time as they either choose a new oath or find some kind of redemption.
Note: it is recommended that a paladin who breaks their oath wait a certain period before gaining the benefits of this archetype, such as until levelling up or until they have had time otherwise to come to terms with their failure somehow. You may alternately choose to have this change occur immediately when the paladin's oath has been broken so severely as to render their faith lost entirely - a paladin of the Crown having to slay their own monarch, for example. A paladin who has broken their oath exchanges the benefits of the oath they had previously sworn with the benefits of this oath instead. If a paladin finds redemption or swears another oath, they lose the benefits of this oath. Tenets of the Broken Oath: Those who have broken their oath are not required to follow tenets, but many continue to follow some tenets or aspects of their previous oath as they wish. Oath Spells A paladin who has broken their oath cannot cast paladin spells. They retain their paladin spell slots, and can use these to power their Divine Smite ability. Channel Divinity A paladin who has broken their oath has the following two Channel Divinity options. Determination. You can use your Channel Divinity to power through hardship. As an action, you remember your broken oath, and end any one condition that is affecting you (blinded, charmed, frightened, etc.), and regain a number of hit points equal to 1d10 + your paladin level. Echoes of Glory. You can use your Channel Divinity to briefly shine with your past glory. As an action, you hold tight to your past oath and one weapon that you are holding is imbued with power. For 1 minute, you add your Charisma modifier to damage rolls (with a minimum bonus of +1). If the weapon is not already magical, it becomes magical for the duration. You can end this effect on your turn as part of any other action. If you are no longer holding or carrying this weapon, or if you fall unconscious, this effect ends. From 7th level, you can use your Channel Divinity twice between rests. Reckless Attack From 7th level, you can throw aside all concern for defense to attack with fierce desperation. When you make your first attack on your turn, you can decide to attack recklessly. Doing so gives you advantage on melee weapon attack rolls using Strength during this turn, but attack rolls against you have advantage until your next turn. Retaliatory Strike From 15th level, when you take damage from a creature that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to make a melee weapon attack against that creature. Unstoppable Determination At 20th level, when you roll initiative and do not have any uses of Channel Divinity remaining, you regain one use. In addition, when you are reduced to 0 hit points and are not killed outright, you can chose to drop to 1 hit point instead. Once you use this ability, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest. Also posted on Game Masters Stash on 17 December 2021. Comments are closed.
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AuthorI'm Luke. He/him pronouns. Archives
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