Oath of the Decaying (5e Subclass)
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Oath of the Decaying[edit]
Paladin Subclass
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| Many of the paladins who follow the oath of the Decaying take their faith in a more literal sense. Piece by Daniel Balage. |
| “ | ...and when the lightning struck, illuminating that forsaken rock, I saw my hunter. It was not a valiant knight, a protector of his people. Nor was it a powerful magic user, with spells to rival my own. Perched atop that rock was a man with horrible armor, and a form much like my own, shriveled and dying. Perhaps he needed to know his enemy | ” |
| —An excerpt from the lich lord Karranath's biography. | ||
All things come to an end, eventually. Every life has it's death, every kingdom it's fall. However, some refuse. Those that see their end coming will often try to circumvent it, and in the process do more harm than they would have done ending. Those paladins who swear the oath of the decaying make sure this will not be.
These paladins, sometimes referred to as rotbringers, ensure the rightful end of those who avoid it. Whether lich king, corrupt empire, or otherwise, they have all earned the rotbringers scorn.
- Tenets of Decay
Natural Order. In time, everything ends.
Punish the Undying. Those who refuse the natural order will learn your wrath.
Reject Their Prejudices. Though the uneducated will not understand your ways, it is still your duty to protect them.
- Oath of the Decaying Spells
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | speak with animals, detect poison and disease |
| 5th | ray of enfeeblement, crown of madness |
| 9th | fear, vampiric touch |
| 13th | blight, shadow of moil |
| 17th | contagion, insect plague |
- Channel Divinity
When you take this Oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.
- Rotting Essence. You can use your Channel Divinity to actively weaken those who deny the natural order. As an action, you prevent your holy symbol, and choose one creature that can hear you within 30 feet of you. They must make a Charisma saving throw, or become poisoned for one minute. If they fail, they may retry the saving throw at the end of their turn, ending the condition on a success. This ignores immunity to the poisoned condition, and those that would be immune instead have disadvantage on the saving throw.
- Turn the Undying. You can use your Channel Divinity to utter ancient words that are painful for constructs and undead to hear. As an action, you present your holy symbol, and each construct and undead within 30 feet of you that can hear you must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is turned for 1 minute or until it takes damage. A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can't willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. It also can't take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there's nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action. If the creature's true form is concealed by an illusion, shapeshifting, or other effect, that form is revealed while it is turned.
- Aura of Broken Will
So vile is your aura, that it weakens those who step inside. Starting at 6th level, all hostile creatures within 10 feet of you have a penalty to saving throws equal to your Charisma modifier(minimum 1).
At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.
- Glimpse of Death
The ends justify the means, and if part of that is suspending your own beliefs, so be it. Starting at 15th level, when you are reduced to or fall below 0 hitpoints, you do not fall unconscious and can continue taking turns, although you must still make death saving throws.
- Horseman of Pestilence
You have become the greatest death knell, and all who hear your virulent whispers will have your visage etched deep into their souls. At 20th level, you can use a bonus action to assume the form of Pestilence for the next minute, or until you end this as a bonus action. For the duration, you gain the following benefits.
- You regain 10 hitpoints at the start of your turn.
- Hostile creatures within your aura cannot reduce damage they take through any means.
- When you reduce a creature to 0 hitpoints, they cannot utilize any features that would allow them to instead have their hitpoints set above 0.
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