Oath of the Exterminator (5e Subclass)

Oath of the Exterminator

Paladin Subclass

“	And thus it is— they shall never perish, and neither can we. As long as Arebalac exists, as long as the Inhuman lives, as long as there are still creatures who can eat more than plants, forever and ever until the end of time, predators will exist, driven by the darkness Arebalac has put within them in the Malac'lithh'tiija to tear us apart and feed upon our children, to drink our blood and devour our flesh, and to nurture their children with the marrow of our bones, we will always be dancing on edge of blade suspended over the chasm of utter oblivion. As long as a single cell of a single creature exists that feeds on other animals, it is our first and only directive to find it and to expel the light of intelligence out of its accursed form, for our god, our religion, our freedom, our peace, and the lives our wives and our children. By Calabera's hand and in his name, we must commit ourselves to an eternal war, or we shall all falter and be snuffed out as a drop of burning pitch in a hurricane.	”
—Mazhisop'lariz the Mind-Dreamer, Cass'tamonuu 58:22-26

There is no mercy here, no devotion to a god, good or evil. Here, there is no belief that though some ideal, whether global or individual, whether absolute or general, that the world could change for the better. In the jungles of Calavera, there is only a pledge of absolute and undying devotion to a war, one that will not end with you, will not end with your children, that may never end. You have been assigned to fight for one side of an eternal conflict, and you will exterminate all who arise on the opposite side. Ostensibly, Exterminator Paladins are in service to Lord Calabera, the god of prey, herbivory, prophecy, and holy war, but like most paladins, they draw their power from their devotion to the ideals of Calabera's war with Arebalac, his polar opposite. Although the sort of state of mind necessary to join the Oath of Exterminator is most prevalent in Calavera, where the organized genocide of carnivorous animal species is an institutionalized part of drop bear culture, Exterminators can arise anywhere where someone is so convinced of the dichotomy of their ideology, that they can only see their opponents as inhuman.

Tenets of Extermination

The tenets of extermination represent prerequisite describing the mindset one must first achieve to become an exterminator paladin. The tenets are unspoken but set in stone, and etched irreversibly on the hearts of all those who accept the oath.

Absolutism. This world and its population can be cleanly divided in half, and both halves are irreconcilably different.

Significance. You are a player in the most important war there is. In fact, it is the only one of any relevance whatsoever.

Perfection. You fall on the side of the right. You and anyone who stands with you are incapable of flaws.

Mercilessness. Those who stand against you simply aren't human. Why should you treat them as such?

Oath Spells

You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.

Paladin Level	Spells
3rd	cause fear, bane
5th	blindness/deafness, wrathful smite
9th	fear, slow
13th	banishment, confusion
17th	hold monster, wall of force

Channel Divinity

When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.

• Failure of the Wicked. You can use your Channel Divinity to reveal the weakness of choosing the wrong side. As an action, you spew forth vitriolic hatred at one creature you can see within 10 feet of you. That creature must make a Charisma saving throw or gain vulnerability to all damage you deal to it for 1 minute. The effected creature can repeat this saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

• Cognitive Dissonance. You can use your Divinity Channel to broaden your perceptions that your enemies are identical to reality. As an action, you can bless your weapon with the use of your Channel Divinity. The next attack you make with it, if successful, will hit all enemies within 3 meters of the attack's target.

Aura of Loathing

Starting at 7th level, your hatred physically and mentally weakens enemies around you. Whenever a hostile creature within 10 feet of you must make a saving throw and you aren't unconcious, the creature must subtract your Charisma modifier (minimum of 0) from the roll.

At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.

Ignore Insignificance

Beginning at 15th level, your investment in your greater cause is so great that smaller nuisances no longer register to you. When you take 5 or less damage in a single hit (before modifiers), you instead take no damage.

Ultimate Obliteration

Once you reach 15th level, your desire for extinction manifests as a reality. When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points, your hatred annihilates its soul. The creature can be restored to life only by means of a wish spell.

Infinite Hatred

At 20th level, the hatred in your body can twist you into an avatar of hate. As an action, you can magically become a glowing, incorporeal personification of pure resentment, gaining the following benefits for 1 minute:

• On your turn, you have immunity to all damage except force. Additionally, you can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. You take 1d10 force damage if you end your turn inside an object.

• When you deal 30 or more damage to one creature in a single turn, then for the next minute, the creature automatically fails all saving throws. This effect ends on all affected creatures when your Infinite Hatred does.

• Having 0 hit points doesn’t knock you unconscious. You still must make death saving throws, and you suffer the normal effects of taking damage while at 0 hit points. However, if you would die due to failing death saving throws, you don’t die until your Infinite Hated ends, and you die then only if you still have 0 hit points.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

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