Oathbreakers

David Hardie

Oathbreaker Paladin Options

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A set of new options for Fallen Paladin in the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons

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Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.
 The Wager Warlock Patron
David Hardie
Introduction
One of the first things you learn in Dungeons
and Dragons about Paladins is that they are a
class with a built-in fail-state. They are unique
among all character classes in that if they do
not satisfy the central roleplaying aims of the
class, then there is the possibility that you can
fall, losing your power. It’s a powerful
gameplay danger and an intimidating
consequence of breaking something as solemn
as a promise made to a God or the universe, or
even to your own moral compass.
However, what this means from edition
to edition varies. In 5th edition the
consequences of a paladin’s fall hold less
gravity than in previous editions – and possibly
to the benefit of the class! It’s not fun to lose all
your class features, but having them be replaced
by another, more sinister class against your will
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is an interesting alternative! No loss of power,
but a change in your central concept. For some
characters it can even be preferable to the
classical consequence of just becoming a sub-
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par martial class.
The only problem is that there is no
longer just one way to fall. In old editions, it
was simple. You were Lawful Good. If you
strayed from this, you fell. Now, however,
paladins can be any alignment, and instead
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merely have to follow their Oath. To fall is to
break the oath, and there are many different
oaths, making the matter of falling a lot more
complicated! If an evil Conquest Paladin can
exist, then if they fall by becoming good and
renouncing the path of conquest, does it make
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sense for them to then become the Oathbreaker
paladin in the DMG, with its control over
undead and other “Evil” flavored abilities?
The classes below are intended to give
DMs more options to turn to when their players
break oaths. There are five new options,
spanning several possible reasons for a
Paladin’s fall, as well as a suggestion for how
to recontextualize the old vanilla Oathbreaker. I
hope these are useful to you. Have fun!
The Fallen
A Fallen Oathbreaker is a paladin who may
have once upon a time been a follower of the
Gods, a lover of civility, and a believer in the
natural order. However, via the temptation of
dark powers or the corruption of the forces of
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evil, they have discovered a new, evil power
within, and dedicated themselves to that
instead.
This subclass is appropriate for fallen
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Paladins who fell because of a dark compact
with an evil entity. Perhaps you have sold your
soul to a demon or joined the religion of a dark
god of chaos and undeath. Perhaps you have
become consumed with rage and jealousy and
seek dark powers from those who you once
chose to fight. This Paladin is rarely, if ever,
aligned with the forces of Good. Their powers
over Necromancy and undeath are marks of evil
itself, corrupting the formerly righteous.
However, that isn't your only option...
The Fallen Oathbreaker
This is how this document will refer to the
Oathbreaker Paladin subclass which appears
on page 97 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
If you wish to know the statistics and
features of that class, you may refer to the
DMG.
This document will also use
“Oathbreaker” to mean any Paladin subclass
which operates without an Oath to follow,
because of falling.
All other rules surrounding your
Paladin player falling and seeking
atonement (If they wish) remain in place. At
your discretion, you may also allow players
to begin play as one of these classes, if their
background calls for it. It’s all up to you.
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 Oathbreakers
David Hardie
The Savage
A Savage Oathbreaker is a paladin who was
formerly good, righteous and just, but allowed
their inner righteousness to push them too far in
bathing in the blood of their enemies.
Eventually, they became one of the monsters
that they spent their life hunting, their oath
eroding away tenet by tenet until they became a
savage creature, content to smite anyone for the
smallest slight against them.
It's possible that this paladin may not
even realize how far they have fallen, their fall
may be a gradual one, where their violence and
savagery went so unexamined that they slipped
from their lofty perch of moral superiority, into
a life of knee-jerk fury and violence.
This subclass is appropriate for any
Paladin who broke their oath due to a long
history of extreme violence against innocent
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creatures, or of cruel and unusual punishments
against creatures for minor crimes or even
imagined slights. It is normally only
appropriate for Evil characters, leaning chaotic,
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but lawful characters might indulge just as well.
Upon your fall, replace your Paladin's Oath
features with the features of the Savage
Oathbreaker.
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Savage Players
Is your player’s paladin a right fit for a
Savage?
• Do they tend to take a “salted earth”
approach to fighting monsters,
especially ones with cultures and minds
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of their own?
• Do they show no mercy to the children
of goblins or orcs?
• Do they seem to enjoy the battle to an
uncomfortable degree?
• Do they indulge in torture or terror to
get what they want?
Try the Savage on them. It may be a perfect
fit… for good or ill.
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Oathbreaker Spells
A Savage Oathbreaker has lost access to the
spells of their former Oath, and has instead
gained the following Oathbreaker spells at the
levels listed.
Oathbreaker spells
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Paladin Spells
Level
3rd Inflict Wounds, Hex
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5th Branding Smite, Shatter
9th Vampiric Touch, Blinding Smite
13th Dominate Beast, Wall of Fire
17th Dominate Person, Insect
Plague
Channel Divinity
At 3rd level, you gain the following two
Channel Divinity options.
Primal Rage. As an action, you may
use your Channel Divinity enter a state of
savage fury for one minute. During this minute,
you may not communicate with your allies
vocally, nor may you cast spells which do not
deal direct damage. While in this state,
whenever you would deal damage with a
weapon attack or spell, you deal an extra 1d6
necrotic damage on top of all other damage
sources. You also become immune to the
Charmed or Frightened conditions. You
prioritize attacking your party's enemies, but
until your Primal Rage ends you must make an
action which would deal damage every round,
and if there are no enemies within your reach,
you must target any innocents or allies who
happen to be within range. If there is no one
within range to attack, you take 1d6 necrotic
damage as your rage wells up inside painfully.
A Calm Emotions spell ends this effect
immediately.
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 Oathbreakers
David Hardie
Turn the Cowardly. As an action, you
present your holy symbol and threaten all
creatures within 5 feet of you with all of the
most creative cruelties you can think of, using
your channel divinity. Each creature, friend or
foe, within 5 feet of you must make a Wisdom
saving throw. If a creature fails its saving throw,
it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes
Magical shields and armor are only
temporarily destroyed in this way, and return to
full functionality after a short rest, but mundane
equipment is permanently damaged. Natural
Armor may be sundered as well but heals
naturally at a rate of 2 points of AC per long
rest.

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damage. Additionally, for the rest of the round, Creature of Wrath
you gain the ability to take an unlimited number By 20th level, you have completely lost yourself
of reactions as long as that reaction is an in your own bloodlust. You permanently take

Opportunity attack against a turned creature
fleeing from you. You may only make one
Opportunity attack against a creature per turn,
but this opportunity attack does not count as
“Dealing damage” for the purpose of the
Turned condition, and therefore enemies hit by
this opportunity attack will continue to be
turned. If it is possible for you to take this
attack of opportunity, you must take it, even if
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on a more savage or primitive form of your
race, and your intelligence is permanently
lowered by 2 points. However, your Strength
rises by 2 points, and your new maximum
strength is 22.
Whenever you take the attack action,
creatures you deal damage to must make a
Wisdom saving throw or be frightened of you

Aura of Savagery
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it is against a creature you regard as an ally.

Starting at 7th level, you and any friendly

for one round. If a creature is frightened in this
way, you may use your reaction to take an
opportunity attack against that creature
whenever they take any action, including the
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Disengage action.
creatures within 10 feet of you deal +1d4
damage to all weapon attacks and spells which
deal damage. However, while you may use your
own healing abilities, any creatures within 10
feet of you cannot heal any creature via magic
or items.
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This aura increases to 30 feet at 18th

level.

Shieldbreaker
Starting at 15th level, you gain a new way to use
your divine smites. Whenever you deal damage
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with your divine smite against a creature

wielding a shield or wearing armor, you may
declare the use of this feature as well. If the
creature is holding a shield, that shield is sliced
in two, becoming useless. If the creature is
wearing armor, you sunder that armor, lowering
the armor's effectiveness by 2 points of AC.
Armor can be sundered in this way multiple
times, lowering its effectiveness by 2 points
every time to a minimum of 10 AC.

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Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.