Sacred Oath
At 3rd level, a paladin gains the Sacred Oath feature. The Oath of Society is an option available to a paladin in addition to those offered in the Player's Handbook.
Oath of Society
Paladins who swear the Oath of Society believe order to be the correct state of all things: without rules, society crumbles, and all life becomes nasty, brutish, and short; without the city or town, existence is uncomfortable and stagnates. Thus, chaos is more than distasteful—it is an existential threat. Distinguished for reverencing civilization as an embodiment of law and order, many who bear the Oath of Society labor in the ranks of pioneers and trailblazers, striving to tame the wilderness they perceive to be disorder incarnate.
Called lyans, lawgivers, and knight-pioneers, paladins who swear this oath are loyal and duteous, with an unyielding focus on their worship and to smiting chaos. As such, they tend to be severe, even taciturn, in disposition. Nevertheless, they are unfailingly dedicated to hunting and striking down the forces of chaos wherever they may appear.
Tenets of Society
No matter where or when the Oath of Society is sworn, its tenets are universal.
Order. Be true to law, both mortal and cosmic, and yield to legitimate authority. Strike down any chaos where it stands.
Decorum. Remember the structure and laws of polity. Be courteous, but serious and professional in your manner. Defer to superiors and respect subordinates as appropriate to your respective stations. Do not be over-friendly or fond.
Civilization. Respect and honor the town, the barony, the kingdom, the empire. These institutions form the foundation of and are the hope for all meaningful life.
Responsibility. Be disciplined in your own conduct. Perform your duties to the highest letter of the law, and abide by the code of your oath and obligations.
Oath Spells
You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.
Oath of Society Spells
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | guiding bolt, sanctuary |
| 5th | fair weather*, hold person |
| 9th | beacon of hope, protection from energy |
| 13th | compulsion, Otiluke's resilient sphere |
| 17th | commune with civilization*, hallow |
*These spells can be found on the following page
Channel Divinity
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.
Blessed Settlement. With your Channel Divinity, you sanctify a space against the wilderness' chaos and encroachment. As an action, you speak an incantation to bless a circular area within a 15-foot radius centered on a
point you touch, the edge of which is visibly marked by a faintly glowing silver-colored line which lasts while any effect of this option does. While within the blessed space, you and friendly creatures can add extra radiant damage equal to your Charisma modifier to the damage of an attack once per turn (minimum of 1). The area is also difficult terrain for hostile creatures. This effect lasts for 1 minute.
Additionally, you are magically made aware if any hostile creature is within the radius or enters the radius. You do not automatically know where they are or how many there are. If you are sleeping at the time, you are magically awoken and may use a reaction to stand. This effect lasts for 8 hours or until you leave the blessed space.
Turn the Unlawful. As an action, you can utter a prayer that is painful to creatures of chaos. You display your holy symbol and speak your condemnatory prayer, using your Channel Divinity. Each aberration, demon, or fey that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it 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.
Aura of Clarity
By 7th level, your presence dispels confusion and disarray. While you are conscious, you and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you are immune to being blinded, deafened, or affected by the confusion spell or effects similar to it.
At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.
Lawman's Vigor
Beginning at 15th level, the divine essence of your magics can shore up your own frame. Whenever you cast a paladin spell, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier plus the level of the spell (minimum of 1).
Additionally, you have advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks made to interact with people involved in government and law, such as bureaucrats, constabulary, judges, or royalty.
Pillar of Society
At 20th level, you can use an action to become an inspiring avatar of cosmic law whose steps claim the earth for civilization. For 1 minute, your body looks as if it burns with a holy fire, and you gain the following benefits:
- Whenever you or a friendly creature within 30 feet of you hits with an attack, it inflicts an extra 1d6 radiant damage.
- Each hostile creature within 30 feet of you must subtract 1d6 from any ability check or attack roll it makes.
- You have advantage on saving throws against spells cast by aberrations and fey.
Alternatively, you can cast the spell mighty fortressXGE once without requiring a spell slot or material components. When you cast mighty fortress in this way, the fortress you conjure is affected by your Blessed Settlement feature for as long as it lasts.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.
Good and Evil Versus Law and Chaos
A paladin that takes the Oath of Society struggles in behalf of law against chaos, and thus thematically may often be unconcerned, even flippant, with the conflicts of good and evil. For players and DMs interested in more fully reflecting the oath's theme within its mechanics, the following optional features can be included as part of the Oath of Society when it's taken or as part of the paladin's progression starting from first level:
Detect Law and Chaos
When you use your Divine Sense, you detect the presence of aberrations, celestials, and fey instead of celestials, fiends, and undead.
Scourge the Chaotic
The bite of your blows is focused not on the unholy, but on the lawless. When you use your Divine Smite, you inflict an extra 1d8 radiant damage against aberrations and fey instead of fiends and undead.
Additional Spells
The following spells are on the Oath of Society Spells table as well as the class lists noted in the descriptions.
Commune with Civilization
5th-level divination (ritual)
- Casting Time: 1 minute
- Range: Self
- Components: V, S
- Duration: Instantaneous
- Classes: Bard
You briefly become one with civilization and gain knowledge of the surrounding territory. In a civilized area, the spell gives you knowledge of the area within 3 miles of you. The spell doesn’t function where there is no construction, such as in the wilderness.
You instantly gain knowledge of up to three facts of your choice about any of the following subjects as they relate to the area:
- road layouts and landmarks
- prevalent goods, services, factions, or cultures
- powerful celestials, fey, fiends, elementals, or undead
- influence from other planes of existence
- building types of your choice
For example, you could determine the fastest route to the city center, the popular local foods, and the location of any blacksmiths in the area.
Fair Weather
2nd-level abjuration
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: Self (30 feet)
- Components: V
- Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
- Classes: Druid, ranger
Fresh winds emanate from you in a 30-foot radius, temporarily dispelling severe weather. Until the spell ends, the effect moves with you, centered on you. Space within it is protected against any extreme weather conditions, such as extreme heat, extreme cold, strong winds, and heavy precipitation, as described in Chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master's Guide.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the duration increases by 1 hour for each slot level above 2nd.
Credits
Created by Bunnygeon Master using GM Binder.
The spell commune with civilization, created by /u/CaelReader, is used with permission.
Thanks to AtinVexien, Novronian, and Caim for feedback and design help. Plains by Yeong Hao Han (©Wizards of the Coast) Gwenyth Durnhast by Al Norton (commision).