Paladin Oath: Oath of Blood
The Oath of Blood holds its paladins to the idea that enforcing the law is more important than the ethics by which it is enforced and that no one, not even witch-kings, are above the lowest laws. Followers of this oath are also called blood knights, they embrace almost fiendish means in the quest to protect their people from mages and other magic beasts who seek to abuse them. Most Paladins of this Oath are employed by the Church of Marron, the Blood God, although more than a few find patrons among mundane nobles who feel threatened by neighboring mage colleges.
Where others would assault the mind with similar enchantment, paladins of blood steal control of the body's very own lifeblood to enforce their will. Where most gods of law would find this barbaric and vile, Marron and others have embraced the idea and spread the ideals of these holy orders. Because of the bodily toll that comes from consorting with hemomancy, it is extremely common for Blood Knights to have tracks of dried blood from various places- often leading to the name "Crying Templars" for the crimson tear tracks beaten down their cheeks.
Tenets of Blood
The rite to swear this oath involves imbibing an elixir to enhance one's blood while chanting hymns emphasizing the following tenants.
Speak Law With Every Act. Carry yourself as the physical presence of the law itself.
Suffer Not the Witch to Live. Evil mages and spellcasters are too big a threat to order and the protection of the weak. End them wherever you find them.
Seize the Body to Save the Mind. Not all who commit villainy know their sin. Sometimes you must save them from themselves.
Smash Chaos Swiftly. Those who seek to upend the order of society will not waste breath on mercy for you. Have none for them.
Oath Spells
You gain the following oath spells at the levels listed.
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | command, protection from evil and good |
| 5th | hold person, zone of truth |
| 9th | counterspell, dispel magic |
| 13th | compulsion, locate creature |
| 17th | dominate person, geas |
Channel Divinity
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options. See the Sacred Oath class feature for how Channel Divinity works.
Abusive Edict. You hurl abuse at your enemies and lace your words with vitriol, forcing a number of enemies up to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1) with less than their maximum hit points to make a Constitution saving throw or become cursed for up to one minute. All terrain they cross costs twice as much movement. They cannot jump, swim, fly, or climb. They may repeat the saving throw at the end of each of their turns until the end of the duration.
Hemomantic Control. You point a finger at one creature you can see within 30 feet and force them to make a Constitution saving throw. On a failure, you control them on their next turn. You cannot use this control to cast spells or use powers that are not physical. You cannot use this on creatures that do not have blood, such as constructs, incorporeal creatures, and oozes.
Disruptive Presence
At 7th level, creatures who cast a spell within 10 feet of you must make a spellcasting ability check against your spell save DC. If they fail, the spell fizzles as though it was countered. You may choose to exempt a creature from this effect.
At 18th level, this aura extends to 30 feet.
Bloody Denial
At 15th level, you may add one hit die to a saving throw versus a spell. When you do, you may spend your reaction to force the caster to make a concentration save on any spell they're concentrating on as if they had taken damage equal to your saving throw result.
Blood Storm
At 20th level, as an action, you may enter a period of extended hemomancy. You gain the following benefits for one minute:
- You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks as well as psychic and necrotic damage.
- After a successful attack, instead of spending spell slots, you may spend up to four hit dice to use your Divine Smite ability. After spending any number of hit dice on this ability, roll those dice and take unresisted damage equal to the result. Once the attack is complete, if you are still conscious, you heal damage equal to half of the damage dealt in the attack
- Creatures who start their turn magically controlled by you take 20 necrotic damage.