Variant Class: Antipaladin
A male Human stading staring down a angry mob of peasants who dare defy him, quickly striking his sword through the lot of them.
As a creature stands over for a female drow clad in dark armor, swings his sword in the name of the light. The drow just laughs and parry the attack then striking down with necrotic energy forcing the creature down into submission.
Despite their origin as a paladin, these antipaladins defy the sacred light and good, and strive only to grow their own power base, by aligning with dark gods.
Class Feature Replacements
You gain class features in the Player's Handbook when you reach certain levels in your class. This section replaces features that you can gain as a paladin.
Divine Sense
Replaces Divine sense
The presence of strong good registers on your senses like a noxious odor, and powerful evil rings like heavenly music in your ears.
As an action, you can open your awareness to detect such forces. Until the end of your next turn, you know the location of any Good aligned creature, celestial creature, or humanoid within 60 feet of you that is not behind total cover.
You know the type (Good aligned creature, celestial, or humannoid) of any being whose presence you sense, but not its identity (the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich, for instance).
Within the same radius, you also detect the presence of any place or object that has been consecrated or desecrated, as with the hallow spell.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to 1 + your Charisma modifier. When you finish a long rest, you regain all expended uses.
Selfish Healing
Replaces Lay on Hands
Your blessed touch can heal wounds. You have a pool of healing power that replenishes when you take a long rest. With that pool, you can restore a total number of hit points equal to your antipaladin level x 5.
As an action, you can draw power from the pool to restore a number of hit points, up to the maximum amount remaining in your pool.
Alternatively, you can expend 5 hit points from your pool of healing to transfer one disease or one poison affecting you, to another creature.
Smite Good
Replaces Divine Smite
Starting at 2nd level, when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one spell slot to deal radiant damage to the target, in addition to the weapon's damage. The extra damage is 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 5d8. The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is an good aligned creature or celestial, to a maximum of 6d8. If the creature is evil aligned then you're smite deal zero damage, but the spell slot is refunded.
Aura of Menace
Replaces Aura of Protection
Starting at 6th level, whenever a creature you deem unworthy of you enters withing 10 feet of you, you gain advatage on intimitation and Insight checks towards that creature.
Should that creature be of an evil alignment, this feature does not work on it. At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.
Aura of Dread
Replaces Aura of Courage
Starting at 10th level, whenever a Hostile creature enters within 10 feet of you, the creature must make a charisma saving throw equal to you're spell save DC, on a failed save the creature can not make oppertunity attacks against you, and it has a -2 to it's hit rolls against you and creatures you choses.
You must be conscious to grant this bonus. At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.
Touch of Might
Replaces Cleansing Touch
Beginning at 14th level, you can use your action to give a creature an addionally weapon dice on one of it's next attacks , should the damage not use dice, it instead adds you're charisma modifier, this effect last until used or 5 minutes have passed
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (a minimum of once). You regain expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Sacred Oaths
A big part of a paladins, identity is there sacred oaths but they are very good aligned and therefore is not really good for evil character unless you pick oath of conquest. The big problem is their tenents which is really important for roleplay pourpose. So here is my recomondations. Just change the tenenets that is a problem to something more aligned to you're deity example
Tenets of Devotion Though the exact words and strictures of the Oath of Devotion vary, paladins of this oath with Cyric, God of Lies as there deity share these tenets.
Devius. Lie and cheat. Never Let you're word be a promise
Courage. Never fear to lie, though caution is wise.
Compassion with Reward. Aid others though only if it helps you, protect the weak but only if there something in it. Show mercy to your foes if they can pay, and be greedy if possible.
Honorless. Treat others as a opportunity, and use that opportunity.
Duty. Deny responsible for your actions and their consequences, protect those assests to your care.
Though that may not be enough, some oaths have spells and channel divinity features that just do not fit with the antipaladin, feature like Turn the Unholy is really not a antipaladin thing to do so consider changing that to turning good or neutral aligned creatures instead, or something else if you like. Look this section is more or less based on the deity you chose, so speak with you're DM on what feature and spells to change if i does not fit.
Style and Inspiration
This homebrew got created in this way since i though that my original attemp at this topic was way to similar to the paladin to justice fie as a class of it own, so i looked at the Tasha Cauldren of Everything and saw how they did Optional Feature and it was exatly how i wanted to make the antipaladin just replace optinal with required.
The Primary inspiration for this little project is the fact that playing a evil paladin is very hard roleplay wise and did not make sense mechanic wise unless you play Oath of Conquest. Plus it made me abel to try to make a more flavor full version of a paladin with the restrictions i made.
Cover Art: Dragon