Oath of Death
Also known as Death Knights, these paladins have learned to harness both the radiant and necrotic energy of the planes and control it for their own divine purposes. It is a mistake to think that these paladins are evil based on their appearance, for those who take the Oath of Death are usually neutral. They understand that death plays no favorites, eventually coming for us all, regardless of how rich or powerful they were in their mortal life. Many of the Death Knights serve the god Kelemvor, lord of the dead, while others seek their guidance from such gods as Jergal, Shar, and the Raven Queen
Night Rider
When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you receive a pure black riding horse from your higher power and are bound to it. You have advantage on saving throws made to avoid falling off your mount. In addition, for every level after 3rd your horse gains an additional hit dice.
Channel Divinity
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.
Death Coil
You can use your Channel Divinity to channel necrotic energy and release a coil of mist that can damage an enemy. As an action, you can force a creature you can see within 30 feet of you to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the target takes necrotic damage equal to 2d8 + your charisma modifier. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage.
Healing Coil
You heal an ally using the energy inside of you with a beam of radiant light. As an action, you can restore hit points to a creature of your choice within 30 feet of you that you can see. For every 4 points of healing you provide them, you take 1 point of necrotic damage rounded up, which can’t be reduced in any way. You may not reduce your total number of below 1 hit point.
Oath Spells
You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed in the Oath of Conquest Spells table. See the Sacred Oath class feature for how oath spells work.
Oath of Death
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | bane, bless |
| 5th | aid, darkness |
| 9th | feign death, spirit guardians |
| 13th | blight, death ward |
| 17th | dawn, negative energy flood |
Aura of Energy Protection
At 13th level you are able to summon dark energies around yourself, creating a shield that absorbs damage from your foes. You and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you have resistance to necrotic and radiant damage. At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.
Smite of the Death Knight
At 15th level your smites have a slowing effect on your foes. The next time you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack after a successful attack, you deal the normal radiant damage of your smite to the target and their movement speed is halved for 1 minute. In addition, the target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the target is stunned until the end of its next turn. A spell slot of 3rd level or higher must be spent to use this ability.
Power over Death
At 20th level, you can transform the damage of your foes into healing properties for yourself. When activated, all damage dealt to you will instead heal you for the same amount, up to your maximum number of hit points. If you reach your maximum hit point before the end of 1 minute, the effect ends. If you are reduced to 0 hit points, Power Over Death automatically begins if you have not already used this ability.
In addition, all condition effects and any effect reducing the target's hit point maximum are removed.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.