Paladin : Oath of the Construct
You awake to feel a war roiling inside you. Vague memories besiege your mind: whispers and promises of power; crude instruments piercing your flesh; a wailing creature with your voice. Whether you were given new life by a religious order who sought to bring justice to a cruel world, or were reconstructed by some nefarious necromancer with plans of domination, you now walk a tightrope between true and false life.
Tenets of the Construct
In exchange for their newfound power over life, Paladins who follow the Oath of the Construct inherit a bipolar nature, and thus are bound by the ancient shackle of Control. Construct Paladins follow the tenets of Balance, Duality, and Self-Possession.
Balance. As a Construct Paladin, balance is paramount. Wherever one holds power over another, you must balance the scales. Wherever life and death war, you must be the final arbiter.
Duality. Greed vs. charity, “good” vs. “evil”, you embody it all, and your decisions must reflect your bipolar nature. No paths are off limits, and each must be considered.
Self-Possession. Without control of the self, you cannot hope to control others; without ownership of the self, you cannot guarantee the proper path be taken.
Second Life
When you take this Oath, if you are not already a construct, you become a construct, and gain the following features:
- Ageless/Deathless: Constructs do not age or technically die, but they do decay over time. After multiple decades without maintenance, a Construct may deteriorate to a point where they are no longer operational. If you have proficiency with Smith’s Tools or Tinkerer’s Tools, you may attempt to maintain yourself; otherwise, you must seek out an Arcane Smith to maintain you. You must get maintenance done at least once every 50 years.
- Living Construct: You do not need to eat or breathe, but you can ingest food and drink if you wish. Instead of sleeping you enter a dormant state for 4 hours to let the arcane energy which empowers you regenerate.
- You retain all other racial abilities from your previous life.
Oath of the Construct Features
| Paladin Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Oath Spells, State of Balance, Channel Divinity |
| 7th | Aura of Construction (10 ft) |
| 15th | Enforced Balance |
| 18th | Aura of Construction (30 ft) |
| 20th | Polarity |
Oath Spells
3rd Level Oath of the Construct feature
You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed in the Oath of the Construct Spells table. See the Sacred Oath class feature for how oath spells work.
Oath of the Construct Spells
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Bane, False Life |
| 5th | Prayer of Healing, Ray of Enfeeblement |
| 9th | Aura of Vitality, Bestow Curse |
| 13th | Compulsion, Summon Construct |
| 17th | Animate Object, Antilife Shell |
State of Balance
3rd Level Oath of the Construct feature
When you take this oath, you unlock a sliding scale of Energy. You enter with 10 Life Energy and 10 Construct Energy. As long as these two attributes are equal to each other, you are in a state of Pure Balance. At Pure Balance, your hit points and pool of Lay on Hands points remain at a neutral, unmodified state.
When you gain energy to one of these attributes, you lose an equal amount of the other, so that the combination of the two is always equal to 20. In addition, your physical make-up changes as your devotion to Life or Construct Energy shifts. Whenever you reach a Balance Point (every two Life/Construct Energy), your maximum hit points shift by 10, and your pool of Lay on Hands points shift by 5. As you increase in Life Energy, you gain Lay On Hands and lose maximum hit points. As you increase in Construct Energy, you gain maximum hit points, and lose points from your pool of Lay On Hands. For a breakdown, refer to the Balance Table.
Balance Table
| Balance Points | Modifiers from Pure Balance |
|---|---|
| 18 Life / 2 Construct | +20 LOH / -40 Hit Points |
| 16 Life / 4 Construct | +15 LOH / -30 Hit Points |
| 14 Life / 6 Construct | +10 LOH / -20 Hit Points |
| 12 Life / 8 Construct | +5 LOH / -10 Hit Points |
| 10 Life / 10 Construct | Pure Balance |
| 8 Life / 12 Construct | -5 LOH / +10 Hit Points |
| 6 Life / 14 Construct | -10 LOH / +20 Hit Points |
| 4 Life / 16 Construct | -15 LOH / +30 Hit Points |
| 2 Life / 18 Construct | -20 LOH / +40 Hit Points |
Dud Balance Points
If you don’t have enough maximum hit points or Lay on Hands points to move to the next Balance Point, then it is a Dud Balance Point, and nothing happens. For example, if you are at 10 maximum hit points and you gain Life Energy to a new Balance Point, you don’t lose max hit points to 0. Whenever you gain enough hit points or Lay on Hands points for the Balance Point to engage (as with leveling up), then it occurs in that moment.
Polarization: Pure Life or Pure Construct
Once you reach 20 of either Life Energy or Construct Energy, and 0 of the other, you lose your split nature and access to the opposing attribute’s abilities.
With 20 Life Energy, you lose your ability to use Construct (self-focused) abilities: you can no longer use Cruel Redistribution, your Aura of Construction only works on others, you can only give others temporary hit points with Enforced Balance, and you can only use the Pure Living Form when utilizing Polarity.
With 20 Construct Energy, you lose access to Life (ally-focused) abilities: you can no longer use Charitable Redistribution, your Aura of Construction only works on you, you can only give yourself bonus to AC with Enforced Balance, and you can only use the Pure Constructed Form when utilizing Polarity.
In either case, Enforced Balance, as well as all other abilities, no longer shift your energy.
A Note on Oathbreaking
Once you reach one pure form, you have technically broken your oath. Instead of transitioning to Oathbreaker, this subclass locks you out of half of your abilities, as the Oath-taking process requires a complex physical transformation that cannot be easily reversed. At your DM's discretion, you may attempt to either reverse the process of becoming a construct, or to reverse your polarization. However, either should require a great deal of effort, and should risk failure.
Channel Divinity
3rd-level Oath of the Construct feature
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the two following Channel Divinity options. When you use Charitable Redistribution, gain 1 Life Energy and lose 1 Construct Energy. When you use Cruel Redistribution, gain 1 Construct Energy and lose 1 Life Energy.
Charitable Redistribution: When an ally within 10 ft. of you is hit with an attack, you may use your reaction to redistribute its damage; half the damage rebounds back onto the attacker, while you take the other half. Until your next turn, attacks made against the attacker and against you have advantage.
Cruel Redistribution: As an action, you may syphon the hit points of the creatures around you. Choose a number of creatures equal to your Proficiency Bonus within 5 feet of you. These creatures must make a Wisdom Saving Throw. On a failure, they lose up to 5 of their current and maximum hit points, and you gain 5 temporary hit per affected creature. When you lose all remaining temporary hit points gained this way, any surviving affected creatures regain any hit points lost this way. Temporary hit points gained this way last until they are expended, or once 10 minutes have passed. If a creature died due to this ability or in the intervening time, that creature does not regain any hit points.
At level 10, the hit points transferred by Cruel Redistribution increase to 10.
Aura of Construction
7th-level Oath of the Construct feature
Whenever an ally within 10 feet of you falls in combat, they immediately gain 1 hit point pulled from your Lay on Hands pool. When this occurs, as a reaction you may give all other allies within 10 feet of you advantage on attacks until your next turn. If you fall in combat, you immediately gain 1 hit point pulled from your Lay on Hands pool. When this occurs, as a reaction you may force a number of enemies equal to your Charisma modifier that are within 10 feet of you to make a Charisma Spell Save. On a failure, they have disadvantage on attacks until your next turn. Once this aura has activated for a creature, that creature can’t receive these benefits again until after it completes a short or long rest.
Each time two allies gain hit points this way in the same day, gain 1 Life Energy and lose 1 Construct Energy. Each time you gain hit points this way, gain 1 Construct Energy, and lose 1 Life Energy.
At level 18, the radius of Aura of Construction grows to 30 feet.
Note: This Aura is only active if you have remaining Lay on Hands hit points to give.
Enforced Balance
15th-level Oath of the Construct feature
After a long rest, you may choose to gain up to 2 Life Energy or 2 Construct Energy to a Balance Point. When you gain Life Energy this way, your allies (excluding you) gain temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier plus half your paladin level. Any remaining temporary hit points gained this way are lost after a long rest. When you gain Construct Energy this way, you gain +2 to your AC. You lose this bonus once you take a long rest.
Polarity
20th-level Oath of the Construct feature
At 20th level, you may temporarily take on a facsimile of a polarized form. As an action you may activate either a "Pure Living" or "Pure Constructed" Form for 1 minute without forsaking your Oath in the process. When activating an artificial "Pure Form," you are granted only the features listed in the descriptions below, and are not granted the benefits / do not suffer the restrictions of true polarization. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until after a long rest.
After your Pure Living Form ends, gain 2 Life Energy and lose 2 Construct Energy. After your Pure Constructed Form ends, gain 2 Construct Energy and lose 2 Life Energy.
Pure Living Form:
- Gain 25 points to your pool Lay on Hands hit points, independent of your current State of Balance. This does not come at the cost of your hit point maximum.
- As an action, you may give a number of allies equal to your Charisma modifier advantage on attacks until your next turn. These allies must be within 10 feet of you.
- While in Pure Living Form, you gain control over the stuff of life itself: as a bonus action, you may use Life Syphon to force a creature you can see within 30 feet to make a Constitution Spell Save. On a failure, you may transfer up to 10 of the target creature's current and maximum hit points to another creature you can see within 30 feet (excluding yourself), giving them increased current and maximum hit points. If a creature falls unconscious or dies due to this feature, you may only draw their remaining amount of hit points.
- After 24 hours, all hit points transfered by Life Syphon revert to their original owners. If a creature was killed due to this ability or in the intervening time, it doesn't receive its hit points back, but any creature who received hit points in this manner loses them after 24 hours.
Pure Constructed Form:
- Gain 25 hit points independent of your current State of Balance. This does not come at the cost of your Lay on Hands pool.
- As an action, you may give a number of enemies equal to your Charisma modifier disadvantage on attacks until your next turn. These enemies must be within 10 feet of you.
- While in Pure Construct Form, you gain control over the stuff of life itself; as a bonus action, you may infuse your weapon with Construct Energy. The next time you hit with an attack, that creature must succeed on a Constitution Spell Save or suffer from Gradual Decay. In addition to the attack damage, this creature loses 10 current and maximum hit points, which you gain as current and maximum hit points. At the end of each of the affected creature's turns, they continue to lose hit points in this way, and you to gain hit points in this way, until the affected creature makes a successful Constitution Spell Save. A new Constitution Spell Save may be attempted on each of its turns until it succeeds.
- If Pure Construct Form ends, the effects of Gradual Decay end as well. If a creature falls unconscious or dies due to this feature, you may only draw their remaining amount of hit points. This feature will only activate on one creature at a time; if you attempt to use Gradual Decay on a creature while a different creature is already suffering its effects, Gradual Decay ends on the suffering creature. Any hit points gained this way revert after 24 hours. If the affected creature died due to this feature or in the intervening time, it does not regain any hit points, but you lose all hit points gained this way after 24 hours.
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