Paladins who take the oath of Retribution swear their blades to the light and to slaying the unholy hordes that plague the land. These paladins take up arms in dire times where the undead and other unholy blighters run rampant. Referred to as Lightbringers, as they are often seen glowing brightly with the light, as if on fire with holy wrath. These paladins actively hunt out the undead as well as other greater evil; smiting them with Righteous Fury before they can even hurt the innocent. They are masters of mounted combat, this allows them to bring swift and powerful judgment to the enemies of the light, purifying the world of this evil. Being one of the most religious of the paladins they pray regularly, even in combat, doing so grants them tremendous amounts of faith which will draw in small spirits that chose to accompany them. Their one true purpose it to purge the world of darkness and bring the light back to its rightful place.
Tenets of Retribution
The tenets of Retribution are not for the fearful or faint of heart. Being constantly confronted with the undead and great evil, they must be true of heart and have faith in their god as well as their own power. Sacrificing their own life for the lives of others is the greatest of honor.
Be the Light. Be a glorious beacon for all who live in despair. Let the light within shine bright to bring joy and hope to the despairing.
Smite the Undead. Actively hunt all undead for they are abominations, a mockery to life itself and must be spared this unnatural life. Whoever tampers with life in this way must also be smited.
Master of Faith. Religion is one, if not the, most important aspect of a paladin. Praying before and after combat shows respect to my foes and my god. My faith makes me stronger.
Honesty. Don’t lie or cheat. My word is my bond.
Righteous Protection. Acting with divinity in my heart, all my actions are right and true. Upholding the weak and smiting the wicked.
Courage. Must stand strong in the face of evil and never back down. Victory or death.
Respect the Dead. You must concentrate the dead after they have been smited.
Oath of Retribution Spells
Paladin Level Spells
3rd
Guiding Bolt, Bane
5th
Scorching Ray, Ray of Enfeeblement
9th
Beacon of Hope, Spirit Guardians
13th
Fire Shield, Guardian of Faith
17th
Dispel Evil and Good, Flame Strike
Lightbringer. Starting at 3 level, you emit a constant flow of dim sun light from your body that reaches 10 feet out. The light makes it easier for enemies to see you from far away. At the cost of losing the ability to stealth and sleight of hand your lay on hands pool is doubled. Once per turn you can heal up to 3 friendly creatures that are within 5 feet from you for 5HP each, using your lay on hands pool (one of the targets can be yourself).
The Power of Prayer. As the harbinger of light itself, you can call upon the power of the gods to gain Words of Power. The Words of Power are imbued in your mind allowing you for a short time to speak the language of the Gods, which can be used to smite your foes or protect your allies. As an action, you pray to your god and gain 1d20(paladin level max) Words of Power. After you pray for Words of Power you must wait 1 turn before performing the prayer again.
Channel Divinity
Retribution: As a bonus action, you can channel your divinity to consume the Words of Power to imbue your weapon with the might of the Gods, engraving your weapon with these words gives it a golden glow. When you attack with you weapon holy flames will erupt from it damaging all nearby enemy creatures. Consuming a word of power deals (Words consumed)d4 AOE radiant damage; the space you are in is unaffected, undead and fiends take 1d10 extra damage. Every 3 words increases range by 5feet, base range is 5 feet. If the attack fails the words fade and the effects on the weapon end.
Transcendent Armor: As an action, channel your divinity to consume 3 Words of Power to create angelic armor made of light that envelops you. Every 3 words of power increase armor class by 1 for 1 minute does not stack. While you have this armor you produce harsh sunlight for 15 feet and dim sunlight for 10 feet.
Grace: If you were to be knocked unconscious the armor protects you from death by leaving you with 1 HP then disappearing; must perform a short rest to benefit from Grace again.
Spirits of Dawn.
Starting at 7 Level, your connection to the gods and the light grants you the power to summon 3 spirit ravens made up of white light that circle around you slowly as if they are dancing or playing. The spirits grant you clarity when making decisions by softly whispering in your ear if you ask for their assistance (add a 1d4 to perception, religion, and investigation rolls). They can also alert you to sneak thieves and pickpockets, but only if you ask them too ahead of time. They also protect you in battle by casting Spirit Healing on you when you’re HP drops to under half, they do this without you asking. Any time the ravens help you in a task they vanish and you must perform a long rest to get them back.
Spirit Healing: 1d4 + Charisma modifier. Add a 1d4 to spirit healing at 10, 14, and 18 level. The spirits also change color depending on your mood, so don’t lie, they’ll give you away.
Sprit Guardian Transfer: As an action you can transfer one of the ravens to a friendly creature to protect them from death. When they drop to half health the spirits heal them for 1d4+ Charisma of one being protected. After you transfer you can roll a 1d20+ charisma to call for another one’s aid to be at your side; DC 18, can only do this three times per long rest.
The AC boost breaks this concept. AC can get ridiculously high without the substantial buff your concept provides. Can fix by switching to granting disadvantage to attackers.
This build is too powerful. You are literally trying to fill all the rolls with one player. You have ranged damage, aoe damage, pet mechanics, and potential for serious healing. All of this on top of a class that already has good melee damage and burst healing. Creating scarcity and forcing the player to make choices keeps characters interesting. Focus on the core competency of the class through the oath. As a Paladin, you need to hit hard in melee and provide light support. Drop the ranged spells for close ones like burning hands and get thematically focused spells on the list (where's daylight?).
I really like the Words of Power concept, even though it reminds me of WoW. Paladin players I have DM-ed for have always cited the need for some reason to want a short rest, and this would work well. Below is my take on your feature.
LIGHTBRINGER. Why not just learn light cantrip, target can only be self.
POWER OF PRAYER. Refresh on Short rest, see earlier comment about scarcity making better characters through player choice. Drop Words gained to 1d8 + CHA
RETRIBUTION. Just use devotion's divinity weapon option, it's almost identical. Can use Words to gain +1 dmg per 3 Words.
TRANSCENDANT ARMOR. Light cleric has a feature that costs reaction to impose disadvantage on attackers. Use that and add 1 Word per use cost. May want to rename to "dazzling" or something more clearly light themed.
GRACE. Thematically doesn't fit with the concept. You see this feature on raging barbarians and level 20 Oath of Ancient Paladins who have thematic reasons to shrug off or heal through severe trauma. This paladin concept reads as the bright flame that burns quickly in the darkness, remove this feature.
SPIRIT OF DAWN. cast guidance on self, 1 Word per use. Flavor/reskin as desired.
SPIRIT GUARDIAN TRANSFER. Transcendent armor can now be used for other party members within 30 ft. Still costs reaction, but can include multiple players for next attack at 1 Word per use per affected party member.
Thanks for your input it really helps, im still new to this game and making homebrews. but i really like to be creative and make spells and such. I still have an MMO approach that i need to get away from cause this game plays differently then any other game ive played. Thanks again!
You're welcome! Remember that pen & paper rpgs are about getting together creating a collaborative storytelling experience. It's not about killing things and leveling up, it's about how and why you do it. The weaknesses, imperfections, flaws, and failures of a character are usually what make it the most epic or memorable character ever.
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Oath of Retribution
Paladins who take the oath of Retribution swear their blades to the light and to slaying the unholy hordes that plague the land. These paladins take up arms in dire times where the undead and other unholy blighters run rampant. Referred to as Lightbringers, as they are often seen glowing brightly with the light, as if on fire with holy wrath. These paladins actively hunt out the undead as well as other greater evil; smiting them with Righteous Fury before they can even hurt the innocent. They are masters of mounted combat, this allows them to bring swift and powerful judgment to the enemies of the light, purifying the world of this evil. Being one of the most religious of the paladins they pray regularly, even in combat, doing so grants them tremendous amounts of faith which will draw in small spirits that chose to accompany them. Their one true purpose it to purge the world of darkness and bring the light back to its rightful place.
Tenets of Retribution
The tenets of Retribution are not for the fearful or faint of heart. Being constantly confronted with the undead and great evil, they must be true of heart and have faith in their god as well as their own power. Sacrificing their own life for the lives of others is the greatest of honor.
Oath of Retribution Spells
Paladin Level Spells
3rd
Guiding Bolt, Bane
5th
Scorching Ray, Ray of Enfeeblement
9th
Beacon of Hope, Spirit Guardians
13th
Fire Shield, Guardian of Faith
17th
Dispel Evil and Good, Flame Strike
Lightbringer. Starting at 3 level, you emit a constant flow of dim sun light from your body that reaches 10 feet out. The light makes it easier for enemies to see you from far away. At the cost of losing the ability to stealth and sleight of hand your lay on hands pool is doubled. Once per turn you can heal up to 3 friendly creatures that are within 5 feet from you for 5HP each, using your lay on hands pool (one of the targets can be yourself).
The Power of Prayer. As the harbinger of light itself, you can call upon the power of the gods to gain Words of Power. The Words of Power are imbued in your mind allowing you for a short time to speak the language of the Gods, which can be used to smite your foes or protect your allies. As an action, you pray to your god and gain 1d20(paladin level max) Words of Power. After you pray for Words of Power you must wait 1 turn before performing the prayer again.
Channel Divinity
Retribution: As a bonus action, you can channel your divinity to consume the Words of Power to imbue your weapon with the might of the Gods, engraving your weapon with these words gives it a golden glow. When you attack with you weapon holy flames will erupt from it damaging all nearby enemy creatures. Consuming a word of power deals (Words consumed)d4 AOE radiant damage; the space you are in is unaffected, undead and fiends take 1d10 extra damage. Every 3 words increases range by 5feet, base range is 5 feet. If the attack fails the words fade and the effects on the weapon end.
Transcendent Armor: As an action, channel your divinity to consume 3 Words of Power to create angelic armor made of light that envelops you. Every 3 words of power increase armor class by 1 for 1 minute does not stack. While you have this armor you produce harsh sunlight for 15 feet and dim sunlight for 10 feet.
Grace: If you were to be knocked unconscious the armor protects you from death by leaving you with 1 HP then disappearing; must perform a short rest to benefit from Grace again.
Spirits of Dawn.
Starting at 7 Level, your connection to the gods and the light grants you the power to summon 3 spirit ravens made up of white light that circle around you slowly as if they are dancing or playing. The spirits grant you clarity when making decisions by softly whispering in your ear if you ask for their assistance (add a 1d4 to perception, religion, and investigation rolls). They can also alert you to sneak thieves and pickpockets, but only if you ask them too ahead of time. They also protect you in battle by casting Spirit Healing on you when you’re HP drops to under half, they do this without you asking. Any time the ravens help you in a task they vanish and you must perform a long rest to get them back.
Spirit Healing: 1d4 + Charisma modifier. Add a 1d4 to spirit healing at 10, 14, and 18 level. The spirits also change color depending on your mood, so don’t lie, they’ll give you away.
Sprit Guardian Transfer: As an action you can transfer one of the ravens to a friendly creature to protect them from death. When they drop to half health the spirits heal them for 1d4+ Charisma of one being protected. After you transfer you can roll a 1d20+ charisma to call for another one’s aid to be at your side; DC 18, can only do this three times per long rest.
I was considering changing the name to "Oath of the Lightbringer" what do yall say?
The AC boost breaks this concept. AC can get ridiculously high without the substantial buff your concept provides. Can fix by switching to granting disadvantage to attackers.
This build is too powerful. You are literally trying to fill all the rolls with one player. You have ranged damage, aoe damage, pet mechanics, and potential for serious healing. All of this on top of a class that already has good melee damage and burst healing. Creating scarcity and forcing the player to make choices keeps characters interesting. Focus on the core competency of the class through the oath. As a Paladin, you need to hit hard in melee and provide light support. Drop the ranged spells for close ones like burning hands and get thematically focused spells on the list (where's daylight?).
I really like the Words of Power concept, even though it reminds me of WoW. Paladin players I have DM-ed for have always cited the need for some reason to want a short rest, and this would work well. Below is my take on your feature.
LIGHTBRINGER. Why not just learn light cantrip, target can only be self.
POWER OF PRAYER. Refresh on Short rest, see earlier comment about scarcity making better characters through player choice. Drop Words gained to 1d8 + CHA
RETRIBUTION. Just use devotion's divinity weapon option, it's almost identical. Can use Words to gain +1 dmg per 3 Words.
TRANSCENDANT ARMOR. Light cleric has a feature that costs reaction to impose disadvantage on attackers. Use that and add 1 Word per use cost. May want to rename to "dazzling" or something more clearly light themed.
GRACE. Thematically doesn't fit with the concept. You see this feature on raging barbarians and level 20 Oath of Ancient Paladins who have thematic reasons to shrug off or heal through severe trauma. This paladin concept reads as the bright flame that burns quickly in the darkness, remove this feature.
SPIRIT OF DAWN. cast guidance on self, 1 Word per use. Flavor/reskin as desired.
SPIRIT GUARDIAN TRANSFER. Transcendent armor can now be used for other party members within 30 ft. Still costs reaction, but can include multiple players for next attack at 1 Word per use per affected party member.
Thanks for your input it really helps, im still new to this game and making homebrews. but i really like to be creative and make spells and such. I still have an MMO approach that i need to get away from cause this game plays differently then any other game ive played. Thanks again!
You're welcome! Remember that pen & paper rpgs are about getting together creating a collaborative storytelling experience. It's not about killing things and leveling up, it's about how and why you do it. The weaknesses, imperfections, flaws, and failures of a character are usually what make it the most epic or memorable character ever.