Base Class: Paladin
The Thirteen are some of the most powerful dragons in the world, and also some of the most mysterious. Dragons stay aloof from the mortal affairs, unless there is dire need, but their mystery inspires curiosity in the minds of mortals. Some individuals, those who are inspired by the valor of dragons, pledge their lives to the emulation of the great souls. They strive to uphold the cause of good, with little care for mortal definitions of king and country, or god and faith. Such a dedication can be formal or informal. Perhaps the paladin met and was inspired by a particular dragon, who then became their probably-reluctant mentor. Or perhaps the paladin found a magical item of great evil, and underwent a quest to gift it to a creature capable of protecting it, and was rewarded for this selfless act. No matter the case, the paladin has been infused by draconic magic, and is guided by the example of the Council of Thirteen. (Credits: Anathemys, Art by: Haco1)
Tenets of the Thirteen
The tenants of the Thirteen are informal, defined only by the traits of the dragons that paladins seek to emulate. These traits are simple.
Strength. Resist the temptations of magical and mundane treasure alike. You are equipped with the power necessary to safeguard such artifacts, but remember that even the highest flying dragons may fall.
Fairness. Reward those who aid you. If another being proves themselves worthy of your thanks, gift them with something to enable their will to do good to expand even further.
Breath. Make every exhalation bring with it power and righteousness. Whether by speaking out against darkness, or bringing light to the hopeless, make your breath a positive tempest of good for the world.
Memory. Ageless and unending, dragons seek not fame nor fortune for their good deeds. So make the memory of you faint in the minds of those you aid, and keep your own memories of such joyous acts fresh and pure.
Oath Spells
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | detect magic, identify |
| 5th | alter self, arcane lock |
| 9th | fly, glyph of warding |
| 13th | Leomund's secret chest, Mordenkainen's private sanctum |
| 17th | seeming, teleportation circle |
Draconic Inspiraiton
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you choose one Draconic Inspiration from the list below, and also learn the Draconic language if you do not already know it.
This inspiration comes from the type of dragon that you seek to emulate. You gain access to abilities that utilize the damage type associated with this type of dragon as you level, and a dragon of this race is generally your mentor, if you have or had one.
While most who take the Oath of the Thirteen are good-aligned crusaders, seeking to protect the world from evil, there are those who have darker aims. Some envy the sheer magic and power of the dragons, and seek out their strength for personal gain.
Draconic Inspiration Types
| Dragon Type | Element Type |
|---|---|
| Black | Acid |
| Blue | Lightning |
| Green | Poison |
| Red | Fire |
| White | Cold |
| Copper | Fire |
| Brass | Fire |
| Silver | Cold |
| Gold | Fire |
| Bronze | Lightning |
| Earth | Force |
| Sea | Psychic |
| Sky | Thunder |
Channel Divinity
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.
Dragon’s Breath. As an action, you can exhale destructive energy. Your Draconic Inspiration determines the damage type of this breath weapon, and is a 15ft cone.
When you use your breath weapon, each creature in the area of the exhalation must make a saving throw, the type of which is determined by your Draconic Inspiration. The DC for this saving throw is equal to your paladin spellcasting DC. A creature takes damage equal to your paladin level + 2d10 on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one.
Dragon’s Roar. As an action, you roar with the ferocity and energy of a dragon, using your Channel Divinity. Each hostile creature within 30 ft of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is frightened by you for 1 minute. If the creature was concentrating on a spell and fails the Wisdom save, they must make a DC 10 concentration check.
Draconic Strike
When you take this oath at 3rd level, your Divine Smite changes to reflect your draconic power. Your Divine Smite feature now deals its damage as the type specified by your Draconic Inspiration. This damage ignores resistances, but an immune creature still takes no damage from this ability.
At 11th level, your Improved Divine Strike feature is likewise changed. All of your attacks now deal an extra 1d8 damage of the type associated with your Draconic Inspiration.
Draconic Knowledge
At 7th level, you learn to identify magic and cursed items more easily. You may choose to attempt to detect curses on a magic item when you cast identify on it by making a Charisma ability check with a DC determined by your DM. On a success, you know only that the item is cursed, not what curse it might bear. You also gain the ability to cast detect magic and identify as rituals, even if you do not know the spells.
You also gain the ability to cast other spells as rituals, so long as they are on the paladin spell list or your Oath Spells list. To learn these spells, a dragon with knowledge of them must teach you, or you must study a book of draconic lore which includes the spell. Every ritual you learn from this feature gains a verbal component if it does not have one, which is spoken in Draconic.
Dragon Soul
Beginning at 15th level, you start to take on some of the traits of dragons. You can infuse your very being with draconic magic, to protect either yourself or others, as the ideals of the Thirteen begin to sink into your soul.
Resilient Scales. You gain resistance to the damage type associated with your Draconic Inspiration. As a reaction to taking damage, you may either gain immunity to this damage type, or resistance to damage from nonmagical weapons. This lasts for one minute, and you may use this feature once per long rest. You may not use this feature while transformed by your Thirteen's Chosen feature.
Booming Voice. You may use the thundering voice of dragons to focus attention on yourself, and save your allies. Any hostile creature within 10 feet of you has disadvantage on attacks against any other target, save for another character with this ability. Using this ability requires concentration (as if casting a concentration spell), and it cannot be used when silenced or mute. A creature is immune to this if it can’t hear you, or is immune to being frightened. You may use this ability once per short rest.
Thirteen's Chosen
At 20th level, you can assume the form of a young dragon. You can either choose to transform into a humanoid half-dragon form with great wings (your clothing and armor must be made to accommodate this), or you may choose to transform yourself and everything you carry fully into a young dragon. Either transformations appearance is based on your Draconic Inspiration. You may use this feature once per long rest. For 1 minute, you gain the following benefits:
- Wings sprout from your back and grant you a flying speed of 60 feet.
- You gain immunity to the damage type associated with your Draconic Inspiration and resistance to nonmagical weapons.
- You gain two additional uses of your Channel Divinity feature. These additional uses must be used on the options granted to you by the paladin class, and are lost when you transform back.
