Oath of the Beautiful Struggle

The Oath of the Beautiful Struggle is an invitation to live a life that is more difficult for its devotion to what is beautiful, and more beautiful for its difficulty. Its paladins understand the inescapable dependence of beauty on the struggle for it. Beauty is the highest form of suffering, and paladins who take the Oath of the Beautiful Struggle seek to plunge as enthusiastically into a hopeless battle as into a lover's bed or a beloved symphony. Beauty is not defined narrowly, but encompasses all things that lift our hearts and our minds and our aspirations toward the heavens: love, freedom, virtue, rebellion, willing martyrdom.

 

TENETS OF THE BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE

1. The beautiful struggle is the beautiful struggle.
There is only one struggle. There is no beauty without struggle, and no struggle without beauty. To create of our lives a thing of beauty is the only struggle, and it requires that rather than endure we choose to dance, like a flame in the dark. We should be always ready to be consumed entirely by any flame -- to lose ourselves in a recitation of poetry, to die for a worthy cause, to answer pain with love.

2. Praxis makes perfect.
We are all flawed and imperfect beings. Good praxis redeems our flaws and imperfections by lending their weight to the cause.

3. The beautiful struggle without love is like a mother without children.
See what is beautiful in everyone and everything. Beauty begets love, and love begets virtue, so love everyone and everything as much as you can.

4. Wield the sword of truth, but strive to watch it shatter.
There is no truth higher than beauty, nor anything more beautiful than truth. Be honest and forthright, be just and even-handed -- but know that only grace and mercy can redeem.

 

Channel Divinity

When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.

Existential Wonder. You can use your Channel Divinity to make a creature wonder at the fundamental divinity of all life and lifeforms. As an action, you can cause a creature within 10 feet of you to see divine beauty in everything. The creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be stunned. While stunned, the creature repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns. On a success, its mind clears and its vision returns to normal.

Pretty['s] Convincing. You can use your Channel Divinity to lend radiance to your attempts to persuade. As a bonus action, you grant yourself +5 to all Charisma (Persuasion) checks for 10 minutes.

Oath Spells

You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.

Oath of the Beautiful Struggle Spells

Paladin Level	Spells
3rd	divine favor, speak with animals
5th	enhance ability, spiritual weapon
9th	beacon of hope, plant growth
13th	guardian of faith, stoneskin
17th	awaken, dream

Aura of Gleaming Eyes

Beginning at 7th level, your commitment to the beautiful struggle makes you and your allies more deadly in battle. You and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you add your Charisma modifier (minimum of +1) to their damage rolls.

At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.

Timeless Grace

Starting at 15th level, you can cast a number of paladin spells equal to your charisma modifier (minimum +1) as a bonus action.

Additionally, you suffer none of the drawbacks of old age, although you can control how your body appears with regard to ageing. You cannot be aged magically.

Archetypal Beauty

At 20th level, you can take on a shifting form that conveys beauty and radiance to each onlooker in the aesthetic that most resonates with them.

Using your action, you undergo a transformation. For 1 minute, you gain the following benefits:

• You emanate an aura that inspires awe and any enemy creature starting its turn within 30 feet of you takes 10 psychic damage
• Allies within 30 feet of you cannot become frightened or charmed
• Enemy creatures within 10 feet of you have disadvantage on saving throws against your paladin spells and Channel Divinity options.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.