Base Class: Paladin
Sworn unto their own sense of law and chaos, the Oath of Entropy draws its power from the latent coursing of law and chaos through the universe. The Oath of Entropy- also known as Anarchy or The Entrop -is a rare, and usually extremely personal one to find in a paladin. The conditions leading to each Entrop's devotion to this oath vary by paladin but are almost always a response to societal conditions of law and oppression. Whether they were victims of an oppressive government, bystanders to senseless hierarchical violence, or even former purveyors of oppression and dominance, Paladins of Entropy often become disillusioned to the ideas of traditional law and government, believing the ideal, truest existence to be one in which governments, nations, militaries and kings do not exist.
Entrops swear their oath to no god, but rather, to the primordial concepts of law and chaos, forces which they learn to manipulate and wield as weapons against the oppressive forces of the world. Paladins sworn to the Oath of Entropy usually, but not always, fall into strong anarchist and anti-militiant ideologies; however, the Oath is personal, and means something different to each paladin beholden to it. The Oath is part of no organized group nor is it subject to strict rules- such would defeat its entire purpose. However, the general tenets of the Oath remain loosely consistent among Entrops.
ANARCHY
The natural state of the world is one with no nations, armies, or imposed laws. Society should be freely constituted amongst equals, with no governing body or hierarchy of authority. Only in this natural state of lawless balance, the world can achieve order.
NO VIRTUOUS KINGS
No king, no nation, no faction, no individual can be truly good. Positions of authority create inherent corruption. Kings and nations have no place to rule over others, nor to strife amongst themselves, nor to control the freedom of the people. Figures of authority must be deposed. No new growth can take place without destruction of the old, and true freedom can only be achieved when oppressive governments are dismantled
HELP THE COMMONER
Before the dissolution of higher power, those harmed by oppressive government must be helped with greater priority. When people are hurt or oppressed by authority, one’s first action should be to help the commoner, if possible, before destroying the system that oppressed them. The individual is not one’s enemy. Needless violence should be avoided at all costs; the soldier that carries the sword is not your enemy, but the general that gives him the command, the nation that incites the war. Only when presented with no other option should an enemy under the subject of a higher authority be harmed.
NO LADEN FUTURE
No future is set in stone- not the future governed by your enemies, not the future you wish, not even the future so-ordained by the Fates of divination. Law, order, neutrality, self, all is ultimately subjective and impermanent. The universe tends towards disorder, and though your goals may not always come to fruition, ultimately, the world will change; things will fall apart, and no system of oppression can ever last. With this penultimate understanding, maintain an air of optimistic nihilism; though your actions as an individual may not change the universe, they can change the world on small scales, and thus have meaning.
Entropysense
Replace the function of Divine Sense with Entropysense- detect Law and Chaos in lieu of Good and Evil.
The presence of powerful law flows across you like cool water, and intense freedom courses across your every nerve. As an action, you can open your awareness to detect such forces.
Until the end of your next turn, you loosely understand the alignment of any entity within 60 feet of you that is not behind total cover. You know the law/chaos (lawful, neutral, chaotic) alignment of these beings, but not their good/evil alignment (good, neutral, evil). Additionally, if any of those entities are aligned with particular intensity to law or chaos (for instance, an authority figure [law] or an outlaw [chaos]), you learn this.
Within the same radius, you also detect the presence of any place or object that has been touched by powerful order or chaos; for instance, a statue symbolizing a revolution, a mind-dominating crown, or a sword that has killed kings.
All aspects of this ability are subject to the DM’s discretion. Discuss with your DM the nature of your paladin’s Entropysense.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to 1 + your Charisma modifier. When you finish a long rest, you regain all expended uses.
Channel Divinity
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.
Impose Law
As an action, present your holy symbol and speak a single-clause rule or law, that is not a run-on and does not last more than a single sentence. For a number of minutes equal to twice your paladin level, or until you choose to end it, the law of the world mends itself slightly to your will.
In a 30-foot aura extending from you, all beings able to understand the rule must obey your law to the best of their ability. The rule has no effect if it cannot realistically be followed or causes direct harm to the affected.
Entities can choose to disobey the rule; in doing so, they must perform a wisdom saving throw. If the throw is successful, they can disobey the rule freely. If the throw is not successful, they find themselves physically and mentally unable to disobey.
All entities able to understand the rule become psychically aware of it and its nature when they enter the radius of your aura. The entities are not necessarily aware that the rule is magically-enforcing unless they unsuccessfully try to disobey it.
Depose Law
As a bonus action, clutch your holy symbol and speak a deposition of law. Touch a physical restraint (such as binding rope, shackles, a lock or a sealed window) or a creature bound by an intangible restraint (such as a spell like hold person).
The restraint is then freed in an appropriate manner (such as rope becoming loose, shackles breaking, a lock unlocking or a window unsealing). If the restraint is an intangible one, this ability is functionally identical to the spell remove curse.
This ability cannot remove effects requiring abjuration stronger than remove curse (i.e. an effect requiring greater restoration to be purged)
This ability frees all restraints affecting a given creature or object when it is used.
Oath Spells
You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.
Oath of Vengeance Spells
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|---|---|
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3rd |
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5th |
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9th |
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13th |
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17th |
Entropic Smite
Your Paladin's Oath is focused on tenets of law and chaos, rather than of good and evil. Thus, your abilities befit the punishment of the unbalanced.
Your Divine Smite deals psychic damage instead of radiant damage. Additionally, it deals no extra damage to undead and fiends, but deals an additional 1d8 damage against enemies that are significantly more powerful than you are. A general guideline for a “significantly powerful enemy” is an enemy with a CR multiple levels higher than is considered equally matched to your party. Usually, only single enemies (or very small groups of under four) are considered significantly more powerful; the effect does not function with enemies that gain their power through numbers. The DM has final say over whether or not an enemy’s threat is great enough to trigger this aspect of the ability.
Enchanting Smite
By 7th level, your dominion over law is precise and malleable, coursing through your body and permeating every action you take. When you use Divine Smite, you can also cast an Enchantment spell targeting the victim of your smite. Casting the spell in this way consumes spell slots for both Divine Smite and the spell, but does so in the same action as your melee attack. The Enchantment spell you cast must be of a level equal to or lower than the spell slot you used for Divine Smite in that turn. The Enchantment spell is cast with a range of touch, overriding its usual range.
Heart of Law
Starting at 15th level, the authority with which you speak your Imposition of Law gives you greater influence over the law of the world. At level 15, your rules created by Impose Law mend the law of reality itself.
Your rules affect inanimate objects as well as entities; for example, you may rule that arrows cannot fly, that doors unlock themselves, or that blades cannot cut.
Entropy Avatar
At 20th level, you can assume the form of an avatar of controlled entropy. Using your action, you undergo a transformation. For 1 hour, you gain the following benefits:
Freedom: You break any restraints currently binding you and cannot be bound by any means until the transformation ends. For the duration of the transformation, you can freely pass through walls and magical barriers at will. You are unaffected by difficult terrain and your movement speed is doubled.
Kingslayer: Your aura despises the influence of authority figures and dominance. Entities that enter or begin a turn in your aura are marked if they are a figure of significant authority (such as a king, a general, or any other kind of leader) or if they are significantly stronger than you are. You may designate a creature as being a figure of authority or of greater strength than you, but the DM has the final say as to whether or not a creature is marked.
Marked creatures have disadvantage on any rolls made against you while they are in your aura; additionally, all other creatures have advantage on any roll against the marked.
Law: When you first transform, you gain one use of Channel Divinity.
While under the effects of this transformation, you can speak up to three rules with your Impose Law ability; these rules cannot be broken by any means and effect creatures normally immune to charm. The rules last until your transformation ends.
While under the effects of this transformation, if you use your Depose Law ability, you may continue to use it at-will until the transformation ends after its first use.
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