Hi there, I'm a new player who recently started his first campaign as a paladin with oath of Devotion. My intent was to go in with a big hammer with some status effects, a buff or two, and just smash/smite my way through. And just as I hit level 3 in the previous session, the plot thickens and we all end up devoting ourselves to a currently unnamed demon lord. This is all fine and well, since the backstory I wrote sorta had a setup for oathbreaker somewhere down the line. Now here comes the issue: as I tried to smite an unfortunate guard that got in our way, the DM told me that since smite draws from faith, I suddenly had to do a WIS save(which I failed) and took half of the smite as necrotic damage.
So here's my question: does anyone have some experience with writing their own oaths? Is that even something you can do? The current campaign is a homebrew of an all mostly evil party. The DM said that I'd be level 4 for the next session and had the freedom to look for a solution as I pleased. But I'd like to stick mostly to established stuff with maybe some flavouring, but I'm too new at this to know what can and cannot work. (I mean we have a min/maxed schizophrenic warlock with wings already, so a little rebranding on a paladin won't matter too much)
My main goal is still to be a frontline melee spellcaster, with a big emphasis on status effects like sacred weapon used to do, it's just that all forms of radiant/holy damage are now a big no-no. Was thinking to maybe change out smite for for searing or thunderous smite, but I'm unsure how to get started on any of it.
Hi there, I'm a new player who recently started his first campaign as a paladin with oath of Devotion. My intent was to go in with a big hammer with some status effects, a buff or two, and just smash/smite my way through. And just as I hit level 3 in the previous session, the plot thickens and we all end up devoting ourselves to a currently unnamed demon lord. This is all fine and well, since the backstory I wrote sorta had a setup for oathbreaker somewhere down the line. Now here comes the issue: as I tried to smite an unfortunate guard that got in our way, the DM told me that since smite draws from faith, I suddenly had to do a WIS save(which I failed) and took half of the smite as necrotic damage.
So here's my question: does anyone have some experience with writing their own oaths? Is that even something you can do? The current campaign is a homebrew of an all mostly evil party. The DM said that I'd be level 4 for the next session and had the freedom to look for a solution as I pleased. But I'd like to stick mostly to established stuff with maybe some flavouring, but I'm too new at this to know what can and cannot work. (I mean we have a min/maxed schizophrenic warlock with wings already, so a little rebranding on a paladin won't matter too much)
My main goal is still to be a frontline melee spellcaster, with a big emphasis on status effects like sacred weapon used to do, it's just that all forms of radiant/holy damage are now a big no-no. Was thinking to maybe change out smite for for searing or thunderous smite, but I'm unsure how to get started on any of it.
Any suggestions for an aspiring Paladin?
This is a conversation to have with your DM, but I'll point out some things:
You're not an oathbreaker. You're an oathkeeper - it's just that you're oathbound to something faithless, a demon.
Paladins cast with Charisma. It's deeply weird for your "faith save" to be Wisdom, not Charisma. You're not like a Cleric, using Wisdom to understand what your deity wants - you use Charisma to be confident that your beliefs are correct.
Sounds like you need to have a word with your demon lord about having your smite channel necrotic energy rather than radiant.
I was going to have a chat with the DM about all this, but he urged me to go and explore the inns & outs of Paladins a bit before I came to him with a suggestion.
The faith save was weird indeed, but then again I'm not remotely familiar enough with the spellcasting system to have known this...
But being oathbound to a demon is just the flavour I was looking for. Thanks
Hi there, I'm a new player who recently started his first campaign as a paladin with oath of Devotion. My intent was to go in with a big hammer with some status effects, a buff or two, and just smash/smite my way through. And just as I hit level 3 in the previous session, the plot thickens and we all end up devoting ourselves to a currently unnamed demon lord. This is all fine and well, since the backstory I wrote sorta had a setup for oathbreaker somewhere down the line. Now here comes the issue: as I tried to smite an unfortunate guard that got in our way, the DM told me that since smite draws from faith, I suddenly had to do a WIS save(which I failed) and took half of the smite as necrotic damage.
So here's my question: does anyone have some experience with writing their own oaths? Is that even something you can do? The current campaign is a homebrew of an all mostly evil party. The DM said that I'd be level 4 for the next session and had the freedom to look for a solution as I pleased. But I'd like to stick mostly to established stuff with maybe some flavouring, but I'm too new at this to know what can and cannot work. (I mean we have a min/maxed schizophrenic warlock with wings already, so a little rebranding on a paladin won't matter too much)
My main goal is still to be a frontline melee spellcaster, with a big emphasis on status effects like sacred weapon used to do, it's just that all forms of radiant/holy damage are now a big no-no. Was thinking to maybe change out smite for for searing or thunderous smite, but I'm unsure how to get started on any of it.
Any suggestions for an aspiring Paladin?
This is a conversation to have with your DM, but I'll point out some things:
Those are some excellent pointers.
I was going to have a chat with the DM about all this, but he urged me to go and explore the inns & outs of Paladins a bit before I came to him with a suggestion.
The faith save was weird indeed, but then again I'm not remotely familiar enough with the spellcasting system to have known this...
But being oathbound to a demon is just the flavour I was looking for. Thanks
I'd be looking at Conquest - just change the cosmetics, but the mechanics are solid for a Demon Lord...