What happens if a paladin fulfills their oath? ex. A vengence paladin finally hunts down and kills the person who murdered their loved one.
Do they take a new oath? Do they just continue with their current one? Are all their paladin levels now up in the air to change to another class? Even though technically everything does, is this another situation that ultimately defaults to the DM's discretion? Thoughts?
Whatever makes most sense for the character; everything you've listed is a valid option with the DM's approval!
For the oath of vengeance a DM could easily insert another nemesis, e.g- you finally get that sweet, sweet revenge only to learn the target of your vengeance was working for someone else all along. Or the oath broadens from an individual to an entire group. This can still let the character get some story closure within the campaign, while having their story continue beyond the campaign's endpoint.
Switching to another Oath is equally valid; maybe you did terrible things in your pursuit of vengeance and switch to redemption, or maybe your path becomes more uncompromising into the oath of conquest?
Re-speccing into Fighter with the divinity gone is also a cool option, but it could require a bit of planning as depending upon when it happens it could produce various complications (party loses a big chunk of healing, magic items might not be usable anymore etc.).
It's definitely one that requires DM's input, as by default in the rules you're basically stuck with whatever class you originally choose, as even multi-classing is at the DM's discretion as a way to represent a change in path. I can't imagine many DMs will begrudge a change in oath, or even change in class, where it makes sense, but it needs their input because the story of a campaign is collaborative. Plus it's up the DM when a vengeance paladin finally catches up to the target of their vengeance anyway.
Does the Paladin continue to embody this ideal? Or to they “hang up their armor” and retire?
(dramatically) “Can they ever know TRUE peace…?”
I do like the notion that their Oath can change; based on their own actions while fulfilling their previous Oath.
Because I like this question so much, let me contemplate a hypothetical scenario for each Paladin Oath:
Ancients Paladin: because they are given what essentially amounts to ageless immortality, and Ancients Paladin comes to become not unlike a Fey: appreciating beauty in all its forms; but becoming more & more extreme in its fulfillment or expression.
Conquest Paladin: they become the ruler of their respective domain; ushering forward either what amounts to a new age of prosperity, or tyranny, enforced by their ironclad power.
On the smaller scale, I’m picturing them running their own mercenary band, or even just a gang. On a grand scale, they might even rule an entire country.
Devotion Paladin: they either break; or they become paragons of virtue. I’d say that these particular paladins would continue fighting evil & upholding their tenants until the day they die. Probably would become einherjar in the afterlife.
Crown Paladin: Honestly? I see this Oath becoming the captain of a City Guard, or the general of an army.
Redemption Paladin: the thing with these paladins is; they are ALWAYS fighting an uphill battle. For every wicked soul they redeem, there is another more vile evil around the corner. My guess is they keep going until they start trying to redeem devils or evil gods.
…then they probably die trying. They’d probably say it was worth it, though.
One player I was with during a mini-campaign had a Redemption Paladin that decided to tag-along with a laughably evil Wizard…they were weird rivals, who made a bet that the Wizard was redeemable; and the Paladin could be turned over to evil.
They sort of…kept dead-locking each other. It was oddly hilarious.
Glory Paladin: these guys would want a book written about them, songs to be sung about them, or really just another adversary to fight.
Rules-wise there are some suggestions for this in Tasha's but yeah, you already gotten some good answers. The short of it is, whatever fits the character and makes for a fun story. A vengeance paladin who finds their prey might continue fighting bad guys so that others won't have to or to protect the innocent (basically the Batman approach). For a conquest paladin there is always more things to conquer. A Watcher paladin knows that their quest is never really done. On the other hand, if the conquest paladin finally takes back their ancestral homeland and is crowned its righful monarch, perhaps they switch to an oath of the Crown to better preserve their lands? These are some ideas that work if you want to keep playing using the same character.
Now, if you feel that the story is finished once you fulfil your oath, there are also a lot of things you can do. A glory paladin might ascend into the heavens as a constellation (if that's not glory I don't know what is). A vengeance or watchers paladin might hang up their armour and retire to a quiet life somewhere in the countryside until evil arises and they are needed once more.
Now, if you just want to reflavour the paladin into a Fighter with some cool powers, that can of course also work. Mechanically I would then keep the Paladin levels but perhaps only take Fighter levels from now on? The justification could be that the powers that once gave you your paladin abilities grant them to you as a reward for fulfilling your oath. Do what's cool!
Personally, I would say a change of Oath takes a bit more than just accomplishing a specific goal. The tenets given in the subclass descriptions are pretty broadly applicable to life, rather than just to a single objective. Like, even after a Conquest Paladin has claimed territory, they still need to maintain their hold on it. There's even a specific tenet for it: Rule with an Iron Fist. To change to Oath of the Crown would mean you're fundamentally shifting your perception of how you should handle power. Which is a completely valid character development, but I think the changes should come more from an internal reassessment of priorities and values rather than simply checking off a series of objectives. A paladin's Oath isn't sworn lightly, so a change in the status of one's Oath seems like it should come about from circumstances of similar magnitude.
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What happens if a paladin fulfills their oath? ex. A vengence paladin finally hunts down and kills the person who murdered their loved one.
Do they take a new oath? Do they just continue with their current one? Are all their paladin levels now up in the air to change to another class? Even though technically everything does, is this another situation that ultimately defaults to the DM's discretion? Thoughts?
Whatever makes most sense for the character; everything you've listed is a valid option with the DM's approval!
For the oath of vengeance a DM could easily insert another nemesis, e.g- you finally get that sweet, sweet revenge only to learn the target of your vengeance was working for someone else all along. Or the oath broadens from an individual to an entire group. This can still let the character get some story closure within the campaign, while having their story continue beyond the campaign's endpoint.
Switching to another Oath is equally valid; maybe you did terrible things in your pursuit of vengeance and switch to redemption, or maybe your path becomes more uncompromising into the oath of conquest?
Re-speccing into Fighter with the divinity gone is also a cool option, but it could require a bit of planning as depending upon when it happens it could produce various complications (party loses a big chunk of healing, magic items might not be usable anymore etc.).
It's definitely one that requires DM's input, as by default in the rules you're basically stuck with whatever class you originally choose, as even multi-classing is at the DM's discretion as a way to represent a change in path. I can't imagine many DMs will begrudge a change in oath, or even change in class, where it makes sense, but it needs their input because the story of a campaign is collaborative. Plus it's up the DM when a vengeance paladin finally catches up to the target of their vengeance anyway.
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That…is actually an EXCELLENT question.
Does the Paladin continue to embody this ideal? Or to they “hang up their armor” and retire?
(dramatically) “Can they ever know TRUE peace…?”
I do like the notion that their Oath can change; based on their own actions while fulfilling their previous Oath.
Because I like this question so much, let me contemplate a hypothetical scenario for each Paladin Oath:
Ancients Paladin: because they are given what essentially amounts to ageless immortality, and Ancients Paladin comes to become not unlike a Fey: appreciating beauty in all its forms; but becoming more & more extreme in its fulfillment or expression.
Conquest Paladin: they become the ruler of their respective domain; ushering forward either what amounts to a new age of prosperity, or tyranny, enforced by their ironclad power.
On the smaller scale, I’m picturing them running their own mercenary band, or even just a gang. On a grand scale, they might even rule an entire country.
Devotion Paladin: they either break; or they become paragons of virtue. I’d say that these particular paladins would continue fighting evil & upholding their tenants until the day they die. Probably would become einherjar in the afterlife.
Crown Paladin: Honestly? I see this Oath becoming the captain of a City Guard, or the general of an army.
Redemption Paladin: the thing with these paladins is; they are ALWAYS fighting an uphill battle. For every wicked soul they redeem, there is another more vile evil around the corner. My guess is they keep going until they start trying to redeem devils or evil gods.
…then they probably die trying. They’d probably say it was worth it, though.
One player I was with during a mini-campaign had a Redemption Paladin that decided to tag-along with a laughably evil Wizard…they were weird rivals, who made a bet that the Wizard was redeemable; and the Paladin could be turned over to evil.
They sort of…kept dead-locking each other. It was oddly hilarious.
Glory Paladin: these guys would want a book written about them, songs to be sung about them, or really just another adversary to fight.
Rules-wise there are some suggestions for this in Tasha's but yeah, you already gotten some good answers. The short of it is, whatever fits the character and makes for a fun story. A vengeance paladin who finds their prey might continue fighting bad guys so that others won't have to or to protect the innocent (basically the Batman approach). For a conquest paladin there is always more things to conquer. A Watcher paladin knows that their quest is never really done. On the other hand, if the conquest paladin finally takes back their ancestral homeland and is crowned its righful monarch, perhaps they switch to an oath of the Crown to better preserve their lands? These are some ideas that work if you want to keep playing using the same character.
Now, if you feel that the story is finished once you fulfil your oath, there are also a lot of things you can do. A glory paladin might ascend into the heavens as a constellation (if that's not glory I don't know what is). A vengeance or watchers paladin might hang up their armour and retire to a quiet life somewhere in the countryside until evil arises and they are needed once more.
Now, if you just want to reflavour the paladin into a Fighter with some cool powers, that can of course also work. Mechanically I would then keep the Paladin levels but perhaps only take Fighter levels from now on? The justification could be that the powers that once gave you your paladin abilities grant them to you as a reward for fulfilling your oath. Do what's cool!
Whenever I think about Vengeance Paladins, I tend to think of part of the Green Lantern oath:
”No evil shall escape my sight. In brightest day; in darkest knight…”
Personally, I would say a change of Oath takes a bit more than just accomplishing a specific goal. The tenets given in the subclass descriptions are pretty broadly applicable to life, rather than just to a single objective. Like, even after a Conquest Paladin has claimed territory, they still need to maintain their hold on it. There's even a specific tenet for it: Rule with an Iron Fist. To change to Oath of the Crown would mean you're fundamentally shifting your perception of how you should handle power. Which is a completely valid character development, but I think the changes should come more from an internal reassessment of priorities and values rather than simply checking off a series of objectives. A paladin's Oath isn't sworn lightly, so a change in the status of one's Oath seems like it should come about from circumstances of similar magnitude.