Just the name isn't a lot to go on. An oath dedicated to neutrality runs the risk of not working well with an adventuring lifestyle, where the characters are expected to take sides and resolve issues. This wouldn't be an issue unique to a Neutrality oath - the pacifistic implications of the Oath of Redemption present a similar potential issue, and the tenets of the oath were carefully written to allow a redemption paladin to adventure with their party. Neutrality tenets would have to be written along the same lines.
the name is also an issue because of alignment. There are existing paladin oaths that are inclined towards particular alignments - the tenets of devotion tend towards lawful good, ancients paladins towards neutral good, crown towards lawful neutral, conquest towards lawful evil. But apart from the oathbreaker - technically an npc subclass not intended for player characters - none of the oaths have an explicit alignment requirement and all of them can potentially be used with paladins of varying alignments. An oath of neutrality, with a name so close to actual alignment terms, would feel like it has an outright alignment requirement even if it wasn't intended to, so you should probably look for another related name.
Beyond that, though, again, a name is not a lot to go on. What would the tenets be? What do you imagine for the channel divinity & level 7 aura? What kind of play styles are you looking to encourage?
Haven’t given much details about what the subclass is, Oaths usually have tenets to follow, expanded spell list, and specific channel divinity capabilities. Do you know what you would have in mind for all that?
As a general theme I think neutrality will be hard to fit into a game as there is inherent fighting and choosing of sides. Maybe more of Oath of Balance or Conservation (as in Keeping the status quo)
An issue with an oath of balance, conservation, or the like is that it could potentially bump up against the oath of the ancients which already has something of a 'maintaining the natural order' theme to it. Doesn't necessarily preclude such from working, but you'd have to take care to distinguish them.
OK. So the paladin strives to bring balance to the multiverse, instead of striking at evil willy-nilly. Whichever side is in more power (evil or good) then the paladin will target that side.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Oath of Neutrality. Tell me what you think.
Assuming you aren't joking...
Just the name isn't a lot to go on. An oath dedicated to neutrality runs the risk of not working well with an adventuring lifestyle, where the characters are expected to take sides and resolve issues. This wouldn't be an issue unique to a Neutrality oath - the pacifistic implications of the Oath of Redemption present a similar potential issue, and the tenets of the oath were carefully written to allow a redemption paladin to adventure with their party. Neutrality tenets would have to be written along the same lines.
the name is also an issue because of alignment. There are existing paladin oaths that are inclined towards particular alignments - the tenets of devotion tend towards lawful good, ancients paladins towards neutral good, crown towards lawful neutral, conquest towards lawful evil. But apart from the oathbreaker - technically an npc subclass not intended for player characters - none of the oaths have an explicit alignment requirement and all of them can potentially be used with paladins of varying alignments. An oath of neutrality, with a name so close to actual alignment terms, would feel like it has an outright alignment requirement even if it wasn't intended to, so you should probably look for another related name.
Beyond that, though, again, a name is not a lot to go on. What would the tenets be? What do you imagine for the channel divinity & level 7 aura? What kind of play styles are you looking to encourage?
Haven’t given much details about what the subclass is, Oaths usually have tenets to follow, expanded spell list, and specific channel divinity capabilities. Do you know what you would have in mind for all that?
As a general theme I think neutrality will be hard to fit into a game as there is inherent fighting and choosing of sides. Maybe more of Oath of Balance or Conservation (as in Keeping the status quo)
An issue with an oath of balance, conservation, or the like is that it could potentially bump up against the oath of the ancients which already has something of a 'maintaining the natural order' theme to it. Doesn't necessarily preclude such from working, but you'd have to take care to distinguish them.
OK. So the paladin strives to bring balance to the multiverse, instead of striking at evil willy-nilly. Whichever side is in more power (evil or good) then the paladin will target that side.