Oath of the Chain

The Oath of Chains is a heavy burden to bear. This is a commitment, a commitment to protect those who fight alongside them. These are defenders, they are the first to aid those who cannot help themselves. The chain has many links and drag on forever, longer as these paladins forge their path in a righteous pursuit of justice for those in their care. Sometimes called Chainguard or Shackle Saints, these paladins sacrifice themselves for those who they deem worthy of their service. Once they’ve made their choice they will stop at nothing until their charge is lifted of the burden that has plagued them. And to their allies on the battlefield, they are the most steadfast of comrades. These paladins forgo their own safety in battle, sacrificing themselves in order to allow their comrades to gain the upper hand in combat. All those of the Chain must link themselves to the worthy and they must serve the worthy, for that is their cause.  

Tenets of Chains

An adamantine chain hangs somewhere on the body of these stone willed souls. On each link a tenet and the names of those they have sworn to protect, past and present. All divinely scribed to show pride in their duty.  

Take on Their Burden: Personal gain means nothing to you. Satisfaction only comes in knowing that through your actions and the trials you’ve faced, those you have placed in your care are relieved of the burdens that have plagued them.

Foolhardy Protector: Your own safety lies with what fate has in store for you. The safety of those around you is much more paramount to your mission.   

Seek Those Who Are Worthy: Your selfless nature makes you the perfect target for those who would fool you into completing unsavory tasks, masquerading them as noble deeds. Therefore who you choose to serve is just as important as why you serve.

Unyielding Guardian: In battle both your body and will serve as the shield for those you have placed in your care. You refuse to falter when there are those who would suffer, were you unable to protect them.

Oath of Chains Spells

3rd Faerie Fire, Sanctuary

5th Calm Emotions, Warding Bond

9th Life Transference, Revivify

13th Aura of Purity, Death Ward

17th Circle of Power, Skill Empowerment

Channel Divinity

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

Chains of Sacrifice. As an action ethereal spear tipped chains break from your skin plunging into the hearts of your enemies filling them with a seething, undying hatred toward you. All hostile creatures within 20ft of you must make a wisdom saving throw. On a failure a creature will be unable to willingly move away from you and all attacks not targeting you are made with disadvantage. The chains last for a minute and any time a creature under this effect is damaged by anyone other than you it can repeat the saving throw.

Martyrdom. You present yourself to the opposition in order to give your allies an opportunity to turn the battle in their favor. As an action you give one creature advantage against you for the next 3 rounds but your allies gain advantage against that creature for the same amount of time.

Aura of the Martyr

As you lay your life on the line to protect those around you, you inspire your comrades to reach for greater heights. Starting at 7th level when you take damage, any ally that you choose within 10ft of you will be healed up to the amount dealt to you divvied up between your chosen allies rounded down.

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

The Weight of Their Prayers

Starting at 15th level, when you channel the Chains of Sacrifice, the prayers of those in your care have strengthened your chains to better punish those who have wronged them, though at the cost of your own vitality. As a bonus action you can sacrifice a portion of your own health to deal damage to all enemies caught in your chains on the initial casting. The damage dealt to each creature is equal to the amount of health sacrificed up to a maximum equal to your paladin level.

Chains of the Guardian

At 20th level the chains that run under your skin erupt to wrap themselves around your arms, chest, and back as they drag against the earth beneath you. Using your action you undergo a transformation. For 1 minute you gain the following benefits:

• These chains act as whips with a reach of 30ft and deal 1d6 + your charisma and strength modifiers in radiant or necrotic damage (your choice). Anytime you hit with your chains the creature must make a strength or dexterity saving throw against your spell save DC or be grappled.
• Every time you deal damage to a creature with these chains you take 1d4 + your charisma modifier psychic damage which does apply to your Aura of the Martyr feature.
• When an ally takes damage and the creature who attacked your ally is within the range of your chains you can attack the instigating creature as a reaction.  

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