Oath of the Patriot

Gods of law or civilization often have special enforcers and protectors who are the wardens of the peoples of a particular city or a particular temple. Rarely, however, these deities are able to raise a unique agent of their will who is committed to the values of a nation. These unique paladins do not swear so much to uphold the idea of the deity, per se, but instead swear an oath to the ideals of a nation or kingdom. These oaths most often coincide with oaths of service to that nation's army, and makes these paladins examples of the finest soldiers of their native armies. In some unique cases, the process of transforming an everyday soldier into one of these paladins is done intentionally by the holy men and heads of state if they detect that a particular soldier possesses the perfect mindset to accept the magical ritual process that confers this level of potence to the soldier, turning even a potentially scrawny weakling into a fine, powerful paladin in the process.

In Avalestra, Empyrean Prime employs two such paladins, so rare are they that even the great former multitudes of humanity can only produce roughly two such soldiers each lifetime. When the Human Plague hit the empire, both were spared a good deal of the turmoil by the Empyrean army's decision to sequester them away for safekeeping, but when the Diabolic Invasion occurred then shortly thereafter, both paladins charged to the battlefields to defend their nation, and both are believed to be lost or dead following those horrific conflicts. Once the young Emperor is coronated, it will no doubt be a priority of the army to attempt to raise such paladins again.

TENETS OF THE PATRIOT

A paladin who takes this oath has recited a pledge to his nation every day since he or she was very young, and can recite that pledge and these values verbatim at any time.

Glory to the Nation. All that you do is for your nation and its peoples, and you will not debase yourself to anything less than being a paragon of those people's values and ideals, often proclaiming your own nation to be divinely-ordained, possessed of a certain "manifest destiny," and better than other nations, even.

Defend the Populace. While you may or may not be concerned with the people of other nations, every life of your own nation is a vital cog in its ultimate success in your eyes. You will often go to extremes to ensure that residents of your country feel safe, if you can help it at all.

Equal Justice Under the Law. You believe your nation to be just and righteous under the divine ordination of your god's laws and decrees, and you act as an agent and enforcer of those laws against any who would violate them, even if the very leaders of the nation are found in violation.

 

Oath Spells

3rd-level Oath of the Patriot feature

You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed in the Oath of the Patriot Spells table. See the Sacred Oath class feature for how oath spells work.

Oath of the Patriot Spells

Symbolic Enforcer

3rd-level Oath of the Patriot feature

At 3rd level when you choose this oath, you learn the combat fundamentals to settle public brawls, enforce law among a melee, and utilize your unique options you bring to bear in a battle. Oath of the Patriot paladins favor unique weaponry that gives them defensive options in a combat, like wielding an idealized shield built for throwing, or having a weapon that is essentially a weaponized cross or some other representation of their faith's symbology. This is actually more for a psychological value as a symbol of their country or faith more than as a weapon of pure efficiency, but the training is nonetheless a very capable battle style. You gain the Thrown Weapon Fighting fighting style, and the Tavern Brawler feat.

Aura of Heroism

7th-level Oath of the Patriot feature

At 7th level, you learn to represent the hope of your nation to an inspiring degree through your divine magic. When you cast the Heroism spell, you may now affect all creatures of your choice within 10 feet of you, and the duration loses the concentration requirement, lasting 1 minute. At 18th level, you may affect all creatures of your choice within 30 feet of you when you cast the spell.

Living Banner of Glory

15th-level Oath of the Patriot feature

At 15th level, you become not only a paragon of your nation's virtues, but are yourself considered a living symbol of your ideals and that nation's ideals. As long as you are holding your holy symbol, are wearing your holy symbol, or are bedecked in the symbols and colors of your nation, you can use an action to inspire those around you to accomplish greatness, conferring the following benefits on yourself and creatures of your choice who can see you within 50 feet:
- those creatures become immune to the charmed condition
- those creatures gain +1 to attack rolls
- those creatures temporarily increase their hit point maximum by an amount equal to your Charisma bonus and immediately regain that many hit points
These benefits last for a number or rounds equal to your proficiency bonus.

National Standard

At 20th level, you have become a literal living icon to your nation's people, and your ability to protect yourself and them is second to none, due to not only being divinely imbued with power, but also being imbued with the faith of your nation. As long as you are conscious and holding or wearing your holy symbol, enemy creatures cannot gain advantage on attacks against you, your passive perception and passive insight scores improve by +2 each, and your attacks with improvised weapons and unarmed strikes deal +1d4 damage of their type.