Oath of Subterfuge

When one thinks of a paladin, they usually think of an armored figure slaying a mighty dragon with a heavy sword. You, upon swearing the Oath of Subterfuge, seek to defeat a different type of tyrant. Many evils of the world are protected by armor made not by dragonscale, but bureaucratic tape. Worse yet, the typical paladin rushes in, exposes the corruption, and leaves a gaping power vacuum. Oath of Subterfuge paladins seek to expose the misdeeds of the corrupt and tyrannical, allowing their deeds to spread their downfall. Often called rogue knights or knaves, they tend not to be popular among the powerful, or even among other paladins. These paladins usually care not for their praise, gaining satisfaction from a job well done. 

Not all paladins of the Oath of Subterfuge swear the oath with benign purposes in mind. Some more chaotic individuals seek to use their abilities to simply overthrow the powerful. More sinister are the Mandibles, a secret sect of drow paladins that work to ferret out the few drow that have turned their backs on Lolth or, worse yet, worship Eliastree, the drow goddess of moonlight and song.

 

Tenets of Subterfuge

The tenets of subterfuge emphasize clean, quiet work that end up destroying the targets of your wrath.

Remain unseen. Not only should your foe be unaware of your movements, but so should those you are trying to help. Both can cause obstruction in your mission.

Remain patient. Never rush in; always consider what the consequences of your actions will be before you carry out an act.

Remain vigilant. No matter how overwhelming a task seems,  your blade in the shadows is the people's best hope of freedom from tyranny.

Remain just. Your foe will trample anyone to remain in power. Do not become your foe. A guard is just doing their job, and the people must never suffer consequences for your actions.

Smite from Afar

Starting at 3rd level, you have learned to channel your divine energy into long-ranged attacks. Your Divine Smite can now be used on thrown and ranged weapon attacks.

Channel Divinity

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

Shroud of Night. As an action, you can create a 30-foot-radius sphere of magical darkness, centered on you. The darkness spreads around corners. A creature with darkvision can't see through this darkness, and nonmagical light can't illuminate it. However, the darkness does not impede your vision. The darkness lasts for one minute, or until you dismiss it as a bonus action.

Oath Spells

You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.

Oath of Devotion Spells

PALADIN LEVEL	SPELLS
3rd	charm person, disguise self
5th	invisibility, suggestion
9th	counterspell, major image
13th	confusion, hallucinatory terrain
17th	mislead, modify memory

Aura of Unremarkability

Starting at 7th level, you and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you gain advantage on Dexterity(Stealth) checks while you are conscious.

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

Hidden Usurper

Beginning at 15th level, you can take the hide action as a bonus action. In addition, when you are hidden from a creature and miss it with a ranged weapon attack, making the attack doesn't reveal your position.

Bane of Tyrants

At 20th level, as an action, you can transform into a dark, shrouded figure, eyes blazing with your desire for justice. This transformation lasts for one minute. While in this form, you gain the following benefits:

• As part of your movement, you can teleport up to 60 feet from one area of dim light or darkness to an unoccupied space in another area of dim light or darkness.
• When you hit a creature that is surprised or that you have advantage on the attack roll against, the hit becomes a critical hit.
• All attacks against you have disadvantage.

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