Not all evil can or must be destroyed. The Oath of the Gaoler is sworn by paladins who dedicate themselves to ensuring such evils are contained. These knights keep custody of dangerous convicts and transport them where necessary, but others bear the responsibility to watch over the seals on otherworldly beings. Were a prisoner to escape them, the paladin is duty-bound to retrieve them, lest they return to wreak havoc onto the world.

Due to the nature of their daily dealings with charlatans, fiends and other such deceivers, these paladins may grow sceptic of all but their closest allies. A recurring motif on their arms and armour is chain, symbolising both their duties and how their vows bind these paladins to them.

Tenets of the Gaoler

The tenets of the Oath of the Gaoler strive to imprint the values of determination and discerning onto a paladin.

Resilience. You are a wall that stands firm between the innocent and those who would threaten their way of life.

Foresight. Evil is cunning, so you must enact your duties with a cunning to match.

Responsibility. The common people must not be endangered by either your actions or inaction. To falter is to imperil them.

Resolve. Act decisively. To show doubt or weakness in the face of your quarries or prisoners is to grant them opportunity.

Channel Divinity

You gain the following Channel Divinity options. See the Sacred Oath class feature for how Channel Divinity works.

Warden's Resilience. As a bonus action, you can create a ward for yourself or an ally within 30 feet of you for 1 minute using your Channel Divinity. While under this ward's protection, any damage taken by the warded creature is decreased by a number equal to your proficiency bonus.

Warden's Bindings. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can use your Channel Divinity to force to make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, magical shackles appear and bind the target: restraining them. While restrained this way, the creature cannot teleport by any means and takes psychic damage equal to your Charisma modifier at the start of each of its turns. It can use its action to make a Strength check against your spell save DC. On a success, they are freed.

Oath Spells

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

Paladin Level	Spells
3rd	Alarm, Command
5th	Arcane Lock, Hold Person
9th	Glyph of Warding, Spirit Guardians
13th	Faithful Hound, Stone Shape
17th	Hold Monster, Wall of Stone

Confining Aura

At 7th level, you emanate an imposing aura that weighs on your foes while you're not incapacitated. Hostile creatures who try to use their movement to move away from you while in your aura must first make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, they take psychic damage equal to your Charisma modifier and their speed is reduced to 0 until the start of their next turn.

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

Shackling Strike

At 15th level, the weight of your strikes startles the composure of your enemies. Whenever you hit a hostile creature with a melee attack, you reduce their speed by 10 feet until the end of your next turn.

Unearthly Prison

At 20th level, as an action you can manifest a field that restrains your enemies. For 1 minute, you gain the following benefits:

• You are under the effect of Warden's Resilience and have advantage on saving throws against effects caused by hostile creatures within your aura.
• Hostile creatures within your aura have disadvantage on their saving throws against your Paladin spells and Channel Divinity.
• When a hostile creature attempts to leave your aura, you can use your reaction to cast Entangle targeting that creature as a paladin spell, without consuming a spell slot.

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