Paladins of the Oath of Grief shun false hope and seek to remind the world of the hollow joke of its existence, its lack of purpose, its futility, and its tragic horror. They believe that only by accepting the cruel hand that we are dealt can we find the path to what meager existence can be tolerated. Some are wandering knights that follow in the wake of tragedies, consoling the survivors to what is left. Others are dolorous marauders that seek to prove their perspective by spreading evil and misery.

Tenets of Grief

The brutal realities that paladins of the Oath of Grief hold as tenets may be painful, but they believe life is better once they are accepted instead of denied.

Expect the Worst. Surviving is about minimizing pain, not finding happiness. Always expect to suffer and fail, and you'll never be disappointed.

Beware Everyone. Trust is fleeting, false, and foolish. Never forget that everyone lies to themselves, and that you could be betrayed by anyone at their lowest.

Let Go of Your Mind. The quest to maintain one's sanity is a futile effort. Embrace the dynamic nature of your mind and accept that you will never be able to truly understand your own inner depths.

Reject False Hope. Just as those thrown high into the air will suffer a steep fall, those sent high by hope will inevitably crash down all the more hard when the cold reality hits them. Deny hope in yourself and others. Stay safely on the ground.

Life Has No Meaning. Do not believe such silly lies.

Oath of Grief Spells

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

Oath of Grief Spells

PALADIN LEVEL	SPELL
3rd	cause fear*, dissonant whispers*
5th	calm emotions, earthbind
9th	enemies abound*, fear
13th	confusion, phantasmal killer
17th	phantasmal plunge (new), telekinesis

D&D Beyond Note: New homebrew spells and spells marked with an asterisk must be selected manually in the character builder. Homebrew spells must first be added to your collection.

Dolorous Smite

Starting at 3rd level, your Divine Smite deals psychic damage instead of radiant damage.

Channel Divinity

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

Evoke Malaise. You can use your Channel Divinity to remove all motivation from a creature. As an action, you choose one creature you can see within 30 feet. The target must make a Charisma saving throw. Fey make this saving throw with disadvantage. On a failure, the creature can't take actions or reactions for 1 minute. It repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success. The effect also ends if the creature takes damage from you or your allies.

Weight of Despair. You can use your Channel Divinity to cover an area in crushing gravity. As an action, choose a point within 60 feet. A 10-foot radius 30-foot tall cylinder of crushing gravity forms with the point as its center for 1 minute. The space within the area is difficult terrain for creatures other than you. Each creature other than you that starts its turn in the area must make a Strength saving throw. Celestials make this saving throw with disadvantage. On a failed saving throw, a creature is knocked prone. You can use a bonus action to end this effect early.

Aura of Paranoia

Starting at 7th level, while you are conscious, you and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you can’t be surprised and have advantage on saving throws made against traps and on ability checks made for initiative.

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

Banish Hope

Starting at 15th level, prone enemy creatures within 5 feet of you have disadvantage on Wisdom and Charisma saving throws, and must make a Wisdom saving throw against your paladin spell save DC when trying to stand up. On a failure, a creature cannot stand up that turn.

Idol of Despondency

At 20th level, you can channel the forces of grief, fear, hopelessness, and misery into your very body.

As an action, you can transform into an avatar of dread. For 1 minute or until you lose consciousness, you have advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) checks, and each enemy creature that begins its turn within 60 feet of you becomes frightened of you if it can see you. A creature remains frightened of you until it deals you damage, it makes you roll a saving throw that you fail, or the transformation ends, at which point it can't become frightened by your transformation for 1 minute.

When a creature becomes frightened in this way, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or else fall prone and be incapacitated until the turn ends.

After activating this feature, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest.