Paladin
Base Class: Paladin

It is a crass neglect for reason and a selfish disregard for the well-being of others that gives rise to the Oath of Pestilence. Such voices are ever-present, but only rise to prominence in the most dire of times - not to stand against impending disaster, but to welcome it. These paladins prey on fears and prejudices to sway the masses, and though their honeyed lies can bring temporary calm, these false shepherds bring ruin to all who believe in their words - and many who do not.

While the tenets that paladins who embrace the Oath of Pestilence often go unvoiced, the principles of this oath are embodied for all to see in their actions.

You are above the rest. The suffering of others is not your concern. It cannot affect you, and so you will not care. Others may cower away in their shelters; they will not stop your progress.

Contamination is the natural way of things. The suffering of others is part of the natural order. Allow it to run its course – by force, if you must.

What’s bad for you is good for me. The suffering of others is to your benefit. You cannot separate these things, for they are one and the same; their loss is your gain.

Oath Spells

You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.

(For legal reasons, Ray of Sickness can’t be added to this homebrew. Add it yourself, replace it with an appropriate spell, or use the “DNDBeyond Won’t Let Me Use Illegal Spell Lists” feat to replace it.)

Paladin Level Spells
3 detect poison and disease, ray of sickness
5 blindness/deafness, ray of enfeeblement
9 bestow curse, stinking cloud
13 blight, freedom of movement
17 cloudkill, contagion

Channel Divinity

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

Patient Zero. As an action, you can use your Channel Divinity to suppress the effects of one spell, disease, or poison affecting a creature for up to 24 hours. For this duration, the target will not feel or show symptoms of their affliction; however, this effect does not prevent the proliferation or progression of the affliction, and makes any saving throws with disadvantage. During this time, the target remains contagious if they were before, and when the suppression ends, any damage or conditions that would have been caused by the effect immediately occur. You can end this suppression early as an action.
 

Spellplague. You can use your Channel Divinity to become a reservoir of plague by performing a special ritual. You conduct this ritual over the course of 24 hours, during which you cannot sleep. After completing this ritual, you gain the following benefits:

When you successfully prevent, end, or suppress the effects of a disease on yourself or another creature, you can choose to place it into incubation, storing the effect within yourself.

When you succeed on a saving throw against a spell that targets only yourself, you can expend your Channel Divinity and your reaction to turn the spell into a disease, placing it into incubation in the same way.

When you hit a creature with an attack, you can expend a spell slot and one of your stored diseases, dealing 2d6 additional poison damage to the target plus an additional 1d6 for each level above 1st. On a failed save, you can infect the target with one of the diseases stored within yourself, lasting for the same duration as the effect that created it. If the disease was derived from a spell, you must expend a spell slot of equal or greater level to the spell, and instead cast the spell on the target, using your Paladin save DC. If the spell required concentration, it lasts until the end of its full duration. The disease then leaves incubation, and is no longer stored.

You can have up to one spell and a number of non-spell diseases equal to your proficiency bonus in incubation at a time. If you attempt to store another, the one stored earliest dissipates.

After this ritual is performed, it can only be reversed by voluntarily remaining in isolation for a period of 1 week. If you are within 10 feet of another humanoid for over 1 hour during this time, this quarantine fails, and must be restarted in order to take effect.

If any diseases are in incubation during the reversal of this ritual, you suffer each of their effects in sequence throughout the duration of your quarantine. When the quarantine is completed, any diseases that were stored within you are purged from your system.

Aura of Contamination

At 7th level, you gain the ability to allow diseases and magical effects to be transmitted via a novel route - your aura. When a creature within 10 feet of you makes a saving throw against a disease, spell, or other magical effect, you can use your reaction to force an unaffected creature within 5 feet of it to make the same saving throw against the same effect.

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

Corrupted Blood

At 15th level, the pestilence that resides within you is capable of debilitating even the most resistant foes. When you would deal poison damage, you can choose to deal necrotic damage instead. In addition creatures that are immune to poison and disease instead only have advantage on saving throws against those conditions when you inflict them.

Black Plague

At 20th level, all resistance fails against your onslaught. As an action, you can transform into a harbinger of death, the emperor of all maladies. For 1 minute, you gain the following benefits:

  • Creatures of your choice within 30 feet of yourself have disadvantage on Constitution checks and saving throws.
  • Any diseases transmitted you during this time cannot be cured for at least 1 month. Only a Wish spell or divine intervention can bypass this duration.
  • When you attempt to infect a creature with a disease stored within yourself, all creatures within 1 mile must make the same saving throw. You can choose any number of creatures you can see to be unaffected by it.

Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.

99s

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