Oath of the Bone

Oath of the Bone

The Oath of the Bone serves as Karrn patriots, living protectors who fight alongside the undead legions of their land. Those who take this Sacred Oath are ascended as Bone Knights whom during the Last War, provided tactical expertise and fine control to the legions of undead raised to defend his people. In postwar Karrnath, they serve as elite knights who travel abroad to complete missions that serve the greater glory of their king.

Paladins of the Bone wear suits of bone-crafted armour that they create themselves and learn to harness the power of necromancy, turning hordes of undead into disciplined, even cunning, troops. For a paladin of this Sacred Oath, you live to honour the sacrifice of the dead. Even with your own death your service is eternal.

Tenets of Bones

Bone knights train in the armies of Karrnath and must swear oaths to the nation’s king. A handful of others are taught by the Order of the Emerald Claw, who first proposed the idea of knights shepherding the undead.

For the Fallen. Countless lives have perished over a century of war. Yet here you stand to lead them once more into battle. They died for Karrnath, you live to honor their sacrifice. Your purpose is to ensure that their fall was not for nothing. Peace is only but a small silent pause before the armies of the dead rise again to battle.

For the King and the Land. King Kaius is the ruler and savior of your kingdom. Protect him at all cost. Enforce his command upon the Land. Protect Karrnath. Reclaim all lost territory.

No Death, No Dishonor. Your service will never end, your oaths will last forever until the end of ages. In battle there is no retreat, there is no mercy for your enemies. Once you become a Bone Knight there will be no turning back. No death awaits you from now on. As the Bone March echoes in the battlefield your enemies will learn true fear.

The Art of Bonecrafting

Paladins of this Oath gather the bones of their fallen comrades and attach them to their armor and weapons for two reasons: to honor the fallen and to bring fear to their enemies. The prosses requires specific skill, both mandane and necromatic, taught only by the knights themselves.

The Knight must gather a specific amount of bones, which he can then forge onto his armor and weapons. This process can be used on any physical weapon or armor and takes 8 hours of effort, or can be incorporated into the forging of new weapons or armor without any significant delay in the construction process. The resulting equipment has a particularly menacing visage, and those that use them in combat sow fear in their enemies. A Bone Knight leading a battalion of Karrnathi undead is a sight that haunts the dreams of any warrior.

You gain proficiency to Intimidation while wearing armor or wielding weapons treated with Bonecrafting. If you are already proficient, your proficiency bonus for it is doubled instead.

When using Divine Smite with a weapon treated with Bonecrafting, the extra damage of the Divine Smite is necrotic instead of radiant.

 

Channel Divinity

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

Bone March. You can use your Channel Divinity to rally undead to your command. As an action, choose one zombie or skeleton within 30 feet of you that you can see. The creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be Charmed by you for 24 hours. While Charmed, the creature must obey your commands to the best of its abilities. Using Bone March on a creature already affected by it refreshes its duration to the full 24 hours without requiring a new saving throw.

Additionally, you can use this Channel Divinity on undead created with Animate Dead to expand the duration of your control without casting the Spell again. Creatures whose Challenge Rating is equal or greater than your Paladin level are immune to this effect.

Arms of the Grave. You can use your Channel Divinity to imbue your bonecrafted armor or weapon with necrotic energy. As a bonus action, you choose one bonecrafted weapon you are wielding or one suit of bonecrafter armor you are wearing. If you select a weapon, it deals an extra 1d4 necrotic damage to any target it hits, for one minute. If you select a suit of armor, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage you receive from non-magical weapons while wearing that suit of armor is reduced by an amount equal to half of your Charisma modifier (rounded up, minimum 1), for one minute.

Oath Spells

You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.

Oath of the Bone Spells

PALADIN LEVEL	SPELLS
3rd	False Life, Inflict wounds
5th	Ray of Enfeeblement, Summon Skeletal Steed
9th	Animate Dead, Vampiric Touch
13th	Animate Karrnathi Dead, Death Ward
17th	Raise Dead, Antilife Shell

Master of the White Banner

By 7th level, the aura of authority you inhabit pass through even into the undead under you command. All undead under your control have advantage on saving throws against being turned, and those within 10 feet of you gain a bonus to melee weapon damage rolls equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1).

Exoskeleton of Undeath

At 15th level, you learn how to expand the necromantic energies that dwell within bonecrafted armor to affect yourself. You can take one hour to perform a ritual that allows you to fuse a suit of bonecrafted armor on your body. This fused suit cannot be removed except by your death or the same ritual, but otherwise retains its traits. While fused with bonecrafted armor, you gain immunity the being poisoned and resistance to poison and necrotic damage.

Additionally you do not need to eat or drink.

Aspect of Death

At 20th level, you can assume the mantle of death and become a veritable Reaper on the Material Plane. Using your action, you slip away from the grasp of life to enter death's embrace. For 1 minute, you gain the following benefits:

• Death Strike.When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a Bonecraft Weapon, you can reroll that die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2.
• Lord of the Dead.Undead creatures under your command are immune to effects that turn undead. Each undead creature that you can see within 60 feet of you at the beginning of your turn is subjected to the effects of Bone March.
• Death Denial. If damage reduces you to 0 hit points, you must make a Constitution saving throw with a DC equal to the damage taken. On a success, you drop to 1 hit point instead.

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