Oath of the Voidlands (by Baskerevil)

A myth within a legend

Old moon kingdom looming in the dark,
Crystal echo - was built for the arc.
Can it be you dwelling in the dark,
Loosing meaning - leaving just a mark.
Metal monster, does it have a heart,
Mindless creature, seeking the lost art.
Let them into kingdom from a spark,
Dying ruler, sleeping in the dark.

 

Darkness beyond

Old legends tell a story about lands beyond the horizon, a place where wild creatures reign supreme and men are driven mad by fear and dread. Lands dressed in eternal night, fashioned with structures of metal and magic, with only light within this land coming from dead stars, but where could a realm like this exist? Is it an actual location or does it only exists in the nightmares?...
There exists a place, a lonely realm, which cannot be reached by normal means. An empire built by a civilization long before the first god was born. It was build back when the universe was nothing but a dense cloud of chaos and potential, and back then the first beings emerged into existence to create a world for themselves. They worshipped a primal elemental lord of raw magic, a formless presence binding all first creatures within the early universe. But, upon the dawn of gods, this empire was thrown into oblivion - banished from all existence together with the first beings and their lord.
However, no matter how much first god tried to remake the universe in their own image, some things could never be erased, and the remnants of the first civilization still drifted somewhere on the edge of the oblivion. These remnants still held great power and attracted various cosmic forces, not only to maintain its own existence, but also to gather strength and spread its influence… These dark lands, however fading they may be, are still thriving in their own way, filled with various strange creatures and holding long forgotten secrets, and the more influence it gets – the closer it is drawn back to into existence.
These dark lands and a city of metal within it are beyond the reach and understanding of mortals, and this place should not have a name for itself, but if it did have a name, then it would be called as the Voidlands. A dark and cruel place, filled with nothing but the undesirable monsters and eldritch horrors, but however brutal it might be, there is a certain beauty and wonder within it. It is a dangerous and fading place, and its residents struggle every moment to maintain their own existence, but is that not the nature of existence in every place? Existence brings suffering, and suffering can blossom into hope. The Voidlands sustains itself on hope and dreams, on desire to live and thrive, just like one would live in a jungle on any world within the material plane: weak perish, strong survive, and that is just the law of nature.

 

Hopeless templars

Confused, lost or otherwise corrupted knights sometimes turn towards unknown powers for hope, clarity or just for power. Whatever case might be, paladins who take up an oath of the Voidlands pledge their life for things they do not understand…
Voidlands is a realm at the edge of oblivion. It is a long lost remnant of the primordial universe, and even though it does not hold any divinity within it, nevertheless it contains all the basic elements to birth divinity. And as the influence of the Voidlands seep into the material plane, so does the faith and desires of mortals flow into the Voidlands. Empty divinity starts to slumber and rise, and a dark order of knights slowly forms to represent it.
The oath of the Voidlands represents punishment and atonement of both the wicked and paladins themselves:
Torment – order of the Voidlands demands that those who become threats to it must face persecution and terror. No soul is allowed to feel safe to oppose the twisted order.
Submission – more than anything, this oath demands complete submission towards the power of the Voidlands. Paladin’s duty is to uphold the tenets of their order, to submit to the higher power and to be guided by it… Well… this might yet to be resolved as the divine power within the Voidlands is still weak, still asleep…
Despair – power granted to those who pledge themselves to the void does not inspire hope, but instead inflicts despair. The one who walks this path must accept that they are tools of grim destiny for those who rejects dark gifts of the Voidlands.

 

Channel Divinity: Cursed Effigy

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

Cursed Effigy: as an action, target a creature you can see within 60 feet, using your Channel Divinity. Create an immobile medium-sized effigy of your target in an unoccupied location within 5 feet of you for 1 minute. This effigy has an AC of 18 and it always fail all of its saving throws. While the effigy lasts, any damage done to it is immediately transferred onto the target of this ability. Transferred damage cannot be negate, prevented or reduced.

Oath Spells

You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.

Oath of the Voidlands Spells

Touched by the Dark

From 3rd level you gain improvements and alternative uses of your other Paladin's features.

Lay on Hands: as a reaction to taking any damage, you can expend 15 points of your hit point pool to regain 15 hit points.

Divine Sense: you can expend one use of this feature as an action to detect presence and effect of any cursed item within 10 feet of you.

Divine Smite: whenever you use your action to cast a damage dealing spell and deal damage to a creature within 5 feet of you, then you can also use your Divine Smite feature on that creature.

Moreover, whenever you deal radiant damage with a spell or paladin's class feature, you can convert radiant damage into necrotic damage.

Aura of Despair

Starting at 7th level, hostile creatures within 10 feet of you receive -2 penalty to their saving throws while you are conscious.

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

Deathly Despair

Beginning at 15th level, when you deal damage with a spell or Divine Smite feature to an enemy within the radius of you Aura of Despair feature, then instead dealing full damage to them, you can disperse and redistribute the damage you have done onto any number of creatures (including the effigy created by your Channel Divinity: Cursed Effigy feature) within radius of your Aura of Despair.

Twilight Crusader

At 20th level, true power of the Voidlands start coursing through your veins. Whenever you deal damage with a spell or with your Divine Smite feature, you can also deal an addition (2d6) radiant or necrotic damage (your choice).