Oath of Nightmares

Oath of Nightmares

The Oath of Nightmares is not a path that a mortal soul chooses with their conscious mind, for it is not with their waking self that one begins the path of the Knight Terror. Plagued by vivid imagination's of bringing horror, violence and fear, the Knight Terror partakes in magics that help them to carry forth the ever-shifting power of Nightmares. The Mantle of Nightmare is unknown, as the nature of nightmare's is unable to be grasped by a waking, studious mind; it is fluid, and changing, as nightmare's must be for all souls, not a singular attentive purpose. To this end, it is not known how an Oath of Nightmares is truly forged, and the few that follow this path may question if they themselves truly understand what it is that their oath asks of them.

Tenets of the Knight Terror

Dignified Misery. To exist is to experience anguish. Without pain to serve as its antithesis, pleasure cannot exist. Therefore, to manifest suffering is to live with virtue.

Respect for Rest and Reflection. Once a soul is spent, it is the duty of a Knight to see that rest may come forth. All minds need a time to processes their internal anxieties and dishonoring that chance for revelation is abhorrent.

Shameless Depravity. To manifest suffering into the world is to provide the foundation on which happiness may be measured. There is no shame in deriving joy when reveling in the misery of others.

Channel Divinity

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

Dream Logic. You can use your Channel Divinity to turn dreams and nightmares into reality. As a bonus action, you can summon one illusioned Thought from The Mind of Minds that fits within a 5x5 foot cube and anchor it to reality. As long as concentration is maintained, the Thought stays anchored for thirty minutes or until dismissed. If concentration is lost, the anchored Thought once again becomes illusioned and can only remain on the current plane for one hour or until dismissed. Once created, the Thought cannot be edited whether it is anchored or illusioned.

Once anchored, a Thought can change the world around it to accommodate its presence in reality. Once concentration is broken, however, the world returns to how it was before. (Example : If you summon the Thought of a long hallway, anchor it, enter the hallway, and lose concentration, you and any creatures in the hallway will be shunted out to the nearest unoccupied space, taking damage at the discretion of the DM.)

A creature may make an Insight check against your spell save DC to tell if an anchored Thought is real or not.

If the Thought is a creature, once anchored it may take turns in combat immediately following your own. It is friendly to you and those you identify as allies until one of your allies deals damage to it. Use the stat block most appropriate for that creature (i.e. an anchored Thought the shape of a weasel would use a weasel stat block).

Phantasmal Echo. Your two selves, Nightmare and Dream, operating in unison create a powerful psychic echo, releasing the dormant as a phantom echo of the current host. As an bonus action, you unleash your counterpart's true form using your Channel Divinity. For the next minute, your weapon attacks deal radiant damage and heal the lowest HP ally within 30 feet for half the radiant damage dealt.

In addition, you gain access to the spell list from the Oath of Nightmares for 1 minute : https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/2484485-oath-of-dreams

Using this Channel Divinity risks allowing the host's counterpart the opportunity to take control when its phantom form returns to the body. Roll 1d100. On a 1-40, the original host maintains control. On a 41-100, the previously dormant half will gain control of the body. On a 50, the DM decides according to the wills of Vortix and Phaedra and the balance of Somnus. If the dormant half takes control, the body will enter a state of sleep paralysis until it's next turn while the phantom re-enters and takes over the body. In this state, you effectively can't move, take reactions, dodge, and attacks aimed at you have advantage. On each of your turns you may roll a charisma saving throw to exit your state of sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis will automatically end after 1 minute.

As you borrow spells from your true opposite, you decrease your chances of maintaining control after using Phantasmal Echo. Adjust the d100 split and DC to roll out of sleep paralysis accordingly :

• NO SPELL USES : 40/60 split = DC 16 to roll out of sleep paralysis
• 1 SPELL USE : 70/30 = DC 18 
• 2 SPELL USES : 80/20 = DC 20
• 3 SPELL USES : 90/10 = DC 23
• 4 SPELL USES : 100% chance of sleep paralysis and conceding to the dormant half = DC 25

Oath Spells

You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.

Oath of Nightmares Spells

Nightmare Ward

Starting at 7th level, you are able to emanate an aura of mental protection around you. Creatures of your choice within 10 feet of you gain the following benefits :

• Cannot be put to sleep by magic and their sleep cannot be disturbed by magic that is not yours
• Gain resistance to psychic damage
• Have advantage on checks made to discern illusions

This aura extends even if you are asleep, but not if you are knocked unconscious. At 18th level, the aura extends to 30 feet.

True Seeing

Starting at the 15th level, you have opened your third eye allowing you to see through the false dreams of others. You gain the following :

• True sight with a radius of 15 feet
• Advantage on Insight checks

Phantasmal Nightmare

At 20th level, you can become a living nightmare. Using your action, you undergo a transformation. For 10 minutes you gain the following benefits :

• Your weapon attacks and divine smites deal psychic damage instead of their usual type.
• Each hostile creature of your choice that starts its turn within 10 feet of you must make a wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 4d10 psychic damage and is frightened of you for one minute. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success, and taking 1d8 additional psychic damage on a fail.
• You can cast the alter self spell at will as a bonus action and you do not need to concentrate on this spell

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