Oath of the Open Seas

The Oath of the Open Sea calls to seafaring warriors, swashbuckling sailors, and traveling guardians who seek the thrill of a limitless horizon. Driven to search for adventure and mystery across and beneath every endless oceanic expanse, paladins who swear this oath stand against those who would deny liberty to likeminded travelers, rooting out tyranny and corruption wherever it is found.

Such guardians believe in the natural beauty of the sea, often making offerings and prayers to entities or deities such as the Wildmother or the Stormlord who influence safe passage. At the same time, they answer the call to hunt the monstrous creatures that too often bloody the waters with wanton violence and ill intent, and which terrorize the folk of the sea and shore.

TENETS OF THE OPEN SEA

Freedom can be a selfless virtue or a selfish want. For paladins who swear the Oath of the Open Sea, freedom is the highest calling, and a gift to be granted to all.

No Greater Life than a Life Lived Free. One should be free to chart their own path without oppression. Those who would exert their power to dominate others shall be smote.

Trust the Skies. The guidance of a strong breeze. The rumbling warnings of a coming storm. Nature is a source of portent and council that should be heeded.

Adapt Like the Water. The waters of the ocean can shift around any obstacle—or become the most impassable obstacle of all. They carve away the land to reveal the secrets of the past, or swallow the truth and hide it forever. To embrace this fluidity is to be ready for any challenge.

Explore the Uncharted. The world is filled with mystery. Through the pursuit of enigmatic ends, one can uncover those who hide their foul deeds, and find the path to becoming something great.

Level 3: Marine Layer

As a Magic action, you can expend one use of your Channel Divinity to create a thick cloud of fog that surrounds you for 20 feet in all directions. The fog moves with you, remaining centered on you and making its area heavily obscured. You and each creature within 5 feet of you instead treat the area as lightly obscured. This fog lasts for 10 minutes, spreads around corners, and cannot be dispersed unless you choose to end this effect (no action required).

 

Rules Tip: Visibility

Fog and other effects can obscure vision for you, your enemies, and your allies. When you heavily obscure an area using your Marine Layer Channel Divinity option, all creatures within the area have their vision completely blocked, and creatures outside the area can’t see in. Creatures that can’t see automatically fail ability checks that require sight. Also, attack rolls against creatures that can’t see have advantage, and their own attack rolls have disadvantage.

Creatures in a lightly obscured area have disadvantage only on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

 

Level 3: Oath of the Deep Ancients Spells

The magic of your oath ensures you always have certain spells ready; when you reach a Paladin level specified in the Oath of the Ancients Spells table, you thereafter always have the listed spells prepared.

Oath of the Open Sea Spells

Paladin Level	Spells
3rd	create or destroy water, expeditious retreat
5th	augury, misty step
9th	call lightning, water breathing
13th	control water, freedom of movement
17th	commune with nature, maelstrom

Level 7: Aura of Liberation

Ancient magic lies so heavily upon you that it forms an eldritch ward, blunting energy from beyond the Material Plane; you and your allies have Resistance to old, Lightning, and Thunder damage while in your Aura of Protection.

Level 15: Undying Sentinel

You can call on the force of crashing waters as a reaction whenever a creature moves into or out of your reach. The creature takes 1d12 bludgeoning damage and must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC or be knocked prone.

Level 20: Mythic Swashbuckler

At 20th level, you learn to channel the spirits of historic sea captains to briefly become a paragon of heroic adventure. As an action, you embrace these spirits of the sea to gain the following benefits for 1 minute:

• You have advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks and you gain a climbing speed equal to your walking speed. If you already have a climbing speed, it is doubled.
• If you are within 5 feet of a creature and no other creatures are within 5 feet of you, you have advantage on attack rolls against that creature.
• You can take the Dash or Disengage action as a bonus action.
• You have advantage on Dexterity checks and Dexterity saving throws against effects you can see.

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