Oath of Penance

Paladins who swear to Penance do so in search of atonement. To atone for some past misdeeds they cannot escape from, or cannot be forgiven. Instead, they seek Penance, and through this receive their holy abilities. Oath of Penance paladins are given a chance at atonement by swearing to scour the planes in search of others who have committed similar sins, but have yet to seek absolution. They hope to prevent would be ne'er-do-wells from following a path of sin, first with words and only after with action. However, there will always be those who desire the path of Sin. For these individuals, Paladins of Penance are dedicated to deliver them whatever judgment they deem fit.  

Tenets of Penance

The tenets of Penance may differ for each Paladin, but are always written in their own blood, and generally emphasize the following:

Weight of Guilt One must never forget and most importantly never repeat the past sins committed.

Weight of Forgiveness Others seeking atonement cannot expect to be forgiven easily. Sins are erased through equal penance. 

Weight of Pain The price of atonement is pain. Show the sinners love through the act of flagellation.

 

Oath of Penance Spells

Level 3: Shared Burdens

As an action, you can expend one use of your Channel Divinity to share your burdens with a creature within 60 feet of you. The creature must succeed on a Wisdom Save. If the creature has attacked you within the last hour, the make the Save with Disadvantage. On a failure, you and the creature are now bonded through the burdens of guilt and pain. Whenever you lose Hit Points, the Burdened takes damage equal to half the amount of Hit Points you lost. Additionally, if the Burdened was the cause of the your Hit Point loss, they instead take full damage. The creature can attempt to reroll the save anytime is successfully attacks you. On a Success, the creature has disadvantage on attack rolls versus any target besides you until the end of their next turn, and you do not lose your use of your Channel Divinity.

Level 7: Aura of Penance

While within your Aura of Protection, if a creature would attack another creature besides you, they must succeed on a Wisdom save or be forced to target you with the attack. Additionally, once per round, if a creature within your Aura of Protection misses an attack, you gain temporary Hit Points equal to 5 + your Paladin level.

Level 15: Expiate by Sacrifice

When you are reduced to 0 Hit Points and not killed outright, you remain conscious through the absolution of pain. Until the end of your next turn, you do not fall unconscious white at 0 Hit Points, and any excess damage is counted as negative Hit Points. If you are healed while in this state, you gain Temporary Hit Points equal to the amount you would have healed. At the end of your next turn, or when your negative Hit Points reach half your maximum Hit Points, if you have a Burdened target, they take force damage equal to double the amount of your negative Hit Points.

Once this feature ends, you fall unconscious with one automatically failed Death Save. If this feature ended due to your negative Hit Points reaching its cap, you instead fall unconscious with two failed Death Saves. 

You have one use of this feature and regain it after a Long Rest. 

Level 20: Enlightened Martyr

As a Bonus Action, you gain the benefits below for 1 minute or until you end them (no action required). Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a Long Rest. You can also restore your use of it by expending a level 5 spell slot (no action required).

Greater Burden You can now target a total number of creatures equal to your Charisma Modifier (minimum of 1) with your Shared Burdens feature.

Self-Flagellation Once on each of your turns, when you deal damage with a weapon or spell attack, you can choose to receive half that damage rounded up. Your Burdens are dealt damage equal to double the amount dealt to you with this feature's effects.

Absolution When you take damage while in this form, any number of creatures of your choice that are within your Aura of Protection gain Temp HP equal to the damage taken.