Hand of Justice

While paladins who swear the Oath of Devotion may dedicate themselves to being just, there are those who focus entirely on meting out punishment and uncovering the truth at all costs. These paladins are known as Hands of Justice and many of them swear fealty to gods as Tyr or Torm. They are often seen (and not without reason) as zealots and fanatics, as the justice they pursue may not always be in line with what some expect from paladins.

The law these paladins follow is adhered to by the letter and not necessarily by the spirit. A Hand of Justice is a likely to jail a homeless person for stealing an apple, as they are to topple a tyrant from power and drag them before the courts. They are often referred to as 'inquisitors', especially when they are on the hunt for fugitives or rooting out secret cults.

A Hand of Justice makes a great sacrifice to gain the powers to become akin to an avatar of justice and truth: he forsakes the ability to cast spells as normal paladins do. They do retain their spell slots, however, to fuel their other powers, such as Divine Smite, and gain access to certain spells in a different manner.

Tenets of Justice

Law. The Law is divine. Those who break or ignore it are unjust. Follow the Law.

Justice. Pursue the unjust and bring Justice to them, as demanded by the Law. Deliver Justice.

Truth. Through Truth, Justice will be gained. Uncover the Truth whenever possible, no matter the consequences. Speak the Truth.

Pursuit. Find the unjust, no matter the cost, but uphold the Law and Truth, or else Justice can not be served. Pursue the unjust.

Judgement. Whenever possible, allow the Law to takes its natural course. If appropriate, you may pass Judgement yourself. Bring the unjust before Judgement of the Law.

 

 

Justice Guides my Hands

You may cast the true strike cantrip as a bonus action a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1). You regain these uses after a short rest.

In addition, you become proficient with the Investigation skill, if you aren't already.

Oath Magic

A Hand of Justice sacrifices his access to the normal paladin spell list, but retains the normal amount of spell slots. A Hand of Justice gains access to a select number of spells, dealing mostly with divination, aiding them in the pursuit of truth. Hands of Justice is always considered to have the spells from the list below prepared and they are considered paladin spells. You can cast these spells by expending a spell slot of the appropriate level. In addition, you gain one free casting per spell level, which may only be used to cast these spells. (So a 3rd level Hand of Justice may cast detect magic or hunter's mark once without expending a spell slot and either spell up to three times by expending spell slots.) You regain these free castings after a long rest. 

Hand of Justice Spells

 

Channel Divinity

When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options. See the Sacred Oath class feature for how Channel Divinity works.

Blind Justice. You may call upon your divine liege to grant your senses beyond the ken of most mortals. As a bonus, you may gain blindsight with a range of 30 ft. for the duration of 1 minute.

Aura of Truth. You call upon your deity to aid you in the pursuit of truth. As an action, you create a zone of divine energy centered on you with a diameter of 10 ft. The zone lasts for one minute and any creature within the zone, that is not immune to being charmed, has disadvantage on any rolls that include uttering a knowing falsehood. You gain advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks for as long as the zone remains.

Divine Senses

Your deity grants you incredibly sharp senses in order to aid you with your quest for truth and justice. Starting at 7th level, you double your proficiency bonus on any ability checks made with the Investigation and Perception skills.

Eyes of Truth

At 12th level, the Hand of Justice may gain the effects of the true seeing spell as an action. You may use this ability once per long rest.

At 15th level, the paladin may use this ability twice per long rest. At 18th level, this increases to three times per long rest.

The Truth Guides

At 15th level, as a reaction, you may add 1d6 to any attack roll or ability check, alternately you may impose 1d6 as a penalty on a attack roll made against you. You may announce the use of this ability after you see your roll, but before the DM tells the results and if used to penalize, you must announce its use when the attack roll is made. You may use this ability a number of time equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1) and regain all uses after a short rest.

Avatar of Truth and Justice

At 20th level, as a bonus action, you gain the benefits of the foresight spell. For the same duration (8 hours) you also immediately and unerringly know if someone lies to you without the aid of magic. (At the DM's discretion, certain creatures, such as demon princes or archdevils may still attempt to lie but receive disadvantage on their rolls to fool you.) You regain the use of this ability after a long rest.