Oath of the First Balance

Long before the Church of Light raised its temples, before mortal kingdoms named the heavens, four living powers shaped Ul’lor.

Midgarsormr carved the waters.

Obsidaranth raised the earth.

Auroraphyre kindled warmth and renewal.

Chygreus set the skies in motion.

The paladins who swear the Oath of the First Balance do not serve any one of these beings above the others. They preserve the ancient concord that once held creation together.

They are guardians of balance, protectors of forgotten places, and keepers of a truth that the dominant faith would rather leave buried.

Some believe the Primal Celestials still possess individual consciousness somewhere within the Goddess of Light. Others believe the Four sacrificed their identities completely and survive only through the natural forces of Ul’lor. A few believe the world itself remembers its makers and answers those who repeat their ancient covenant.

The oath does not demand agreement.

It demands balance.

The Tenets of the First Balance

The River Changes

Remain adaptable. Wisdom is not the refusal to change, but the ability to recognize when change is necessary. Preserve life where possible, and never mistake stubbornness for conviction.

The Mountain Endures

Be the shelter against which the storm breaks. Keep your word, protect those placed in your care, and remain when others have been driven away.

The Flame Renews

Destruction without purpose is cruelty. When something must end, ensure that something worth protecting can rise afterward. Defeat corruption, but do not become consumed by hatred for the corrupted.

The Wind Remains Free

No crown, church, empire, or god may own the conscience of another. Break unjust chains, seek unexplored truths, and never allow tradition to become a prison.

The four tenets are summarized by the oldest law of the oath:

No throne above the others. No power without its balance.

 

Channel Divinity

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

Channel Divinity	Activation	Purpose
Invoke the First Powers	Bonus Action	Enter a one-minute combat state and invoke the Primal Celestials.
Reject What Has No Place	Action	Turn aberrations and undead that violate the natural order.

Level 3: Oath Spells

You always have the listed spells prepared, and they do not count against the number of Paladin spells you can prepare.

Available at Paladin Level	Spells

3rd	absorb elements , guiding bolt

5th	earthbind , misty step

9th	erupting earth , fly

13th	control water , fire shield

17th	flame strike , reincarnate

Level 3: Channel Divinity: Invoke the First Powers

 Invoke the First Powers

As a bonus action, you present your sacred symbol and expend one use of your Channel Divinity to invoke echoes of the Primal Celestials.

The invocation lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you become incapacitated.

When you activate this feature, choose a number of different Primal Celestials determined by your Paladin level, as shown in the Primal Progression table.

At the beginning of each of your turns, you may replace one invoked Celestial with another Celestial that is not currently invoked. This requires no action.

All active invocations end together when this feature ends.

Primal Progression

Your ability to hold the Primal Celestials in balance increases as you gain Paladin levels.

Paladin Level	Celestials You Can Invoke
3rd–6th	One
7th–14th	Two
15th–19th	Three
20th-level Avatar	All four

Unless a feature states otherwise, all invoked Celestials are active simultaneously, and their benefits can be combined.

For example, if Midgarsormr and Auroraphyre are both invoked, the same weapon attack can deal Auroraphyre’s additional damage and reduce the target’s speed through Midgarsormr.

Midgarsormr, the Flowing Tide

Frost gathers along your armor while pale auroras shimmer behind your movements.

While Midgarsormr is invoked, you gain resistance to cold damage.

In addition, once during each of your turns when you damage a creature with an attack, you can reduce its speed until the beginning of your next turn.

The speed reduction increases with your Paladin level:

Paladin Level	Speed Reduction
3rd	10 feet
7th	20 feet
15th	30 feet

A creature cannot be affected by this speed reduction more than once at a time.

Beginning at 15th level, a creature whose speed you reduce with this invocation also cannot take reactions until the beginning of your next turn.

Obsidaranth, the Enduring Mountain

Your armor darkens like polished obsidian, and faint serpentine lines move beneath its surface.

While Obsidaranth is invoked and you are touching the ground, you gain a +1 bonus to your Armor Class.

You also cannot be pushed, pulled, knocked prone, or otherwise moved against your will while touching the ground.

Beginning at 15th level, whenever you take damage while touching the ground, you can halve the damage you take from that instance, rounding down.

Once you halve damage in this way, you cannot do so again until the beginning of your next turn.

Auroraphyre, the Renewing Flame

Embers drift from your weapon, and your shadow briefly takes the shape of immense burning wings.

While Auroraphyre is invoked, once during each of your turns when you hit with a weapon attack or unarmed strike, you can deal additional fire or radiant damage.

You choose the damage type whenever the additional damage is dealt.

Paladin Level	Additional Damage
3rd	1d6
7th	2d6
15th	4d6
20th, during Avatar of the First World	6d6

Beginning at 15th level, whenever you deal this additional damage, choose yourself or one friendly creature within your Aura of Elemental Concord. The chosen creature gains temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier.

Auroraphyre does not merely destroy. Its flame creates the strength needed to endure what follows.

Chygreus, the Open Horizon

White feathers appear in your wake, and your eyes flash with distant blue lightning.

While Chygreus is invoked, your walking speed increases according to your Paladin level:

Paladin Level	Speed Increase
3rd	15 feet
7th	30 feet
15th	45 feet

You also ignore difficult terrain, and opportunity attacks against you are made with disadvantage.

Beginning at 15th level, during your movement, you can move across liquids and along vertical surfaces without falling.

If you end your turn on a liquid or vertical surface without another means of remaining there, you fall normally.

Level 3: Channel Divinity: Reject What Has No Place.

Reject What Has No Place

As an action, you present your sacred symbol, expend one use of your Channel Divinity, and speak one of the oldest laws of creation.

Each aberration or undead creature within 30 feet of you that can see or hear you must make a Wisdom saving throw against your Paladin spell save DC.

On a failed save, the creature is turned for 1 minute or until it takes damage.

While turned, a creature is subject to the following effects:

• It must spend its turns attempting to move as far away from you as it can.
• It cannot willingly move into a space within 30 feet of you.
• It cannot take reactions.
• It can use its action only to Dash or attempt to escape an effect preventing it from moving.
• If it has nowhere it can move, it can use the Dodge action.

The Fourfold Vigil teaches that aberrations are intrusions upon the order of creation, while undeath is life refusing its necessary place within the cycle of death and renewal.

Level 7: Aura of Elemental Concord

Beginning at 7th level, the harmony between the Primal Celestials extends outward from you.

Your Aura of Elemental Concord has a range of 15 feet. The aura is inactive while you are incapacitated.

Each Primal Celestial is associated with an elemental resistance:

Midgarsormr: Cold

Obsidaranth: Acid

Auroraphyre: Fire

Chygreus: Lightning or Thunder

At the beginning of each of your turns, if Invoke the First Powers is not active, choose one Primal Celestial. You and friendly creatures within your aura gain resistance to that Celestial’s associated damage type until the beginning of your next turn.

Choosing a Celestial for your aura does not activate that Celestial’s invocation benefits.

While Invoke the First Powers is active, your aura instead provides the resistance associated with every Celestial you currently have invoked.

If Chygreus is selected or invoked, choose either lightning or thunder damage at the beginning of each of your turns.

At 7th level, invoking two Celestials can provide two resistances.

At 15th level, invoking three Celestials can provide three resistances.

During Avatar of the First World, the aura provides resistance to acid, cold, fire, lightning, and thunder damage simultaneously.

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

Level 15: Threefold Confluence

Beginning at 15th level, you can hold three Primal Celestials within yourself simultaneously.

When you use Invoke the First Powers, you invoke three different Primal Celestials instead of two.

You also gain the following improvements:

Midgarsormr. The speed reduction becomes 30 feet. A creature whose speed you reduce cannot take reactions until the beginning of your next turn.

Obsidaranth. While touching the ground, you can reduce one instance of damage you take by half, rounding down. Once you reduce damage in this way, you cannot do so again until the beginning of your next turn.

Auroraphyre. The additional damage becomes 4d6. Whenever you deal this additional damage, choose yourself or one friendly creature within your Aura of Elemental Concord. The chosen creature gains temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier.

Chygreus. Your walking speed increases by 45 feet. During your movement, you can move across liquids and along vertical surfaces without falling. If you end your turn on a liquid or vertical surface without another means of remaining there, you fall normally.

Your active invocations function simultaneously.

For example, while invoking Midgarsormr, Auroraphyre, and Chygreus, one attack could deal Auroraphyre’s additional damage, reduce the target’s speed through Midgarsormr, prevent it from taking reactions, and grant temporary hit points to an ally. You could then use Chygreus’s movement to reposition.

In addition, when you roll initiative and have no uses of Channel Divinity remaining, you regain one expended use.

Once you regain Channel Divinity in this way, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest.

Level 20: Avatar of the First World

At 20th level, you can become a living confluence of the four powers that shaped Ul’lor.

As an action, you transform for 1 minute. This transformation does not expend Channel Divinity and can be activated whether or not Invoke the First Powers is currently active.

For the duration, you gain the following benefits:

• Midgarsormr, Obsidaranth, Auroraphyre, and Chygreus are all invoked simultaneously.

• You gain all of their 15th-level improvements.

• Auroraphyre’s additional damage becomes 6d6.

• Your Aura of Elemental Concord provides resistance to acid, cold, fire, lightning, and thunder damage simultaneously.

• Chygreus increases your walking speed by 45 feet.

• After applying Chygreus’s increase, you gain a flying speed equal to your walking speed and can hover.

• At the beginning of each of your turns, you regain 20 hit points, up to your hit point maximum, provided you have at least 1 hit point.

• Your body radiates bright white light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet.

Within the radiance, four images continually appear and disappear: a dragon beneath an aurora, a lion-turtle beneath a mountain, a phoenix within the flame, and a white coeurl running upon the wind.

Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.