📖Oath of Book and Bone🦴

The Oath of Book and Bone is a dedication to the lawful practice of spellcraft, the natural order of the grave, and the fostering of love and beauty in the world. These arcane warriors seek out rogue wizards who violate the laws of magic, vile necromancers who usurp the laws of life and death, and savage raiders who despoil the beauty of civilized society, putting them to sword and spell or otherwise seeing them brought to justice. Paladins who swear this oath often pledge themselves to Wee Jas, The Ruby Sorceress, goddess of death, magic, vanity, and law. Her palace, the Cabal Macabre, is the only pale light in the black blizzard of Ocanthus, the fourth and bottom-most layer of Acheron. Wee Jas is a stern, unyielding deity, and although she is known to appear to her faithful as whatever they find most beautiful to gift them with arcane knowledge, she is just as well known for punishing those who transgress the sacred edicts governing magic, death, and civilized order with harsh, arcane retribution, and her Paladins are expected to do the same. Often known as Ruby Arbiters or Jasite Judges, these Paladins seek to enforce Wee Jas’ will wherever they roam.

Tenets of the Oath of Book and Bone

Paladins who swear the Oath of Book and Bone are dedicated to the lawful practice of spellcraft, the destruction of unlawfully created undead, and the preservation of beauty and love wherever they may be found. These arcane warriors adhere to the following tenets:

Uphold Lawful Spellcraft. Wherever spellcasters practice their arcane arts, observe and apply the laws of magic to all you encounter. Let no practitioners of magic bypass the law without swift retribution.

Still the Grave. Wherever unlawfully created undead roam, put them to rest. Many undead creatures seek to snuff out the beauty of life; cease their endless hunger for destruction.

Cultivate Love and Beauty. Wherever the potential for love or beauty is found, including your own, you must nurture it until it blossoms. Fill the world with the radiance of your immaculate presence, so that it may grow into its idealized form.

Level 3: Oath of Book and Bone Spells

Paladins who swear the Oath of Book and Bone always have the following spells prepared, once they reach the appropriate levels:

3rd. False Life, Identify

5th. Mirror Image, Silence

9th. Counterspell, Fireball

13th. Blight, Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere

17th. Bigby’s Hand, Scrying

Level 3: Channel Divinity

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

Spell Seizure. Using your Channel Divinity feature, you can rip magic out of the air as it is being cast, and then redirect the arcane energies to a target or location of your choosing. As a Reaction, whenever a creature that you can see casts a spell within 30 feet of you, and it is of a level no higher than your Proficiency Bonus, you may attempt to seize the spell and redirect it. Make an Intelligence (Arcana) check against a DC equal to 10 + the spell's level. On a success, you may choose new legal targets or a new point of origin for the spell, as appropriate. The spell continues to use the original spellcaster’s spell attack bonus/spell save DC. If the redirected spell requires concentration, you may choose to concentrate on it as if you had cast it. If you do not, it lasts until the end of your next turn. The spell otherwise functions as normal.

Seize Undead. Using your Channel Divinity feature, you can assert your authority over the restless dead, causing them to be more susceptible to destruction. As a Bonus Action, you command all undead around you to be still. Each undead creature of your choice within 30 feet must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or be Restrained until the start of your next turn.

Level 3: Jasite Presence

Starting at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the Arcana skill. If you are already proficient in the Arcana skill, you may choose another skill from the Paladin or Wizard skill list. You gain proficiency in the chosen skill. In addition, choose one of the following skills: Intimidation, Persuasion, or Performance. You gain proficiency in the chosen skill. If you are already proficient in the aforementioned skills, you may choose another skill from the Paladin or Wizard skill list. You gain proficiency in  the chosen skill.

Level 7: Aura of Arcane Authority

Your Oath grants you an aura of authority over spells cast near you, as well as protection from violent undead. Whenever a creature that you can see within 10 feet of you casts a spell that deals damage or restores hit points, after the spell's damage or healing dice are rolled, but before the total is applied, you can use your Reaction to choose a number of damage or healing dice rolled by the spell equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one die). You then maximize or minimize the result of those dice. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Additionally, hostile undead within 10 feet of you have disadvantage on the first attack roll they make on each of their turns.

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

Level 15: Ruby Seizure

Your authority over the forces of life and death through arcane devotion have granted you the power to seize a creature’s life force and store it in a magical ruby, which you can use for various purposes. As a Bonus Action, you can place an invisible brand on one creature you can see within 30 feet of you. This brand lasts for one minute, or until the creature is reduced to 0 hit points. While branded, your successful weapon attacks against that creature deal an additional amount of force damage equal to your Charisma modifier. You can use this Bonus Action a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.

If the branded creature is reduced to 0 hit points, you can use your Reaction to crystalize its fleeing life force. A radiant, blood-red ruby appears in your empty hand or on your person. You can only have one such ruby at a time, and it crumbles to dust when you finish a Long Rest.

As long as you possess the ruby, you can expend it to produce one of the following effects:

• Arcane Retribution. When you hit a creature with an attack, you can crush the ruby as part of the attack to deal an extra 3d8 necrotic or force damage to the target.
• Nurture Beauty.  As a Bonus Action, you can crush the ruby to restore hit points equal to 2d8+ your Paladin level to a creature you can see within 30 feet of you.
• Fuel the Law. When you use your Spell Seizure or Seize Undead Channel Divinity features, you can crush the ruby as part of that same action in place of expending a use of your Channel Divinity. Once you use the ruby in this way, you may not do so again until you finish a Long Rest.

Level 20: Edge of Ocanthus

You embody the relentless judgment of Ocanthus, the deepest layer of Acheron, where the cold, unfeeling certainty of law takes the form of razor-sharp black ice. As a Bonus Action, you gain the following benefits for 1 minute:

• Ocanthus Step. As a Bonus Action on your turn, you can magically teleport up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space you can see.
• Arbiter’s Judgment. You have Advantage on attack rolls against undead creatures, as well as against any creature capable of casting a spell.
• Edict of Execution. Your weapons are momentarily encased in supernatural black ice. When you score a critical hit with a weapon attack, the target takes an extra 6d8 slashing damage. If you roll a 20 on the attack roll and the target has at least one head and has fewer than 100 hit points remaining, you cut off one of its heads. The creature dies if it can't survive without the lost head. A creature is immune to this decapitation effect if it is immune to slashing damage, doesn't have or need a head, has Legendary Actions, or the DM decides that the creature is too big for its head to be cut off with your weapon. Such a creature instead takes the extra 6d8 slashing damage from the critical hit.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Long Rest, unless you expend a 5th-level spell slot to restore your use of it.