Oath of the Jester

Paladins who swear the Oath of the Jester understand how much a cruel ruler depends on being taken seriously. They interrupt grand speeches, expose comfortable lies, and make powerful people answer questions they would rather dismiss. Sometimes a joke is enough. Sometimes the sword has to follow.

Their performances have a purpose. A jester makes a target of themselves so someone else can escape. A mocking bow might hide a feint, while an illusion sends a blade through empty air. The bells on their armor announce that they are still standing.

Some served in royal courts or traveled with a troupe before taking their oath. Others put on the mask after a loss they rarely discuss. Their humor can be warm, biting, or unsettling. A quiet smile behind a closed visor suits the oath just as well as a room full of laughter.

What matters is who the joke serves. These paladins use their gifts to confront cruelty and give people a little room to breathe. They take that duty seriously, even when nobody can tell.

Tenets of the Jester

Mock the Cruel. A title does not excuse cruelty. Expose those who hurt people and expect their rank to protect them.

Protect the Audience. Never purchase a laugh with the suffering of someone who cannot defend themselves. When trouble comes, give it a reason to look at you.

Keep Your Word. Your act may be full of tricks. A promise freely given must still mean something.

Leave Room for Joy. Learn when to laugh and when to sit quietly beside someone. Grief deserves patience. Help people find their way back to the things they love.

Level 3: Oath Spells

When you reach a Paladin level listed in the Oath of the Jester Spells table, you thereafter always have the listed spells prepared. They count as Paladin spells for you and do not count against the number of spells you can prepare with your Paladin Spellcasting feature.

Use the 5.5e versions of these spells. Casting them requires spell slots as normal.

Oath of the Jester Spells

Paladin Level	Spells
3	Disguise Self, Tasha’s Hideous Laughter
5	Mirror Image, Misty Step
9	Hypnotic Pattern, Major Image
13	Dimension Door, Greater Invisibility
17	Mislead, Seeming

Level 3: Jester Training

You gain proficiency in the Performance skill. If you already have this proficiency, you gain proficiency in your choice of Acrobatics or Deception instead.

You learn the Minor Illusion and Vicious Mockery cantrips. They count as Paladin spells for you, and Charisma is your spellcasting ability for them. Use their 5.5e versions, with their normal casting times and components.

Acrobatics

You gain proficiency in the Acrobatics skill. You can choose this option only if you already have Performance proficiency from another source.

Deception

You gain proficiency in the Deception skill. You can choose this option only if you already have Performance proficiency from another source.

Performance

You gain proficiency in the Performance skill. Choose this option if you do not already have Performance proficiency.

Level 3: Channel Divinity: Oath of the Jester

You gain Captive Audience and False Exit as additional options for your Paladin Channel Divinity. Each option expends one use of that class feature. Neither requires Concentration. The save DC for Captive Audience is your Paladin spell save DC.

Your Paladin Channel Divinity pool has two uses, increasing to three at Paladin level 11. You regain one expended use on a Short Rest and all expended uses on a Long Rest. These options share that pool with Divine Sense and, when you gain it, Abjure Foes. The subclass grants no additional uses.

Paladin spell save DC = 8 + your Proficiency Bonus + your Charisma modifier.

Captive Audience

During the Attack action | 30 feet | One use of Channel Divinity

Once on each of your turns, when you take the Attack action, you can expend one use of your Channel Divinity before making an attack as part of that action. Choose a number of creatures up to your Charisma modifier, with a minimum of one creature. Each target must be within 30 feet of you, be visible to you, and be able to see or hear you. Using this feature does not replace an attack.

Each target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, it is distracted by your divine performance for 1 minute. While an affected target can see you, it has Disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures other than you.

An affected target repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. The effect also ends on a target if it ends its turn more than 60 feet from you. It ends on all targets if you have the Incapacitated condition or use Captive Audience again.

A creature can be affected by only one Captive Audience at a time; a new application replaces the previous one. This effect does not impose the Charmed or Frightened condition, and a target does not need to understand your language. It does not force a target to attack or move.

False Exit

Reaction | 30 feet | One use of Channel Divinity

When a creature you can see targets another willing creature you can see within 30 feet of you with an attack that requires an attack roll, you can take a Reaction and expend one use of your Channel Divinity before that roll is made.

You and the willing creature magically teleport, exchanging positions. Each of you must be able to occupy the other's space, and you must be a valid target for the triggering attack after the exchange. If these requirements are not met, you cannot use this option.

You become the target of the triggering attack, which is then resolved against you from your new position, using the attack modifiers and any advantage or disadvantage applicable to you as its new target. Other attacks and any other targets of the triggering attack are unaffected.

Level 7: Aura of Misrule

Your Aura of Protection fills with distracting sounds and fleeting images. While that aura is active, you gain the following benefit.

Immediately after an attack misses you or a willing ally you can see in your Aura of Protection, you can take a Reaction to let the missed creature move up to 10 feet without provoking Opportunity Attacks. The movement requires no additional Reaction. This movement can be no farther than the creature's Speed, and all other movement restrictions and terrain costs apply. A creature with a Speed of 0 cannot move in this way.

This feature uses the area of your Aura of Protection, including its expansion at Paladin level 18, and is inactive while you have the Incapacitated condition. The movement it grants remains limited to 10 feet.

Level 15: The Last Laugh

You gain Resistance to Psychic damage.

When damage would reduce you to 0 Hit Points without killing you outright, you can drop to 1 Hit Point instead. You can then teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. This requires no action.

Once you prevent yourself from dropping to 0 Hit Points with this feature, you cannot do so again until you finish a Long Rest. This use is expended even if you don’t teleport. Your Resistance to Psychic damage is always available.

Level 20: Grand Masquerade

As a Bonus Action, you surround yourself with shifting masks, false silhouettes, and the distant sound of bells. The transformation lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you have the Incapacitated condition or end it voluntarily (no action required). For its duration, you gain the following benefits:

Elusive Figure. You gain a +2 bonus to AC.

Cruel Punchline. Once on each of your turns, when you hit a creature with an attack roll using a Melee weapon or an Unarmed Strike, you can deal an extra 2d8 Psychic damage to it.

Change of Scene. Once on each of your turns, you can teleport up to 10 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. This requires no action.

Once you use Grand Masquerade, you cannot 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). Restoring the use does not activate the transformation.