Oath of Warding

You have sworn an Oath to protect, to guard, you cannot, you will not, let this evil walk free. Paladins of warding act as guards of powerful, imprisoned things. Perhaps you watch the walls of a border fortress for enemy incursion. You may they guard an unspeakable imprisoned evil, or a chaotic enigma. You could watch over a child cursed with immense and dangerous power. Warding paladins may go off to find a relic capable of destroying a Ward, or a spell to contain one. In very rare cases, when the Ward of a Paladin has escaped, they may hunt them down. Whatever the case, these Paladins take their duty very seriously.

The Watcher and the Watched

The target of a Paladin's guard is called a Ward. Wards very from order to order, but usually one order will guard one ward. Orders that guard very powerful Wards may also guard the effects and artifacts created by the ward, for instance the Knights of the Blinded Eye watch over a Beholder, but also the two Death's Kisses it created. Most Paladins of Warding are resourceful, and will experiment with different forms of capture and guarding. Salt circles, holy symbols, incense, chanting, puzzles, traps, illusions, mundanities, whatever works. Perhaps the aforementioned Knights of the Blinded Eye keep the Beholder in check by convincing it that the whole world is inside it's cell, or that they are its servants. The Knights of the Western Meridian, who guard the border of a powerful country may spread misinformation of their country's poverty and crime rate to dissuade attempts to enter. You may roll on the Wards of Paladins Table or create your own ward. Most Wards come in three categories, humanoid, aberration, location.

1. You guard a demented Cloud Giant, confused and dangerous in it's old age. (humanoid)
2. You guard a Necromancer, who has set spells to turn herself into a Lich if she dies. (humanoid)
3. You guard a young boy, he has been granted great power by Asmodeus, akin to that of a high level warlock. (humanoid)
4. You guard a Beholder, to entertain it, it's guardsmen must tell it stories and fairytales. (aberration)
5. You guard an Aboleth who has been enchanted into a deep slumber by a divine power. (aberration)
6. You guard an Elder Brain, contained in complex, deteriorating, Gith sigils, that require constant maintenance. (aberration)
7. You guard a manor once owned by a great lord, his spirit, and those of his subjects haunt the place. (location)
8. You guard a planer portal to Abyss, minor demons constantly escape from it, only to meet your steel. (location)

 

TENANTS OF WARDING

Though the exact words and strictures of the Oath of Warding vary, paladins of this oath share these tenets.

Guard. Watch over your ward. Protect it from outside incursion, and inside escape.

Protect. If your ward escapes, immediately recontain it, keep it from spreading destruction at all costs.

Honor. Do not torture or harm your ward. Imprisonment is punishment enough. If you must kill your ward to save others, do so, but be sure of what you are doing, and make the death as painless as possible.

Clearity. Do not harbor hatred for your ward, but to not bond with it either. You are to guard, not judge. Keep soporifics and other substances that can hamper your mind away.

Channel Divinity

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

Guard the Gates. As an action you can summon a spectral Guardian to an unoccupied space that you can see within 100 ft. where it remains for 10 minutes, or until you dismiss it as an action. The Guardian is visible as a shimmering cloud, a ghostly sapling, or another Medium form you choose. When the Guardian is summoned it creates a 15ft. radius sphere around itself. You are aware of all creatures within the sphere, as long as they are detectable through divination, and know their type and size. Your Guardian has a passive perception equal to your Charisma score, has darkvision and blindsight within its sphere and can relay information to you telepathically. As a bonus action, you can make a Wisdom (Insight) check on a creature in the sphere, that your guardian can see versus their Charisma (Deception) check. If you succeed you have advantage on all weapon attacks until the creature leaves the sphere, or the effect ends.

Night Watch. As a reaction you can mark any creature who has moved, or mundane object that you can see. If the target is a creature it must make a Charisma saving throw versus your spell save DC. On a failed save, or instantly in the case of an object, the target is marked by an invisable Spectral Watcher for 8 hours, or until you dismiss it as a Bonus Action. The Watcher relays the Target's location and status to you telepathically. The creature is unaware of the Watcher , but the Watcher registers to spells like detect magic and detect evil and good as a Celestial, Fey, or Fiend (your choice) and can be dispelled by dispel magic or remove curse. While marked by a Watcher you know a target's cardinal direction from you (north, east, south, west) it's direction in miles, if it is affected by conditions, and its health (Healthy, bloodied, unconscious). If an object is destroyed or a creature's brain is destroyed the Watcher relays the destructive force (crushed by a rock, destroyed by magic) then the effect ends.

You may only have 1 watcher active at a time, summoning a second watcher dispels the first.

Oath Spells

You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.

Oath of Devotion Spells

PALADIN LEVEL	SPELLS
3rd	absorb elements, entangle
5th	arcane lock, See Below
9th	slow, wind wall
13th	compulsion, guardian of faith
17th	passwall, See Below,

 

The spells you gain at the 5th and 17th level depend on your Ward.

 If your Ward doesn't fit in the categories of humanoid, aberration, or location, speak to your DM about what spells would be appropriate for your ward. Keep in mind these spells are only granted at the 5th and 17th levels as 2nd and 5th level spells.

2nd Level Warding Spells

Starting at the 5th level you are granted an Oath spall based on what you are sworn to ward. Hold person if your ward is humanoid. Calm emotions if your ward is an aberration. See invisibility if your ward is a location. 

5th Level Warding Spells

Starting at the 17th level you are granted an Oath spall based on what you are sworn to ward. Dominate person if your ward is humanoid. Greater restoration if your ward is an aberration. Hallow if your ward is a location. 

Aura of Captiveity

Starting at 7th level, all creatures hostile to you, within 10ft. have their walking, climbing, and swimming speed halved while you are conscious.

At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet and the effect also also affects flying and burrowing.

Awake and Alert

Beginning at 15th level, you cannot be blinded, charmed, deafened, or frightened by any means. Additionally you can not be surprised, you do not need sleep, and you gain a +5 bonus to passive perception.

Form of the Guardian

At 20th level, as an action, become a mystic guardian. For 1 minute, your Aura of Captivity extends and empowers, causing all hostile creatures within 60ft. of you have their movement speed reduced to 5 ft.

As an action you try to cause a creature you can see within 60 ft. of you to become petrified. The creature must make a Constitution saving throw, versus your spell save DC, on a failure they are petrified. The creature can repeat its saving throw at the end of its turns. Alternatively, you can you can select one object that can fit in a 10-foot cube, and petrify it instead. Either type of petrified targets return to normal once your transformation ends, a creature can repeat it's saving throw at the end of it's turn, but has disadvantage if it is within 60ft. of you and you can see it. 

You may use this feature once, and regain the ability to do so after a long rest.