Base Class: Paladin
The Oath of the Frostmaiden is an esoteric oath, taken by followers of Auril who pay their tribute by offering her the corpses of those who defy her and wish to see the end of winter. Paladins of Auril seek to embody winter's wrath to its fullest extent. Clad in pallid furs laid over their armor, these snowbound warriors seek to maintain the eternal winter that hangs over the frozen north.
Oath Tenets
The tenets to the Oath of the Frostmaiden are taken from four tablets held deep within Auril's ice clad fortress, Grimskalle. Her faith is one of brutal individualism, as is made apparent by her oath.
Cruelty. “Compassion makes you vulnerable. Let cruelty be the knife that keeps your enemies at bay.”
Endurance. “Exist as long as you can, by whatever means you can. Only by enduring can you outlast your enemies.”
Isolation. “In solitude you can understand and harness your full potential. Depending on others makes you weak.”
Preservation. “Every flake of snow is unique, and that which is unique must be preserved.”
Channel Divinity
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.
Winter’s Wrath. You can use an action to invoke your Channel Divinity to invest your presence with the ancient power of Auril. As an action, you can choose a number of creatures you can see within 30 feet of you, up to a number equal to half your Charisma modifier rounded up (minimum of one creature). For 1 minute, all the chosen creatures have disadvantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws.
Wild Shape. You can use an action to invoke your Channel Divinity to magically assume the shape of one of the following beasts:
At 15th level, you unlock additional beast shapes:
Giant Owl, Dire Wolf, or Giant Elk
You can stay in a beast shape for a number of hours equal to half your paladin level (rounded down). You then revert to your normal form. You can revert to your normal form earlier by using a bonus action on your turn. You automatically revert if you fall unconscious, drop to 0 hit points, or die.
While you are transformed, the following rules apply:
- Your game statistics are replaced by the statistics of the beast, but you retain your alignment, personality, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. You also retain all of your skill and saving throw proficiencies, in addition to gaining those of the creature. If the creature has the same proficiency as you and the bonus in its stat block is higher than yours, use the creature’s bonus instead of yours. If the creature has any legendary or lair actions, you can’t use them.
- When you transform, you assume the beast’s hit points and Hit Dice. When you revert to your normal form, you return to the number of hit points you had before you transformed. However, if you revert as a result of dropping to 0 hit points, any excess damage carries over to your normal form. For example, if you take 10 damage in animal form and have only 1 hit point left, you revert and take 9 damage. As long as the excess damage doesn’t reduce your normal form to 0 hit points, you aren’t knocked unconscious.
- You can’t cast spells, and your ability to speak or take any action that requires hands is limited to the capabilities of your beast form. Transforming doesn’t break your concentration on a spell you’ve already cast, however, or prevent you from taking actions that are part of a spell, such as call lightning, that you’ve already cast.
- You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other source and can use them if the new form is physically capable of doing so. However, you can’t use any of your special senses, such as darkvision, unless your new form also has that sense.
- You choose whether your equipment falls to the ground in your space, merges into your new form, or is worn by it. Worn equipment functions as normal, but the DM decides whether it is practical for the new form to wear a piece of equipment, based on the creature’s shape and size. Your equipment doesn’t change size or shape to match the new form, and any equipment that the new form can’t wear must either fall to the ground or merge with it. Equipment that merges with the form has no effect until you leave the form.
Oath Spells
You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.
Oath of the Frostmaiden Spells
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|---|---|
|
3rd |
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5th |
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9th |
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13th |
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17th |
Snowblind
Beginning at 7th level, you can interpose cold light between yourself and an attacking enemy. When you are attacked by a creature within 30 feet of you that you can see, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll, causing pale blue light to flare before the attacker before it hits or misses. If the attack misses, they take 1d8 cold damage. An attacker that can’t be blinded is immune to this feature.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (a minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Formshifter
At 15th level, you unlock additional beast shapes:
Giant Owl, Dire Wolf, or Giant Elk
Additionally, you can activate Channel Divinity: Wild Shape as a bonus action.
Champion of Winter
At 20th level, you can assume the form of an ancient force of winter's fury, taking on an appearance which resembles the Frostmaiden herself.
Using your action, you undergo a transformation. For 1 minute, you gain the following benefits:
- You emanate an aura of permafrost in a 30-foot radius. The first time any enemy creature enters the aura or starts its turn there during a battle, the creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or gain a level of exhaustion. If a creature dies as a result of this exhaustion, their remains are completely frozen over.
- You have immunity to cold damage.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.
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