Oath of Truth

The Oath of Truth is the path taken by paladins who follow gods of knowledge and truth. These holy warriors are dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, fighting for what is true and right. They believe that every secret and deceit serves the forces of evil, and that to tell a lie is to yield power to those forces. Their holy mission is to preserve and distribute knowledge, to unmask keepers of secrets, and blind their enemies with the light of truth and reason. They are builders of libraries and schools, collectors of ancient lore, and seekers of lost secrets.

 

No advantage can be gained by engaging in deception. Ioun teaches that telling a lie subjugates one's own mind to the delusion of the fools one succeeds in fooling, making oneself their servant. To lie is to wage war on reality, condemning oneself from then on to fakery consistent with the lie. Therefore, we must always tell the truth, especially to our enemies.

— Jered Sepret, Paladin of Ioun

 

Tenets of Truth

A paladin who takes the Oath of Truth must adhere to these tenets.

• Honesty. Never lie, cheat, or deceive. Let your word be your bond.
• Integrity. Seek the perfection of your mind and body by bringing reason, perception, and emotion into harmony within yourself.
• Candor. Do not keep secrets. Always speak the real truth, even when it's dangerous to do so.
• Pursuit of knowledge. Accumulate, preserve, and distribute knowledge in all forms. Shine the light of truth on every mystery of the universe.

Channel Divinity

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

Divine Acuity. You can use your Channel Divinity to augment your senses with divine insight. As a bonus action, you grant yourself advantage on all Intelligence-based and Wisdom-based ability checks for the next 10 minutes.

Compelled Testimony. As an action, you use your Channel Divinity to ask a question of a creature that can hear you. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, it must spend its next turn answering your question as honestly, clearly, and completely as it can. It also cannot take actions or reactions until the end of your next turn.

Oath Spells

You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.

Oath of Devotion Spells

Light of Truth

Starting at 7th level, you constantly emanate an aura of light while you are conscious. The aura extends 30 feet from you in every direction, but not through total cover. You are instantly aware of any deliberate falsehood or lie spoken by any creature touched by this light. The light is bright light out to 15 feet and dim light for an additional 15 feet.

At 18th level, this aura extends to 60 feet, and the light it sheds is bright light out to 30 feet and dim light for an additional 30 feet.

Sight Beyond Seeing

Starting at 15th level, you have Truesight within your Aura of Truth.

Avatar of Truth

At 20th level, as an action, you can become an avatar of truth, gaining the following abilities for 1 minute:

• Your Aura of Truth extends out to 120 feet.
• Bright light shines from you in a 60-foot radius, and dim light shines 60 feet beyond that.
• You have resistance to psychic damage.
• Creatures of your choice touched by the light of your Aura of Truth have advantage on ability checks and saving throws based on Wisdom and Intelligence.
• You can cast identify, as an action, requiring no spell slot or components.
• You can cast Comprehend Languages, Detect Thoughts, and Tongues at will, requiring no components and no spell slots.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.