Oath of Orion

Paladins that take the Oath of Orion become knights in his holy name, seeking to keep the worlds of the living and the dead separate, hunting those that attempt to break the boundary betwixt the two.  The undead, their necromancer masters, liches, and simply that which should not be are your prey in your never ending quest to protect the realm of the living.  Dreams become weapons, allowing you to seek out and haunt those that violate the sanctity of the living realms.  Reverence for life is balanced with reverence for the dead, whom you see as memories of former lives; memories that are to be treated with respect and honor.  Orion's knights wear the colors of justice, honesty, and bravery: pale blue, rich silver, and bright orange; they typically disguise themselves in dark, ragged robes until they are ready to reveal themselves to their foes.  

Core Tenets

Balance: Orion maintains balance in the universe; the undead are an element of chaos that tip the Orion's scales out of balance.  Knowledge of violations against the sanctity of life and death compels you into action, hunting your prey without remorse.

Corruption: Necromancy is an abhorrence to be excised and extinguished--you may not willingly use spells or receive a beneficial effect from the Necromancy college of magic.  Those who commit or are the product of necromancy, however, must be purged from the realm of the living.

Finality: Death is an ending not to be questioned--resurrection is an abomination against the laws of the universe and a torture forced upon those who have passed beyond.  

Respect: You are at one with death, knowing it comes for you and everything that lives, but you hold the natural progression of life and death as hallowed and will not kill without ultimate need.  If you must slay a living creature, you must pray to Orion for forgiveness for violating the sanctity of life.  You view unnecessary bloodshed and violence as heresy, as spitting in the face of the universe.

Oath Spell List

Orion deepens your knowledge of the universe and its inner workings, granting you access to new spells as you progress in levels.

Once you gain access to an oath spell, you always have it prepared. Oath spells don’t count against the number of spells you can prepare each day.

If you gain an oath spell that doesn’t appear on the paladin spell list, the spell is nonetheless a paladin spell for you.

Paladin Lvl	Spells
3rd	bane, hunters mark
5th	zone of truth, suggestion
9th	dispel magic, spirit guardians
13th	banishment, dimension door
17th	hallow, scrying

 

Additional Proficiency--Constitution

Consecrated by Orion's Oath, your body is a temple in function and form.

Channel Divinity

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

Abjure Enemy

• Abjure Enemy. As an action, you present your holy symbol and speak a prayer of denunciation, using your Channel Divinity. Choose one creature within 60 feet of you that you can see. That creature must make a Wisdom saving throw, unless it is immune to being frightened. Fiends and undead have disadvantage on this saving throw.

On a failed save, the creature is frightened for 1 minute or until it takes any damage. While frightened, the creature’s speed is 0, and it can’t benefit from any bonus to its speed.

On a successful save, the creature’s speed is halved for 1 minute or until the creature takes any damage.

Exorcist Weapon

• As an action, you can imbue a weapon that you are holding with faint radiant energy using your Channel Divinity. For 1 minute, the weapon deals an additional 1d6 radiant damage, emits dim blue light in a 20-foot radius, and is considered magical for the purposes of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical damage. Enemies hit by the weapon cannot turn invisible. You can end this effect on your turn as part of any other action. If you are no longer carrying this weapon or if you fall unconscious, the effect ends immediately.

The extra damage increases to 2d6 at 9th level and 3d6 at 17th level.

Cautionary Nightmare

The Orion Knight warns of their prey of their coming through recurring nightmares. They do so in hopes that these violators against Orion's plan might still be diverted from their cursed path, avoiding the knight's holy wrath.

Starting at 3rd level, once per day you may cast Dream as if it were in your spell list without expending a spell slot. The creature targeted must either be one you have knowledge of or suspect has performed necromancy; or has desecrated a known burial site that you have visited.  If the creature targeted is not guilty of the suspected crime, the spell automatically fails and you become aware of the creature's innocence. Once used, you may not use this ability again until you have finished a long rest.

Aura of Orion

Starting at 7th level, as a bonus action you may activate an aura of pale blue light around you while silver mist begins to fall in curtains from the gaps and folds of your armor and robes.  Undead and fiends within a 10-foot radius around you glow orange and must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell DC or become turned for 1 round--after which, they remain frightened of you until they pass another wisdom saving throw or become damaged.  Turned creatures must spend their move retreating as far away from you as possible and cannot voluntarily move closer to you. They may only take the Dash or Dodge actions if they can't move away.  You may use a bonus action to end this effect.

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

Violation Violator

Starting at 15th level, you are immune to charm or possession effects.

As an action, you can remove the charm effect from a creature you're touching by making the charmer roll a Charisma saving throw against your Spell Save DC. If the charmer fails, the charm effect is removed; if the charmer succeeds, the charmed character remains charmed by the charmer.

You may exorcise a possessed creature that you touch by making the enemy roll a Wisdom saving throw against your Spell Save DC. If the save is failed, the possessor takes 2d10 radiant damage and leaves the possessed body; if succeeded, both you and the possessed character take 2d10 radiant damage and the possession does not end.

Aspect of Orion

Starting at 20th level, your eyes emit a faint blue smoke, forever marking you as a Knight of Orion.

Extraplanar and undead now find it difficult to remain in your very presence. As an action, you may activate Orion's Aspect and, for 1 hour, you gain the following benefits:

• A thick mist surrounds you and grants you a flying speed of 60 feet.
• Fey, Fiend, and Undead that are affected by frightened status within 30 feet of you must make a Constitution saving throw or take 4d10 radiant damage.
• Fey, Fiend, and Undead have disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures within 30 feet of you.

After activating this aura, the paladin cannot do so again until they finish a long rest.