TEXT: P
  aladins are undisPuted heroes and 
  champions of noble causes. These brave 
  knights walk a lonely road, maligned for 
  being “too uptight,” or “Lawful Stupid” by their 
  less scrupulous companions. Yet despite their 
  renowned moral code, paladins can still succumb 
  EN World EN5IDER | A Paladin’s Dark Vows
  a Paladin’s
  Dark Vows
   
  writing Josh Gentry
   
  art Scott Harshbringer
   
  editing James Haeck
   
  layout Eric Life-Putnam
  EN World EN5IDER | A Paladin’s Dark Vows
  
  A Paladin’s Dark Vows | EN World EN5IDER
  of neglecting their own conscience and upkeep. 
  These paladins are the type to commit atrocities 
  in the name of Good, perform seemingly-virtuous 
  tasks for a secret Evil, or wear themselves to the 
  breaking point.
  d10 Flaw
  1
  I always obey my superiors, even if it seems 
  wrong.
  2
  My work leaves me too exhausted for prayer 
  and other spiritual activities.
  3
  “Humility” means never using my full potential.
  4
  I make more promises than I can keep.
  5
  When my honor is questioned, I punish myself.
  6
  When I am upset, I cannot put my thoughts into 
  words.
  7
  I am an underling to a greater member of my 
  order; I prefer to let him make big decisions.
  8
  When someone speaks against my faith or 
  order, I threaten to duel them.
  9
  I resent my role in my faith or order, but I’m too 
  afraid of them to show disloyalty.
  10
  I am uncomfortable with others unless our 
  relationship is formally defined.
  Naïveté
  Naive paladins are unfamiliar with the ways of 
  the world. Their actions are well intended, but in 
  their haste for justice they bite off more than they 
  can chew. Those who lack diligence or patience 
  may find themselves accessory to a villain’s plot. 
  Soft-hearted paladins will someday discover the 
  brutality of their profession, and the wisdom to 
  accept that is hard-won.
  d10 Flaw
  1
  I think everyone wants to be a loyal subject of 
  the law, and I must teach them how.
  2
  I find the teachings of my oath, faith, or order 
  confusing and disorienting.
  3
  Critical thinking hurts! I avoid it by reciting 
  catechisms. 
  4
  I am guided on the path of righteousness, so 
  my plans needn’t account for failure.
  to the darkness that tempts all living creatures. 
  The following roleplaying prompts and class 
  features are perfect for Evil paladins, but can be 
  used by any paladin who chooses to stray from 
  the straight and narrow path.
  The Doors of Darkness
  Darkness enters a paladin’s heart through the 
  flaws in his or her personality. Flaws are prompts 
  for exploring how the paladin goes astray. They 
  are the corruptions of the proper paladin virtues 
  of bravery, loyalty, and wisdom.
  Aggression
  Aggressive paladins have a penchant for domi-
  nance and destruction. Many suffer wounds of the 
  heart and mind. A wrathful paladin’s blood boils 
  so hot that they lose their divine virtues in a haze 
  of fury.
  d10 Flaw
  1
  Few things satisfy my sadistic urges as well as 
  smiting my enemies.
  2
  I take my anger out on others, even if they are 
  not personally to blame.
  3
  In the fight against Evil, collateral damage is 
  the sign of a worthy battle.
  4
  Once I get angry, I cannot stop myself from 
  yelling. 
  5
  I slap the recipients of my Lay on Hands for 
  their deficiencies.
  6
  It excites me to toy with foes that I’ve cornered 
  or challenged to a duel.
  7
  I lay awake at night thinking about how I will 
  kill my enemies.
  8
  I am righteous. Therefore, I never compromise.
  9
  I show people my affection by boxing their ears.
  10
  Only the weak confide their worries. Only the 
  false confess their sins.
  Blind Loyalty 
  To dutiful paladins, service and obedience are 
  the source of comfort and justification. However, 
  they risk over-burdening themselves to the point 
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  EN World EN5IDER | A Paladin’s Dark Vows
  d10 Flaw
  5
  I rarely interact with people outside my faith or 
  community.
  6
  Nobody understands my burden; I regularly tell 
  them so.
  7
  I’d rather play dice or cards than pray.
  8
  My prayers are so loud and fervent, I often 
  forget about my surroundings.
  9
  Even in my dreams, I cannot escape the 
  carnage I wreak in the name of virtue.
  10
  I find no peace in quiet moments; my thoughts 
  return to the lives I couldn’t save.
  New Class Features
  Paladins of any alignment may take these fea-
  tures. Their power comes not from Good or Evil, 
  but from the scars of broken hearts and troubled 
  minds.
  Bloody Hands
  This optional class feature replaces Lay on Hands. 
   
  Many paladins are holy healers, but your soul 
  yearns to kill. You have a pool of murderous 
  power that replenishes when you take a long rest. 
  With that pool, you can deal extra damage equal 
  to your paladin level times 5. Whenever you deal 
  or expend damage from this pool, you also take 
  half that much damage.
   
  When you hit a creature and deal damage, you 
  can draw power from the pool to deal extra dam-
  age to that creature, up to the maximum amount 
  remaining in your pool. You can apply this extra 
  damage after you see your damage roll result. 
   
  Alternatively, you can expend 5 extra damage 
  from your pool to wreath your weapon in murder-
  ous energy, allowing your next weapon attack 
  to ignore its target’s damage resistances and 
  immunities. 
  Oath of the Purge
  The Oath of the Purge dictates that impurity be 
  cleansed by fire. This impurity may take many 
  forms, such as a cult to an Evil god, a plague of 
  EN World EN5IDER | A Paladin’s Dark Vows
  
  A Paladin’s Dark Vows | EN World EN5IDER
  Oath of the Purge Spells
  Paladin 
  Level
  Spells
  3
  burning hands, sanctuary
  5
  scorching ray, zone of truth
  9
  fireball, protection from energy
  13
  aura of purity, wall of fire 
  17
  flame strike, disintegrating smite
  Channel Divinity
  You gain two Channel Divinity options:
   
  Searing Weapon. As an action, you can imbue 
  one weapon that you are holding with elemental 
  fire, using your Channel Divinity. For 1 minute, 
  you add your Charisma modifier to attack rolls 
  made with that weapon (a minimum bonus of 
  +1), and change the weapon’s damage type to fire. 
  The weapon emits bright light in a 20-foot radius 
  and dim light 20 feet beyond that. If the weapon 
  is not already magical, it becomes magical for the 
  duration.
   
  You can end this effect on your turn as part of 
  any other action. The effect ends early if you are 
  no longer holding or carrying this weapon, or if 
  you fall unconscious. 
   
  Wild Fire. As an action, you let out a mighty 
  roar which causes fires to jump and spread wildly, 
  using your Channel Divinity. Each burning object 
  within 25 feet of you flares with increased energy. 
  Creatures adjacent to or sharing a space with an 
  affected burning object must make a Dexterity 
  saving throw. If a creature fails its saving throw, 
  it takes fire damage equal to 1d6 + your paladin 
  level and catches on fire, taking 1d6 fire damage 
  at the start of each of its turns. If the target or 
  an adjacent creatures uses an action to put out 
  the flames, or the fire is otherwise doused, the 
  ongoing damage ends. On a successful save, the 
  creature takes half damage and doesn’t catch fire.
  Razing Flames
  Starting at 7th level, your spells and features that 
  deal fire damage over an area of effect also burn 
  objects caught in the conflagration. You ignite 
  Obtaining Bloody Hands
  Paladins who already have the Lay on Hands 
  feature may replace it with Bloody Hands by per-
  forming a ritual over the course of three hours, 
  which can be done during a long rest. During the 
  ritual, the paladin anoints their body or weapon 
  in blood—be it that of a sacrifice, a fallen foe, or 
  their own. Paladins with Bloody Hands are not 
  always evil, but are often filled with hate and 
  rage. They frequently neglect other ideals to sate 
  their thirst for blood.
  undeath, the invasion of a monstrous war band—
  or perhaps less overt threats, like a duke who 
  refuses to bow to your glorious cause. Paladins 
  of the Purge adorn their clothes and armor with 
  imagery of dragons and flames, to serve as both 
  warning and promise. Their reputations as purg-
  ers, red knights, and flame-lords proceed them 
  wherever they travel.
  Tenets of the Purge
  Though the nature of any particular Purge varies 
  by incident, the tenets serve as self-perpetuating, 
  self-enforcing guidelines to annihilate the foe. 
  Paladins who uphold these tenets are often para-
  noid and reactionary.
   
  Scorch the Earth. If I see any opportunity to 
  remove evil, it is my duty to do so. I never allow a 
  vanquished enemy to threaten me again.
   
  Seek Out Contamination. To protect the pure, 
  all possible agents of impurity must be annihi-
  lated. I know that not all threats are apparent, and 
  that nobody should fear me unless they too are a 
  threat.
   
  Foster Purity. I am as the doctor who cauter-
  izes the wound. When I am not on the front lines, 
  it is my duty to serve the pure, the brave, and the 
  healing.
  Oath Spells
  You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.
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  and destroy any unattended, non-magical objects 
  caught in such areas of effect if the object’s break 
  DC is less than your spell save DC.
  Piercing Flames
  Beginning at 15th level, when you use your Divine 
  Smite, the target must succeed on a Constitution 
  saving throw. On a failure, the target becomes 
  vulnerable to fire for one minute. If the target is 
  resistant to fire, it instead loses that resistance. If 
  the target is immune to fire, it instead becomes 
  resistant.
  Burning Path
  At 20th level, as an action, you can wreath your-
  self in flames. This wreath of flames lasts for 1 
  minute. It extends in a 10-foot radius, emanates 
  bright light in a 25-foot radius, and dim light 25 
  feet beyond that. Whenever a hostile creature 
  enters the wreath of flame for the first time on its 
  turn or starts its turn there, the creature takes 40 
  fire damage.
   
  In addition, for the duration, you have immu-
  nity to fire damage and resistance to cold damage.
   
  Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again 
  until you finish a long rest.
  Oath of Supremacy
  Taking the Oath of Supremacy is a declaration 
  that your cause is the one, the true, and the only; 
  to use the word “best” would imply a sense of 
  competition. Paladins may proclaim the moral 
  supremacy of any single cause, such as their faith, 
  ideal, leader, movement, order, race, or sect. Such 
  paladins indicate their elite status by donning the 
  telltale emblems of their cause—be it their nation-
  al colors, their order’s sigil, or their leader’s dress 
  code. Outsiders refer to them as supremacists or 
  gold knights, but these paladins would prefer to 
  be greeted as brothers and sisters of the faith.
  Tenets of Supremacy
  The tenets of the Oath of Supremacy vary by 
  paladin and cause, but all guide the paladin to be 
  an elite entity in an inferior world. 
   
  Power. Assert your superiority through unwav-
  ering confidence and domination.
   
  Self-Assurance. Your actions are just, and you 
  need not answer for them. However you treat oth-
  ers, that is what they deserve.
   
  All for the Cause. For the community of your 
  cause, you must serve, sacrifice, and obey.
  Oath Spells
  You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.
  Oath of Supremacy Spells
  Paladin 
  Level
  Spells
  3
  command, heroism
  5
  enhance ability, hold person
  9
  fear, haste
  13
  banishment, stoneskin
  17
  circle of power, dominate person
  Channel Divinity
  You gain two Channel Divinity options:
   
  Invoke Fealty. You can use your Channel 
  Divinity to compel a foe to kneel before you. As 
  an action, you point to a creature within 10 feet 
  of you, filling it with fear and awe. The creature 
  must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or fall 
  prone, groveling. While groveling, the creature’s 
  speed is reduced to 0 and it cannot take actions or 
  reactions. The target has advantage on its saving 
  throw if it has more hit points than you. The crea-
  ture repeats the saving throw at the end of each of 
  its turns. On a success, the effect ends.
   
  Vow of Disdain. As a bonus action, you can 
  use your Channel Divinity to utter a vow of dis-
  dain against a creature you can see within 10 feet 
  of you. The vow shrouds you in warding energy 
  for one minute, or until you or the target drop to 
  0 hit points or fall unconscious. While affected by 
  your vow of disdain, the creature has disadvan-
  tage on attack rolls and ability checks against you.
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  Aura of Certitude
  Starting at 7th level, you and all friendly crea-
  tures within 10 feet gain a bonus to Charisma 
  checks and Charisma saving throws equal to your 
  Strength modifier (minimum of +1). 
   
  At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 
  30 ft. 
  Soul of Disdain
  Starting at 15th level, you need not waste your 
  time to deal with the foe denounced by your Vow 
  of Disdain. When a creature affected by your Vow 
  of Disdain makes an attack, they instantly take 
  radiant damage equal to 1d10 + your Charisma 
  modifier.
  Aspect of Perfection
  At 20th level, you can ascend to a more perfect 
  form. As you approach perfection, you emanate a 
  holy glow, and gusts of ethereal wind follow your 
  movements. Your body itself may also change 
  by adding muscle mass, healing from old scars, 
  aging to become more proud and intimidating, or 
  returning to the beauty and power of youth.
   
  Using your action, you undergo a transforma-
  tion. For 1 minute, you gain the following benefits:
   ‣ You gain resistance to all damage types, 
  except psychic damage.
   ‣ You gain the benefits of the haste spell, and 
  do not have to maintain concentration on it.
  Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again 
  until you finish a long rest.
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