Alternate Paladin

Paladins who swear this dark vow devote themselves fully to the advance of evil. Whether they are in league with powerful Fiends, Undead, or work alone, Blackguards are known for their cruelty, hatred of all things beautiful, and willingness to sacrifice anything or anyone to achieve their vile goals.

Blackguard Paladins are always of an evil alignment, and acting otherwise is the same as violating their Sacred Oath.

Your hatred for all things beautiful and good empowers the forces of darkness. Fiends and Undead under your Aura of Protection add your Charisma modifier to their attack rolls.

Your flesh is suffused with dark magic. You no longer need to eat, drink, or breathe, and you gain resistance to necrotic and all non-magical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.

As a bonus action, you can transform into an avatar of divine darkness. While transformed you gain the following benefits:

This transformation lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you become Unconscious or use a bonus action to end it. You can transform once per long rest at no cost, after which, you must expend a 5th-level spell slot to transform again.

Paladins who swear the Oath of Conquest seek glory through domination. Victory is not enough for these ruthless knights, they must crush their foes in body and spirit. They uphold the rule of law through iron justice, giving no quarter or mercy.

The power of your Oath emanates from you to menace your foes. Creatures of your choice within your Aura of Protection treat the area as difficult terrain. If a creature is Frightened of you, its speed is reduced to 0 while it is within your Aura.

This has no effect on creatures hidden behind total cover.

Those who dare to stand against you are punished for their hubris. Whenever a creature within your Aura of Protection damages you or forces you to make a saving throw, it takes damage equal to your Charisma modifier (a minimum of 1) of the same damage type as your Divine Smite.

As a bonus action, you can transform into an avatar of divine conquest. While transformed you gain the following benefits:

This transformation lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you become Unconscious or use a bonus action to end it. You can transform once per long rest at no cost, after which, you must expend a 5th-level spell slot to transform again.

Known as white knights, Paladins that swear this Sacred Oath are paragons of virtue, honor, and and justice. Holding themselves to the highest standards of goodness and law, they idolize the celestial angels as the perfect model. Paladins of Devotion are beacons of light in a dark world.

Your presence protects your allies from mind-altering effects. Creatures under your Aura of Protection are immune to the Charmed condition. If a Charmed creature enters your Aura, you can suspend the effect while it remains in your Aura.

The purity of your devotion to the good of others protects you from powerful outside influences. You are always under the effects of a Protection from Evil and Good spell.

As a bonus action, you can transform into an avatar of divine righteousness. While transformed you gain the benefits here:

This transformation lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you become Unconscious or use a bonus action to end it. You can transform once per long rest at no cost, after which, you must expend a 5th-level spell slot to transform again.

In the great stories, only the hero is remembered. You have sworn an Oath to become one such hero. You strive to perform mighty deeds and overcome deadly challenges, no matter the danger. You will live your life so as to be immortalized in legend.

You are always ready to act. So long as you are not surprised, you can add your Charisma modifier to your initiative rolls.

Also, at the start of your turn, you can suspend all effects of your Aura of Protection to instead gain a bonus to your speed equal to your Aura Radius. These effects last until the start of your next turn, at which point both return to normal.

The power of your presence can deflect deadly blows. When a creature under your Aura of Protection is hit by an attack, you can use a reaction to add your Charisma modifier to its Armor Class against that attack, possibly causing it to miss.

You can use this reaction a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (a minimum of once), and you regain all uses when you finish a long rest. When you have no uses left, you can expend a use of Divine Fervor to use it again.

As a bonus action, you can draw upon the legendary stories of your mighty deeds to transform into a paragon of mythical power. While transformed you gain the following benefits:

This transformation lasts for 10 minutes. It ends early if you become Unconscious or use a bonus action to end it. You can transform once per long rest at no cost, after which, you must expend a 5th-level spell slot to transform again.

Often called green knights, a Paladin who swears this Sacred Oath is sworn to watch over all forms of life and beauty. They are guardians of the natural world and can be found amongst the courts of the Feywild, Druidic Circles, or anywhere nature reigns supreme in its ancient and primordial glory.

The elder power of your Oath wards you and your allies from hostile magic. Creatures under your Aura of Protection gain resistance to all damage from spells.

Your body only ages 1 year for every 10 years that pass, and you cannot be aged by spells or magical effects. In addition, once per long rest when you start your turn with 0 hit points, but not dead, you can choose to stand up with 1 hit point.

As a bonus action, you can transform into an avatar of elder power. For 10 minutes, you regain 10 hit points at the start of each of your turns, and the area of your Aura of Protection becomes difficult terrain to creatures of your choice.

Your transformation ends if you become Unconscious or if you use your bonus action to end it. You can transform once per long rest at no cost, after which, you must spend a 5th-level spell slot to use this feature again.

Known as avengers or dark knights, Paladins who swear this Sacred Oath often do so out of a desire for revenge. Whether they wish to destroy a single creature who wronged them, or fight against a corrupt organization that abuses the innocent, they dedicate their life to the destruction of their Sworn Foe.

Your hatred for your foes is a shield for your allies. Creatures under your Aura of Protection have advantage on any ability check or saving throw your Sworn Foe forces them to make.

Your supernatural hatred helps you menace your sworn foes. If your Sworn Foe attacks or forces a creature other than you to make a saving throw, you can use your reaction to move up to your speed toward it and make one attack against it.

If you are hit by an opportunity attack during this reaction, you can add your Charisma modifier to your attack roll.

As a bonus action, you can transform into an avatar of divine wrath. While transformed, you gain the following benefits:

This transformation lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you become Unconscious or use a bonus action to end it. You can transform once per long rest at no cost, after which, you must expend a 5th-level spell slot to transform again.

Seeking forgiveness for a broken Oath or sins of their family, Paladins of Repentance swear to use violence as a last resort. To prove that they can find forgiveness, they see redemption as a possibility for even the most wicked mortals.

You can take the burdens of others onto yourself as penance for your transgressions. When a creature under your Aura of Protection takes damage, you can use your reaction to take that damage in its place.

This damage cannot be reduced in any way, and this effect does not transfer any non-damage effects to you.

Your commitment to redemption heals your wounds so you may continue to heal your spirit. If you begin your turn with less than half of your hit points left, but at least 1 hit point, you regain hit points equal to your Charisma modifier.

As a bonus action, you can transform into an avatar of divine redemption. For 1 minute, you have resistance to all damage, and you can use Aura of Penance without using a reaction.

However, if you damage or force another creature to make a saving throw, you lose the benefits from this feature until the start of your next turn.

This transformation ends early if you are Unconscious or use your bonus action to end it.

You can transform once per long rest at no cost, after that, you must spend a 5th-level spell slot to transform again.

You have sworn an ancient Oath in the service of a primordial entity of raw elemental power. Whether you are sworn to one of the Elder Elementals, a powerful Noble Genie, or another potent primordial, you are tasked to enact their will upon the material plane, remaking it in their elemental image.

The power of your Oath infuses the elements with primordial power. When a creature within your Aura of Protection takes your Element damage, you can cause that instance of damage to ignore Resistance, and treat Immunity as Resistance.

Whenever you take damage from a creature within your Aura of Protection, you can use your reaction to force it to make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, it takes 2d8 Element damage, then suffers the effects of your Elemental Smite.

As a bonus action, you can transform into an avatar of elder destruction. While transformed you gain the benefits here:

This transformation lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you become Unconscious or use a bonus action to end it. You can transform once per long rest at no cost, after which, you must expend a 5th-level spell slot to transform again.

Oathless Paladins have broken their Sacred Oath for reasons other than evil, but still retain some of their power. These lost warriors often survive as bandits or mercenaries. While some look for purpose, most Oathless fall into despair.

Across all peoples and cultures, those who break Oaths, especially Paladins, are viewed with distrust. In cultures that place a high value on honor, Oathless are met with violence.

You have no qualms sacrificing others when it would benefit you. When you use Illusory Escape, you can force a creature within your Aura of Protection to make a Charisma saving throw against your Paladin Spell save DC.

On a failed save, you and the target instantly switch places. It then becomes the target of the damage that triggered your Illusory Escape, and you gain the normal benefits of Illusory Escape from the space that you reappear in. On a success, you still gain the normal benefits of Illusory Escape.

You use your presence to dominate others, bending them to your will. Whenever you force a creature within your Aura of Protection to make a saving throw to resist an Enchantment spell, it has disadvantage on its initial saving throw.

As a bonus action, you can focus your legendary self-serving power to transform into a gray shade of the righteous Paladin you could have been, gaining the following benefits:

This transformation lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you become Unconscious or use a bonus action to end it. You can transform once per long rest at no cost, after which, you must expend a 5th-level spell slot to transform again.

You have sworn this Sacred Oath in service of your sovereign liege, vowing to uphold their laws and protect their lands and subjects. You serve as an extension of the law itself, bringing order and protecting civilization wherever you are sent.

You are oath-bound to defend your liege's subjects. When a creature within your Aura of Protection takes damage, you can use your reaction to take that damage in its place.

This damage cannot be reduced in any way, and this effect does not transfer any non-damage effects to you.

Nothing can stop you from fulfilling your Oath-bound duties. You have advantage on saving throws to resist the Paralyzed and Stunned conditions while you are conscious.

As a bonus action, you can transform into an avatar of divine loyalty. While transformed you gain the following benefits:

This transformation lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you become Unconscious or use a bonus action to end it. You can transform once per long rest at no cost, after which, you must expend a 5th-level spell slot to transform again.

Your eyes have been opened to the otherworldly entities that threaten the material plane you call home. Swearing an Oath of ceaseless Vigilance, you have vowed to protect the material plane from all extraplanar influence; good, evil, alien, or other. Paladins who swear this Oath are known as the Watchers.

The power of your Oath infuses your Aura. Creatures under your Aura of Protection cannot be surprised and gain a bonus to their initiative rolls equal to your Charisma modifier.

The power of your Oath pierces all deceptions. When you use Divine Sense, you also gain Truesight within the same radius.

As a bonus action, you can transform into an avatar of divine vigilance. While transformed you gain the following benefits:

This transformation lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you become Unconscious or use a bonus action to end it. You can transform once per long rest at no cost, after which, you must expend a 5th-level spell slot to transform again.