The Anti-Paladin Class

Designed by James Brooks Carll

Anti-Paladin
The brightest lights cast the darkest shadows. In worlds where
Evil is regularly smote down, wickedness pools into the souls of
individuals most vile. Corrupting once benevolent leaders,
fostering epidemics or commanding dreadful armies, these
paragons of Evil seek to crush all things Good beneath their heel.
A lust for power or mayhem may fuel them, but destroying the
valiant protectors of Good brings them the greatest pleasure. With
morality ever a gray scale, these fiendish murderers represent the
most extreme depths of Evil.

Class Features:
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d10 per anti-paladin level
Hit Points at 1st level: 10+ your constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + your constitution modifier per anti-paladin level after 1st-
level

Proficiencies
Armor: All armor, Shields
Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
Tools: Poison Kit
Saving Throws: Wisdom, Charisma
Skills: Choose any two of the following: Athletics, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Investigation,
Stealth

Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) a martial weapon and a shield or (b) two martial weapons

• (a) (5) throwing daggers or (b) any simple melee weapon
• (a) diplomat's pack or (b) an explorer’s pack

• Black chain mail and your dread sigil

2
 Level Prof+ Features 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

1 2 Sense Divinity, Pestilence - - - - -

2 2 Fighting style, Spells, Wretched Smite 2 - - - -

3 2 Dread Mount, Bad Sign 3 - - - -

4 3 Ability score improvement 3 - - - -

5 3 Extra Attack 4 2 - - -

6 3 Aura of Doom 4 2 - - -

7 3 Bad Sign feature 4 3 - - -

8 3 Ability score improvement 4 3 - - -

9 4 Indomitable 4 3 2 - -

10 4 Dread Mount increase 4 3 2 - -

11 4 Improved Wretched Smite 4 3 3 - -

12 4 Ability score improvement 4 3 3 - -

13 5 Shrouded 4 3 3 1 -

14 5 Dread Mount increase 4 3 3 1 -

15 5 Bad Sign feature 4 3 3 2 -

16 5 Ability score improvement 4 3 3 2 -

17 5 Soul Sunder 4 3 3 2 1

18 6 Aura of Doom Improvement 4 3 3 2 1

19 6 Ability score improvement 4 3 3 2 2

20 6 Bad Sign feature 4 3 3 2 2

3
Sense Divinity
Your dark spirit can smell the sweet blood of the holy. As an action, you can open your awareness to
help you root out such puppets. Until the end of your next turn, you can detect the presence of any
good-aligned holy-person (any good aligned characters with levels of cleric, druid, paladin, or a
warlock of a good-aligned patron) within 60 feet of you even if they are behind total cover. You do not
know the detected creatures identity nor its exact location, but your awareness of their presence grants
you Advantage on perception checks to find these holy-people. If they leave the area of effect before
they are found you may add your Proficiency Bonus to any Survival checks to track them for the a
number of rounds equal to your anti-paladin level + your Charisma modifier. This bonus stacks if you
are already proficient in Survival. Within the same radius, you also detect the presence of any place or
object that has been consecrated or desecrated, as with the hallow spell. You can use this feature a
number of times equal to 1 + your Charisma modifier. When you finish a long rest, you regain all
expended uses.

Pestilence
You gain a pool of dreadful power equal to 5 x your anti-paladin level. This pool replenishes after a
long rest. On a successful attack, you may as a bonus action expend any number of points from this
pool to deal additional necrotic damage. You regain a number of hit points equal to any necrotic
damage you deal that round at the end of that round. Starting at 2nd level, as an action you may expend
10 points from this pool to cast the contagion spell.
Fighting Styles
At 2nd level, you adopt a style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You
can’t take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again.

Defense
While you are wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.

Archery
You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with ranged weapons.

Great Weapon Fighting

When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are
wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll. The weapon must have the
two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.\
Self-Protection
While you have a creature grappled, you can not only gain the benefits of cover (as long as the creature
is one size smaller than you or larger), but enemies who make a roll to hit you have a 50% chance of
hitting your hostage. A creature may take Disadvantage on their roll to avoid this possibility but you
still gain the benefits of cover.
4
Spellcasting

Preparing and Casting Spells

The Anti-Paladin table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your anti-paladin spells. To cast
one of your anti-paladin spells of 1st level or higher, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or
higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.
You prepare the list of anti-paladin spells that are available for you to cast, choosing from the anti-
paladin spell list. When you do so, choose a number of antipaladin spells equal to your Charisma
modifier + half your anti-paladin level, rounded down (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a
level for which you have spell slots.
For example, if you are a 5th-level anti-paladin, you have four 1st-level and two 2nd-level spell slots.
With a Charisma of 14, your list of prepared spells can include four spells of 1st or 2nd level, in any
combination. If you prepare the 1st-level spell Inflict Wounds, you can cast it using a 1st-level or a
2nd-level slot. Casting the spell doesn’t remove it from your list of prepared spells.
You can change your list of prepared spells when you finish a long rest. Preparing a new list of anti-
paladin spells requires time spent in prayer and meditation: at least 1 minute per spell level for each
spell on your list.

Spellcasting Ability
Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your anti-paladin spells, since their power derives from the
dread you bring. You use your Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In
addition, you use your Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for an anti-paladin spell
you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier

Spellcasting Focus
You have a magnificent standard that burns into your enemies memory. This is used as your spell focus.
Wretched Smite
Starting at 2nd level, when you hit a creature with any weapon attack, you can expend one spell slot to
deal necrotic damage to the target, in addition to the weapon’s damage. The extra damage is 2d8 for a
1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 5d8. The damage
increases by 1d8 if the target is of good alignment, to a maximum of 6d8.

5
Dark Rider
By 3rd level, you gain proficiency in Animal Handling.
As an action, you can transform any living Large sized or larger creature of 2 Intelligence or less into
your Dread Mount. The creature must be willing to be touched or incapacitated. As your Dread
Mount, they are Charmed to you. They also gain advantage on Stealth checks and Constitution saving
throws. They also become monochromatic. You may only have one Dread Mount at any given time and
your previous thrall reverts back to their normal form once a new mount is created. A Remove Curse
spell may also revert back this mount.

At 10th level, this ability can affect creatures of intelligence 5 or below. At 14th level, may can cast fly
at will on your Dread Mount.

Bad Sign
Though likely preordained toward the path of Evil, your hatred of Good begins to crystalize and grow
as you hone both your will and skill toward its destruction. You are granted a feature from the Bad
Sign Feature Table at 3rd level and again at 7th, 15th , 17th, and 20th level.

Aura of Doom
Starting at 6th level, if any creature within 10 feet of you must make a saving throw, the creature
receives a negative to the saving throw equal to your Charisma modifier (with a minimum of -1). You
must be conscious to provide this negative.
At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.

Indomitable
At 9th level, you can reroll a saving throw that you fail. If you do so, you must use the new roll, and
you can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Shrouded
At 13th level, you gain resistance to radiant damage and proficiency in Stealth. If you are already
proficient in Stealth you may double your proficiency bonus on Stealth checks.
To the Hilt
At 14th level, immediately after you receive damage from a melee Critical Hit, you may automatically
Grapple the dealer of that damage until the beginning of their next turn. Additionally, all of the
Grappled creature’s allies within 30ft must succeed a Wisdom Saving Throw or be paralyzed until their
ally is released from your horrific grasp.
Soul Sunder
At 17th level, you may as a bonus action make a melee spell attack to destroy the soul of a creature
who has been dead for less than 10 minutes. Once this is done, there is no mortal magic that will return
that creature to life. This may not be done again until you complete a long rest.

6
Bad Sign Features

The very forces of creation have set you upon the path of woe and corruption. You attain focus in your
slaughter and gain both dreadful knowledge and pleasure in the gory muck. These powers have but one
common aim: drain this reality of all that is Good.

Assassin
Your cunning knowledge of anatomy allows you to rend apart and twist the innards of prey. Once per
turn, you can deal an extra 1d8 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on
the attack roll. You may take this Bad Sign multiple times with the damage increasing 1d8 every time
the feature is taken.

Poisoner
Taken a single time, this feature changes the saving throw against any poisons you’ve crafted to 10 +
your Wisdom modifier. Taken a second time, your poison’s damage increases to 1d6. Taken a third
time, you gain advantage on all crafting checks made to create poisons. Taken a fourth time, your
poison remains potent on any surface to which it is applied for 24 hours.

Heretic
Your honeyed words can lead even the most devout sheep away from its flock. You gain +2 to
Deception and Charisma saving throws against the followers of a specific Good aligned deity. If this
feature is chosen any additional times, the Anti-Paladin may chose either another deity against which
they receive the previously stated bonuses or gain +2 to Wisdom saving throws against the followers of
a previously chosen deity.

Torturer
You have ways of making them talk. If a victim is incapacitated you may as an action deliver
1d4 damage and reduce the opponent’s Wisdom score by 1. The victim’s Wisdom score is stored upon
healing of the damage delivered during the interrogation. If this feature is taken a second time, the
Anti-Paladin may expend 10 points from their dreadful power pool to reduce the victim’s Wisdom
score by a total of 2 each time the Torturer action is taken. If this feature is taken a third time, the Anti-
paladin may expend 20 points from their dreadful power pool to give their victim a permanent
Disadvantage to Intimidate checks by the Anti-Paladin. This may be removed by a remove curse or
greater restoration spell. Taken a fourth time, the Anti-Paladin may expend 20 dread power pool
points to cast zone of truth once the Torture action is taken against a victim.

7
 Thanks for reading
and
feel free to create
your own custom
Bad Signs.
Have fun being
in your PC’s
nightmares!