Paladin: Oath of the Crimson Lord

A
Paladin swears their Oath as a continuation of Oath Spells
the belief system that rules their daily life. Paladin Level Spells
Unfortunately, most Paladins who follow the 3rd charm person, false life
Oath of the Crimson Lord see their Oath as a
curse, and one they willingly accept to further 5th detect thoughts, invisibility
their core beliefs. 9th bestow curse, vampiric touch
By some means during your Crimson Lord Paladin’s life, 13th dominate beast, shadow of moil
the scourge of vampirism fell upon you. Your divine nature
helps to hold the curse at bay, but the gnawing hunger grows 17th danse macabre, dominate person
as your power increases.
Many see the Oath of the Crimson Lord as a horrible Umbral Sight
affliction, which can lead to terrible consequences, but you When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain darkvision out
have managed to harness this dark power and turned to a range of 60 feet. If you already have darkvision from your
vampirism into a weapon. race, its range increases by 30 feet.
A Note For DMs and Players
The Oath of the Crimson Lord includes a feature to drive
Channel Divinity
home the fantasy of playing a character cursed by vampirism. When you swear this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following
At 7th level, the Paladin’s curse has grown, as seen with the
two Channel Divinity options.
Consumed By Hunger ability. However, if you do not want to
Drain Life
manage “thirst” in your game and choose to bypass this When you make an unarmed strike, you can use your
feature, it is okay to skip it! Channel Divinity to perform a Drain Life attack. If the attack
hits, you inflict 1d4 piercing damage + your Paladin level to
Tenets of the Crimson Lord the target. The target’s hit point maximum is reduced by the
damage taken, and you regain hit points equal to that
Paladins who swear the Oath of the Crimson Lord devote amount. You also regain 1 Hit Die.
themselves to the following tenets. Contructs, undead, and other creatures that do not have
blood are immune to this attack.
A Burden Realized
By continuing with this burden, you vow to never willingly Embrace the Darkness
give in to your vampiric curse. You are not a vampire but As an action, you can use your Channel Divinity to force the
someone who can withstand the affliction for a greater shadows to hide your presence. For 1-hour, you cannot suffer
purpose. disadvantage on your Dexterity (Stealth) checks, and you may
add your Charisma modifier to your Stealth check.
Blood Discipline
If you deny the never-ending thirst, it will eventually erupt and Aura of the Nightwalker
become uncontrollable. You seek to occasionally indulge your
hunger as a means to survive, but only in minor ways. Beginning at 7th level, you and friendly creatures of your
Unrelenting discipline allows you to maintain control. choice within 10-feet gain resistance to necrotic damage and
advantage on saving throws against being charmed or
A Life Worth Living frightened. At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to
Companions who accept your curse and choose to aid in your 30-feet
cause willingly risk their lives. You understand the danger of
being your ally and will never take their friendship for
granted.
Consumed By Hunger
Beginning at 7th level, your thirst becomes harder to control
as the curse grows more potent. If a creature within 60-feet
of you is reduced to 0 hit points, you must roll a Wisdom
saving throw if you have not fed with your Channel Divinity:
Drain Life feature in the past 72 hours.
The base DC begins at 12 and increases by 1 for every 24
hours that pass since your last Drain Life. On a Wisdom save
success, you are immune to Consumed By Hunger until you
finish a short or long rest. If you fail, on your next turn, you
must immediately move as fast as possible and use your
action to feed without gaining the benefits of Drain Life.
Misty Escape
Starting at 15th level, when you are hit by an attack, you can
use your reaction to transform into a cloud of mist, as per the
spell misty step. You gain resistance to all damage from the
triggering attack, and can move up to 30-feet without
provoking an opportunity attack to an unoccupied space that
you can see.
You may use Misty Escape a number of times per day equal
to your Charisma modifier, regaining all uses after a long
rest.
Crimson Lord
At 20th level, you can temporarily unleash the full fury of your
vampiric curse. As an action, for 1-minute, you transform into
a hideous vampire lord, sprouting leathery bat-like wings,
extended canine fangs, and gaining the following benefits.
You are considered Undead instead of Humanoid.
Your bat-like wings grant you a flying speed of 30-feet.
You may use your Drain Life ability as a bonus action. It
does not expend a use of your Channel Divinity will
Crimson Lord is active.
You are immune to necrotic damage.
Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you
finish a long rest.
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Art Credit
Image 1: Ixalan MTG Art
Image 2: ChocoFing