Oath of the Raven

A grim sacred paladin oath for the world’s greatest roleplaying game.

Whenever your compatriots are racing through a collapsing mine while being pursued by unspeakable abominations, you are
there urging them on to the light at the end of the tunnel. Whenever a foe is felled by your divine power, you are there praying
for their safe journey into the afterlife. Whenever those would deny the Raven Queen of her right to govern the fate of mortality,
you are there as the enforcer of her will. None shall tip the scales unfairly. None shall steal the glory of another’s life and death.

by JASON MENDELL

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Dungeon Masters Guild.
Oath of the Raven
The Oath of the Raven is relatively new and interesting in
how it tends to lean towards the necromantic arts.
Sometimes confused for death knights, black guards, or
liches, paladins who swear this oath adopt the powers of
death and life because they feel that these forces are
different sides of the same coin, with undeath being a
merger of the two concepts. They understand that magic
isn’t inherently evil or good. The wielder determines the
intention of this power. These paladins only goal is to
ensure the living are happy with their lives and the dead
with their afterlife. They adorn their armor and clothing
with images of life, death, and undeath – bones, spirits, or
faces – to display their drive to maintain a balance between
the forces of life and death.

Tenets of the Raven

The tenets of the Oath of the Raven have been created as
recently as the last century. This oath emphasizes the
principles of helping the process of life and death maintain
their harmony. Its four central principles are simple.
Ensure a Good Life for the Living. Help all those who
are living enjoy what time they have in this world.
Ensure a Good Afterlife for the Dead. Help protect the
souls of those who are dead so that they may not be
unwillingly brought back as a vengeful spirit or mindless
undead.
Appreciate the Uniqueness of Undeath. Most undead
are evil because of the conditions that caused the souls to
shackle themselves to the material plane. However,
baelnorns exist as good-aligned creatures that wish to
protect their race. Thus, revere the undead for their status,
but destroy them to preserve the first two tenets if need be.
Hands to inflict harm rather than heal. Using your Channel
Balance All Three. Remember that life and death are
Divinity, your next Lay on Hands will deal necrotic or
the parents and undeath the child. Each should be cared for
radiant damage, instead of healing a target, equal to the
and respected. However, just as the parents teach and rear
number of points you draw from your pool of healing
their children, life and death determine the fate of the
power. Target must make a Constitution save equal to your
undead. Keep them all in check.
spellcasting ability DC or take full damage and be
Oath Spells exhausted for 1 round. If your target succeeds, it only takes
You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed. half damage and suffers no exhaustion.
Turn or Rebuke the Undead. As an action, you present
Oath of the Raven Spells your holy symbol and speak a prayer censuring or awing
Paladin Level Spells undead, using your Channel Divinity. Each undead that can
3rd False Life, Unseen Servant see or hear you within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom
5th Hold Person, Spiritual Weapon saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is
9th Animate Dead, Spirit Guardians turned or rebuked (your choice) for 1 minute or until it
13th Death Ward, Guardian of Faith takes damage.
17th Antilife Shell, Raise Dead A turned or rebuked creature must spend its turns trying
to move as far away from you as it can, and it can't
Channel Divinity willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. It also can't
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash
following two Channel Divinity options. action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from
Lay on Harm. You can change the nature of your Lay on moving. If there’s nowhere to move, the creature can use
the Dodge action.
If it fails the save by 5 or more, then the undead
succumbs to your will and is yours to command for 1
minute.

Aura of the Raven

Beginning at 7th level, life and death magic lies so heavily
upon you that it stems the assault from either. You and
friendly creatures within 10 feet of you have resistance to
necrotic and radiant damage.
At 18th level, the range of this aura increase to 30 feet.

Balance of Forces
Beginning at 15th level, your power enables you to balance
the usage between life and death magic. Whenever you
utilize your Channel Divinity to make Lay on Hands deal
damage, you gain your Lay on Hands usage back
immediately.
Additionally, your Divine Smite can now do necrotic
damage instead of radiant damage if you so choose.

Commander of Life and Death

At 20th level, you can assume the form of the embodiment
of life and death, taking on an appearance you choose. For
example, your skin might turn grey or take on a
translucent-like nature, your hair might become wispy or
ethereal, your eyes may turn black, or you might grow
boney protrusions on your head.
Using your action, you undergo a transformation. For 1
minute, you gain the following benefits:
 You gain immunity to poison, necrotic, and
radiant damage and the exhausted condition.
 Foes have disadvantage against your spells and
effects.
 Any spell that summons or animates a creature
(living, spiritual, or undead) to serve you that has
a casting time of 1 minute or less, you can cast it
using a bonus action instead.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until
you finish a long rest.