Oath of Dread.

While the majority of paladins are good, and serve benevolent causes, or deities, there are those that follow a dark path. Paladins who swear the oath of dread choose to follow forces of wickedness, including malevolent deities, archfiends, tyrannical rulers, lich kings, or evil causes. Often referred to as dreadlords, profane champions, or curse knights, they are looked upon with both shame and disgrace by most paladins, who view them as having gone too far into darkness and far from being redeemable, and are feared even by oathbreakers and paladins who swear an oath of conquest. These paladins adorn their armor with ghastly symbols of the darkness they derive their power from, including symbols of a malevolent deity, death, or the mark of a fiendish house. Though the vast majority of these paladins are evil, there are some that are neutral, and even fewer of those who are good.

Dungeon Master's Permission Required This oath is specifically meant for the creation of an NPC or villain character. This is not meant for player use, and players should ask their DM if they can use this paladin subclass.

Tenets of Dread

Though the tenets of this oath vary, those that swear this oath share the following tenets.

One with the Darkness. I am my own darkest thoughts and emotions.

Disregard Morality Ethics and morality are only a hinderance to my goals and should be neglected in order to achieve my objectives.

Hope Must be Extinguished. My wrath must be so great, that any hopes of my defeat shall be rendered delusional.

Fight Without Mercy. I shall not only never hesitate to kill, but I will also make my opponent’s demise as torturous as possible whenever practical

Rule Without Mercy. Those who fail my requests, question or defy my leadership, have signed their own death warrant.

Oath Spells

You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.

Oath of Dread Spells

Paladin Level Spells 3rd Arms of Hadar, Witch Bolt 5th Darkness, Spike Growth 9th Bestow Curse, Call Lightning 13th Dominate Beast, Shadow of Moil 17th Contagion, Negative Energy Flood,

Channel Divinity

When taking this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.

Dark Armor. As an action, you infuse your armor with dark energy. For 1 minute, you add your Charisma modifier to your armor class (with a minimum bonus of +1). If the armor is not already magical, it becomes magical for the duration. For the duration, any creature that deals damge to you takes necrotic damage equal to your Charisma modifier. You can end this effect on your turn as part of any other action. If you are no longer wearing armor, or if you fall unconscious, this effect ends.

Vampiric Consumption. As an action, you force a number of creatures of your choice, equal to your charisma modifier, that you can see within 30 feet to make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the affected creatures suffer necrotic damage equal to 2d8 + your paladin level, and healing you for the total amount of damage dealt, and dealing half if the save passes.

Profane Smite.

Upon taking this oath at 3rd level, your divine smite becomes profane smite, dealing necrotic damage instead of radiant damage. Your profane smite is improved at 11th level.