Paladin: Oath of Mortality

The paladin that follows the Oath of Mortality is dedicated to preserving the collective sovereignty of all mortals, and standing against the divine and dark who would make playthings of them. The infinite can never be allowed to rule the fates of those who are finite, for how can immortals be trusted to care for mortals? Paladins who uphold this oath are committed to putting the fate of mortals above their own lives and wants, seeing themselves as the guardians of the mortals against the whimsical fantasies of celestials, fiends, and other godly creatures. The Oath of Mortality embraces divine power while denying divine right – questioning the legitimacy of the rule of gods, not their existence.

Whereas an Oathbreaker Paladin abandons their ideals as well as their God, a Paladin may turn from their current oath to take the Oath of Mortality as a rejection of their god, but not of the basic principles of their Oath. Such individuals may contemplate at great length their decision, carefully examining their own motives and understanding of morality, to ensure they do not fall to become an Oathbreaker Paladin, and work principles of their previous oath into their new one.

Paladins of Mortality gain their powers from a variety of sources: tapping into primordial magic of creation, from items or spells of incredible power, from the gestalt will of the mortal races, or the shattered fragment of a destroyed god. It may come from their own, unfathomably deep willpower, or from an artificial god created by the greatest of a worlds mages. Some may retain their core strength from a previous Oath.

As they are defined by their devotion to their principles, not to a god, variations in their motivations and intent mean they can have any alignment, though they tend towards Lawful and Good, and almost never Chaotic Evil.