Chaosium
Caption
Miranda of the Unbroken Shield
“The first step to killing an eldritch horror: don’t die.”
These Paladins serve as protectors of the common folk and guards against rampaging monsters. Those who embrace this oath range from itinerant Paladins who single-handedly defend towns on the borderlands to elite groups of knights tasked with protecting the cardinals of a religious order.
Tenets of the Guardian
Like any Paladin oath, the ethos embraced by specific Paladins or the order they belong to shapes their beliefs. Listed below are sample tenets for the various alignments. Create your specific tenets by picking up to four ideals that capture your views.
Tenets of Chaos
Affinity. You protect and help those you feel meet your personal standards. And it is your personal values that determine your actions in a situation, not some stifling code of conduct or the expectations of others.
Beauty. Violence is an inherently nihilistic act, one that always leaves the world duller, sadder, and less safe. By foiling those who would attack others, and dealing them the justice they so richly deserve, you preserve the wonders of the world and allow those you protect to grow and develop as they wish.
Freedom. Violence is the tool of the tyrant. By denying others the chance to spread misery, you break the strongest chains that oppressors can use to force others into obedience.
Tenets of Evil
Dominance. Let others believe you guard them. In time, they will grow so dependent on your protection that you will be the master and they the thralls.
Opportunism. You are a shield for others, but only so long as you profit from that arrangement. You will be the first to notice when those you guard grow weak, and thus the first to strike them.
Profit. There is money to be made in offering protection. Keep your paymasters alive as long as their riches flow into your pockets. When they grow weak, join the mob that casts them down and loots their vaults.
Tenets of Good
Courage. You remain unswerving in the face of danger, knowing that your cause is just and your methods valiant. No matter the odds, you stand your ground and refuse to back down.
Sacrifice. By setting aside your own safety and accepting pain meant for others, you ensure that the innocent can thrive in a dangerous world. The needs of a just society outweigh your personal desires.
Service. Those with the strength and endurance to protect the meek must do so to serve the greater good. You have been given gifts and must put them to use helping those who aren’t as fortunate.
Tenets of Law
Fidelity. You have given your word to protect civilized realms and those who dwell there. Your word is your bond, an oath that overrides all other considerations you might weigh when choosing your actions.
Protection. You protect others to preserve order and ensure that society can thrive. You weigh your actions based on their potential to maintain civilization and ensure that law, rather than the erratic opinions or emotions of unfettered individuals, rules the land.
Service. You act in accordance with your own code, refusing to allow others to come to harm. Your code might require you to protect certain people, oppose specific enemies, or quest in service to a royal lineage or religion.
Level 3: Oath of the Guardian Spells
The magic of your oath ensures you always have certain spells ready; when you reach a Paladin level specified in the Oath of the Guardian Spells table, you thereafter always have the listed spells prepared.
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3 | Alarm, Shield of Faith |
| 5 | Lesser Restoration, Warding Bond |
| 9 | Beacon of Hope, Protection from Energy |
| 13 | Death Ward, Guardian of Faith |
| 17 | Greater Restoration, Raise Dead |
Level 3: Defensive Intervention
When a creature you can see hits another creature within 30 feet of you with an attack roll, you can take a Reaction and expend one use of your Channel Divinity to teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space within range of the triggering attack and become the target of the attack.
Level 3: Marking Strike
When you hit a creature with an attack roll using a weapon, you can forgo using that weapon’s mastery property to mark the target until the end of your next turn. This effect ends early if you have the Incapacitated condition or if someone else marks the creature. A marked creature has Disadvantage on attack rolls against targets other than you, and it must spend 2 feet of movement for every 1 foot it moves when moving away from you.
Level 7: Guarding Presence
As a Bonus Action, you can choose creatures within 5 feet of yourself, up to a number of creatures equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one creature). Each of the chosen creatures can use your AC instead of its own AC as long as it remains within 5 feet of you or until you have the Incapacitated condition.
Level 7: Inspiring Defense
You can attack twice instead of once whenever you make an Opportunity Attack. In addition, creatures of your choice under the effects of your Guarding Presence can attack twice instead of once whenever they make an Opportunity Attack.
Level 15: Ward of the Guardian
When a creature marked by you that you can see reduces an ally to 0 Hit Points and doesn’t kill the ally outright, you can take a Reaction to have the ally drop to 1 Hit Point instead. If you do so, the ally can immediately take a Reaction to make a melee attack against the marked creature if it’s within reach.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Level 20: Guardian Angel
As a Bonus Action, you become a living bastion of defense, granting the benefits below for 1 minute or until you end them (no action required). Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest. You can also restore your use of it by expending a level 5 spell slot (no action required).
Walking Bastion. Your Guarding Presence becomes a 100-foot Emanation. Creatures of your choice within the Emanation can use your AC.
Endless Divinity. On each of your turns, if you have no uses of Channel Divinity left, you can give yourself one use.
Supreme Punishment. You can use Ward of the Guardian without taking a Reaction once each round. When you do so, you can’t use it this way again until the start of your next turn.