Oath of the Red Knight - A Paladin Subclass
To understand this Oath, one must know who the Red Knight is. Also known as the Lady of Strategy, the Red Knight is the Faerûnian deity of strategy and battle tactics and the exarch of Tempus, the god of war. Tempus' central tenets involved honorable battle, forbidding cowardice, and encouraging the use of force of arms to settle disputes. It was he who raised the Red Knight to divine status, and she looks to him as a father figure.
Her personality was the same on the battlefield as it was off, acting as a calm and logical leader in all situations. She is known to display great compassion to others, but one should not take this as a sign of weakness. War requires sacrifice, and the Red Knight is unafraid to send her followers to almost certain death if it means a plan's result will be successful. She does not suffer fools and has disdain for those that are not loyal to her cause.
One cannot win the battle without a plan of action, and the Red Knight was a penultimate strategist. Her dogma dictates the use of careful tactics in conflict to achieve victory, under the belief that sound strategy is the best way to win a battle with the most favorable outcome. Her symbol is a red knight chess piece with stars for an eye. Your enemies will cower in fear when you rush into the battlefield holding a shield emblazoned with the blood-red knight on it.
Paladins who serve the Red Knight are members of the Order of the Red Falcon. The order is made up of a select group of paladins from the Church of the Red Knight, who have triumphed against overwhelming odds on numerous occasions. Paladins of the Order serve in various armies throughout the lands, lending their experience in battle and teaching abstract battle tactics to the officers below them. There is an opportunity to develop your Paladin's backstory further and influence upcoming adventures if your DM is willing to integrate the Order of the Red Falcon into the campaign, so take the time to talk to them about it!
Now that we know who this badass deity is, let's take a look at her paladin followers and the Oath of the Red Knight.
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Tenets of Strategy
Tenets of the Red Knight sounds a little meh. Since our divine champion is also known as the Lady of Strategy, naming them the tenets of strategy works for me.
Strategy. When you come down to it, you need a strategy in everything in life. But if you don't have one and go to war, you die.
Tactics. You're good at some things and bad at others. Stick with what you're good at.
Vigilance. Always keep your guard up when life is boring. When you're knee-deep in the blood of your victims, there is nothing wrong working towards a little boredom.
Honor. Don't be a dick.
Courage. Don't be a wuss.
Oath Spells
The Oath spells for this subclass focus on battlefield control, with a dash of damage for good measure. Entangle, Sleep, Web, Hypnotic Pattern, Otiluke's Resilient Sphere, and Wall of Force are all fantastic spells that allow you to dictate where your enemies can and cannot go. The biggest problem with all of these spells other than sleep is that they require concentration. Now, as a paladin, you should have a decent chance of making that concentration save if you decide to wade into battle. If you wish to play the role of battlefield general, you can stay in the back, cast and drop spells as the field of combat shifts. Or, if you're bored, you can scream at an ally you enclosed in Otiluke's Sphere to roll over to where the fighting is.
Misty Step and Haste operate as positioning spells, primarily for yourself. Using these spells, you can quickly put yourself where you are needed, whether it is to help an ally, strike down that pesky kobold throwing rocks with its sling or back away and drop the Dawn spell on your next turn. You are a paladin after all, so there had to be at least one spell that rained holy radiant light upon your enemies.
Channeling One's Divinity
Channel divinity abilities is always a hard one for me. They are fun to have and can help ensure you get to deliver the fatal blow (Oath of conquest - guided strike) or gain a little battlefield control by restraining an enemy (Oath of the ancients - nature's wrath). Only getting to use it once per short rest means you have to be smart about when you use it, and the ability itself needs to be worthwhile enough for you to spend an action on.
Alter the Board. Ever been in the middle of combat and realized the party is all bunched together right as the evil wizard's turn rolls around, and you hear the DM cackle "FIREBALL!" Well, now you have a way to spread everyone out enough so that that fireball doesn't result as a TPK. Don't fret though because it's a bonus action, so you still get to hit and smite someone. Paladins have a bunch of smiting bonus actions, but maybe you just want to hold on to that spell slot for something else for a change.
Assist a Comrade. Another bonus action. It's a rare thing when someone takes the time to use the Help action during the battle, and familiars don't count. You get to be that friendly chap that lends a helping hand to a friend.
Thou Art Fearless
Combat is scary, and sometimes you just want to run away. Stand close enough to our Oath of the Red Knight paladin, and nothing will frighten you ever again.
Time to Fight
I'm sick of those high Dexterity characters always getting to go first. While adding your Charisma modifier won't guarantee you'll be first in the initiative order, at least you won't feel as bad as before when the monk has a 24 initiative roll.
Checkmate
If you haven't figured out the theme of the Oath yet, hopefully, this helps clarify things. If you can tell, I love Reactions and think they are grossly underutilized in the game. The first ability is akin to a small AOE spell, but instead of your target having to make a saving throw, your allies get to make an attack roll. It's always better when we as players get to roll the die and deny the DM the opportunity! Doubling your speed is, well, letting you go farther, but you already knew that. Just one more ability to get us a little closer to those unbalanced monks abilities…I’m just kidding.
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