I am revisiting some ideas I have had in the past for 5e. This is one I still quite like. I have updated the language a bit to match the current language and did another editing pass, but it is pretty similar to how it was before.
I have a long affection for gravediggers. I played a gravedigger in a larp for around a decade, and I have been a fan of them ever since. I am also a fan of death as being seen as a good thing. Death from the Sandman or the Raven Queen are good examples. Too often we treat death like a villain and that is not a healthy way to look at things. I am not saying we should all go out and embrace our inner goth (or outer goth…a goth…if they want a hug) but anyone who has cared for terminal patients or a large number of other medical conditions can tell you that sometimes…death is a mercy.
With that in mind, I give you the Grave Knights, those paladins who follow the Oath of the Grave.
Oath of the Grave
There are many champions for the living. Many people will stand to fight for the living. How will man stand for the dead? How many will protect the fallen from the indignity of having their remains violated by errant necromancers? Who will protect the cycle of life and death?
Who are the Grave Knights?
Any formal order does not pursue the Oath of the Grave. There are no holy ranks of Grave Knights. The Oath of the Grave is passed by the gravediggers, from master to apprentice. These champions of death are not against the living. They see death and life as part of the natural cycle, a cycle that must be protected. Their greatest enemy is the undead and those who make undead. The Grave Knights feel a responsibility to make sure the dead get their remains handled respectfully. The undead are a desecration of the dead, in the least, and an abominable affront to the natural cycle.
Tenets of The Grave
A paladin who takes this oath of the grave swears this oath once in the graveyard and lives it for the rest of their days. This oath is administered from Grave Knight to Grave Knight.
Show respect for the remains of the dead.
Treat undeath as the abomination that it is.
Death should be a mercy.
Oath of The Graves Features
Paladin Level Feature
- 3rd Oath Spells, Channel Divinity
- 7th Aura of Repose
- 15th Undead Bane
- 18th Aura of Repose (30 ft.)
- 20th Death’s Champion
Oath Spells
You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed in the Oath of The Grave Spells table. See the Sacred Oath class feature for how oath spells work.
Oath of The Grave Spells
Paladin Level Spells
- 3rd Cause Fear, Sanctuary
- 5th Gentle Repose, Pass Without a Trace
- 9th Glyph of Warding, Feign Death
- 13th Banishment, Shadow of Moil
- 17th Greater Restoration, Enervation
Channel Divinity
When you take this oath at the 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options. See the Sacred Oath class feature for how Channel Divinity works.
Weapon Against Undeath.
The Grave Knights are driven to destroy the undead. They channel divinity into their weapons to harm the undead specifically. As a bonus action, they can channel divinity granting the weapon they are holding a few bonuses. First, the weapon is considered magical for things that require magic overcoming resistance on undead creatures, and the like. The weapon also disrupts undead on impact, adding +d6 damage on successful hits against undead creatures. This effect lasts for 1 minute.
Shovels
Shovels are considered to be a normal weapon for you and you are proficient in its use. In your hands, the shovel is considered a 1d8 slashing weapon, with the Versatile(1d10) attribute. Weapons Against Undeath can be used with the shovel.
Turn Undead.
As an action and using your Channel Divinity, each undead that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes damage.
A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can’t willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. The undead creature also can’t take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there’s nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action.
Aura of Repose
Beginning at the 7th level, your presence is resistant to the undead and the tools they use. You and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you have resistance to necrotic damage. You and friendly creatures can also ignore effects that would turn you into an undead.
At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.
Undead Bane
Starting at 15th level, your power comes from death itself and is terrible to behold. You may, as a reaction to either yourself or allies being attacked, inflict either necrotic or radiant damage(your choice) equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1) to any target you can see. Undead struck this way are incapable of healing through any means till the end of your next turn.
Additionally, you have an advantage on any undead who you affect this way till the end of your next turn.
Death’s Champion
At 20th level, as an action, you can become a beacon of death. For 1 minute, a shadow emanates from you in a 30-foot radius. You are immune to the darkness and it can be seen through with dark vision.
Whenever an undead begins its turn or enters the shadow, it loses all resistances and immunities to damage types it might have and they have disadvantage on all saving throws. This effect lasts as long as the shadow remains new undead can be created in the shadow.
Additionally, enemies within the shadow cannot heal.
