Do What Nobody Expected
Every paladin swears an oath, and most of those oaths are about as surprising as a tax form: be brave, be just, protect the weak, floss regularly. The Oath of Discord looked at that whole tradition, snorted, and swore to something else entirely. These paladins believe that the moment a society stops questioning itself, it starts fossilizing, and fossils, however dignified they look in a museum, are still dead. So instead of upholding the old order, they have made it their sacred duty to walk into rooms full of “the way we’ve always done things” and cheerfully kick over the furniture.
The Oath of Discord is what happens when a knight and a wild magic sorcerer split a bottle of wine and decide to start a religion together. Their smites don’t just hurt: they surprise. Their auras don’t just protect: they unsettle enemies who were relying on the battlefield staying nice and orderly. These paladins might heal an ally with a burst of golden light that also, inexplicably, turns the nearest goblin’s weapon into a very confused trout for six seconds. Is this useful? Sometimes! Is it hilarious? Always. Divine chaos doesn’t come with an instruction manual, and that’s rather the point.
Roleplaying one of these paladins is a joy precisely because they aren’t nihilists or nut-jobs, but true believers… just believers in upheaval as a virtue. They will hold a door for an old woman, then immediately suggest she overthrow the local guild council. They genuinely love people, love stories, love the delicious unpredictability of a world that hasn’t been sanded down into neat little boxes. Adventuring parties tend to either find them exhausting or become hopelessly devoted to them within a week, and the paladin considers both reactions to be a resounding success. After all, nothing worth doing was ever accomplished according to plan.
Tenets of the Oath of Discord
- Shake the Foundations. Corrupt order dressed up as tradition is still corruption. Tyrants love rules because rules are slow to change and easy to hide behind. Break the pattern before the pattern breaks the people underneath it.
- Answer Certainty with Doubt. Whenever someone says “this is simply how things are done,” ask why loudly, repeatedly, and preferably at inconvenient moments.
- Dance without Rhythm. Predictability is a cage. Banal, mundane adherence to rigid law and order stagnates individual creativity and societal growth. Inspire change with your actions.
Level 3: Oath of Discord Spells
The magic of your oath ensures you always have certain spells ready; when you reach a Paladin level specified in the Oath of Discord Spells table, you thereafter always have the listed spells prepared.
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3 | Chromatic Orb, Tasha’s Hideous Laughter |
| 5 | Crown of Madness, Mirror Image |
| 9 | Bestow Curse, Blink |
| 13 | Blink Traps*, Confusion |
| 17 | Animate Objects, Mislead |
* New Spell
Level 3: Divine Madness
As a Bonus Action, you can expend one use of your Channel Divinity to inspire yourself with chaotic ideas. For 1 minute, you roll 1d6 at the start of each of your turns and consult the table below for an Inspired Action. You are not required to take that action, but there is a benefit if you do the Inspired Action on that turn.
| 1d6 | Inspired Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Run! |
| 2–3 | It’s Magic Time |
| 4–5 | Fight On |
| 6 | Choose One |
Run! You may take the Dash or Disengage action as a Bonus Action this turn. If you end your turn at least 20 feet away from the location where you started this turn, you gain Half Cover until the start of your next turn.
It’s Magic Time. If you take the Magic action this turn, the action’s effect gains a +1 to its DC (if any), and the first attack roll you make for the effect has Advantage. You have Advantage on Constitution saving throws you make to maintain Concentration until the start of your next turn.
Fight On. If you make an attack roll with a weapon or Unarmed Strike this turn, you have Advantage on the attack roll. You only gain Advantage on the first qualifying attack roll. Until the start of your next turn, when you roll damage with a weapon or Unarmed Strike, you can reroll the die if it rolls a 1, and you must use the new roll.
Choose One. Choose any other Inspired Action for this turn.
Level 7: Aura of Chaos
You emanate an aura of chaotic energy. Your Aura of Protection is essentially a wild magic zone keyed to you. You may choose to roll on the Wild Magic table whenever you cast Divine Smite or when you use your Lay On Hands and choose to expend an extra 5 Hit Points from the healing pool; these points don’t also restore Hit Points.
The effects on the Wild Magic table have an instantaneous duration unless otherwise specified. Effects are usually applied to creatures of your choice within your Aura of Protection. Effects that require a saving throw use your spellcasting DC.
You can roll on the Wild Magic table a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest. You can also restore one use of it by expending a spell slot of any level (no action required).
Wild Magic
| 1d20 | Magical Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | Creatures of your choice in your aura must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or become drunk for 1 minute, gaining the Poisoned condition. |
| 2 | A friendly fey appears in your aura. This functions as the Summon Fey spell but it doesn’t require Concentration and the duration is 1 minute. The fey cannot willingly leave your aura, and if it starts its turn outside your aura it does everything it can to return to your aura before obeying any of your commands. The Summon Fey spell immediately ends if you cast it again, through this feature or otherwise. |
| 3 | Creatures in your aura must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be pushed 15 feet away from you. |
| 4 | Creatures of your choice in your aura must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or gain the Incapacitated condition until the start of your next turn. A random distraction disables the creatures, such as their weapons turning into fish, thousands of flowers raining down on them, or flashes of light and sound that only they can see. Any visual/audible effect is possible – be creative! |
| 5 | Music emanates around you and every creature of your choice in your aura must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or start dancing in place. Affected creatures have their Speed reduced to 0, but the dancing and the reduced Speed ends at the start of your next turn. |
| 6 | You are covered in a thick substance that doesn’t impede your movement: ice, stone, chocolate, or whatever is most unexpected. You gain a number of Temporary Hit Points equal to your Paladin level plus your Charisma modifier (minimum +1). |
| 7 | A golden glow suffuses your aura. Creatures of your choice in your aura may spend up to 3 Hit Dice to heal as if they completed a Short Rest. They gain no other benefits of a Short Rest. |
| 8 | Creatures within 10 feet of your aura, and those creatures inside it, must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be pulled 15 feet closer to you. If there are no available, unoccupied spaces for a creature to move into, the creature takes 1d10 Bludgeoning damage. |
| 9 | Creatures of your choice in your aura enter a berserk rage and gain +1d4 to their weapon and Unarmed Strike damage rolls for 1 minute. |
| 10 | Your aura is suffused with a random, magical attack. Creatures of your choice in your aura must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking 3d8 damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a success. The damage type is determined by rolling 1d10: 1-2, Acid; 3-4, Cold; 5-6, Fire; 7-8, Lightning; or 9-10, Thunder. |
| 11 | All creatures in your aura, except for you, must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or shrink one size category. Shrunk creatures have Disadvantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws, and their attacks with weapons or Unarmed Strikes deal 1d4 less damage on a hit (this can’t reduce the damage below 1). |
| 12 | Your shadow fights alongside you from your space. You can take a Bonus Action to have your shadow make a single attack. Its attacks are identical to yours, including your weapons and other gear. Your shadow is invulnerable but is still attached to you – it cannot leave your space. Your shadow remains animated for 1 minute. |
| 13 | Light brighter than the sun emanates from you for a moment. Creatures of your choice in your aura must make a Wisdom saving throw. Creatures take 2d6 Radiant damage and are Blinded until the start of your next turn. A successful save reduces the damage to half and negates the Blindness. |
| 14 | A goat appears in an unoccupied space in your aura, or in the nearest unoccupied space if your aura has no available spaces. The goat screams! Choose the area for a 30-foot Cone originating from the goat. All creatures in the area take 3d8 Thunder damage on a failed Constitution saving throw, or half as much damage on a success. The goat then faints and that space is Difficult Terrain until the goat fades away at the start of your next turn. |
| 15 | Debris falls from the sky within your aura. It can be anything you or the DM desire: rocks, hail, anvils, guinea pigs, whatever! The falling debris vanishes once it hits the ground. Creatures of your choice in your aura must make a Constitution saving throw, taking 3d8 Bludgeoning damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a success. |
| 16 | The ground within your aura becomes very slick for an instant. All creatures in your aura, except for you, must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or gain the Prone condition. |
| 17 | Butterflies and hummingbirds fly about you like a tiny, colorful tornado. All creatures in your aura must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be Charmed by you until the start of your next turn. |
| 18 | Gravity within your aura reverses! This functions as a Reverse Gravity spell, but the Cylinder’s area matches your Aura of Protection with a height of 30 feet, it doesn’t require Concentration, and the duration ends at the start of your next turn. All creatures in your aura, except for you, are affected. |
| 19 | For 1 minute, creatures of your choice that start their turn in your aura take 1d6 Necrotic damage as a fast-acting plague proliferates in your aura. |
| 20 | All creatures in your aura, except for you, must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or become a Small or Medium farm animal such as a pig, sheep, or similar. Each creature that fails the save gains 10 Temporary Hit Points, a -5 penalty to AC, and can only take either the Dash or Attack action on their next turn. The only attack the farm animal can make is a single Unarmed Strike that deals 1d4 damage. The transformation ends when a creature has no Temporary Hit Points or at the start of your next turn (whichever comes first), but the creature keeps any remaining Temporary Hit Points. |
Level 15: Spontaneous Reincarnation
When you are reduced to 0 Hit Points and not killed outright, you can drop to 1 Hit Point instead, and you regain a number of Hit Points equal to three times your Paladin level. However, you instantly transform into a different species.
Roll on the Reincarnate table to determine your new species. You gain the physical form of that species but retain your existing species traits. You may also select one species trait of the new species and gain it.
At the end of your next Long Rest you can choose to permanently become the new species, losing your existing species traits and gaining the new, or remaining your original species and losing the one new species trait you had gained from this feature.
Once you use this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a Long Rest.
Level 20: Avatar of Chaos
You become chaos incarnate. As a Bonus Action, you gain the benefits below for 1 minute. 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).
Controlled Chaos. When you roll on the Inspired Action or Wild Magic tables, you may roll twice and choose the result to use.
Inconstant Location. You and your allies in your Aura of Protection may teleport as a Bonus Action, but the teleportation movement must both begin and end inside the aura. When you teleport, your destination must be inside the area covered by your Aura of Protection before you teleported.
Randomized Reality. You may choose to roll on the Wild Magic table for your Aura of Chaos feature at the start of each of your turns. These rolls do not count against your uses of that feature.
Feyning Interest 