All paladins pursue righteousness.
But not all righteousness is benevolent.
For one who belongs to the Doomguard, the greatest good in the world is the destruction of the world. Since entropy is truth and fate, it is only good and right and just that things fall apart, that organizations wither and die, that people cease to be. Healing is evil. Resurrection is a sin. Building a hospital is erecting a defiant monument to the wickedness and hubris of doomed mortals.
Righteousness is found in the obliteration of the multiverse.
Hence, the Oath of Destruction. Sinkers who are called to crusade and fight in the name of entropy gain divine powers that help them to continue the fight. Some find it quite unusual to see a Sinker laying healing hands on an ally or protecting them from harm, but to the Sinkers this simply aids the overall cause of entropy — those sworn to the Oath of Destruction might be found healing monsters on a rampage, or protecting terrorists that are ripping apart a society. Or they may be found protecting adventurers, who are often a great source of entropy…
Oath of Destruction
The Oath of Destruction is sometimes said to arise in the primordial multiverse, when the concept of death was introduced, or when the first bit of matter turned into something else. The paladins who swear this oath are sometimes known as entropic knights, the grey guard, or knights of destruction, and they have sworn to advance the cause of death and destruction wherever they can, to facilitate the dying of the light, and to ensure that the all-consuming darkness of time and change will prevail. Most other paladins regard this as a heresy, a perversion, a warped version of what is good and right, but to the grey guard, the end of all is the only justice worth fighting for. These knights often wear battered armor and use dilapidated equipment, replacing their gear frequently, but always keeping their blades sharp and their shields straight, to protect themselves as they protect destruction.
Tenets of Destruction
The Oath of Destruction is not necessarily the exclusive province of the Doomguard, but they are certainly the most avid users of it out on the planes, and most knights of destruction are aligned with the faction, taking the Oath under the supervision of the Doomlords. The oath favors obliteration and destruction, and so most characters with this oath are chaotic neutral or chaotic evil. Not every Oath of Destruction is identical, but all paladins of this oath share these tenets
Take More Than You Give. Your healing abilities are for the explicit purpose of encouraging more destruction. Always leave a scene more unsteady and dilapidated than you found it.
Inspire Destruction. You serve as an example to others, a champion of your cause. When others encounter you, they should feel the desire to destroy and eradicate more strongly for having met you. Inspire others to tear apart this multiverse.
Value Your Implements. Though the sources of destruction may fade with time as well, it is important that you preserve and defend sources of destruction. A bomb is worth protecting in an empty field, so that it may go off later in the crowded market square. Your allies — your supported engines of destruction — might be likewise. Know what triggers them, and keep them from expending their energy in the wrong time and place.
Oath Spells
You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.
Paladin Level | Spells |
3 | Hellish Rebuke, Hex |
5 | Crown of Madness, Shatter |
9 | Bestow Curse, Fireball |
13 | Blight, Conjure Minor Elemental |
17 | Antilife Shell, Conjure Elemental |
Channel Divinity
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options
Entropic Blow. When you hit with an attack with your weapon, you can imbue your weapon with entropic energy by channeling divinity as a bonus action. This turns the attack into an automatic critical hit, and it deals extra damage equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum +1). All the damage dealt with this attack is considered necrotic.
Purge Healing. As a reaction, you can channel divinity through yourself and into the area around you, stopping all healing. You can do this in response to a creature regaining hit points. You present your holy symbol and speak a prayer of hope to the end of all things, and no creature within 30 feet of you may gain hit points until the end of your next turn. The triggering event is included in this effect, so the triggering creature does not regain any hit points, though whatever effect allowed it to do so is still expended.
Aura of Entropy
Beginning at 7th level, your very presence saps life from those around you. Creatures within 5 feet of you take 5 necrotic damage at the start of their turn, and cannot regain hit points.
At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 10 feet.
Doombringer
Beginning at 15th level, your presence remains on an enemy you have hit with your entropic blow. When you hit with it, the target also takes ongoing 10 necrotic damage. The target can end this ongoing damage with a Constitution save (DC equal to your spell DC).
Avatar of Entropy
At 20th level, you can assume the form of a being of pure destruction. Your eyes may glow black, your body might be surrounded in swirling dust, or violet lightning may run over your bulging veins.
You use your action to undergo the transformation, and gain the following benefits for 1 minute:
- At the start of each of your turns, one target within 30 ft. of you takes 2d10 points of damage automatically. Nothing can reduce or negate this damage, and you must deal it to something or the transformation ends. You can deal it to an ally, or to objects within range.
- All of your hits are critical hits.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.