Sacred Oath: Oath of Pain

When the Zhentarim decided to reinvent itself and present a very new public face, the Zhentilar, its elite secret police, was disbanded. High ranking members of the Zhentilar were given the option to embrace the new ideals of the Zhentarim, which most, of course, did not. Few did, however, and they brought their virulent Oath of Pain with them. Now, former knights of the Order of the Zhentilar work exclusively within the organization, divulging their unforgiving training only to members of the Zhentarim.

## **Blackguards**

Most of the paladins who swear the Oath of Pain are devout worshippers of Bane, with few owing allegiance to Loviatar. They are able to command great power in the name of their dark god, bestowing their weapons with noxious venoms and taking root in their enemies' minds. In the days of their allegiance to the Zhentilar, they were known as Blackguards. To those who fear them, they will always be Blackguards. The Oath of Pain shares its tenets with those of the Zhentarim, although it focuses on the following three pillars.

* Gain influence over important people and organizations.
* The Zhentarim is your family. You watch out for it, and it watches out for you.
* You are the master of your own destiny. Never be less than what you deserve to be.

## **Restriction: Zhentarim Only**

Only members of the Zhentarim can take the Oath of Pain as a sacred oath. In the world of the Forgotten Realms, the Zhentarim are known for secrecy and clandestine activity. The perpetuation of the Oath of Pain is no different, the Zhentarim keeps its dark secrets well out of the hands of the other factions.

The DM can lift this restriction to better suit the campaign. In such a case, the Oath of Pain can become a variant for a paladin who has fallen and must otherwise become an Oathbreaker.

## **Oath Spells**

You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.

**Oath of Pain Spells**

## **Channel Divinity**

When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.

**Conjure Duplicate.** As an action, you create a visual illusion of yourself that lasts for 1 minute, or until you lose your concentration (as if you were concentrating on a spell). The illusion appears in an unoccupied space of your choice that you can see within 30 feet of you. The illusion looks exactly like you; it is silent, it is your size, is insubstantial, and doesn't occupy its space; and it is unaffected by attacks and damage. As a bonus action on your turn, you can move the illusion up to 30 feet to a space you can see, but the illusion must remain with 120 feet of you.

For the duration, you can cast spells as though were in the illusion's space, but you must use your own senses. Additionally, when both you and your illusion are within 5 feet of a creature that can see the illusion, you have advantage on attack rolls against that creature, given how uncanny the illusion is.

**Venom Strike.** As a bonus action, you touch one weapon or piece of ammunition and conjure a special poison on it. The poison lasts 1 minute. The next time you hit a target with an attack using that weapon or ammunition, the target takes poison damage immediately after the attack. The poison damage equals 2d10 + your paladin level, or 20 + your paladin level if you had advantage on the attack roll. The target must also succeed on a Constitution saving throw (against your spell save DC) or become poisoned for 1 minute.

## **Aura of Discord**

Starting at 7th level, you emanate a vicious aura, which gives you the following benefits:

**Cull the Herd.** You have advantage on melee attack rolls against any creature that has one or more of its allies within 5 feet of it.

**Treacherous Strike.** If a creature within 5 feet of you misses you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to force the attacker to re-roll that attack against a creature of your choice that is also within 5 feet of the attacker. The ability fails and is wasted if the attacker is immune to being charmed.

You can use this ability three times. You regain expended uses of it when you finish a short or long rest.

## **Blackguard's Escape**

At 15th level, you gain the ability to slip away from your foes. Immediately after you are hit by an attack, you can use your reaction to turn invisible and teleport up to 60 feet to a spot you can see. You remain invisible until the end of your next turn or until you attack, deal damage, or force a creature to make a saving throw. Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.

## **Zhentilar Champion**

At 20th level, you gain the ability to transform into a paragon of darkness. As an action, you can magically become an avatar of pain, gaining the following benefits for 1 minute:

* You are invisible.
* If a creature damages you on its turn, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC equal to your spell save DC) or you control its next action, provided that you aren't incapacitated when it takes the action. A creature automatically succeeds on the save if the creature is immune to being charmed.
* If you have advantage on an attack roll, you gain a bonus to its damage roll equal to your paladin level.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.