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There’s no more knightly a class inDungeons & Dragonsthan the paladin, and there’s no more noble a subclass than those paladins who take the Oath of the Crown. These paladins dedicate their lives to upholding the laws of their country, often devoting themselves to a knightly older where members swear fealty to their liege lord and nation.
Taking the Oath of the Crown comes with weighty responsibilities, but it also comes with potent magics and abilities to ensure the safety of the kingdom’s subjects. If you’re ready to take on these sacred duties, then read on to learn how to build an Oath of the Crown paladin.
Oath Of The Crown Paladin Features
Upon taking the Oath of the Crown at level three, your paladin gains two features:Channel Divinityand the beginning of theirOath Spells. The Oath Spells are detailed in the table below.
13th Level
17th Level
Your Channel Divinity comes in two flavors.Champion Challengelets you expend your bonus action to compel creatures within 30 feet of you to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, they can’t willingly move further than 30 feet from you.Turn the Tidelets you use your bonus action to provide 1d6 + your Charisma modifier in hit points to allied creatures within 30 feet with less than half their total hit points.
Champion Challengedoesn’t keep ranged enemies from engaging other party members, but it does keep enemies within easy smiting distance.
At level seven,Divine Allegianceallows you to use your reaction to take the damage intended for another creature that’s within five feet of you. At level 15,Unyielding Spiritprovides advantage against effects that cause paralyzed or stunned conditions.
And at level 20,Exalted Championlets you use your action to gain one hour of the following bonuses:
Best Species For An Oath Of The Crown Paladin
Anyone can take the Oath of the Crown. You can be any species and still be a great paladin, but there area few species that offer some synergistic benefits. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.
Astral Elf
HavingSacred Flameas a cantrip provides a much-needed ranged attack, whileStarlight Stepgets you into combat faster.Charm resistanceis great for a class that struggles with mind-control effects, andKeen Sensesprovides another much-needed skill proficiency.
Centaur
Why bother with a horse when you could justbethe horse?Ten extra feet of movementis always good,hoovesgive you an unarmed strike option and added bonus action damage, andEquine Buildlets you pull the party’s cart.
Dragonborn
There’s less reason to be a dragonborn paladin ever since the custom origin rules allowed more flexible ability score bonuses. That said,Breath Weaponis still a valuable and viable crowd control ability for a class that sometimes struggles with crowds, anddamage resistanceis never a bad thing.
Duergar
Enlarge/Reduceis a useful spell for a melee-focused class, andInvisibilitycan help with a paladin’s complete lack of subtlety.Resistance to poisonandadvantage against being poisoned, charmed, or stunnedare all good, although, as is 120 feet ofDarkvision.
Earth Genasi
Like the duergar, earth genasi’sPass Without Tracecan help with those unavoidable stealth checks.Earth Walkcan ensure your mobility, andDarkvisionis always nice to have.
Goblin
Fury of the Smallis a great damage boost for an already highly damaging subclass. Being able to disengage as a bonus action is great too, although you’re not likely to useNimble Escapeto hide.Darkvisionandcharm resistanceare good too.
Goliath
Paladins don’t do a lot with their reactions (outside of opportunity attacks), soStone’s Endurancecan really help keep you in the fight when other species are in their death saves.Athleticsis a good skill to have, andcold resistanceis also nice.
Half-Orc
Intimidationis a good skill proficiency for paladins, andDarkvisionis great to have too.Relentless Endurancekeeps you fighting beyond your hit points, andSavage Attackscan make those rare crits that much more impactful.
Hobgoblin
If you’re playing with more than one front-line character, hobgoblins are incredible.Fey Giftlets you consistently use your bonus action to provide buffs to your pal.Fortune of the Manymakes your rolls more consistent.DarkvisionandFey Ancestryare always groovy.
Human
Variant human gives you access toa powerful feat at level one. Polearm Master, Mobile, and Great Weapon Master are all great choices.
Kobold
Draconic Crygives you another option to gain advantage in combat against a whole crowd of enemies.Draconic Sorceryprovides you with a ranged attack cantrip like Fire Bolt or a useful combat trick like Booming Blade.Darkvisionis always great to have.
Minotaur
Hornsgive you a useful unarmed strike, a bonus action push, and an attack after using a Dash action.Survivalis a fine proficiency to have too.
Satyr
PerformanceandPersuasionare both useful Charisma-based skills, andMagic Resistancehelps protect you from a paladin’s typical weakness. Mobility comes fromMirthful Leapsand an extrafive feet of movement, and your horns give you a usefulunarmed strikeif you’re ever disarmed.
Shifter
Paladins are already very tough. Shifters add sometemporary hit pointsand eithersome ACoradditional movement, but both are good. PickIntimidationfor your skill proficiency.
Warforged
Paladins are traditionally the heavy armor class of D&D.Add +1 to that AC, then addresistance to poisonandimmunity to sleep effects. Then add askill and tool proficiencyof your choice. Perfect match for a paladin.
Best Ability Scores For An Oath Of The Crown Paladin
You’ll want highStrengthandCharismascores to be an effective Oath of the Crown paladin. Strength ensures your melee attacks hit accurately and hard. Charisma empowers your spells and abilities, so you’ll want this to be as high as possible as well.
Constitutionensures you keep concentration for some of your spells and also provides you with all-important hit points.
You’ll be wearing heavy armor, soDexterity can be safely ignored along with Intelligence and Wisdom.
With your high Charisma score,Paladins make great “face” characters. However, you’ll probably be relying on your teammates for skill checks that don’t involve Strength or Charisma.
If you’re using the points buy system for D&D, a good starting ability score spread might look something like this:
17(+3)
8(-1)
15(+2)
16(+3)
Best Starting Equipment For An Oath Of The Crown Paladin
A paladin has a lot of options in terms of starting equipment. You could play more defensively with ashield and a single martial weapon, or you could go for maximum offense withtwo martial weapons.
Abattleaxe,longsword, andwarhammerare all good options with a shield, or you can pair any of these with a larger two-handed weapon like alance,maul, orgreatsword.
A lance offers interesting mounted combat options, but you’d need a horse or some other ridable creature to make it work.
Five javelins provide you with a ranged option, but you’re able to replace that with a simple melee weapon if you’ve taken a species that provides a ranged-attack cantrip.
Anexplorer’s packprovides more goodies than a priest’s pack, so pick that. A set ofchain mailand aholy symbolare the last you need to prepare for your adventure.
Best Spells For An Oath Of The Crown Paladin
As a half-caster class, Paladins have few spell slots and no ability to cast spells as a ritual. And since your Divine Smite ability uses spell slots, whatever spells you choose had better be good.Here are a few suggested spellsto consider at each paladin level.
