Paladin Archetype – Oath of the Punishing Sun

As the enforcer of Ra’s justice, Oath of the Punishing Sun paladins use heated chains to capture and scorch those that deserve a god’s wrath. They excel in locking down multiple enemies and burning those who are foolish enough to let them close.

Oath of the Punishing Sun Features

Level	Features
3rd	Oath Spells, Channel Divinity
7th	Aura of the Sun
15th	Inescapable Justice
20th	Living Sun

Oath Spells
(3rd-level Oath of the Punishing Sun feature)

You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed in the Oath of the Punishing Sun Spells table. See the Sacred Oath class feature for how oath spells work.

Paladin Level	Spells
3rd	Burning Hands, Hellish Rebuke
5th	Continual Flame, Heat Metal
9th	Fireball, Wall of Sand
13th	Elemental Bane, Fire Shield
17th	Dawn, Immolation

Channel Divinity
(3rd-level Oath of the Punishing Sun feature)

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

Burning Prison

You can use your channel divinity to launch a series of burning chains at nearby enemies. As an action, you can choose up to 5 creatures within 15ft and have them make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, the creatures become grappled and take 1d8 fire damage at the start of their turn.

The creatures remain grappled for 1 minute, or until they break free. At the end of its turn, a grappled creature can make a Strength saving throw to break free.

Pulling Chain

You can use your channel divinity to create a powerful retracting chain. As an action, you can target a creature you can see within 30ft and launch a burning chain towards them. The creature must make a Strength saving throw or take 2d8 fire damage and be pulled to within 5ft of you, or half the distance towards you on a success.

Aura of the Sun
(7th-level Oath of the Punishing Sun feature)

At level 7, your body begins to put out unbearable heat. Hostile creatures stood within 10ft of you take fire damage equal to your proficiency bonus.

In addition, you become immune to fire damage and allied creatures stood within 10ft of you become resistant to fire damage.

At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.

Inescapable Justice
(15th-level Oath of the Punishing Sun feature)

At 15th level, your chains of burning justice naturally prevent the sinful from fleeing. When a creature leaves your reach, whether they have disengaged or not, you can use your reaction to launch a burning chain at them. Make a melee weapon attack, on a hit, the creature takes 2d8 fire damage and is restrained until the start of its next turn.

Living Sun
(20th-level Oath of the Punishing Sun feature)

At 20th level, you can assume the form of the sun personified. Using your action, you undergo a transformation. For 10 minutes, you gain the following benefits:

• Your body gives off 120ft of bright sunlight.
• Creatures stood within 5ft of you are considered blind and act as though they are under the effects of the heat metal spell.
• You gain access to the Firebolt cantrip, cast with the level 17 upgrades.

Final Thoughts

Thank you for reading! The Oath of the Punishing Sun is a damaging subclass that has a strong focus on crowd control and staying in melee range. I hope this subclass has inspired you and you’ll consider using it in your next game! If you want to see the creative process live you can join me and the community on Twitch or Discord. If you’d like to learn how to improve your own homebrews, head over to our Youtube channel!

Thank you for reading and may your next session be filled with glory!