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Oath of the Apocalypse

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Oath of the Apocalypse

Champions of the Great Old Ones

Oath of the Apocalypse

Written by David Stephens

Edited by: R P DavisLayout by: David Stephens

Cover design by: David StephensCover Template: Matthew Gravelyn

Cover Art by: Dusan KosticInterior Art by: Dusan Kostic, Thanawong

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, the dragon ampersand, and all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are

trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries.This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such materi-

al is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild.All other original material in this work is copyright © 2020 David Stephens and published under the

Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild.

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Oath of the Apocalypse

Oath of the Apocalypse

The Great Old Ones are ancient and powerful beings so alien in nature that the mind has difficulty comprehending their existence. The motives of the Great Old Ones are equally as alien and what one would consider a truly horrific act is merely a stepping-stone on the way to fulling goals perhaps tens of thousands of years old. The Great Old Ones care little for the comings and goings of the lesser rac-es, seeing them merely as tools to be used and discarded—if they recognize their existence at all.

You serve as the hand of one of the Great Old Ones, doing its bidding on this world. Your master has ordered you to help usher in the destruction of current universal order and bids you to destroy this world in an orgy of violent decadence. You move slowly, gathering those who will help you bring about your master’s ultimate end game, bringing the world one step closer to its destruction in a tidal wave of eternal darkness and blasphemous delight.

Tenets of the Apocalypse

Serve the Power of the Great Old Ones. The will of the Great Old Ones is all that matters, and no thing, concept, or being shall stand in the way of executing their will.

Dance and Be Merry, for Tomorrow We Die. All should rejoice for the end is at hand. Do all that will bring you pleasure, for tomorrow the end shall come.

Forward the Grand Plan. Allow no one to stand in the way of the grand plan. Let none live who would prevent the will of the Great Old Ones.

No Rest for the Committed. There is no rest until the will of the great old ones is complete.

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

Oath of the Apocalypse Spells

Paladin Level Spells3rd dissonant whispers, arms of Hadar5th mind shatter, crown of madness9th torment of Hadar, visions of other-

worldly horror13th necrotic gaze, phantasmal killer17th visions of madness, horror beyond time

and spaceSa

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Oath of the Apocalypse

Channel Divinity

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

Turn the Ignorant. You can use your Channel Divinity to bring an unbeliever into the fold. As an action, you call upon the Great Old One’s power to fill the mind of a creature within 30 feet of you with images of their hearts desires, causing them to fall under your sway. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, it becomes charmed by you for 1 hour. The creature can repeat this saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Gift of Madness. You can use your Channel Di-vinity to open the minds of creatures to the un-fathomable depth of eldritch madness that is the mind of a Great Old One. As an action, you pres-ent the symbol of your patron and pick a target that you can see within 30 feet. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the target creature takes on a short-term madness for 3 turns. On a success, the creature is unaffected and is immune to its effects for 24 hours.

Aura of Corrupting LightBeginning at 7th level the power of the Great Old Ones runs through you, corrupting your very being. When a creature touches you, grapples, you, or hits you with a melee weapon attack, you can use your reaction to deal that creature 1d8 necrotic damage.

Temptations of ExcessWhen you reach 15th level, you have honed your ability to enter the mind of a creature and fill it with visions of darkness temptations. You can cast the tempting illusion spell without using a spell slot or material components. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short rest.

Ancient and ForbiddenAt 20th level, you are able to open a portal be-tween this plane of existence and the one where your master dwells and call forth a herald of the impeding apocalypse. Pick a point you can see

within 50 feet of you. A creature of pure madness appears at that point: a star spawn hulk. The star spawn hulk is friendly to you and your companions for the duration. Roll initiative for the star spawn hulk, which has its own turns. It obeys any verbal commands that you issue to it (no action required by you). If you don’t issue any commands to the star spawn hulk, it defends itself from hostile creatures but otherwise takes no actions.

The GM has the star spawn hulk’s statistics (in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes).

Once you use this ability you can’t use it again until midnight exactly seven days’ later.

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Oath of the Apocalypse

New Spells

Eldritch Nightmares3rd-level conjuration

Casting time: 1 actionRange: 40 feetComponents: V, SDuration: Instantaneous

Choose a target you can see within range. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, you force open the target’s mind and ex-pose it to the unnatural horrors of the far realm. The target takes 7d8 psychic damage and is inca-pacitated with nightmare visions until the end of your next turn.

Horror Beyond Time and Space5th-level enchantment

Casting Time: 1 actionRange: 120 feetComponents: V, SDuration: Instantaneous

You reach into the mind of a creature and project their consciousness deep into the Far Realm, ex-posing their mind to the unimaginable horror and wonder of the sleeping god Azathoth.

Pick a creature you can see within range. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the target takes 6d8 psychic damage and is stunned for 3 rounds. In addition, the target is subject to a short-term madness as described in the DMG. On success, the target takes half as much damage and has disadvantage on to-hit rolls until the end of its next turn.

Mind Shatter2nd-level enchantment

Casting Time: 1 actionRange: 120 feetComponents: V, SDuration: Instantaneous

You open a creature’s mind to the inhuman di-

mension of the Far Realm filling it with sights not meant for mortal eyes. Pick a creature within range that you can see. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a successful saving throw, the spell ends, and the target is unaffected. On failed saving throw the target gains a random short term Madness as described on page 259 of the DMG.

NECROTIC GAZE4th-level necromancy

Casting Time: 1 actionRange: 90 feetComponents: V, SDuration: Instantaneous

You call on the power of the devils of decay and corruption, petitioning them to cast their gaze on your opponents.

Pick a target within range. The target must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the tar-get takes 6d8 necrotic damage as its flesh begins to rot away. On a success, the target takes half damage.

At Higher Levels When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the damage in-creases by 1d8 for each slot level about 4th.

Torment of Hadar3rd-level enchantment

Casting time: 1 actionRange: TouchComponents: V, SDuration: 1 hour

Make a melee spell attack against a target you can see. On a hit, the target creature’s mind is assailed with terrifying images and the unnatural energy of the Far Realm. The target takes 8d8 psychic damageSa

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Visions of Madness5th-level evocation

Casting Time: 1 actionRange: 90 feetComponents: V, S, Duration: Instantaneous

You reach out with your mind and assail the tar-get with visions of pure madness and terror.Pick a target that you can see. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the target takes 7d6 psychic damage and is in-capacitated until the start of your next turn. On a success, the target takes half damage and isn’t incapacitated.

Visions of Otherworldly Horror3rd-level enchantment

Casting Time: 1 actionRange: Self (20-foot radius)Components: V, SDuration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

You call upon the Great Old Ones to radiate an aura of otherworldly horror which fills the minds of nearby creatures with visions of unspeakable terrors. A dark aura radiates from you in a 20-foot radius. The aura moves with you and is centered on you. Each hostile creature in the aura must make a Wisdom saving throw or be incapacitated with visions of otherworldly terror for the dura-tion. If the target makes its saving throw, it is un-affected and is immune to the spell for 24 hours.

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Oath of the Apocalypse

For more titles by David Stephens, please check out these other supple-ments. Available only on the Dungeon Masters Guild

Players Guide to the Blood War Vol 1.https://www.dmsguild.com/product/262575/Players-Guide-to-the-Blood-War-Vol-1?fil-ters=45469

Champions of the Blood Wars: Oath of the Abysshttps://www.dmsguild.com/product/258542/Champions-of-the-Blood-Wars-Oath-of-the-Abyss

Champions of the Blood Wars: Oath of the Infernalhttps://www.dmsguild.com/product/258798/Champions-of-the-Blood-Wars-Oath-of-the-In-fernal

Champions of the Blood Wars: Demonologisthttps://www.dmsguild.com/product/259375/Champions-of-the-Blood-Wars-Demonologist

Champions of the Blood War Arcane Tradition: Diabolisthttps://www.dmsguild.com/product/265142/Champions-of-the-Blood-War-Arcane-Tradi-tion-Diabolist

Champions of Ravenloft: The Highway Manhttps://www.dmsguild.com/product/265436/Champions-of-Ravenloft-Roguish-Archtype-The-Highway-Man

Champions of the Outer Planes Warlock Patron the Bornless Onehttps://www.dmsguild.com/product/267909/Champions-of-the-Outer-Planes-Warlock-Pa-tron-the-Bornless-One

Champions of the Underdark Sacred Oath: Oath of the Kinslayerhttps://www.dmsguild.com/product/268004/Champions-of-the-Underdark-Sacred-Oath-Oath-of-the-Kinslayer

Magic of the Blood Warhttps://www.dmsguild.com/product/274273/Magic-of-the-Blood-War

Compendium of bladeshttps://www.dmsguild.com/product/288258/Compendium-of-Blades-Magical-Swords

Treasures of Avernushttps://www.dmsguild.com/product/289676/Treasures-of-Avernus

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