Warden of the Wylds

A Paladin Oath held as an arrangement with an archfae, with speech with beasts, a summoned Wild Companion and resistance to cold, lightning or thunder damage.

Identity

The Warden of the Wylds is the Paladin Oath that is an arrangement instead of a doctrine. Somewhere in the Plane of Faewyld an archfae took an interest, terms were agreed, and a mortal walked back out with a fae obligation. Wardens are courteous to a degree other Paladins find unnerving, because they have learned what a careless sentence costs, and they keep the wild places on behalf of something that lives in them. Asked who their patron is, a Warden declines to say the name aloud.

Features

• L3 Oath Spells and Divinity

  Oath Spells. You always have the following spells prepared, and they do not count against the number of spells you can prepare each day: Paladin level 3: Pebble (cantrip), Icicle (1st) Paladin level 5: Frost (2nd), Bramble (2nd) Paladin level 9: Harden (3rd) Paladin level 13: Quicksand (4th) Paladin level 17: Wall of Stone (5th) Spell Divinity: Wild Speech. As an action, you invoke the covenant and gain the ability to speak with beasts and with creatures bound to the wild for 10 minutes. During that time, you can understand and speak with any beast, plant creature or wild-aligned entity. How much a creature can say is limited by its intelligence. A canine cannot discuss philosophy, but it can tell you about threats, hunger, territory and any concrete knowledge it holds. Spell Divinity: Mark of the Covenant. As a bonus action, you designate a creature you can see within 60 feet as a Quarry of the Wild. The creature must be one whose presence violates the covenant: an aberration, an undead, a defiler, or a creature you and the GM agree fits the oath's grievance. For 1 minute (or until you are Incapacitated or use this feature again), you have advantage on tracking the quarry, and the first weapon attack you make against it on each of your turns deals an additional 1d8 damage of your weapon's damage type.

• L7 Wild Companion

  Once per long rest, you can use a bonus action to summon a Wild Companion, a beast spirit that takes physical form for 1 hour or until it is reduced to 0 hit points. Choose its form when you summon it: a canine, a hawk, a small ursine, a great cat, a serpent, or another beast of size Tiny to Medium that the GM approves. The Wild Companion has the following: Its hit points equal your Paladin level × 4, its AC is 14, and its speed is 40 feet (or a fly speed of 60 feet if winged). It has one natural weapon attack with your proficiency bonus to hit, dealing 1d8 + your Charisma modifier damage. It acts on your initiative count, on a turn immediately after yours. You direct its actions as a free action on your turn. If you do not, it takes the Dodge action. It can follow simple commands and reports back what it has seen. If the Wild Companion is killed, the spirit returns to the wild, and you can summon a new companion (possibly in a different form) after your next long rest.

• L11 Storm Resistance

  You have advantage on saving throws against lightning, cold and thunder damage, and you have resistance to one of those three damage types. You choose the damage type when you gain this feature, and the choice cannot change. You can move through difficult terrain caused by nonmagical plants, snow, mud or rough ground without spending extra movement, and you have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks made in wild terrain.

• L15 Quarry Smite

  When you use Divine Smite against a creature that is a beast you have marked as Quarry of the Wild, an aberration, or an undead, the smite deals an additional 2d8 damage of the smite's normal damage type. When your Wild Companion hits a creature marked as your Quarry of the Wild, the companion's attack deals an additional 1d8 damage.

• L18 Avatar of the Wylds Capstone

  Once per long rest, as a bonus action, you assume the Avatar of the Wild for 1 minute. While transformed: You gain natural weapons, claws or fangs (your choice), dealing 2d6 + Strength modifier slashing or piercing damage on a hit. You can attack with them as if they were your equipped weapon for the purpose of Extra Attack and Divine Smite. You gain a climbing speed equal to your walking speed and ignore difficult terrain caused by natural features. You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception, Survival, Animal Handling and Insight) checks related to the wild. When you activate this form, you summon 1d4 Wild Allies, small spirit-beasts that appear within 30 feet of you and last for the duration. Each has 20 hit points and AC 13, and makes one melee attack with +5 to hit for 1d6 + 3 damage. They act on your initiative count under your direction. You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical sources. Your walking speed increases by 20 feet. The form ends early if you fall Unconscious, dismiss it as a free action, or are reduced to 0 hit points. The Wild Allies depart with the form.