Oath of Beauty (Paladin)
Art Credit: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/BXBvN9
The upcoming and final compendium from D&D Unleashed, Legends of Prestige & Prowess, features a variety of new subclasses designed to fill the existing gaps in general-theme content for each of the classes in 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons. Today's preview is one of those subclasses, this one intended to provide a truly enchanting support option for the paladin lovers out there who want to keep their party alive and look good while doing it.
The Oath of Beauty is a subclass that specializes in both healing and enchantment magic. As with most paladin subclasses, much of the work establishing the class's themes is done in the Oath Spell List, where the Oath of Beauty has a medley of charm-based spells mixed with healing and support spells. The Oath's two Channel Divinity options allow for two different approaches to keeping your allies alive. Cleansing Beauty allows the paladin to support their allies from afar and even damage their enemies in the process, while Healthy Glow gives the paladin the means to support their allies with extra hit points at the same time that they protect them by taking hits and being durable.
The Oath of Beauty's most defining feature is its 7th-level aura, the Aura of Beauty, which boosts healing from spells and allows the paladin's allies to benefit from their higher-than-average Charisma score. Both halves of this aura are designed to benefit the paladin's party without allowing for problematic or overpowered build combos. Rather than granting advantage or some other bonus to the already-impressive Charisma rolls of a paladin, the aura allows the rest of the party to keep up with the paladin in social situations. Similarly, the healing bonus from the aura is not a flat number, such as the bonus from the Life cleric subclass, preventing it from being abused in combination with spells such as goodberry, aura of vitality, and regenerate.
The Aura of Beauty synergizes well with the Oath of Beauty's 15th-level feature, which guarantees that the paladin will always have access to some simple healing spells regardless of what they prepare for the day. Using the feature for cure wounds grants temporary hit points, while using it for inflict wounds grants extra damage and additional debuffs, which helps to make up for the fact that inflict wounds can miss (and cure wounds cannot). The Oath's final feature at level 20, Too Beautiful, is a flavorful capstone that allows the paladin to avoid danger as a dedicated healer while still leaving open the option to tank hits for their allies.
Thematically, the Oath of Beauty occupies a similar space as the Art Domain cleric and the Desire Domain cleric. It works well for any gods or ideologies that promote artistic beauty, desire, inspiration, or self-interest.
