Sacred Oath - Oath of the Ascetic

While many heroes who swear to the ascetic life do so in monasteries dedicated to purging oneself of the need for material wealth, this is not always the case. Many people who see the difficulty that the poor and destitute go through swear a vow of poverty, to give up material wealth of their own in order to provide for others. Rather than the typical knight in shining armour, these ascetic paladins instead are characterised by little more than the simple robes they wear and the scarred knuckles. Often without any formal training or backing - save perhaps that of a church that aligns with their views - these ascetics usually travel from place to place working to uplift the "havenots" while convincing the "haves" to more equitable arrangements.

Tenets of the Ascetic

Though not all paladins who make the Oath of the Preserver adhere to these exact tenets, these are the most common.

Poverty: You willingly give up all you own - including title and heritage, and pledge to never accrue wealth for yourself, dedicating instead to others.

Charity: Any wealth or rewards that you do gain, you must give up at your earliest opportunity. So potent is your vow that you would not even carry wealth, instead requiring others to do so for you.

Grace and Humility: You recognise that not all can or should follow the path of the ascetic, though you may wish to spread your beliefs, you must always do so with grace and humility, recognising others have their own paths to follow.

Oath Spells

Oath of the Ascetic Spells

You gain Oath Spells at the Paladin levels listed.

Level	Spells
3rd	Heroism, Purify Food and Drink
5th	Aid, Blur
9th	Tongues, Water Walk
13th	Aura of Purity, Dimension Door
17th	Commune with Nature, Greater Restoration

Ascetic's Path

When you swear this oath at 3rd level you gain the Unarmed Fighting Style, your unarmed strikes count as melee weapons for the purpose of spells, fighting styles, and your Divine Smite feature, and you can calculate your armour class as 10 + your Charisma Modifier + your proficiency bonus while not wearing armour.

At 6th and 11th, and 16th level in this class, you increase the attack and damage rolls of your unarmed strikes by +1 each, and you gain +1 to your spell save DC and spell attack rolls, to a maximum of +3 for each.

However, in swearing this oath you declare yourself rid of material wealth. You may not use any weapons, armour or shields (magical or mundane), any magical items, you may only carry sufficient food to feed yourself for a single day, and you may only wear the most simple of clothing. You are still allowed to wear and use a holy symbol or spell component pouch. You may also benefit from other characters using consumable magic items (such as potions, wands or scrolls) on you, however you are not able to use them yourself. Should you acquire any wealth, you must donate it to a just cause at the next opportunity you are able to do so, and are not permitted to carry it yourself.

Should you willingly violate the ascetic's path, you lose access to all of your oath features until you seek Atonement by way of the cleric spell Ceremony.

Channel Divinity

When you take this oath at 3rd Level, you gain the following Channel Divinity options:

See the Truth: As an action you gain the effects of the Detect Magic and See Invisibility spells without requiring concentration or components, along with adding your charisma modifier to any Perception and Insight checks you make. At 18th level, this also grants you the effect of the True Seeing spell. This effect lasts for 1 hour.

Purge the Material: When you hit with either a Smite spell or a Divine Smite, you can use your channel divinity to force the target to make a strength saving throw against your spell save DC. If they fail, one item they are carrying, wearing, or holding (including armour or shields) of your choice is forcibly removed from them and falls at their feet.

Ascetic's Body

At 7th level the Ascetic has gained the ability to divest themselves of physical needs. You can now survive in extreme cold and heat without requiring Constitution saving throws. You can now also go up to 1 month without food or water before they must begin rolling for Exhaustion, and have advantage on saving throws against the Poisoned condition.

In addition, your unarmed strikes now deal Magical damage for the purpose of overcoming damage resistances and immunities. Finally, when you make an attack with them, you may choose to have them deal Radiant damage instead.

Aura of Endurance

The Ascetic learns to project some of their endurance to allies around them at 7th level. Whenever the Ascetic or an ally within 10' takes fire, cold, acid, lightning, poison or necrotic damage, it is reduced by an amount equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 0), after Resistances, Vulnerabilities or saving throws are calculated.

At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet and the damage reduced is increased to twice your charisma modifier.

Ascetic's Freedom

By reaching 15th level, you divest yourself of earthly bonds and requirements. As a bonus action you can gain a flying speed (hover) equal to twice your normal movement speed and the effect of the Freedom of Movement spell (without requiring concentration). This cannot be dispelled, nor is it suppressed in an anti-magic field. This lasts for 10 minutes, and you must complete a long rest before being able to do so again.

In addition, you no longer need to breathe.

Enhanced Lay On Hands

At 15th level the Ascetic's Lay on Hands ability enhances further. Whenever you expend healing to cure a disease or poison, the target is healed by the amount expended regardless. In addition, after healing yourself at least 5 hit points at once with Lay on Hands, you heal an additional 1 hit point per minute for 1 hour. You can expend 30 points of healing in order to regenerate a target's missing body parts (such as limbs or eyes).

Ascetic's Perfection

At 20th level you can push yourself beyond your limits in a way few others can. You now regain any long rest resources such as spells or other class features on a short rest.