D&D 5E How do you interpret the Oath of Ancients?

[Blue]

So now I'm curious what other people think. Without referring to your books, what is your personal idea of an Oath of Ancients paladin? How do you think they differ from the oath of devotion?

Devotion screams lawful to me. Virtuous, honor-bound. Never lie, cheat or deceive. And well, "devotion" is to something, be it a order of knights, a god, a kingdom. Ancients needn't be any of those, and probably usually isn't lawful. Chaotic Good? Sure. Robin Hood or others that use non-lawful methods to achieve good? Okay. And yes, they have a plant-based Channel Divinity, though you can interpret that as more fae based. Actually, historic faerie knights, beholden to no mortal lord, would fit right in.

I only played on Oaths of the Ancients paladin, he was a half-elf worshiper of Hermes in a racist and human-centric Rome. In following the tenants of Hermes he protected travelers, regardless of nationality or creed. He sought out news and mail and brought it wherever he traveled so that others may know and hear the word. He healed where he could to remove misery so that others may enjoy life. He sought out and listened to tales not just of other Roman gods, but the gods of other pantheons - he did not see these as enemies or usurpers. He gave respect to all, but not in a humble nor self-effacing way. He enjoyed song and would sing and dance, though his dancing was poor - he just enjoyed it.

Quite far from the pure Galahad that is my stereotype for playing an Oath of Devotion paladin.

 

[Tormyr]

The half-gnoll Paladin in our group went Ancients Paladin because of his Druid father. However, it also included preserving the sanctity of all life. When the fight against the minions of Kyuss started having some of the party make some Machiavellian decisions, he decided that the only thing that mattered was stopping Kyuss. He neglected to help his allies at times or people at large. The change in attitude shifted him to Oathbreaker. The death and resurrection of a friend shook him, and he took time away from the mission to destroy Kyuss to reflect and meditate and turn back to Heironeous. After he redeemed himself, he returned to aid the group in their destruction of Kyuss.

 

[Herobizkit]

I found this on another message board and IMO it's pretty accurate.

1. Be kind yo, and fight against sadness
2. Find places where people are cool dudes and shield them from the bogus ones
3. Keep real chill and awesome, can't spread coolness without being cool yourself, dude
4. inspire others to be real cool and chill and thus spread the coolness

Also see: Finn from Adventure Time

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Azurewraith]

A wishy washy hippy. Tyedie plate, hasn't washed in months and a doobie

 

[JackOfAllTirades]

I'd play an Oath of the Ancients Paladin using the teachings of Eilistraee, with all of the Drow-specific stuff removed. Aside from that, it's an apt set of guidelines for an Ancients Paladin.

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Church_of_Eilistraee

 

[Greenmtn]

How I associate them:

Divotion - I'm going to teach you what is good and probably push you to be good yourself (Lawful Good)
Ancients - I'm going to set and example of what it's like to be good (Neutral Good)
Vengance - I'm going to scold you for not being good and punish you for being evil (Chaotic Good)

 

[ThunderDM]

How I interpret it: PROTECT THE SECRET GARDEN

 

[merwins]

How I interpret it: PROTECT THE SECRET GARDEN

Is this some kind of pre-Brazilian reference? Just askin'.

Anyhow, the way I think about OotA:
Your gramma made you a quilt. It's an awesome quilt, with fantastic images, mostly soft and fuzzy, but she did kinda work with whatever she had at hand. Cotton, burlap, wool. And the colors don't always match up perfectly.

But the end result is magnificent. And your gramma made it. You gonna try to unstitch just the burlap? color over bits that don't jibe with your crayon? Not worth it. Inspire your gramma to stitch more cool stuff into the quilt. Gather up more material to extend it. Whatever else it is, your gramma will make it work.

Evil? Good? Neutral? Peace? War? All interlinked. Impossible to have just good things in life. You'd never recognize them, and you'd just take them for granted. You wouldn't recognize beauty any more -- there's the real crime.

 

[BoldItalic]

Oath of Vengeance- this is the Paladin that is seething because you are in the 12 items or less lane in the supermarket, and you have 18 items, and you're paying with a check.

You can do this to find out the Paladin's alignment:

LG: Takes over six of your items and generously pays for them himself, to make it okay.
LN: Calls the supermarket manager and gets the sign changed to "12 items or fewer".
LE: Steals six of the items from your trolley after you have finished paying for them, to punish you for having too many.
NG: Points out that you have been overcharged on the special offer on beans.
True Neutral: Waits in line. It's not his problem.
NE: Kills the supermarket assistant and robs the till.
CG: Changes the sign to read "120 items or less". Peace, man.
CN: Has 27 items in his own trolley anyway. Complains loudly about this whole lane thing.
CE: Curses your trolley so that however you push it, it collides with the wall