No Evil Shall Escape My Light!
A Paladin/Herald class option, just in time to celebrate the Lanterns television show premiere.
Emerald Templar Herald (A5E)
Emerald templar heralds are committed to a life of service—they are a vanguard in the constant battle against those who worship evil. Emerald templars harness divine energies with strength of will to enhance their ability to protect others and are often devoted to deities and precepts of Good, Light, and Protection.
Image Source: John Stewart: The Emerald Knight #1 (February, 2023)
Artist: Mateus Manhanini
Tenets of the Emerald Templar
All emerald templars hold similar tenets, regardless of the deity they serve.
Shed Light. Let your desire to vanquish evil burn bright.
Hold Fast. Let your resolve be strengthened in the darkest moments.
Guard with Integrity. Defend those who are powerless to protect themselves.
Inspire Awe. Let evildoers beware your power.
Archetype School
Add the utility school of magic to your list of herald spells.
Oath of Emerald Flame
Starting when you take this archetype at 3rd level, you can use a bonus action and speak an oath to conjure and wear a mystical emerald ring, amulet, or circlet which counts as a spellcasting focus for you. You may only conjure one such focus at a time, and it disappears after 24 hours, if removed from your person, or if you dismiss it (no action required).
Willful Hand
Also at 3rd level you learn the mage hand cantrip, and it does not count against your number of cantrips known.
In addition, you can use an action and expend one use of your Channel Divinity to wreathe your own hand in a glove of emerald green flame for 1 hour or until you dismiss it (no action required). While your hand is thus enwreathed, the flame sheds dim light in a 5-foot radius but causes no damage, and you gain the following benefits.
When you cast mage hand, you can cast it as a bonus action and can use the hand to make unarmed strikes and melee weapon attacks (using your proficiencies and non-spellcasting modifiers), use magic items, and carry up to your carrying capacity. The magical hand is also wreathed in emerald flame which causes no damage but sheds bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light in a 20-foot radius.
Will of Creation
Beginning at 7th level, while your Willful Hand Channel Divinity feature is active, you gain the following feature. After casting the mage hand cantrip as a bonus action, you can use your reaction to transmute the hand, forming a solid object instead. As an action, you can magically move the object up to 30 feet or manipulate it as if you were physically touching it. The object has the properties of either vegetable matter (soft goods, rope, wood, and the like) or mineral matter (stone, crystal, metal, and the like).
The object must be no larger than a 5-foot Cube, and the object must be of a form and material that you have seen. You can’t form items that require a high degree of skill—such as weapons and armor—unless you have proficiency with the type of tools used to craft such objects. The object is wreathed in emerald flame, but subdued, only casting dim light in a 5-foot radius.
The spell's duration changes depending on the object's material properties, as shown in the Material Properties table. If the object is composed of multiple materials, use the shortest duration. The object lasts for the duration, but vanishes if it is ever more than 30 feet away from you or if you cast the spell again. You can extend its duration up to double its limit as long as you maintain concentration on it. Using any object created by this spell as another spell's material component causes the other spell to fail.
Material Properties Duration
Vegetable matter 6 hours
Stone or crystal 1 hour
Precious metals 10 minutes
Gems 1 minute
Adamantine or mithral 30 seconds (5 rounds)
Smite of the Emerald Guardian
At 15th level, your magical smite is imbued with a spirit of guardianship. Whenever you use Divine Smite, you and your allies within 10 feet are shielded by a glowing emerald barrier which provides a +3 bonus to AC. The barrier lasts until the start of your next turn.
Lantern of Power
At 20th level, you are a shining beacon of light. You gain the Good alignment trait and the following features.
Emerald Immolation
You can wreathe your entire body in emerald flame as a bonus action, gaining the benefits below for 10 minutes or until you douse the flame (no action required).
A flying speed equal to double your Speed.
A bonus to AC equal to half your proficiency bonus (rounded down).
Advantage on d20 rolls to avoid suffering the charmed, frightened, paralyzed, or stunned conditions.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest. You can also restore your use of it by expending a level 5 spell slot (no action required).
Warding Light
You can use an action and expend one use of Channel Divinity to wreathe allies within your Sacred Aura in emerald flame for a duration of 5 minutes while you maintain concentration. The flame grants them one of benefits of your Emerald Immolation feature (your choice), and they remain wreathed in it for the duration, even if they leave your aura.
The flame immediately disappears and its effects end if you become incapacitated.
Paladin Subclass: Oath of Emerald Flame (5.5e)
The Oath of Emerald Flame commits a paladin to a life of service—a vanguard in the constant battle against those who worship evil. They harness divine energies with strength of will to enhance their ability to protect others.
Paladins who swear this oath are often devoted to deities and precepts of Good, Light, and Protection.
These paladins share the following tenets:
Let your desire to vanquish evil burn bright.
Let your resolve be strengthened in the darkest moments.
Defend those who are powerless to protect themselves.
Level 3: Oath of Emerald Flame Spells
The magic of your oath ensures you always have certain spells ready; when you reach a Paladin level specified in the Oath of Emerald Flame Spells table, you thereafter always have the listed spells prepared.
In addition, you can wear an emerald worth at least 25 GP (e.g. embedded in a ring, amulet, circlet, etc.) and use it as your spellcasting focus.
Oath of Emerald Flame Spells
Paladin
Level Spells
3 Detect Evil and Good, Feather Fall
5 Levitate, Spiritual Weapon
9 Crusader’s Mantle, Fly
13 Resilient Sphere, Summon Construct
17 Arcane Hand, Hold Monster
Level 3: Oath’s Focus
You can use a Bonus Action and speak an oath to conjure and wear a mystical emerald ring, amulet, or circlet which counts as a spellcasting focus for you. You may only conjure one such focus at a time, and it disappears after 24 hours, if removed from your person, or if you dismiss it (no action required).
Level 3: Willful Hand
You learn the Mage Hand cantrip, and it counts as a Paladin spell for you.
In addition, you can use a Magic action and expend one use of your Channel Divinity to wreathe your own hand in a glove of emerald green flame for 1 hour or until you dismiss it (no action required). While your hand is thus enwreathed, the flame sheds dim light in a 5-foot radius but causes no damage, and you gain the following benefits.
When you cast Mage Hand, you can cast it as a Bonus Action and can use the hand to make unarmed strikes and melee weapon attacks (using your proficiencies and non-spellcasting modifiers), use magic items, and carry up to your carrying capacity. The magical hand is also wreathed in emerald flame which causes no damage but sheds bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light in a 20-foot radius.
Level 7: Will of Creation
At 7th level, and again at 11th, 15th, and 19th levels, you gain proficiency with one Artisan’s or Miscellaneous Tool Set.
In addition, while your Willful Hand Channel Divinity feature is active, you gain the following feature. After casting Mage Hand as a bonus action, you can use your Reaction to transmute the hand, forming a solid object instead. As a Magic action, you can magically move the object up to 30 feet or manipulate it as if you were physically touching it. The object has the properties of either vegetable matter (soft goods, rope, wood, and the like) or mineral matter (stone, crystal, metal, and the like).
The object must be no larger than a 5-foot Cube, and the object must be of a form and material that you have seen. You can’t form items that require a high degree of skill—such as weapons and armor—unless you have proficiency with the type of tools used to craft such objects. The object is wreathed in emerald flame, but subdued, only casting dim light in a 5-foot radius.
The spell's Duration changes depending on the object's material properties, as shown in the Material Properties table. If the object is composed of multiple materials, use the shortest Duration. The object lasts for the Duration, but vanishes if it is ever more than 30 feet away from you or if you cast the spell again. You can extend its duration up to double its limit as long as you maintain Concentration on it. Using any object created by this spell as another spell's Material Component causes the other spell to fail.
Material Properties Duration
Vegetable matter 6 hours
Stone or crystal 1 hour
Precious metals 10 minutes
Gems 1 minute
Adamantine or mithral 30 seconds (5 rounds)
Level 15: Smite of the Emerald Guardian
Your magical smite is imbued with a spirit of guardianship. Whenever you cast Divine Smite, you and your allies within 10 feet are shielded by a glowing emerald barrier which provides a +3 bonus to AC. The barrier lasts until the start of your next turn.
Level 20: Lantern of Power
You are a shining beacon of light. You gain the following features.
Emerald Immolation
You can wreathe your entire body in emerald flame as a Bonus Action, gaining the benefits below for 10 minutes or until you douse the flame (no action required).
A Flying Speed equal to double your Speed.
A bonus to AC equal to half your Proficiency Bonus (rounded down).
Advantage on d20 rolls to avoid suffering the Charmed, Frightened, Paralyzed, or Stunned Conditions.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a Long Rest. You can also restore your use of it by expending a level 5 spell slot (no action required).
Warding Light
You can use an action and expend one use of Channel Divinity to wreathe allies within your Sacred Aura in emerald flame for a duration of 5 minutes while you maintain Concentration. The flame grants them one of benefits of your Emerald Immolation feature (your choice), and they remain wreathed in it for the duration, even if they leave your aura.
The flame immediately disappears and its effects end if you become Incapacitated.
Image Source: John Stewart: The Emerald Knight #1 (February, 2023)
Artist: Jay Hero
Author’s Note: The Emerald Templar/Oath of Emerald Flame is a brand new option for the A5E Herald/5.5 Paladin. Hopefully, the source of its inspiration shines through (sorry, pun intended). At one point, I considered using this archetype/subclass for Galden, one of the pregenerated characters for Ere the Baelcat Stalketh, an adventure created as part of the Shamanist Kickstarter, but decided to release the archetype on its own instead.
