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It is usually said that Death Knight is a paladin that falls from grace and dies without seeking atonement,
but this description does little to explain the process necessary for this to happen.
There are likely many other paths that might be taken, and some can easily be adapted for another
oath. These stand merely as examples of how a paladin might actively turn against their oaths.
Divine Attention
The only other step is the now Oathbreaker Paladin must gain the attention and favor of a deity that will
grant them undeath, but in most cases step requires one additional element, described in the next
section.
The chosen deity must:
Not be associated with Light, Life, or the good alignment.
Be associated in some way with either Death or Undeath.
In order to gain the attention of this deity, the Paladin must dedicate a great act, preferably an evil act, to
them. It is also usually necessary that this act take place at a time (such as at midnight) or on a day (such
as during a full moon or on a specific holiday) important to that deity. The act can take place over a
period of time leading up to that time when the Paladin will use the act to petition the deity. One of the
more common acts is the slaughter of the innocent in the name of the deity. In this case it will likely be
done over a period of time and the Paladin may choose to take trophies from each of their victims to use
in a ritual to petition the deity.
In any case the process of determining the success of the petitioning are make use a value known as the
Offering Value as follows:
Add together the CR rating of all your innocent victims. Note that for this purpose
two CR 0 creatures are equal to one CR 1/8 creature.
Add the CR rating (or other appropriate value determined by the DM) of any other
acts that will be part of the process.
Add your Charisma modifier.
Roll a d100 and use the table below using the number calculated above to find the
number below which you must roll to successfully gain the attention of the deity.
The deity will likely also grant a single boon to assist in accomplishing the quest. An example of such a
boon is a weakened version of the Death Knight’s Hellfire Orb, called the Hellfire Ball, described below.
Hellfire Ball (1/Day). The paladin hurls a magical ball of fire at a target it can see within 120 feet
of it and makes a ranged spell attack roll. On a successful hit, the target takes 14 (4d6) fire
damage and 14 (4d6) necrotic damage.