With the Way of the Cobalt Soul covered, we now move on to the other homebrewed subclass that was featured (albeit in a more limited capacity) in Critical Role's second campaign. The Oath of the Open Sea is, I'd argue, one of the clearest "Chaotic Good" paladin oaths, with its emphasis on freedom and its values of adaptability.
We only got to see the level 3 features of this subclass at work on Critical Role, though this included the Marine Layer channel divinity that seemed to have such limited use until it became extremely important in the climactic boss fight of the whole campaign. Travis Willingham's Fjord was primarily a Hexblade Warlock, a subclass that works very well multiclassed with paladin, but the character was arguably more paladin-like in personality.
As with any paladin oath, this comes with the tenets that define it - I usually skip past these, as they're really much more important to roleplay flavor and don't have any mechanical meaning, but given that I've tended to do a full post for each of these subclasses, I'll throw it in.
No Greater Life than a Life Lived Free - here, the tenet refers both to the paladin's desire for freedom and the conviction that those who would deny others their freedom should be defeated.
Trust the Skies - this one emphasizes a respect and awareness of nature and reading its signs.
Adapt Like the Water - this is about embracing a fluid strategy and ability to change course and react to changing circumstances.
Explore the Uncharted - here, the tenet drives the paladin to pursue knowledge and delve into the unknown to better protect the innocent.
Your oath spells are Create or Destroy Water, Expeditious Retreat, Augury, Misty Step, Call Lightning, Freedom of the Waves (a spell added in TDCSR,) Control Water, Freedom of Movement, Commune with Nature, and Freedom of the Winds (likewise found in TDCSR).
Freedom of the Waves (3rd level spell) allows you to conjure a kind of tidal wave that forces creatures to make a Strength save or take damage and be knocked prone, but you can also ride the wave to use it for movement and also designate friends who are immune to it if they're in the area.
Freedom of the Winds (5th level spell) allows you to fly at a 60 ft speed and get advantage on checks to avoid getting grappled and on saves against being restrained or paralyzed. You can also use a reaction to teleport 60 feet when you're targeted by a spell or attack, and if you're out of range of the triggering effect when you reappear, you're unaffected, though this ends Freedom of Winds early.
So, I like these spells (which are otherwise available to Druids, Rangers, and Sorcerers,) though I think the only other really awesome oath spell here is Misty Step.
At 3rd level, you get Channel Divinity options: Marine Layer and Fury of the Tides.
Marine Layer lets you, as an action using your channel divinity, create a cloud of fog that surrounds you out to 20 feet in all directions, moving with you and centered on you. The area is heavily obscured, but you and creatures within 5 feet of you treat it as only lightly obscured. The fog lasts 10 minutes, and unlike most fog effects, can't be dispersed early unless you choose to end it.
So, obviously, if you have powerful ranged attacks like Eldritch Blast, this can be very powerful. But I do think that anyone going full paladin with this is going to find this ability can be frustrating - generally you need to get within 5 feet of a target in order to hit it with a melee attack, and so you'll be giving the benefit to your foes - indeed, you could even make things harder on your party if an enemy gets between you and an ally - meaning they get to see your party member while your ally can't see it.
Honestly, this is something of a recurring theme in these subclasses - features that can, under certain circumstances, hurt your allies rather than help them. I think I'd maybe make a homebrew adjustment that only your allies within 5 feet of you get to see through the fog.
The other option is Fury of the Tides. As a bonus action using your channel divinity, you can get a boost to your attacks for 1 minute. Once per turn during that minute, if you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can choose to push the target 10 feet away from you. If pushed into an obstacle or another creature, the target takes bludgeoning damage equal to your Charisma modifier.
So, this feels much easier to use well. Indeed, technically you could flank with a friend and ping-pong the target between the two of you (I think this might play well with a Juggernaut Barbarian).
At level 7, you get Aura of Liberation. This 10-ft aura prevents you and creatures of your choice from being grappled or restrained, and also allows those under its effects to ignore movement and attack penalties for being underwater. Creatures that are already grappled or restrained when they enter the aura can spend 5 feet of movement to escape unless bound magically. Like other paladin auras, this extends to 30 feet at level 18.
Ok, now this is pretty good. For one thing, a lot of very dangerous monsters, especially sea monsters (like Krakens) can only swallow a creature if they have that creature grappled, so this totally prevents anyone from suffering that fate. But it also negates all sorts of things like Web, Entangling Roots... hell, this can even protect a character from a vampire's bite! (Well, at least in most circumstances). It also makes underwater combat significantly more viable - though it's here that I find it bizarre that Water Breathing isn't on the oath spell list.
At level 15, you get Stormy Waters. As a reaction, you can deal 1d12 bludgeoning damage to any creature that enters or leaves your reach. The creature must also make a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC or be knocked prone.
So, first off, that damage is unavoidable, as it happens prior to the Strength save. Also, this isn't an opportunity attack, meaning you could actually trigger this with your own Fury of the Tides. Push them away and then run the other way, forcing them to run back to you... it could be kind of ridiculous.
Finally, at level 20, your Open Sea paladin ult is Mythic Swashbuckler. As an action, you get the following benefits for 1 minute. You can do this once per long rest.
- You have advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks and gain a climbing speed equal to your walking speed, or if you already have a climbing speed, that speed is doubled.
- If you're within 5 feet of a creature and no other creatures are within 5 feet of you, you have advantage on attack rolls against that creature.
- You can dash or disengage as a bonus action.
- You have advantage on Dexterity checks and Dexterity saving throws against effects you can see.
So, this is interesting - you basically get to be part Rogue and part Barbarian (getting parts of Cunning Action and somehthing like the Swashbuckler Rogue's features, as well as Danger Sense).
As usual, making this an action makes it a little painful - it's what makes the Glory and Watcher paladin ults a little more attractive - that and that you can spend 5th-level spell slots to do it more than once per day, whereas Open Sea seems like it's using a slightly older 5th Edition precedent.
Generally speaking, I think paladin subclasses are always cushioned by the fact that the paladin class in general is very strong. I think the Aura of Liberation here is a really powerful feature that could be absolutely clutch in high-stakes situations. Even though we saw Marine Layer work brilliantly the one time, it does seem like it's only in rare circumstances that it will be all that useful.
Still, I really like the way this puts paladins in a flavor context that is usually the realm of Rogues, and any enemy-moving abilities that don't have a saving throw can be quite strong. So, I'd consider this one.
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