Paladins don't have a ton of subclasses, which to be fair makes these posts a bit easier. They got a new subclass in Mythic Odysseys of Theros, but that was reprinted in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. So, we have the Oath of Glory and the Oath of the Watchers.
Before I get into those, I'll point to this post I did recently going over the two "villainous" subclasses found in the Dungeon Master's Guide, which covers the Paladin Oathbreaker.
But let's take a look at the Oath of Glory.
Glory is strongly inspired by Greek myth and its earlier conception of the "hero," being someone who is larger than life and strives for greatness, whether they're a good person or not. It's about being awesome and badass.
Your oath spells are Guiding Bolt, Heroism, Enhance Ability, Magic Weapon, Haste, Protection from Energy, Compulsion, Freedom of Movement, Commune, and Flame Strike. There are some really strong options here - Guiding Bolt is a great spell attack, and Haste is a fantastic spell overall. Freedom of Movement is situational but can be a total lifesaver.
Your first channel divinity option is Peerless Athlete. As a bonus action, for ten minutes you get advantage on Strength (Athletics) and Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks, and can carry, push, drag, and lift twice as much weight, and you get an extra 10 feet for your long and high jumps (which still costs movement as usual.) This is pretty situational, but in a situation that can come up pretty often - Athletics and Acrobatics are pretty common skills to roll.
The other is Inspiring Smite. After you deal damage with divine smite, you can use a bonus action and distribute temp hit points to creatures you choose within 30 feet (including you), getting a total of 2d8 plus your paladin level, divided however you choose. This is a nice little bonus to make you a bit better at keeping your party alive.
At level 7, you get a 5 foot aura that upgrades to 10 at level 18 called Aura of Alacrity. Anyone who starts their turn within this aura (and you're always going to, of course) gets an extra 10 feet of movement speed until the end of their turn. Extra mobility on a melee character is always fantastic, and while it'll be awkward to time it out so that your allies benefit, it's still pretty strong.
At 15, you get Glorious Defense. When you or a creature within 10 feet is hit with an attack roll, you can use a reaction to grant a bonus to the target's AC equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1), and then if that causes the attack to miss instead, you can make one weapon attack against the attacker as part of your reaction, if it's within range. You can do this a number of time equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1) per long rest. Depending on your charisma, this is a bit like a Shield spell you can use on allies, and then potentially get a little extra damage (or a lot extra with a smite.)
Finally, your level 20 ult is Living Legend. This one can be activated with a bonus action, and lasts 1 minute. You can also use a 5th level spell slot to do it again, but otherwise need a long rest. While you've got this active, you get advantage on all Charisma checks. You can also choose to hit once a turn if you miss with an attack. You can also use your reaction to reroll a saving throw if you fail (and you have to take the new roll.) This is all pretty nice - guaranteed one hit per turn, and pseudo-advantage on saving throws. The fact that you can spend spell slots to use this multiple times a day is also pretty great.
I actually think this subclass is a bit stronger than I initially thought. I also think that you could play this as the ultimate "dudebro" paladin. I don't think it's the most exciting, conceptually, but it fits very well with the Greek Myth-inspired Theros setting, and Greek myth is a pretty good touchstone for fantasy in general.
Oath of the Watchers:
The Watchers have a strong planar theme, and I think there's a lot of potential to think of those who swear this oath as being part of a secret, elite organization that safeguards the world. I also think this is the perfect subclass for a paranoid conspiracy theorist - this would be Fox Mulder's oath.
Your oath spells are Alarm, Detect Magic, Moonbeam, See Invisibility, Counterspell, Nondetection, Aura of Purity, Banishment, Hold Monster, and Scrying. Counterspell here is pretty nice, but I think that while most of the spells are extremely flavorful, I think only a few are likely to see a ton of use.
Your first channel divinity option is Watcher's Will. As an action, a number of creatures up to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1) get advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws for a minute. Given that there's a third level spell that does that, that's not too bad.
The other is Abjure the Extraplanar. As an action, each aberration, celestial, elemental, fey, or fiend within 30 feet that can hear you has to make a Wisdom save or be turned for a minute. This is much more versatile than most turning abilities, so I think it's pretty good.
At level 7, you get Aura of the Sentinel, a 10-foot Aura (30 feet at level 18) that gives a bonus to initiative rolls equal to your proficiency bonus. High initiative can be a big deal, and potentially giving it to the rest of the party can be great. (You choose who benefits from the aura.)
At 15, you get Vigilant Rebuke. When you or a creature you can see within 30 feet succeeds on an Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma saving throw, you can use your reaction to deal 2d8 plus your Charisma modifier's worth of force damage to the creature that forced the saving throw - a nice way to punish spellcasters or other creatures that have saving-throw based abilities.
Finally, your level 20 Ult is Mortal Bulwark. Like with Glory, this is a bonus action and can be re-used if you spend a 5th level spell slot, which is nice. For a minute, you get Truesight out to 120 feet. You also have advantage on attack rolls against aberrations, celestials, elementals, fey, and fiends. Finally, each time you hit a creature with an attack roll and deal damage to it, you can force it to make a Charisma saving throw, and on a failure, it gets banished to its native plane of existence if it's not currently there. Creatures that succeed get immunity to this for 24 hours.
Advantage here is huge, as you're very likely to be fighting these sort of "outsiders" when you reach level 20. The banishment ability can potentially seriously thin out a horde of minions. And again, making these a bonus action makes them so much easier to use in a game where action economy is so important.
I think the Watcher paladin is pretty strong, though it is very depending on the kinds of enemies you face. Flavor-wise, this is one subclass that's less about alignment, but really evokes some interesting potential backstory. I think it's great for a character who might have had a UFO-like encounter with Ilithids or maybe an Arcanoloth (who, we're all clear, right, look exactly like "The Greys," right?).
And so this series concludes, with the Devotion, Ancients, Vengeance, the Crown, Conquest, Redemption, Glory, Watchers, and Oathbreaker paladins. Overall, I think I like Devotion, Vengeance, and the Watchers the best, personally, though none of them are really bad. The paladin class in and of itself is a very strong and well-designed one.
Now to see if I want to do this for other classes! Maybe later.
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