Oath of the Thesmothetus

Thesmothetai are the lawgivers. Amongst their prestigious ranks are Charondas, Solon, Zaleucus, and the infamous Draco. Draco’s laws are from whence the common term “draconian” comes from; harkening back to the days when Draco’s laws were so harsh. Fortunately, Solon repealed the majority of his laws.

A Thesmothetus’ jurisdiction covers all areas of law, including criminal, civil, and religious.

Tenets of the Thesmothetus

The tenets of the Oath of the Thesmothetus are set down in law.

  • Honesty. Don’t lie or cheat. Let your word be your promise.
  • Law. The law is paramount. It is the mortar that holds the stones of civilization together, and it must be respected.
  • Loyalty. Your word is your bond. Without loyalty, oaths and laws are meaningless.
  • Duty. Be responsible for your actions and their consequences, protect those entrusted to your care, and obey those who have just authority over you.
  • Responsibility. You must deal with the consequences of your actions, and you are responsible for fulfilling your duties and obligations.

Oath Spells

You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.

Table: Domain Spells
Cleric Level Spells
3rd command, identify
5th magic mouth, zone of truth
9th clairvoyance, tongues
13th faithful hound, locate creature
17th commune, geas

Channel Divinity

When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.

  • Reveal Truth. As a bonus action, you can tell when someone is lying. Each creature of your choice that you can see within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, you can tell if the creature is lying. This effect ends on the creature if you are incapacitated or die or if the creature is more than 30 feet away from you.
  • Reveal Deception. As a bonus action, you can spot the unseen. All hidden creatures within 30 feet must make a Wisdom saving throw or be revealed. Hidden objects, clues, and secret doors are automatically revealed.

Unerring Eye

At 7th level, your senses are almost impossible to foil. As an action, you sense the presence of illusions, shapechangers not in their original form, and other magic designed to deceive the senses within 30 feet of you, provided you aren’t blinded or deafened. You sense that an effect is attempting to trick you, but you gain no insight into what is hidden or into its true nature. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.

Unerring Spirit

Beginning at 15th level, you are always under the effects of a zone of truth spell. You can turn this power on and off at will.

Light of the Lawgiver

At 20th level, as an action, you can emanate an aura of sunlight. For 1 minute, bright light shines from you in a 30- foot radius, and dim light shines 30 feet beyond that.

Whenever a chaotic enemy creature starts its turn in the bright light, the creature takes 10 radiant damage. In addition, for the duration, you have advantage on saving throws against spells cast by non-lawful. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

5E RPG: Ancient Adventures. Copyright 2020, Mal and Tal, LLC; Author Michael Tresca.