TEXT: CANTOR
  A MUSICAL SUBCLASS FOR PALADINS
  BY KAI LINDER
  
  PALADIN OATH OF THE CANTOR
  INTRODUCTION
  The Oath of the Cantor sets paladins down the atypical
  path of freedom, creativity, and expression. These
  paladins, called cantors, are creators and performers of
  divine songs known for their inspired hymns and
  wondrous performances. They carry out out religious
  rituals and services, write litanies and canticles that
  enter into common religious practice, and encourage
  healthy self-expression through creativity.
  Cantors are often found at the forefronts of theology
  or fighting against those who would repress freedom
  and individualism. They use music to break both literal
  and metaphorical bonds in the hopes that all might be
  their truest selves, and sing their praises to the heavens.
  TENETS OF THE CANTOR
  The exact words and compositions of the Oath of the
  Cantor vary greatly, but cantor paladins all share these
  fundamental tenets.
  Freedom. Freedom to be yourself is paramount.
  Those who restrict another’s freedom must be stopped.
  Creative Expression. Explore who you are and find
  new ways to express yourself. Help others do the same,
  for to hide oneself is a tragedy.
  Inspiration. Be bold and inspire passion wherever
  you go, helping others to find their own path.
  Music. Music is a gift from the gods that speaks to all
  souls. Sing, rejoice, and let your voice be heard.
  OATH SPELLS
  You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.
  CHANNEL DIVINITY
  When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the
  following two Channel Divinity options.
  Appeal to the Masses. As an action, you touch a
  creature and imbue them with fervent energy. For the
  next 10 minutes, that creature has advantage on checks
  made to perform for or speak to a gathering of at least
  ten people, and they can make their performance
  clearly audible out to 150 feet
  Canticle of Faith. As a bonus action, you sing a divine
  hymn that creates a magical aura in a 10-foot-radius
  around you. You gain a bonus to your AC equal to your
  Charisma modifier (minimum of +1). Additionally,
  once per turn when a friendly creature in the aura
  (including you) hits a target with a melee weapon
  attack, it can deal additional thunder damage equal to
  your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1). A deafened
  creature can’t benefit from this effect.
  Your hymn lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are
  knocked unconscious or if you end it as a bonus action.
  At 18th level, this aura’s range increases to 30 feet.
  AURA OF PERSEVERANCE
  Starting at 7th level, you and friendly creatures within
  10 feet of you have resistance to thunder damage and
  immunity to silencing effects and the deafened
  condition while you are conscious.
  At 18th level, this aura’s range increases to 30 feet.
  RESOUNDING SMITE
  At 15th level you can transform your smiting into
  bursts of sound. When you use your Divine Smite
  feature, you can change the damage type to thunder
  damage and deal additional thunder damage to each
  creature within 5 feet of the target equal to your
  Charisma modifier (minimum of 1). Each creature that
  takes thunder damage from your Divine Smite must
  succeed on a Strength saving throw against your spell
  save DC or be knocked back 5 feet and fall prone.
  AVATAR OF EXPRESSION
  At 20th level, you can magically become an avatar of
  expression. As an action, you gain the following effects
  for 10 minutes:
  • You emanate an aura of creative revelation in a 30-
  foot-radius. Friendly creatures in the area (including
  you) have advantage on Charisma saving throws and
  gain a number of temporary hit points at the start of
  your turn equal to your Charisma modifier.
  • Your heart glows in a color of your choice and emits
  a simple song that reveals an innermost emotion,
  belief, or bond of your choice to all who hear it. You
  gain proficiency in all musical instruments and your
  proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check
  you make using them. Additionally creatures that can
  see or hear your heart automatically succeed on
  Wisdom (Insight) checks against you.
  • When a creature enters your aura for the first time
  on a turn, or starts its turn there, it can use an action
  to open itself to expression. The creature gains the
  second effect of this feature until your form ends,
  they are incapacitated, or they end it as an action.
  • Melee weapon attacks you make against creatures
  with an Intelligence score of 4 or higher are made
  against the creature’s passive Charisma (Deception)
  score instead of their AC.
  This effect ends early if you are incapacitated or die.
  Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until
  you finish a long rest.
  OATH OF THE CANTOR SPELLS
  Paladin Level
  Spells
  3rd
  shield of faith, thunderwave
  5th
  enhance ability, enthrall
  9th
  mass healing word, spirit guardians
  13th
  aura of purity, compulsion
  17th
  greater restora�on, hallow
  
  MAGIC ITEMS
  PSALMS OF EPHRAEL
  Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement by a cleric
  or paladin)
  This thick hymn book is bound in electrum plating
  etched with seven stylized wings. When found, the
  book contains the following spells, which are class
  spells for you while you are attuned to the book:
  blinding smite, earthquake, fly, sunbeam, wall of light.
  While holding the hymn book, you can use it as a
  spellcasting focus for your cleric or paladin spells.
  The book has 3 charges, and it regains 1d3 expended
  charges daily at dawn. You can use the charges in the
  following ways while holding it:
  • If you spend 1 minute studying the book, you can
  expend 1 charge to replace one of your prepared
  spells with a different spell in the book.
  • When you are hit by an attack, you can use your
  reaction and expend 1 charge to create a blinding
  flash of light. The attacking creature must make a DC
  15 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, its attack
  misses you.
  • You can use a bonus action and expend 2 charge to
  sing an empowered psalm of focus. The song lasts for
  1 minute or until you speak, are incapacitated, or
  silenced, or end it (no action required). While
  singing this psalm, your concentration on cleric or
  paladin spells can’t be broken by damage.
  QUICK NOTATION SCROLL
  Wondrous item, common
  This scroll of paper has been enchanted to be able to
  hear and transcribe music. As an action, you can unfurl
  the scroll and speak its command word, causing it to
  automatically transcribe one song you can hear into
  musical notation for the instrument of your choice.
  The notation can also include the lyrics that are being
  sung, if any, in the language they are being sung.
  One scroll is long enough to hold approximately 10
  minutes worth of music.
  TRAVELLER’S HYMNAL
  Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement by a cleric
  or paladin)
  While holding this leather-bound hymn book, you can
  use it as a spellcasting focus for your cleric or paladin
  spells, and you gain a +1 bonus to spell attack rolls and
  to the saving throw DCs of your spells.
  In addition, when you use your Channel Divinity
  feature, you regain your lowest level expended spell
  slot of 3rd level or lower.
  VOICE CASTER
  Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)
  Voice casters are scarves or other lengths of cloth that
  have been imbued with vocal magic and are used to
  manipulate the wearer’s voice. This scarf can be pulled
  up to cover your mouth or back down as a free action.
  The voice caster has 3 charges, and it regains 1d3
  charges daily at dawn. You can use the charges in the
  following ways while the scarf is covering your mouth:
  • As a bonus action, you cause your normal speaking
  voice to originate from anywhere you can see within
  60 feet of you.
  • When you cast a spell that has a verbal component,
  you can spend 1 charge to amplify it. If the spell has a
  range of touch, its range becomes 30 feet. If it has a
  range of 5 feet or more, its range is doubled.
  • As an action, you can spend 3 charges to sing a
  magically enchanting song. Each humanoid of your
  choice within 100 feet of you that can hear the song
  must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or
  be charmed by you until the song ends, the voice caster
  is removed, or you are incapacitated. You must take a
  bonus action on your subsequent turns to continue
  singing. While charmed in this way, a creature must
  move towards you on its turn by the most direct
  route that won’t cause direct damage (such as
  stepping off a cliff). It can repeat the saving throw at
  the end of each of its turns and whenever it takes
  damage, ending the effect on a success.
  CREDITS
  Cover Art: Kredinca (Twitter: @Lost_Krendel)
  Cover Layout: Bethany Bracken
  (Twitter: @BethanyDnD)
  DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, the dragon ampersand, Ravnica and all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and
  their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such
  material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild. All other original material in this work is copyright 2021 by Kai Linder and published
  under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild.
  The cantor paladin smiled and began to sing. Holy words danced
  from his tongue, words of praise, full of faith, his voice swelling
  with power. He shimmered, and a gentle orange light began to
  glow from his chest as he raised his face to the heavens, exultant.
  His song told of insecurity, of smallness, of being lost. And now
  his heart sang of purpose, of being raised by his god to higher
  purpose, a realisation of himself and a newborn confidence to
  carry to those who didn’t lacked it The cantor was an open book,
  his soul bared, and all who heard it knew him, felt the touch of
  genuine expression. In turn, the crowd’s hearts began to glow
  with a rainbow of emotion, their songs filling the courtyard.
  SOUNDS OF THE CANTOR
  Cantors are people who sing liturgical music of various
  kinds, such as hymns, prayer calls, and worship, which
  often contain excerpts from holy texts. However,
  religious music is as broad as music itself, from gospel to
  metal. Here’s some examples:
  Litany: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb23Z5X3uhA
  Gospel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihGHltBuBBI
  Chr. Worship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3iB30gCqAc
  Azan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBNUdeWw-wE
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/Suppliment/A Musical Subclass for Paladins - Oath of the Cantor.pdf