Oath of the Hero | Paladin Sacred Oath, and on inspiration

The story of this homebrew is a little interesting. For a long time, I've had this idea for a campaign in my head I call "Temples & Triforces": in other words, Legend of Zelda-themed Dungeons & Dragons. I enjoy homebrew, and I enjoy the game design work of a Dungeon Master, so I figured that given enough time and inspiration, I would be able to create content that would make my idea possible.

Inspiration for Legend of Zelda-themed ideas has come in fits and spurts, here a little and there a little. This particular Sacred Oath has a slightly interesting story, though. This homebrew represents a rare case in which I saw the art before I had the homebrew idea.

Normally, when I want a homebrew of mine to look aesthetically pleasing, I just create the content and then look for relevant art. This time, however, I saw Kumanz's art of Zelda in armor, and the art itself inspired me to make this: the Oath of the Hero. It was fun to turn my usual process on its head, and it was a good experience to feel a drive to create based on something pretty tangible.

One other thought: since this is the Oath of the Hero, does this mean that I think that Link is a paladin, or that I think that a player needs to roleplay Link to use this homebrew? Not at all! That's part of why I like the art so much: since it portrays Zelda, it emphasizes that the subclass draws on the idea of the Hero, which in the video games I grant is always Link, but is nevertheless open to other characters taking on that role.

That's also the reason the flavor text explains that paladins of this oath might be chosen but also might be choosing the hero's destiny for themselves. And of course, this is kind of true of Link in some games as well. In the Wind Waker, it's really Link who chooses the hero's destiny, not the other way around.

Anyhow, enjoy this Sacred Oath! I've accumulated a bit of a backlog, so hopefully there will be more where this came from.