The War Against Magic: The Upheaval — Update 1.1 (Patreon)

Both the setting and subclass documents have been re-uploaded with the changes listed in the update log at the bottom of the page. Be sure to redownload them!

The Upheaval was a dark era of time that spanned the course of one hundred years and was marked by the violent persecution and suppression of spellcasting humanoids. Led by a faction of fear-mongering paladins called the Justicars, this war against the arcane was fueled by fervent slander and aggressively divisive propaganda designed to strike fear into the hearts of the nonmagical. Using this manufactured fear, the Justicars continued to expand and control vast swathes of territory by mobilizing groups of radicalized civilians. Inquisitions ran rampant and often led to the wrongful conviction and execution of innocent people, magical or otherwise. Powerful magic wielders themselves, the Justicars were both feared and respected for their firm grasp and discipline of their power, and despite their abilities, were considered the only acceptable purveyors of magic in the eyes of their followers.

To this day, the Justicars are universally reviled and held responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent lives, as well as for the ushering in of one of the multiverse’s darkest centuries. Though these zealots are far less in number and power today, their tyrannical actions have caused tremendous suffering for decades, even following the Upheaval, and still strive to accomplish their repressive goals. Based out of the fortress city of Kerulia, the remaining Justicars spread slander and violence wherever they can find a foothold as they strive to regain the might and power they once possessed.

What's included:

• New lore and magic-siphoning Orders, both good and bad
• Details on the extra-planar mage prison: the Mage Realm
• Suggested historical events detailing how the Upheaval progressed over 100 years
• Fear-mongering and military tactics used by anti-magic fanatics
• Quest and adventure hooks for both sides of the Upheaval
• Included emblem of the Justicars, the proponents of the Upheaval
• 6 new encounters, including ones from Order power structures!
• 4 maps donated by Cze & Peku
• New Paladin subclass: the Oath of the Spelldrinker!

Credits

I was responsible for direction, design, and additional editing for this setting. However, this couldn't be possible without extra help. If you like this setting, consider supporting these other incredible 5e content creators:

Ty Christensen — Writing, editing

TheArenaGuy — Monster creation, editing

Cze & Peku — Maps

Fabian Saravia — Subclass illustration

Benjamin Sommeregger — Cover art

What comes next?

As patrons, you can help decide what setting and subclass come next! Vote in this poll during the setting's first week of its exclusive release and choose what comes next!

This will be a freely accessible post after 1 week of being patron-exclusive. Thank you for your support, heroes, and for letting me make this content for you and the rest of the community!

Subclass Update v1.1:

• Unrelated, but I also uploaded the sigil for the Spelldrinkers, too! Enjoy!
• Spells: Replaced protection from energy with dispel magic at level 9, replaced wall of force with dominate person at level 17. 
• Changed the math of Absorb Energy to be able to counterspell magic of a level equal to 1 + 1/3 your Paladin level, rounded up. This means that you'll be able to counterspell spells relevant to your character level throughout tier 2 and a lot of 3, until it caps out at 6th level spells. Even then, that's still pretty rad.
• Replaced the second Channel Divinity option with Expeditious Command, which will be more useful in situations where magic isn't present. This will let you invigorate allies around you and allow them (including you, immediately) to take the Dash or Disengage action as a bonus action until the start of your next turn. The original CD options were leaning too heavily on the assumption that you'd always be fighting casters, but that's just not the case. This way you'll still be able to chase down the noncasters or get your party out of a jam using your Channel Divinity.
• Gave the Arcana skill as a bonus proficiency.
• Adjusted the Aura to proc at the end of creatures' turns, not the starts. Woof, that was strong.
• Removed the gamey ribbon/rider on the level 15 perk. Still good.