Death Knight

Life is nothing but a futile spark, struggling against the darkness but ultimately doomed to
failure. I represent the darkness that lies at the end of all. So how can you expect to stop me?
—Baron Lightstalker, devourer of the 13th Soul

A grim and silent orders of knights, deathknights are conduits of the negative energy plane.
Having sworn their lives in the pursuit of death and undead, they wander the lands looking for
chances to increase the power of death and the dead. Deathknights are a rare sight, as not
many have the devotion and are not attuned enough to the negative energy plane to become
deathknights. The first deathknight was made in a pact between a powerful lich and a bitter
ex-paladin. The ex-paladin swore his life to death and the undead and in return received
profane powers from the lich. Deathknights can be found wandering the land solitary or
leading a pack of undead. They could be found working as a lieutenant of a powerful lich or
necromancer, or even as a warlord intent on conquering. All deathknights follow the code
made by the first deathknight, and some even add to it. They hold honor in great reverence,
saying a man without honor is not worthy to live, and shun those who break agreements.
Some embrace undeath and become ghouls, death knights, wights, vampires or
swordwraiths.
Races: The races most attracted to being deathknights are humans. With their short lifespan
they wonder what lies after death and death knight gives them the ability to be death. Elves
and half-elves are also known for being deathknights since they are very adept at using blade
and magic in battle. Dwarven and orcish deathknights are also not unknown but orcs
generally lack the discipline to become deathknights and dwarven deathknights are shunned
by their clan. Halflings and gnomes rarely, if ever become deathknights. Male drow
occasionally become deathknights, as even female drow have to show some small respect for
these dark warriors. Shadar-kai also have a number of deathknights among their ranks, who
typically focus entirely on ridding their race of the shadow curse.
Deathknights and other classes: A deathknights works best with more lawful classes and
those that share his outlook. A deathknight can get along well with knights, monks, and even
paladins in the short term, as long as the deathknight can somehow conceal his alignment.
They respect fighters and barbarians for their power and combat prowess. Deathknights could
work with druids, but only those who do not see undead as abominations. Deathknights find
bards and rogues to be lacking in honor, and dislike working with them. Favored companions
are also clerics and dread necromancers who share the deathknight's outlook on things.
Frequently these companions are the liches you serve or help. Wizards and sorcerers who
specialize in necromancy find the combat prowess and undead-related abilities of this class
helpful.
Mercenaries devoted strongly enough to a life of war that they carry on in death their endless
campaign of destruction may find this class attractive. A deathknight slain in battle may return
as a Sword Wraith if his services were hired under false pretenses or if his exploits were
particularly impressive before his life finally ended (at the discretion of the DM).
Sword Wraiths appear somewhat insubstantial and have faintly glowing eyes, but they are not
truly incorporeal and their eyes do not produce enough light to modify vision penalties.
“Evil Bastards them deathknights, honorable yes, but evil.”

—Thander Bladepoint, wandering knight

Abilities: Like most combat-oriented classes, Deathknights depend heavily on Strength and
Constitution. Charisma is vital to the deathknight's abilities.
Alignment: Lawful Evil (or Lawful Neutral - follow LN Code)
Starting Gold: 6d4 x 10gp (150gp)
Table: The Deathknight
Hit Die: d10
Base Fort Ref Will Profanities
Level Special
Attack Bonus Save Save Save known
1st +1 +2 +0 +2 Profanities +2 1
2nd +2 +3 +0 +3 Rebuke Undead, Netherblast 2D6 1
3rd +3 +3 +1 +3 Deathshroud +2, Detect Undead 2
4th +4 +4 +1 +4 Netherblast 4D6 2
Profanities +4, Shadowmeld 2x per
5th +5 +4 +1 +4 2
day
6th +6/+1 +5 +2 +5 Netherblast 6d6 3
7th +7/+2 +5 +2 +5 Blessing of the vampire 3
8th +8/+3 +6 +2 +6 Netherblast 8d6, Death thralls 4
9th +9/+4 +6 +3 +6 Deathshroud +4 4
10th +10/+5 +7 +3 +7 Netherblast 10d6, Profanities +6, 4
11th +11/+6/+1 +7 +3 +7 Shadowmeld 4x per day 5
12th +12/+7/+2 +8 +4 +8 Netherblast 12d6 5
13th +13/+8/+3 +8 +4 +8 Honorbound 6
14th +14/+9/+4 +9 +4 +9 Netherblast 14d6 6
Profanities +8, Shadowmeld 6x per
15th +15/+10/+5 +9 +5 +9 6
day
16th +16/+11/+6/+1 +10 +5 +10 Netherblast 16d6 7
17th +17/+12/+7/+2 +10 +5 +10 Deathshroud +6 7
18th +18/+13/+8/+3 +11 +6 +11 Netherblast 18d6 8
19th +19/+14/+9/+4 +11 +6 +11 Wraithshift 8
+20/+15/+10/+ Netherblast 20d6, Revenant,
20th +12 +6 +12 8
5 Profanities +10
Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level; ×4 at 1st level)
Climb (Str),Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomancy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha),
Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str),Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) (Int), Knowledge (Religion)
(Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spot
(Wis).
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Death Knight:
Weapon and Armor proficiencies: A Deathknight is proficient with simple and martial
weapons and with light, medium and heavy armor.
Restrictions: You must always follow the code of death knights. If you violate any of these,
you lose all special abilities of the class, and you can only regain them via an Atonement spell
cast by a cleric with the Death or Repose domain.
Profanities (Sp): At Level 1 you learn how to project a Profane Aura. You start knowing one
aura from the table below, and learn one additional aura for each three levels that you gain.
You can manifest only one profanity at a time. These profanities are continuous and can be
switched on or off as a swift action.
You gain a Profanity score, starting at 2, which increases by +2 at every 5 levels. The
profanity score affects how powerful the aura's effect is. Profanities effect a 60 ft. circle
around yourself, unless stated otherwise. Death Knight Profanities
Name Description Ability Granted

You gain a sense of power and your

You and your allies gain a profane bonus to attack rolls
Unholy vigor body almost moves by itself, The power
equal to your Profanities score.
of negative energy strengthens you.

A faint purple haze hangs around you,

Everyone (including allies and yourself) receive
the bane of all living. All living things
Soulflay negative energy Damage equal to your Profanities
suffer as the negative energy plane is
score every round at the start of your turn.
brought closer this world.

The area around you is covered in a

Allied Undead receive Turn Resistance equal to your
darkblue mist. The air also becomes
Gravemist Profanities score, except against your own Rebuke
colder, the chill of death strengthens the
attempts.
dead.

Enemies within the area of your Profanity aura are

The air around you grows darker, your
shaken receiving a penalty to their attack rolls equal to
Terrorize eyes become glowing red and
your Profanity score. Opponents immune to fear
screaming ghosts wisp around you.
effects are not subject to this ability.

The air grows colder. Your armor starts

Enemies within the aura are dealt 2 points of negative
to give off a faint black light and the
Death Armor energy damage times your Profanities score when they
earth where you stand becomes barren
deal damage to you or your allies.
of life; The death armor has come.

The air is in turmoil, the wind beats

against your enemies, who are pushed You and all allies within your aura gain damage
Deathwind
out of balance. You and your allies are reduction X/-, with X being your Profanities score.
unaffected by the raging of the wind.

You float 2 inch per Profanities score above the

You are carried aloft by an ethereal wind
Etherfloat ground. If there is no ground within that distance you
that only seems to affect you.
fall slowly as per Feather Fall spell.

Soulreaver Your blows not only cut into flesh and You and your allies gain a profane bonus to weapon
bone but also into your enemies very damage rolls equal to your Profanities score. This
soul. damage is negative energy damage. You and your
 allies must actually damage your opponent before this
bonus is applied.

Rebuke Undead: At level two you gain power over undead. You can use Rebuke undead as
an evil cleric of your level -1.
Detect Undead: At level three you gain the power to detect undead at will.
Honorbound: If you die while trying to uphold an oath, agreement or contract and you die,
thus making you unable to uphold your agreement, you rise as a Sword Wraith (gaining the
template) an hour after being slain. This is permanent, and you can only be brought back to
normal through a Wish or Miracle.

The bandit lord smirked when he saw the warrior go down.

The princess is ours lads, she'll fetch a high price on the slave market but he faltered
in his sentence when he heard a bone-chilling voice Not while I still wield my sword!.

The bandit watched in horror as the knight rose again, grasping his blade, ready to
strike down those who opposed him."

Deathshroud (Su): You are protected from attacks by a host of screaming souls which add a
profane bonus to your AC. This bonus starts at +2 at 3rd level, increases at 9th level to +4,
and finaly to +6 at 17th level. When the terrorize profanity is activated the souls emit horrible
shrieking noises.

Icy blue flames surround you, and when you look closely you see faces distorted with
agony in the flames. The flames seem to protect you from attacks.

Netherblast (Sp): Once every 5 rounds, you can project negative energy damage with your
hand or your blade.
When activated through your hand, as a standard action, it manifests in a 30-feet cone.
Enemies are allowed a Reflex save (DC 10 + half your level + Cha bonus) for half damage.
When used through your blade, as a swift action, the weapon lights up with unholy energy,
which is unleashed on the next target you hit. The attack must be made within the same turn.

Your hands glow with the unnatural color of coldfire, you channel this through your
blade and release a burst of darkness that seems to eat at the essence of your
enemies.
Blessing of the Vampire (Sp): This ability is the same as Netherblast with the following
differences. You heal damage equal to the same amount of dice as your Netherblast. This
ability is usable a number of times per day equal to 3 + your charisma bonus.
Your hands glow with an eerie green glow as you hold it up, it seems to draw in the life
energies of those around you, rejuvenating your inner reserves of strength.

Revenant (Su): Once per day, when you are reduced to below -10 hitpoints you can force
your soul to keep powering your body, Activating this ability is an immediate action. You can
stay active for a number of rounds equal to your charisma bonus(Minimum 1), once this time
period ends the effects of your damage continue normally, E.G: If you are still below -10 hp
and you had been hit with a disintegrate spell you revert to a pile of ashes.

As you are hit by an attack that should have killed you, you fight on draining your inner
reserves of strength to fight on.

Death Thralls (Sp): You can Reanimate monsters with your dark energies. You can use
Animate Dead as a spell-like ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your charisma
bonus. Caster level is your class level. You can only reanimate creatures that you have slain
yourself (either by dealing the death blow or inflicting a large amount of the damage that killed
it).
As you slay the enemy, you force its soul from your blade back in its body, reanimating
the corpse to serve you as a thrall.

Wraithshift (Su): You gain 20 ft. fly speed with average maneuverability. When you fly, your
appearance is cloaked in a shadowy haze, resembling a wraith.

As you lift off unto the air you grow wings of shadowy darkness around you that carry
you aloft into the air.

Shadow Meld (Su): A deathknight can travel from one shadow to another, in order for this
ability to work, the shadow that the deathknight trying to use must be completely dark and
must cover his/her body. Using this ability is a standard action and the range one Deathknight
can travel from one shadow to another is 180 feet. A Deathknight can take only 1 target with
him through the shadow, along the journey, the target cannot leave the Deathknights side and
is considered helpless unless he/she has reemmerge through the other side. Notewise, the
deathknight can not do anything to the target unless they are on the other side. The
Deathknight gains this ability at lvl 5 and at every 5 levels after.

Lawful Evil
1. The First Allegiance is to Death, not Life. The first allegiance demands that the
Deathknight show no mercy in combat. He strikes to kill, always. The first allegiance
also demands that the Deathknight take no special care to stave off the death of
others. A fallen comrade is considered weak, thus useless to the group and party.
Incidentally, these, together, make it very hard to take prisoners. Deathknights often will
make a point of murdering those who they've "only" incapacitated, though this is not
always a rule.
2. The Second Allegiance is to Undeath, and its Glory. The second allegiance demands
that a deathknight further the cause of undeath. If the undead are rampaging, he takes
command. Deathknights do not oppose the undead without due reason (i.e. the
undead being itself is opposing death and undeath, or harming the cause of death and
undeath).
3. The Third Allegiance is to Honor, as it lasts for all of Eternity. The third allegiance
demands that a deathknight be honorable. In this, his word is his bond, once sworn he
 shall uphold it so long as his trust is not broken, even against his convenience. After all,
the undead live forever. An additional ramification is that many deathknights contract
themselves to limited durations, aware of the possibility of rising as undead themselves
and being still sworn to their bond. Deathknights also are very keen to exact
vengeance for slights against them, or return favors for previous kindnesses. Honor
demands it.

Lawful Neutral
1. The First Allegiance is to Death, not Life. The Death Knight forsakes everything that
binds him to Life, his desires, his feelings, his loved ones. He exists only to serve
death. He must protect sites where the dead are laid to rest, and he must ensure that
all slain allies and enemies receive proper rites for their passage to the afterlife. Only
death itself decides when to take a life, and it is not for mortals to question this
decision. Magic that brings the dead back to life is forbidden, and the Death Knight
may neither use it himself nor accept the use of it for himself. Only direct divine
intervention can bring a Death Knight back to life (Wish or Miracle spell). Only divine
mandate should dictate if the Death Knight should live past his/her due time.
2. The Second Allegiance is to Death, not Undeath. The Undead try to cheat the natural
cycle of life, and the Death Knight must use every available means to stop them and
restore natural order.
3. The Third Allegiance is to Honor for all of Eternity. The third allegiance demands that a
Death Knight be honorable. In this, his word is his bond, once sworn he shall uphold it
so long as his trust is not broken. His word is to stand forever, like death itself. Death
Knights are expected to repay kindness with kindness and insult with vengeance.
Ex-Death Knights: If you break an oath, agreement or contract, or grossly violate the Death
Knights code you lose your class abilities, and you may not progress any farther in levels as a
Death Knight until an Atonement spell is cast on you.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the death knight.
Weapon and Armour Proficiency: Death knights are proficient with all weapons, shields and
armour.
Spells: Death knights cast divine spells which can never be spells of good. Death knights
should take evocations such as fireball, lightning bolt, and definitely enervation.
Water of Good: Holy water burns the death knight for half damage as it would for undead.
Frosting Touch: The touch of the death knight is cold and chilling. When he starts he can
chill flesh. When he gets powerful he can freeze people into solid ice. At every fourth level the
freezing power increases. The death knight must make a melee touch attack to freeze and a
successful Will save reduces the damage to half.
Aura of Dark Majesty: The death knight still has the aura of his old self. He gains a +1 bonus
to Charisma checks, as well as Appraise, Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidate,
Ride, Sense Motive, and Spot checks. This bonus increases over time.
Veil of Darkness: The death knight's cloak is enchanted and is death black. It gives him a +1
to Hide checks.
Death Armour: This armour, like that of the planewalkers, is made out of black metal. An
unholy light glows out which can be dimmed. The armour counts as spiked full plate armour
but does not reduce Dexterity modifier.
Steed of the Shadows: The death knight rides a nightmare. The nightmare follows the rule
for the paladin's mount, as it can share shaving throws, has an empathic link, improved
evasion, etc. In addition, it is very powerful in combat, as the nightmare in the Monster
Manual. The Death Knight always passes Ride checks with his nightmare.
Death Sword: This is a black metal sword with fiery runes. It does double damage against
good creatures and +2 damage normal. It can be used as a greatsword, longsword or bastard
sword.
Creeping Fear: The Death Knight has a permanent Cause Fear spell on him but it does not
cause creatures to flee. He can "turn it off" with a Will save if he wants and reactivate it
automatically. Creatures affected by the death knight's aura of dark majesty suffer a -2
penalty to all opposed rolls and save DCs.
Fist of Death: By clutching his hand the death knight can choke a person. The person is
entitled to a Will, Reflex, and Fortitude save. The death knight must be able to see the person
being targeted. He can only choke creatures with less than half as many Hit Dice as himself.
Power Word Kill: The death knight learns the spell Power Word Kill even if he could not
normally do that. He can automatically cast it on subjects that have less than 7/8 of his Hit
Dice.
Hand of Death: The death knight can cast (if he knows them) enervation, lightning bolt, or
fireball by pointing with his hand.
Manifestation: The death knight becomes a true spirit of the darkness. He becomes ethereal
and is trapped inside his armour. Two glowing red eyes can be seen out of his helmet, which
he gains. His armour is permanently closed and his frosting touch cannot be resisted. His
sealed armour gains a +2 AC bonus. When fighting, all his opponents flee, except those who
are protected from evil. A fleeing creature with the same HD as the death knight is entitled to
a morale test to see if he keeps running or fights. He is harmed by holy water for full damage
and grows one size taller if he wants. His nightmare grows accordingly. His aura of dark
majesty increases to +8. His attacks always hit ethereal creatures and count as a +3
enchantment bonus against damage reduction.