Death Knight

D&D 3e (3.0/3.5) Rules

by Nightbringer

The evil baron. The resurrected king. The lich in armour. The death knight. Death knights are some of the most corrupted men alive, if they are even that. Death knights are usually undead liches in armour, knights who are corrupted by the forces of darkness. Sometimes knights who are turned to evil are cursed to remain in this world to repent. The death knight is a frightening foe. Half-shadow, half-undead, he is a menace to this world. A death knight is a good character to play because he combines the combat finesse of a knight, the spells of a cleric, and the many abilities that the death knight has at his disposal. They bring the darkness.

Characteristics: Death knights were once honourable lords but are now corrupted. They hate themselves and still have the honour and courage from their old life. They get on well with the followers of darkness. This may make it hard to fit one into your campaign but remember that death knights are rejected from bliss in the heavens and have to atone for their sins in the Prime Material. They have to help the common good, which means helping your party. This is known as a questing death knight.

Alignment: Death Knights may be the very manifestation and essence of pure evil but they still have the lawful and honourable nature of their knightly selves. They are almost all lawful evil, but some are neutral or even chaotic evil if they brought the change upon themselves. Some, especially the questing type, are neutral.

Religion: Death knights, willingly or not, always worship the god who made their transformation. This is usually Takhisis or Nuitari but may have been another twisted god of evil.

Background: Death knights were once noble men (or elves, etc) but they sinned, like Lord Soth. He was the most honourable man of all time but he betrayed his wife for an elfmaid. He then killed his wife and child. He was in disgrace. But he was given a chance to repent. Paladine gave him the chance to stop the Cataclysm, he gave Soth a promise that if the Kingpriest killed him he would rise from the grave. But Soth was stopped by five elfmaids whose evil words convinced Soth that at this moment his wife was cheating on him. He returned to the castle in a murderous rage and only as the Cataclysm poured upon them did he realize what he had become. He decided not to save his child because he would grow up to be as he was, evil. His wife cursed him to live ten lives for every life he had stopped. Since he caused the Cataclysm he lived a long time, until the Age of Mortals when Takhisis unwittingly killed him and gave him eternal agony in the abyss. But Soth had repented and was saved by Paladine.

Other Classes: Death knights get on well with necromancers and sorcerers who worship Nuitari or Takhisis. They have a sorrow when they see paladins but these enemies will develop a mutual respect for each other. He doesn't care about anyone else. He will not let emotions get in the way of his mission. But as the game develops he will be friendly and develop great loyalty to the characters.

Starting Equipment: 1 set of chainmail or full plate armour, 1 longsword, 1 spiked gauntlet, 1 black cloak, 4d4 gp.

Game Rule Information

Death knights have the following game statistics.

Abilities: Wisdom determines how powerful a spell a death knight can cast, how hard they are to resist, and how many spells he gets. A death knight must have a Wisdom of 14 to get the most powerful spells and a Wisdom of 11 to cast any spells at all. Strength is very important in the death knight's life, as he is a melee fighter. Charisma is important, not for looks or friends, but for intimidation. Constitution is needed a lot but his armour and other defenses should. Death knights cast divine spells.
Alignment: Any chaotic.
Hit Dice: 1d10.

Class Skills

The death knight's class skills are Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Move Silently (Dex), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Use Magic Device (Cha).

Skill Points at 1st Level: (5 + Int modifier) x 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 5 + Int modifier.

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.

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