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View Full Version : Making a Deathknight (3.5 D&D)



Nohwl
2009-05-03, 09:23 PM
i am dming again, and my group decided they want to have an evil campaign. one player wants to play a death knight from world of warcraft. i have no problem with this, but he is pretty new to the game and i don't play wow, so neither of us really know how to make one. my understanding is that it is similar to an evil paladin (i'm probably giving him a nightmare for a mount). everyone is going to be starting at level 10. are there any better ways to make one?

Olo Demonsbane
2009-05-03, 09:27 PM
Use the Death Knight Template? It in MMII.

Plus, it actually does give him a nightmare for a mount! Plus other cool awesome abilities.

ocato
2009-05-03, 09:47 PM
Reflavored Dragon Shaman (PHB2, instead of calling on a dragon, he calls on an ice Lich or something, but use the white dragon path in the book) is a quick fix. Give him Martial Weapon Proficiency as a free bonus feat (most people will agree that Dragon Shamans aren't super strong) and he's got most of what a Death Knight needs:

Big sword (or TWF, Martial weapon proficiency gives him Greatsword or Long/short sword combo as options)
Icewalker (maybe let him walk on water too, since that's a major Death Knight thing)
Cold Immunity (flavorful, but not necessarily broken)
Frost Breath (to emulate Howling blast and other ice attacks)
Natural Armor + decent armor choices
Auras (instead of presences) giving him bonus damage, reflective ice damage when attacked, DR, a little skill boost... whatever he needs.

Now, most people will tell you that Dragon Shaman isn't uber and might try to outline an extremely complex Fighter/Wizard gish, which would work just as well. My main goal here was to make something fairly simple (at least by comparison) since you mentioned that the player was new to D&D.

Of course the easier option is Blackguard and hope he doesn't miss the ice spells/powers. They're both fine choices.

wadledo
2009-05-03, 09:51 PM
ocato's got the best plan.
There are a few PrC's from Frostburn (specifically, a Winterhaunt of Iborighu) which heavily refavored would do the trick as well, but that would be better for a more experienced player.

quick_comment
2009-05-03, 09:57 PM
Swordsage could work I think. Focus mostly on Shadow Hand and reflavored Desert Wind (change it to Tundra Wind or something, and give it cold damage)

Xefas
2009-05-03, 09:59 PM
Ocato's suggestion is probably going to be the best simplicity to effectiveness ratio, but don't forget about the Runeblade, which is the signature item of a Death Knight. You can't be a Death Knight without a Runeblade.

I suggest starting him out with a Masterwork Greatsword, and allowing him to drain magic items of their magic to inscribe runes on the Greatsword that give it powers of similar value.

So, he could, for instance, drain an Amulet of Natural Armor +1 (a 2,000gp value) and then inscribe a rune onto his Masterwork Greatsword to make it a +1 Greatsword (+1 being a 2,000gp value).

Stuff like that.

quick_comment
2009-05-03, 10:00 PM
Ocato's suggestion is probably going to be the best simplicity to effectiveness ratio, but don't forget about the Runeblade, which is the signature item of a Death Knight. You can't be a Death Knight without a Runeblade.

I suggest starting him out with a Masterwork Greatsword, and allowing him to drain magic items of their magic to inscribe runes on the Greatsword that give it powers of similar value.

So, he could, for instance, drain an Amulet of Natural Armor +1 (a 2,000gp value) and then inscribe a rune onto his Masterwork Greatsword to make it a +1 Greatsword (+1 being a 2,000gp value).

Stuff like that.

Signature Weapon from DMGII takes care of that. Either that or Kensai levels.

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2009-05-03, 10:31 PM
I doubt anyone will come up with a better suggestion than ocato's for matching up special abilities. Maybe include Undead Leadership from Libris Mortis for his undead pet, or instead let him take Obtain Familiar from Complete Arcane but substitute it for the Skeletal Minion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#necromancerVariants) variant, using his Dragon Shaman class level instead of his Wizard level.

A quick google search came up with a Death Knight base class (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Death_Knight_(DnD_Class)), though I didn't really look over it so I don't know how close it will be to a WoW DK.

Nohwl
2009-05-03, 10:40 PM
alright, changing the fluff for a dragon shaman is simple enough. are there any other important powers/abilities death knights have?

lsfreak
2009-05-03, 11:00 PM
I'm going to suggest a ToB character instead. Two biggest thing with DK's are their strike rotations and their auras. Nothing says that better than maneuvers and stances to me. Switch up a warblade so that they can use Shadow Hand, reflavored Tundra Wind as already suggested, Stone Dragon, and Tiger Claw. Throw in Undead Leadership as a bonus feat.

quick_comment
2009-05-03, 11:08 PM
I'm going to suggest a ToB character instead. Two biggest thing with DK's are their strike rotations and their auras. Nothing says that better than maneuvers and stances to me. Switch up a warblade so that they can use Shadow Hand, reflavored Tundra Wind as already suggested, Stone Dragon, and Tiger Claw. Throw in Undead Leadership as a bonus feat.

Its not really a problem as long as you are homebrewing, but warblades dont get desert wind.

Talic
2009-05-03, 11:43 PM
Alternately, you could give him a legacy weapon. Incorporate rules for the runesmithing into it.

Salt_Crow
2009-05-04, 12:31 AM
I'd say the easiest way to emulate Runeblade in 3.5 is to use Ancestral Relic feat from BoED. Sacrifice golds or items (full priced) to enhance your weapon!

Hawk7915
2009-05-04, 12:36 AM
The Dragon Shaman thing is awesome and probably the easiest fix, but another class that seemed like it would work well to me is Duskblade, actually. Take Battle Caster to eventually cast in Plate, and you have an awesome warrior who channels magical energy through his giant sword or axe and can get some okay necromancy debuff spells. To make sure it really fits, just let Shocking Grasp (1st level spell) and any other spell you feel like fixing do Cold damage instead, without him burning a feat.

Leonidus
2009-05-04, 12:52 AM
OTOH, there are WarCraft D&D supplements. Their power for play is questionable (as is mixing them with beyond-core 3.5, but you can't beat the flavor. (On the other hand, the ones I have are actually just-after-WarCraft 3, not World of Warcraft, so it wouldn't exactly mirror the MMOG. There were actual World of WarCraft rulebooks made, but they started jumping away from actual standard-DnD and started heavily modifying rules. Even then, they were back a few years, and would only reflect the early version of the game.)

At any rate, you best bet to get what you really want if you've got the energy, is to take all these suggestions as a power-guide, and homebrew your own prestige class. Up to you, tho.

Kaiyanwang
2009-05-04, 04:11 AM
In Wow, a DK it's a caster in plate with undead raising and plague spreading spell.

IMHO, this screams Cleric. Depending from your party, go Death, undeath and similar domains, self buff for melee, undead raising/creating spells and you are done.

BTW, i love the concept. I created a good DK as a villain for my gestalt campaing. It was a paladin of tiranny // Cleric with the death knight template, quicken metamagic and improved sunder tier. A lot of undead followers. Scary!

AslanCross
2009-05-04, 04:28 AM
Evil Crusader/Cleric/reflavored Ruby Knight Vindicator keeps the martial maneuvers, "auras", undead raising, spellcasting, and adds Shadow Hand. That should be perfect.