Warlock/Death knight

[leegi0n]

Playgrounders, I need some advice please.

I want to build a small group (6 NPCs) that worship a god that was once a Death Knight/Necromancer. I would like for them to be heavy, dark n' nasty magic users. They are elitists.

I'm thinking of starting with a wizard or sorcerer base and moving into a Warlock setup as Death Knights. But, instead of wearing armor and wielding a weapon, they are as priests; robes, etc. They would still have the fear effect and probably a higher natural armor.

Would that work or be counterproductive? I want them to be able to shake the bones of enemies if provoked.

Any ideas on a build structure would be much appreciated.

They are NPCs with a CR of approximately 20-23.

Thanks in advance ~

[Hawk7915]

Will they all have the same builds, or will they have different but complimentary builds? A few ideas...

1) Dread Necromancer 20. Gives them the "command vast hordes of undead" vibe.

2) Sorcerer 4/Warlock 3/Eldritch Theurge 10/Blood Magus 4. 21st level, but casts as a 13th level Warlock and an 18th level Sorcerer with some other nifty features. Charisma-SAD.

3) Duskblade 20. I love this for a "Death Knight"; a lightning-fast warrior who channels necrotic and frost attacks through his massive greatsword.

4) Cleric 6/Bone Knight 10/Ordained Champion 5 - Another 21st level build, but this one casts as a cleric 17 while also boasting some very awesome necromancy and war-based features, including and especially a skeletal steed, bonecraft armor that grants you many of the benefits of being undead, and the ability to boost the turn resistance of nearby undead. Might be a bit on the "heavy" side for your concept of death priests, however.

5) Warlock 4/Binder 1/Ur-priest 2/Eldritch Disciple 10/Hellfire Warlock 3 - A nasty build with 9th level divine spells AND 17th level Warlock invocations, plus the classic Hellfire Blast + Binder trick to greatly increase damage output.

6) Human Rogue 1/Samurai 10/Exemplar 1/Ronin 8 - I believe you said "shake the bones of enemies" :smalltongue:. This is not a spellcaster build and might work better as the "Dragon" to the actual Death Knight order, but it can leave an unprepared party paralyzed with fear as it runs around sneak-attacking them to death.

7) Crusader 1/Cleric 4/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10/??? 5-7: The Ruby Knight WINdicator is a fine chassis for a big bad. The last 5 levels can either be in a more martial-minded direction (Crusader, Prestige Paladin, Ordained Champion) or in a more spellcaster-oriented one (Contemplative, Bone Knight, just moar Cleric).

I'd suggest Evolved Necroplitan for some or all of their "races"; +2-4 LA for a quickly scaling bonus to armor, charisma, and strength.

EDIT: Oooooh, you probably meant the actual Death Knight template :smallredface:. Well, most of these builds work out just fine although a lot of what Bone Knight offers would be a bit redundant.

[leegi0n]

[QUOTE=Hawk7915;13358926]Will they all have the same builds, or will they have different but complimentary builds? A few ideas...

Warlock 4/Binder 1/Ur-priest 2/Eldritch Disciple 10/Hellfire Warlock 3 - A nasty build with 9th level divine spells AND 17th level Warlock invocations, plus the classic Hellfire Blast + Binder trick to greatly increase damage output.



Where do I find the 'Binder', 'Ur-priest', and 'Hellfire Warlock' setups?


This sounds like a solid idea, though I believe I am gonna make one of them the Dread Nec for the purpose of undead creation.

They are ALL of the death knight template, just modified without the weapons/armor, etc.

Thanks for your help.

[Urpriest]

Binder is from Tome of Magic, Ur-Priest is from Complete Divine, Hellfire Warlock is from Fiendish Codex II.