Nu
2007-07-03, 06:02 PM
Dark Knight
The dark knight is shadowy counterpart to the paladin. The dark knight is a warrior who offers her very soul to the dark forces that grant her immense power in exchange. Wielding weapons that resonate with pure evil, the dark knight uses this power for a greater cause. She may not even fight for evil itself, but merely use the power of darkness to strike down her foes and serve her master. Dark knights strike fear into the hearts of commoners. Even if they mean no harm to those around them, the very sight of their nightmarish visage can send the weak at heart fleeing to their homes out of fear of the power they wield.
Adventures: Dark knights are almost always servants of a higher power. Dark knights of the neutral variety tend to serve a lord, king, or cause, and brandish a dark blade in their name as a soldier or enforcer. An evil dark knight may do the same, but some also merely praise an evil god and carry out their divine will. Very rarely will a dark knight go so far as to grasp the power of darkness for her own ends, but those that do usually become mercenaries.
Characteristics: Dark knights are often clad in dark-colored armor, whether it is black, gray, or a very dark blue. However, the defining feature of a dark knight is her weapon. A blade of darkness emits a faint, inky black aura and appears as a magical weapon. The sight of such a weapon is usually startling to anyone unprepared, and a mere sheath is not enough to hide the aura. If the weapon is small enough, it can be hidden underneath layered clothing and armor, but few dark knights go to the trouble to do so.
Alignment: Always Lawful Evil or Lawful Neutral. A dark knight is a champion of order for whatever power they serve, and anything less than strict adherence to order will result in the dark knight being unable to control her own power.
Religion: A dark knight must choose an evil or lawful neutral deity to pledge herself to. This deity is the one whom the dark knight must make a pact with when she desecrates her blade of darkness, and she acts on the behalf of her god, even when serving a mortal master.
Background: Respected and/or feared, the dark knight is regarded as an unnerving force where ever she resides. dark knights that serve a lord or kind are typically kept within the confines of their master's keep when not out on quests or at war. Dark knights are typically chosen by kings or lords at a very young age and trained to use the blade of darkness as soon as possible. Once they are able to properly create and wield a blade of darkness, the rest comes more easily via standard warrior training.
Races: Humans and half-elves within human society are the most likely dark knights, though it's still regarded as a rare breed within the species. The only reason humans and half-elves have more dark knights than any other race is because of their versatility. Dwarves and elves may also become dark knights, though there is little place within their society for them, and most become outcast and forced to dwell in the human lands. Halflings and gnomes are usually too carefree or mobile for the lifestyle of a Dark Knight, and half-orcs and the wilder races usually lack the discipline necessary for the class.
Other Classes: Though dark knights share more in common with paladins than either side is willing to admit, it's needless to say that they do NOT get along, as their methods offend each other to the extreme, and a dark knight and a paladin associating with each other is all but impossible. Fighters usually have an uneasy truce with dark knights, though most good or neutral-aligned rangers, monks, and druids are less tolerant, shunning the dark ends the knights have undertaken to gain power. Clerics can vary based on alignment, bards and rogues usually couldn't care less, and wizards and sorcerers are usually more understanding of undertaking unorthodox methods to gain power.
Role: The dark knight is a front-line melee warrior in combat. Out of combat, the dark knight serves as an enforcer, interrogator, and muscle. Sometimes a dark knight is useful as a negotiator as well.
Abilities: Constitution is very important for the Dark Knight. Not only will she be in the front lines, taking most of the hits from opponents, but she is as likely to damage herself with her special abilities as the enemy, and a few dark knight special abilities rely on her constitution modifier. Strength is important for any melee fighter, and dexterity is also important for evading attacks, as the dark knight needs her HP pool as full as possible. A wisdom score of 14 or greater is necessarily to have access to all the Dark Knight spells, and is used for Unholy Favor.
Hit Die: d10
Class Skills: Bluff(Cha), Concentration(Con), Craft(Int), Intimidate(Cha), Knowledge: Arcana(Int), Knowledge: Nobility(Int), Profession(Wis), Ride(Dex), Sense Motive(Wis), Spellcraft(Int)
Skill Points: (2 + Int modifier) x 4 at first level, 2 + Int modifier for each additional level
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special
1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+0|Blade of Darkness, Wave of Darkness, Blood Weapon 1/day
2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+0|Scythe and Halberd Mastery, Unholy Favor
3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+1|Aura of Fear
4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+1|Death Wish, Divine Spells
5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+1|Blood Weapon 2/day, Dark Mind
6th|
+6/+1|
+5|
+2|
+2|Two-Handed Weapon Defense
7th|
+7/+2|
+5|
+2|
+2|Improved Blade of Darkness
8th|
+8/+3|
+6|
+2|
+2|Soul Eater
9th|
+9/+4|
+6|
+3|
+3|Improved Critical
10th|
+10/+5|
+7|
+3|
+3|Blood Weapon 3/day
11th|
+11/+6/+1|
+7|
+3|
+3|Bane of the Living +2
12th|
+12/+7/+2|
+8|
+4|
+4|Improved Two-Handed Weapon Defense
13th|
+13/+8/+3|
+8|
+4|
+4|Piercing Darkness
14th|
+14/+9/+4|
+9|
+4|
+4|Vampiric Guile
15th|
+15/+10/+5|
+9|
+5|
+5|Blood Weapon 4/day, Bane of the Living +4
16th|
+16/+11/+6/+1|
+10|
+5|
+5|Guillotine, Greater Two-Handed Weapon Defense
17th|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+5|Life-stealing Blade
18th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+11|
+6|
+6|
19th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+11|
+6|
+6|Indiscriminate Killing, Bane of the Living +6
20th|
+20/+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+6|
+6|Blood Weapon 5/day, Darkness Incarnate[/table]
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Dark knights are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, as well as the bastard sword. Dark knights are proficient with all armor and shields, including tower shields.
Blade of Darkness(su): While a dark knight can technically wield any weapon, most dark knight abilities require the use of their dark blade to function. In order to create a dark blade, a dark knight must perform a day-long ritual to desecrate their weapon and infuse it with a portion of their soul as part of a pact with her deity. This dark pact comes with a significant price, however: when the dark knight's soul leaves her body while she wields a dark blade, she must roll a d20. On a natural one, her soul is bound to the blade(as if the Soul Bind spell were cast, but within the weapon rather than the gem) rather than being released or diverted to its original destination. A soul bound this way can only be freed if the weapon is destroyed or the magic effect is dispelled. A weapon containing a dark knight's soul is treated as an evil weapon for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.
Only scimitars, bastard swords, greataxes, greatswords, halberds, scythes, and falchions can be desecrated as blades of darkness. Blades of darkness are unaffected by antimagic auras, but if separated from the dark knight's grasp can be purified by a divine caster using Dispel Magic(the DC for purifying a blade of darkness is 10+3xthe dark knight level of the last one who wielded the blade), in which case the dark knight's soul is completely restored to her body. The blade of darkness cannot be dispelled while wielded by the dark knight. A dark knight may only carry one dark blade at a time, as attempting to create another would place too much strain on her soul and it would be pulled from her body.
Wave of Darkness(sp): As a standard action, the dark knight may channel her own lifeforce into her dark blade, releasing a wave of the negative energy in a frontal, 30'+5' per dark knight level(up to 120') cone-shaped burst. To determine the damage the wave does to any target caught within the cone, do a damage roll with the dark blade and add your constitution modifier(treat any weapon as a ranged weapon for the purpose of the damage roll. A Strength bonus or penalty has no effect on the damage caused by Wave of Darkness. Any other bonuses that would add to ranged damage rolls may be added to this roll). Any creatures within the area of effect may attempt a reflex save for half damage; the save DC is 10+the caster's dark knight level. In addition, the dark knight deals damage to herself equal to 1/8th of her total HP. Damage the dark knight deals to herself is considered vile damage and cannot be reduced or prevented by any means.
A dark knight must have a blade of darkness to use as a focus for this ability. A dark knight can only use this ability at most once every other round. This ability deals no damage to undead or evil outsiders. This ability provokes an attack of opportunity, and if one hits the dark knight, she must make a DC 10+damage dealt by the interrupting attack Concentration check or the ability fails(the dark knight does not deal damage to herself if the ability fails).
Blood Weapon(su): As a swift action, the dark knight may enchant her blade of darkness to drain the lifeforce from the blood of its victims. While using this ability, the dark knight is healed for an amount of hit points equal to half of the damage she deals whenever she lands a damaging melee attack with her dark blade against a living foe. Blood Weapon lasts for (3 + Constitution modifier) rounds. The dark knight may use Blood Weapon once per day, and gains an additional use of it each day at the fifth, tenth, fifteenth, and twentieth levels.
Blood Weapon does not heal the dark knight when attacking nonliving creatures or on attacks not using a blade of darkness. If Blood Weapon would heal the dark knight beyond her maximum HP, she gains the extra healing as temporary hit points that last until the end of the current encounter.
Scythe and Halberd Mastery(ex): At the second level, the dark knight has mastered the art of tripping opponents with the scythe and halberd. If she fails a trip attempt with a scythe or halberd, the opponent cannot react to trip the dark knight.
Unholy Favor(su): The dark knight's wisdom earns her the favor of her blade of darkness. At the second level, the dark knight gains a bonus equal to her wisdom modifier to Fortitude and Reflex saves as long as she wields a blade of darkness.
Aura of Fear(su): At the third level, the dark knight's mere presence strikes fear into the hearts of enemies that she threatens. At the beginning of the turn of any creature the dark knight threatens, that creature must make a will save(DC 10+one half the the threatening dark knight's class level + the threatening dark knight's charisma modifier) or be shaken for 1d4 rounds. Any creature that makes a successful save is immune to the aura of fear for 24 hours. Creatures with 1-3 HD more than the dark knight have the DC halved, and creatures with 4 or more HD than the dark knight are immune. This aura also grants the dark knight a +4 profane bonus on saving throws against fear effects. The dark knight must be carrying a blade of darkness to have an Aura of Fear.
Fear effects are cumulative. If a creature is already shaken, it will become frigthened on a failed save, and if it is frightened, it will become panicked. Aura of Fear is a mind-affecting ability,
Death Wish(ex): At the fourth level, the dark knight can make her attacks more accurate for a single round by lowering her defense. On the dark knight's action, before she makes attack rolls, she may take an AC penalty of any amount that does not exceed her base attack bonus or total AC and add that number to her attack rolls. The penalty to AC and the bonus to attack rolls last until the dark knight's next turn.
Spells: Beginning at the fourth level, the dark knight can cast a small number of divine spells drawn from the dark knight spell list. See the table at the bottom of the post for details. A dark knight must spend an hour meditating to choose and prepare her spells for the day after at least eight hour's rest to recharge them. The dark knight's caster level up to level four is zero, and after level four it is one-half of her dark knight level.
For a dark knight to learn a spell, she must have an wisdom score equal to 10+the spell level. Her bonus spells per level are determined by her wisdom score, and the save DC for her spells is 10+the spells level+her wisdom modifier.
Dark Mind(su): The dark knight's mind is shrouded in darkness. Beginning at the 5th level, the dark knight gains +4 profane bonus on Will saves against enchantment spells and effects.
Two-Handed Weapon Defense(ex): The dark knight is adept at parrying an enemy's blows with her two-handed weaponry. From the 6th level onwards, a dark knight wielding a melee weapon with two hands gains a +1 shield bonus to AC. When fighting defensively or using the total defense action, this bonus increases to +2.
Improved Blade of Darkness: From the 7th level onwards, a blade of darkness wielded by this dark knight is counted as an evil weapon for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.
Soul Eater(su): The dark knight's dark blade hungers for souls, and at the eighth level gains the ability to damage herself in order to increase her own damage potential. When Soul Eater is activated, it leeches the soul of its wielder and her enemies alike. On the dark knight's action, before she makes attack rolls, she may choose a number no greater than 1/5th of her current HP. Until her next action, on each melee attack that hits, she may choose to deal that much damage to herself and add that number plus her Constitution modifier to her damage rolls. Damage the dark knight deals to herself is considered vile damage and cannot be reduced or prevented in any way.
Soul Eater deals no additional damage to evil outsiders. The additional damage caused by Soul Eater heals the undead. The dark knight gets no bonus damage from Soul Eater unless she uses a blade of darkness to make the attack. A dark knight may use this ability at most once every other round. Soul Eater does not damage the dark knight or deal additional damage if the damage would reduce her below 0 HP.
Improved Critical: At the 9th level, the dark knight chooses a weapon. She gains the Improved Critical feat with that weapon as a bonus feat.
Bane of the Living(ex): The dark knight is exceptionally skilled at slaying living foes, and her dark blade is an enemy to all that live. At the 11th level, the dark knight gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Intimidate, and Sense Motive checks against living creatures. The dark knight also gets +2 to damage rolls and +2 to AC against living creatures. All of these bonuses increase to +4 at the 15th level and +6 at the 19th level. Bane of the Living only applies while the dark knight carries a blade of darkness, and the damage bonus only applies to attacks made with the blade of darkness.
Improved Two-Handed Weapon Defense(ex): The dark knight is now even more adept at parrying an enemy's blows with her two-handed weaponry. From the 12th level onwards, a dark knight wielding a melee weapon with two hands gains a +2 shield bonus to AC. When fighting defensively or using the total defense action, this bonus increases to +4.
Piercing Darkness(su): With this ability, the dark knight has mastered using her unholy power even against unholy beings. Beginning at the 13th level, Soul Eater normally deals the proper amount of additional damage to evil outsiders, and Soul Eater merely deals no extra damage to the undead. Blood Weapon also works when damaging nonliving creatures, and Wave of Darkness normally damages evil outsiders and undead.
Vampiric Guile(su): Beginning at the 14th level, whenever the dark knight lands a critical strike, she is healed for half of the damage her critical strike deals. This ability only applies to critical strikes made with a blade of darkness. If Blood Weapon is active, Vampiric Guile has no effect.
Guillotine(ex): Beginning at the 16th level, whenever the dark knight hits with four or more melee attacks in one round during her own action, she may make an additional melee attack using her full attack bonus as a free action. This additional attack has its critical multiplier increased by 1(for example, a weapon that normally deals double damage on a critical instead deals triple). The dark knight may use this ability only once per round.
Greater Two-Handed Weapon Defense(ex): The dark knight has mastered parrying an enemy's blows with her two-handed weaponry. From the 16th level onwards, a dark knight wielding a melee weapon with two hands gains a +3 shield bonus to AC. When fighting defensively or using the total defense action, this bonus increases to +6.
Life-stealing Blade(su): The dark knight has mastered the hunger of her dark blade. Beginning at the 17th level, whenever the dark knight slays a living creature with her blade of darkness, it absorbs all of the lifeforce remaining in the victim's body. The blade grows stronger with each foe it strikes down, and the dark knight's blade of darkness gets a +1 profane bonus to attack and damage rolls(stacks up to +5) that lasts until the beginning of the next day. The creature must have a strong lifeforce relative to the dark knight in order to sate the blade's hunger, however, so creatures that have 6 or less HD than the dark knight will provide no bonus. A creature with 3 or more HD than the dark knight counts as two kills for the purpose of this bonus, and for every 3 HD more the creature has it counts for an additional kill if slain.
In addition, an evil dark knight may choose to have the blade take the victim's soul(as if the Soul Bind spell were cast, but it places the soul within the weapon rather than within a gem). If a dark knight abandons her blade of darkness for seven days, all souls stolen are released. The souls can also be released if the magic effect is dispelled or the blade is destroyed. If the dark knight's soul is stolen by the blade while there are other souls trapped inside, however, they remain trapped until the weapon is destroyed or purified. Trapping a soul within the blade is an extremely vile act.
Indiscriminate Killing(ex): The dark knight is now just as adept at slaying artificial creations as she is the living. From the 19th level onwards she treats any non-undead opponent as a living creature for Bane of the Living bonuses.
Darkness Incarnate: At the 20th level, the dark knight has become a creature of darkness. She is treated as an outsider rather than a humanoid for the purposes of spells and magical effects. The dark knight gains damage reduction 10/magic, which allows her to ignore the first 10 points of damage from any attack made by a nonmagical weapon or by any natural attack made by a creature that doesn’t have similar damage reduction. Unlike most outsiders, the dark knight can still be resurrected as a humanoid. In addition, the dark knight's soul can no longer be stolen by her blade of darkness, and she needn't make the roll to check if her soul leaves her body.
Spells Per Day
{table=head]Level|1st|2nd|3rd|4th
4th|0|-|-|-|
5th|0|-|-|-|
6th|1|-|-|-|
7th|1|-|-|-|
8th|1|0|-|-|
9th|1|0|-|-|
10th|1|1|-|-|
11th|1|1|0|-|
12th|1|1|1|-|
13th|1|1|1|-|
14th|2|1|1|0|
15th|2|1|1|1|
16th|2|1|1|1|
17th|2|2|2|1|
18th|3|2|2|1|
19th|3|3|3|2|
20th|3|3|3|3|
[/table]
1st Level Dark Knight Spells:
Bane
Curse Water
Magic Weapon
Doom
Deathwatch
Cause Fear
Command
Summon Monster I*
Life Drain, Minor**
2nd Level Dark Knight Spells:
Inflict Light Wounds
Desecrate
Summon Monster II*
Resist Energy
Hold Person
Death Knell
Resist Energy
Life Drain, Lesser**
3rd Level Dark Knight Spells:
Inflict Moderate Wounds
Summon Monster III*
Blindness
Deafness
Speak with Dead
Protection from Energy
Glyph of Warding
Life Drain**
4th Level Dark Knight Spells:
Inflict Serious Wounds
Summon Monster VI*
Poison
Dismissal
Giant Vermin
Planar Ally, Lesser
Magic Weapon, Greater
Life Drain, Major**
*Any non-good
**Life Drain is a unique dark knight spell, described below.
Life Drain
Level: DRK 1, 2, 3, 4
Components: V, S
Casting Time: One standard action
Range: 100' + 10' per caster level
Target: Any living creature(also affects undead, see below)
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude half
Spell Resistance: Yes
Life Drain inflicts damage upon an opponent and heals the caster for an equal amount. Minor deals 1d6+1 per caster level(max+5) damage, lesser deals 2d6+1 per caster level(max+10) damage, Life Drain deals 3d6+1 per caster level(max+15) damage, and major deals 4d6+1 per caster level(max+20) damage. When used against the undead, the spell instead damages the caster and heals the undead creature for the same amount of damage, and the target need not make a saving throw.
Variant Dark Knight: Like the ranger and paladin, I have provided a variant dark knight that gives up the ability to cast Divine spells in exchange for a few extra abilities.
Spells: The dark knight does not gain the ability to cast divine spells.
Drain Touch(su): At the 6th level, the dark knight gains the ability to make a single, life-draining attack at the expense of damage. As a standard action, the dark knight may make a touch attack with her blade of darkness. If she succeeds, she may roll for damage as normal, but only deals half the damage she would normally do. However, she is also healed for an equal amount of HP. If this would cause her to exceed her maximum HP, she gains the extra healing as temporary hit points that last until the end of the encounter. If the dark knight does not yet possess the Piercing Darkness ability, Drain Touch only heals the dark knight when she attacks living creatures.
Crippling Fear(ex): At the 11th level, the dark knight strikes terror in the hearts of her foes by striking down their allies. The dark knight may make an Intimidate check to demoralize an opponent at a range of up to 30 feet(as long as the target can see you) as a free action after landing a killing blow on one of the target's allies. The dark knight may make one check per killing blow. The dark knight gets a +4 bonus to Intimidate checks made to demoralize opponents, and may add her Wisdom modifier to the check instead of her Charisma modifier if she pleases.
Charge of Darkness(su): From the 13th level onwards, the dark knight can deal even more damage when charging and using her Soul Eater ability. A dark knight who uses Soul Eater while charging deals one and a half times the bonus damage granted by Soul Eater(for example, if the dark knight deals 8 damage to herself, she adds 12 to the damage roll).
Doomsickle(su): Beginning at the 16th level, the dark knight's blade cries out for vengeance for its allies who fall in battle. The dark knight gets a +2 bonus to attack rolls made to confirm a critical whenever an ally is dead or dying(the ability stacks up to a +10 bonus). The ally must have more HD, an equal amount of HD, or no more than 5 HD less than the dark knight to count for this bonus. This bonus only applies during the same encounter in which the ally was stricken down.
Ex-Dark Knights: Any dark knight that becomes unlawful cannot gain dark knight levels as long as she maintains that alignment, and loses the Darkness Incarnate ability. She does not lose any other dark knight abilities, but when wielding a dark blade, if her soul leaves her body, it will be bound to the blade on any roll between 1 and 10 rather than only on a natural one.
Any dark knight that becomes good cannot gain dark knight levels as long as she maintains that alignment. She cannot create, maintain, or use a blade of darkness, and therefore automatically loses access to any dark knight abilities that require a dark blade.
Multi-Classing: A dark knight(or ex-dark knight) may treat her dark knight levels as paladin levels when undertaking the Blackguard prestige class.
My Comments: I am pretty new to DnD, so while I have attempted to keep it balanced and flavorful, I do not know how successful I was at it. This is also my first homebrew. Therefore, comments on the overpoweredness/underpoweredness of it would be appreciated. Suggestions are also welcome. Yes, I know I overused the word 'dark.' The dark knight is dark, okay? Have fun with it :)
The dark knight is shadowy counterpart to the paladin. The dark knight is a warrior who offers her very soul to the dark forces that grant her immense power in exchange. Wielding weapons that resonate with pure evil, the dark knight uses this power for a greater cause. She may not even fight for evil itself, but merely use the power of darkness to strike down her foes and serve her master. Dark knights strike fear into the hearts of commoners. Even if they mean no harm to those around them, the very sight of their nightmarish visage can send the weak at heart fleeing to their homes out of fear of the power they wield.
Adventures: Dark knights are almost always servants of a higher power. Dark knights of the neutral variety tend to serve a lord, king, or cause, and brandish a dark blade in their name as a soldier or enforcer. An evil dark knight may do the same, but some also merely praise an evil god and carry out their divine will. Very rarely will a dark knight go so far as to grasp the power of darkness for her own ends, but those that do usually become mercenaries.
Characteristics: Dark knights are often clad in dark-colored armor, whether it is black, gray, or a very dark blue. However, the defining feature of a dark knight is her weapon. A blade of darkness emits a faint, inky black aura and appears as a magical weapon. The sight of such a weapon is usually startling to anyone unprepared, and a mere sheath is not enough to hide the aura. If the weapon is small enough, it can be hidden underneath layered clothing and armor, but few dark knights go to the trouble to do so.
Alignment: Always Lawful Evil or Lawful Neutral. A dark knight is a champion of order for whatever power they serve, and anything less than strict adherence to order will result in the dark knight being unable to control her own power.
Religion: A dark knight must choose an evil or lawful neutral deity to pledge herself to. This deity is the one whom the dark knight must make a pact with when she desecrates her blade of darkness, and she acts on the behalf of her god, even when serving a mortal master.
Background: Respected and/or feared, the dark knight is regarded as an unnerving force where ever she resides. dark knights that serve a lord or kind are typically kept within the confines of their master's keep when not out on quests or at war. Dark knights are typically chosen by kings or lords at a very young age and trained to use the blade of darkness as soon as possible. Once they are able to properly create and wield a blade of darkness, the rest comes more easily via standard warrior training.
Races: Humans and half-elves within human society are the most likely dark knights, though it's still regarded as a rare breed within the species. The only reason humans and half-elves have more dark knights than any other race is because of their versatility. Dwarves and elves may also become dark knights, though there is little place within their society for them, and most become outcast and forced to dwell in the human lands. Halflings and gnomes are usually too carefree or mobile for the lifestyle of a Dark Knight, and half-orcs and the wilder races usually lack the discipline necessary for the class.
Other Classes: Though dark knights share more in common with paladins than either side is willing to admit, it's needless to say that they do NOT get along, as their methods offend each other to the extreme, and a dark knight and a paladin associating with each other is all but impossible. Fighters usually have an uneasy truce with dark knights, though most good or neutral-aligned rangers, monks, and druids are less tolerant, shunning the dark ends the knights have undertaken to gain power. Clerics can vary based on alignment, bards and rogues usually couldn't care less, and wizards and sorcerers are usually more understanding of undertaking unorthodox methods to gain power.
Role: The dark knight is a front-line melee warrior in combat. Out of combat, the dark knight serves as an enforcer, interrogator, and muscle. Sometimes a dark knight is useful as a negotiator as well.
Abilities: Constitution is very important for the Dark Knight. Not only will she be in the front lines, taking most of the hits from opponents, but she is as likely to damage herself with her special abilities as the enemy, and a few dark knight special abilities rely on her constitution modifier. Strength is important for any melee fighter, and dexterity is also important for evading attacks, as the dark knight needs her HP pool as full as possible. A wisdom score of 14 or greater is necessarily to have access to all the Dark Knight spells, and is used for Unholy Favor.
Hit Die: d10
Class Skills: Bluff(Cha), Concentration(Con), Craft(Int), Intimidate(Cha), Knowledge: Arcana(Int), Knowledge: Nobility(Int), Profession(Wis), Ride(Dex), Sense Motive(Wis), Spellcraft(Int)
Skill Points: (2 + Int modifier) x 4 at first level, 2 + Int modifier for each additional level
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special
1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+0|Blade of Darkness, Wave of Darkness, Blood Weapon 1/day
2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+0|Scythe and Halberd Mastery, Unholy Favor
3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+1|Aura of Fear
4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+1|Death Wish, Divine Spells
5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+1|Blood Weapon 2/day, Dark Mind
6th|
+6/+1|
+5|
+2|
+2|Two-Handed Weapon Defense
7th|
+7/+2|
+5|
+2|
+2|Improved Blade of Darkness
8th|
+8/+3|
+6|
+2|
+2|Soul Eater
9th|
+9/+4|
+6|
+3|
+3|Improved Critical
10th|
+10/+5|
+7|
+3|
+3|Blood Weapon 3/day
11th|
+11/+6/+1|
+7|
+3|
+3|Bane of the Living +2
12th|
+12/+7/+2|
+8|
+4|
+4|Improved Two-Handed Weapon Defense
13th|
+13/+8/+3|
+8|
+4|
+4|Piercing Darkness
14th|
+14/+9/+4|
+9|
+4|
+4|Vampiric Guile
15th|
+15/+10/+5|
+9|
+5|
+5|Blood Weapon 4/day, Bane of the Living +4
16th|
+16/+11/+6/+1|
+10|
+5|
+5|Guillotine, Greater Two-Handed Weapon Defense
17th|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+5|Life-stealing Blade
18th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+11|
+6|
+6|
19th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+11|
+6|
+6|Indiscriminate Killing, Bane of the Living +6
20th|
+20/+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+6|
+6|Blood Weapon 5/day, Darkness Incarnate[/table]
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Dark knights are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, as well as the bastard sword. Dark knights are proficient with all armor and shields, including tower shields.
Blade of Darkness(su): While a dark knight can technically wield any weapon, most dark knight abilities require the use of their dark blade to function. In order to create a dark blade, a dark knight must perform a day-long ritual to desecrate their weapon and infuse it with a portion of their soul as part of a pact with her deity. This dark pact comes with a significant price, however: when the dark knight's soul leaves her body while she wields a dark blade, she must roll a d20. On a natural one, her soul is bound to the blade(as if the Soul Bind spell were cast, but within the weapon rather than the gem) rather than being released or diverted to its original destination. A soul bound this way can only be freed if the weapon is destroyed or the magic effect is dispelled. A weapon containing a dark knight's soul is treated as an evil weapon for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.
Only scimitars, bastard swords, greataxes, greatswords, halberds, scythes, and falchions can be desecrated as blades of darkness. Blades of darkness are unaffected by antimagic auras, but if separated from the dark knight's grasp can be purified by a divine caster using Dispel Magic(the DC for purifying a blade of darkness is 10+3xthe dark knight level of the last one who wielded the blade), in which case the dark knight's soul is completely restored to her body. The blade of darkness cannot be dispelled while wielded by the dark knight. A dark knight may only carry one dark blade at a time, as attempting to create another would place too much strain on her soul and it would be pulled from her body.
Wave of Darkness(sp): As a standard action, the dark knight may channel her own lifeforce into her dark blade, releasing a wave of the negative energy in a frontal, 30'+5' per dark knight level(up to 120') cone-shaped burst. To determine the damage the wave does to any target caught within the cone, do a damage roll with the dark blade and add your constitution modifier(treat any weapon as a ranged weapon for the purpose of the damage roll. A Strength bonus or penalty has no effect on the damage caused by Wave of Darkness. Any other bonuses that would add to ranged damage rolls may be added to this roll). Any creatures within the area of effect may attempt a reflex save for half damage; the save DC is 10+the caster's dark knight level. In addition, the dark knight deals damage to herself equal to 1/8th of her total HP. Damage the dark knight deals to herself is considered vile damage and cannot be reduced or prevented by any means.
A dark knight must have a blade of darkness to use as a focus for this ability. A dark knight can only use this ability at most once every other round. This ability deals no damage to undead or evil outsiders. This ability provokes an attack of opportunity, and if one hits the dark knight, she must make a DC 10+damage dealt by the interrupting attack Concentration check or the ability fails(the dark knight does not deal damage to herself if the ability fails).
Blood Weapon(su): As a swift action, the dark knight may enchant her blade of darkness to drain the lifeforce from the blood of its victims. While using this ability, the dark knight is healed for an amount of hit points equal to half of the damage she deals whenever she lands a damaging melee attack with her dark blade against a living foe. Blood Weapon lasts for (3 + Constitution modifier) rounds. The dark knight may use Blood Weapon once per day, and gains an additional use of it each day at the fifth, tenth, fifteenth, and twentieth levels.
Blood Weapon does not heal the dark knight when attacking nonliving creatures or on attacks not using a blade of darkness. If Blood Weapon would heal the dark knight beyond her maximum HP, she gains the extra healing as temporary hit points that last until the end of the current encounter.
Scythe and Halberd Mastery(ex): At the second level, the dark knight has mastered the art of tripping opponents with the scythe and halberd. If she fails a trip attempt with a scythe or halberd, the opponent cannot react to trip the dark knight.
Unholy Favor(su): The dark knight's wisdom earns her the favor of her blade of darkness. At the second level, the dark knight gains a bonus equal to her wisdom modifier to Fortitude and Reflex saves as long as she wields a blade of darkness.
Aura of Fear(su): At the third level, the dark knight's mere presence strikes fear into the hearts of enemies that she threatens. At the beginning of the turn of any creature the dark knight threatens, that creature must make a will save(DC 10+one half the the threatening dark knight's class level + the threatening dark knight's charisma modifier) or be shaken for 1d4 rounds. Any creature that makes a successful save is immune to the aura of fear for 24 hours. Creatures with 1-3 HD more than the dark knight have the DC halved, and creatures with 4 or more HD than the dark knight are immune. This aura also grants the dark knight a +4 profane bonus on saving throws against fear effects. The dark knight must be carrying a blade of darkness to have an Aura of Fear.
Fear effects are cumulative. If a creature is already shaken, it will become frigthened on a failed save, and if it is frightened, it will become panicked. Aura of Fear is a mind-affecting ability,
Death Wish(ex): At the fourth level, the dark knight can make her attacks more accurate for a single round by lowering her defense. On the dark knight's action, before she makes attack rolls, she may take an AC penalty of any amount that does not exceed her base attack bonus or total AC and add that number to her attack rolls. The penalty to AC and the bonus to attack rolls last until the dark knight's next turn.
Spells: Beginning at the fourth level, the dark knight can cast a small number of divine spells drawn from the dark knight spell list. See the table at the bottom of the post for details. A dark knight must spend an hour meditating to choose and prepare her spells for the day after at least eight hour's rest to recharge them. The dark knight's caster level up to level four is zero, and after level four it is one-half of her dark knight level.
For a dark knight to learn a spell, she must have an wisdom score equal to 10+the spell level. Her bonus spells per level are determined by her wisdom score, and the save DC for her spells is 10+the spells level+her wisdom modifier.
Dark Mind(su): The dark knight's mind is shrouded in darkness. Beginning at the 5th level, the dark knight gains +4 profane bonus on Will saves against enchantment spells and effects.
Two-Handed Weapon Defense(ex): The dark knight is adept at parrying an enemy's blows with her two-handed weaponry. From the 6th level onwards, a dark knight wielding a melee weapon with two hands gains a +1 shield bonus to AC. When fighting defensively or using the total defense action, this bonus increases to +2.
Improved Blade of Darkness: From the 7th level onwards, a blade of darkness wielded by this dark knight is counted as an evil weapon for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.
Soul Eater(su): The dark knight's dark blade hungers for souls, and at the eighth level gains the ability to damage herself in order to increase her own damage potential. When Soul Eater is activated, it leeches the soul of its wielder and her enemies alike. On the dark knight's action, before she makes attack rolls, she may choose a number no greater than 1/5th of her current HP. Until her next action, on each melee attack that hits, she may choose to deal that much damage to herself and add that number plus her Constitution modifier to her damage rolls. Damage the dark knight deals to herself is considered vile damage and cannot be reduced or prevented in any way.
Soul Eater deals no additional damage to evil outsiders. The additional damage caused by Soul Eater heals the undead. The dark knight gets no bonus damage from Soul Eater unless she uses a blade of darkness to make the attack. A dark knight may use this ability at most once every other round. Soul Eater does not damage the dark knight or deal additional damage if the damage would reduce her below 0 HP.
Improved Critical: At the 9th level, the dark knight chooses a weapon. She gains the Improved Critical feat with that weapon as a bonus feat.
Bane of the Living(ex): The dark knight is exceptionally skilled at slaying living foes, and her dark blade is an enemy to all that live. At the 11th level, the dark knight gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Intimidate, and Sense Motive checks against living creatures. The dark knight also gets +2 to damage rolls and +2 to AC against living creatures. All of these bonuses increase to +4 at the 15th level and +6 at the 19th level. Bane of the Living only applies while the dark knight carries a blade of darkness, and the damage bonus only applies to attacks made with the blade of darkness.
Improved Two-Handed Weapon Defense(ex): The dark knight is now even more adept at parrying an enemy's blows with her two-handed weaponry. From the 12th level onwards, a dark knight wielding a melee weapon with two hands gains a +2 shield bonus to AC. When fighting defensively or using the total defense action, this bonus increases to +4.
Piercing Darkness(su): With this ability, the dark knight has mastered using her unholy power even against unholy beings. Beginning at the 13th level, Soul Eater normally deals the proper amount of additional damage to evil outsiders, and Soul Eater merely deals no extra damage to the undead. Blood Weapon also works when damaging nonliving creatures, and Wave of Darkness normally damages evil outsiders and undead.
Vampiric Guile(su): Beginning at the 14th level, whenever the dark knight lands a critical strike, she is healed for half of the damage her critical strike deals. This ability only applies to critical strikes made with a blade of darkness. If Blood Weapon is active, Vampiric Guile has no effect.
Guillotine(ex): Beginning at the 16th level, whenever the dark knight hits with four or more melee attacks in one round during her own action, she may make an additional melee attack using her full attack bonus as a free action. This additional attack has its critical multiplier increased by 1(for example, a weapon that normally deals double damage on a critical instead deals triple). The dark knight may use this ability only once per round.
Greater Two-Handed Weapon Defense(ex): The dark knight has mastered parrying an enemy's blows with her two-handed weaponry. From the 16th level onwards, a dark knight wielding a melee weapon with two hands gains a +3 shield bonus to AC. When fighting defensively or using the total defense action, this bonus increases to +6.
Life-stealing Blade(su): The dark knight has mastered the hunger of her dark blade. Beginning at the 17th level, whenever the dark knight slays a living creature with her blade of darkness, it absorbs all of the lifeforce remaining in the victim's body. The blade grows stronger with each foe it strikes down, and the dark knight's blade of darkness gets a +1 profane bonus to attack and damage rolls(stacks up to +5) that lasts until the beginning of the next day. The creature must have a strong lifeforce relative to the dark knight in order to sate the blade's hunger, however, so creatures that have 6 or less HD than the dark knight will provide no bonus. A creature with 3 or more HD than the dark knight counts as two kills for the purpose of this bonus, and for every 3 HD more the creature has it counts for an additional kill if slain.
In addition, an evil dark knight may choose to have the blade take the victim's soul(as if the Soul Bind spell were cast, but it places the soul within the weapon rather than within a gem). If a dark knight abandons her blade of darkness for seven days, all souls stolen are released. The souls can also be released if the magic effect is dispelled or the blade is destroyed. If the dark knight's soul is stolen by the blade while there are other souls trapped inside, however, they remain trapped until the weapon is destroyed or purified. Trapping a soul within the blade is an extremely vile act.
Indiscriminate Killing(ex): The dark knight is now just as adept at slaying artificial creations as she is the living. From the 19th level onwards she treats any non-undead opponent as a living creature for Bane of the Living bonuses.
Darkness Incarnate: At the 20th level, the dark knight has become a creature of darkness. She is treated as an outsider rather than a humanoid for the purposes of spells and magical effects. The dark knight gains damage reduction 10/magic, which allows her to ignore the first 10 points of damage from any attack made by a nonmagical weapon or by any natural attack made by a creature that doesn’t have similar damage reduction. Unlike most outsiders, the dark knight can still be resurrected as a humanoid. In addition, the dark knight's soul can no longer be stolen by her blade of darkness, and she needn't make the roll to check if her soul leaves her body.
Spells Per Day
{table=head]Level|1st|2nd|3rd|4th
4th|0|-|-|-|
5th|0|-|-|-|
6th|1|-|-|-|
7th|1|-|-|-|
8th|1|0|-|-|
9th|1|0|-|-|
10th|1|1|-|-|
11th|1|1|0|-|
12th|1|1|1|-|
13th|1|1|1|-|
14th|2|1|1|0|
15th|2|1|1|1|
16th|2|1|1|1|
17th|2|2|2|1|
18th|3|2|2|1|
19th|3|3|3|2|
20th|3|3|3|3|
[/table]
1st Level Dark Knight Spells:
Bane
Curse Water
Magic Weapon
Doom
Deathwatch
Cause Fear
Command
Summon Monster I*
Life Drain, Minor**
2nd Level Dark Knight Spells:
Inflict Light Wounds
Desecrate
Summon Monster II*
Resist Energy
Hold Person
Death Knell
Resist Energy
Life Drain, Lesser**
3rd Level Dark Knight Spells:
Inflict Moderate Wounds
Summon Monster III*
Blindness
Deafness
Speak with Dead
Protection from Energy
Glyph of Warding
Life Drain**
4th Level Dark Knight Spells:
Inflict Serious Wounds
Summon Monster VI*
Poison
Dismissal
Giant Vermin
Planar Ally, Lesser
Magic Weapon, Greater
Life Drain, Major**
*Any non-good
**Life Drain is a unique dark knight spell, described below.
Life Drain
Level: DRK 1, 2, 3, 4
Components: V, S
Casting Time: One standard action
Range: 100' + 10' per caster level
Target: Any living creature(also affects undead, see below)
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude half
Spell Resistance: Yes
Life Drain inflicts damage upon an opponent and heals the caster for an equal amount. Minor deals 1d6+1 per caster level(max+5) damage, lesser deals 2d6+1 per caster level(max+10) damage, Life Drain deals 3d6+1 per caster level(max+15) damage, and major deals 4d6+1 per caster level(max+20) damage. When used against the undead, the spell instead damages the caster and heals the undead creature for the same amount of damage, and the target need not make a saving throw.
Variant Dark Knight: Like the ranger and paladin, I have provided a variant dark knight that gives up the ability to cast Divine spells in exchange for a few extra abilities.
Spells: The dark knight does not gain the ability to cast divine spells.
Drain Touch(su): At the 6th level, the dark knight gains the ability to make a single, life-draining attack at the expense of damage. As a standard action, the dark knight may make a touch attack with her blade of darkness. If she succeeds, she may roll for damage as normal, but only deals half the damage she would normally do. However, she is also healed for an equal amount of HP. If this would cause her to exceed her maximum HP, she gains the extra healing as temporary hit points that last until the end of the encounter. If the dark knight does not yet possess the Piercing Darkness ability, Drain Touch only heals the dark knight when she attacks living creatures.
Crippling Fear(ex): At the 11th level, the dark knight strikes terror in the hearts of her foes by striking down their allies. The dark knight may make an Intimidate check to demoralize an opponent at a range of up to 30 feet(as long as the target can see you) as a free action after landing a killing blow on one of the target's allies. The dark knight may make one check per killing blow. The dark knight gets a +4 bonus to Intimidate checks made to demoralize opponents, and may add her Wisdom modifier to the check instead of her Charisma modifier if she pleases.
Charge of Darkness(su): From the 13th level onwards, the dark knight can deal even more damage when charging and using her Soul Eater ability. A dark knight who uses Soul Eater while charging deals one and a half times the bonus damage granted by Soul Eater(for example, if the dark knight deals 8 damage to herself, she adds 12 to the damage roll).
Doomsickle(su): Beginning at the 16th level, the dark knight's blade cries out for vengeance for its allies who fall in battle. The dark knight gets a +2 bonus to attack rolls made to confirm a critical whenever an ally is dead or dying(the ability stacks up to a +10 bonus). The ally must have more HD, an equal amount of HD, or no more than 5 HD less than the dark knight to count for this bonus. This bonus only applies during the same encounter in which the ally was stricken down.
Ex-Dark Knights: Any dark knight that becomes unlawful cannot gain dark knight levels as long as she maintains that alignment, and loses the Darkness Incarnate ability. She does not lose any other dark knight abilities, but when wielding a dark blade, if her soul leaves her body, it will be bound to the blade on any roll between 1 and 10 rather than only on a natural one.
Any dark knight that becomes good cannot gain dark knight levels as long as she maintains that alignment. She cannot create, maintain, or use a blade of darkness, and therefore automatically loses access to any dark knight abilities that require a dark blade.
Multi-Classing: A dark knight(or ex-dark knight) may treat her dark knight levels as paladin levels when undertaking the Blackguard prestige class.
My Comments: I am pretty new to DnD, so while I have attempted to keep it balanced and flavorful, I do not know how successful I was at it. This is also my first homebrew. Therefore, comments on the overpoweredness/underpoweredness of it would be appreciated. Suggestions are also welcome. Yes, I know I overused the word 'dark.' The dark knight is dark, okay? Have fun with it :)