|
The Genius Guide to the Death Knight is available now!
The death knight is an alternate class for the antipaladin, itself an alternate for the paladin core class. Making use of and altering numerous facets of the antipaladin alternate class, this dread warrior can't truly be considered a new character class in its own right. By the changes made here, though, the details and tones of the antipaladin are shifted in a completely opposite direction and capture an entirely different fantasy theme, without needlessly designing an entire new class.
While a redesign of sorts, this alternate class can be used just as any of the other base classes.
Role: Evil death knights are villains at their most dangerous – cunning
and linked to the vast fiendish and eldritch forces of undeath. Though they ultimately slay any living creature that associates with them, they
see this as a favor rather than a betrayal. Their dark, powerful, brooding nature often attracts the service of necromancers, cultists of
death gods, and evil witches with dread patrons – despite the long history of such death knights killing everyone and everything. Even those death knights unable to lure breathing allies to their side are often seen by undead as worthy equals, and even worthwhile masters.
Neutral death knights are generally agents of supernatural powers that need them to serve as guardians, judges, or avengers. No less able as
champions of the grave, neutral death knights see the undead as a violation of the natural order, and are as opposed to them as they are to tomb raiding and desecrations of corpses. Neutral death knights are actually less likely to build organizations of followers or close allies, despite their willingness to let the living come to a natural (rather than untimely) demise. But when a powerful enough undead threat looms, death knights are often willing to submit themselves to the orders of others, albeit temporarily, to achieve their goals.
The book includes the Death Knight alternate class, three new feaqts (Deadly Steed, Extra Immunity, Icy Gaze of Death), new anti-paladin spells with deathly themes (death knell, greater; disintegrate undead; grave summoning I to IX*); mask of life; pale mists; spectral eye; take the Low Road; and vigor of the grave), and a brief description of the paths dead spirits use to reach the afterlife, the Low Road.
*No, anti-paladins don't get 5th and higher spells. But they do get grave summoning I to IV, and the rest are used if the death knight takes a lost soul servant with the deathly boon class feature.
15 pages, +1 page cover and +1 page credits, for 17 total pages.