An 11th level sorcerer with the undead bloodline wants to raise a very dead and dismembered 7 th level fighter into a Graveknight.
What is the most logical way to raise him into a Graveknight that makes sense? The rules say the person has to be a living creature?
Creating a Graveknight
"graveknight" is an acquired template that can be added to any LIVING CREATURE with 5 or more Hit Dice (referred to hereafter as the base creature). Most graveknights were once humanoids. A graveknight uses the base creature's statistics and abilities except as noted here.
CR: Same as base creature +2.
Alignment: Any evil.
Type: The graveknight's type changes to undead (augmented). Do not recalculate class Hit Dice, BAB, or saves.
Senses: A graveknight gains darkvision 60 ft.
Aura: A graveknight emanates the following aura.
The "living creature" means that the game rules require this template to be applied to creatures capable of living - it does not mean that the necromancer in question gets out a template and glues it onto a living creature.
Creature + Template = Game Mechanic. It does not equate to what the characters actually do.
It's like saying that your fighter doesn't put on armor, he simply adds +6 to his AC statistic. That is what you, the player, might do, but the character still actually has to put that armor on and wear it.
Likewise, the necromancer might try to make a Graveknight out of a corpse. It says so in the first line of their description: "Undying tyrants and eternal champions of the undead, graveknights arise from the corpses of the most nefarious warlords and disgraced heroes".
However, no spell or process is given for this task. There is some information on how they arise on their own, and how some particularly evil people of at least 9th level might try to become one like some wizards try to become a lich, but no spell to just animate one from a corpse.
Unless there is more material that I don't know about, there is no given way for a necromancer to just whip up a spell to turn any old corpse into a Graveknight.
As a DM, just plop down a graveknight anywhere you want, maybe applying some logic to their ecology and reason for existing - they are, after all, quite a bit more interesting and rare than a commonplace zombie.
As a player, talk to your DM about how HE (or SHE) wants you to create a graveknight, if it even can be done in your campaign.
Does the sorcerer have craft-wondrous-item?
It's home-brew, but I would require the sorcerer to have animate-dead and create-dead spells.
I would then require the sorcerer to make a consumable wondrous item made primarily out of black onyx that takes 1 day/HD of the fighter or 1 month to make. This item will be used along with a couple spell slots in a ritual to raise the fighter.
Lastly I would add some sort of caveat to prevent the play from doing this to random corpses. For example "Graveknights made this way are not under the casters control" or "The individual has to be willing to be raised" or "Only rare individuals can be made into graveknights this way (as in its not guaranteed to work)"
got it thanks folks!