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This guy was talking about making the Final Fantasy Dark Knight class and I got sort of excited about it. So I thought that I would want to take a shot at it and proceeded to take said shot at it. I tied it to themes of "death" (and negative energy) so it would fit in most settings (I couldn't have it dealing "dark" damage).
Here is the Dark Knight:
Dun dun dun
Just banged it out in like two or three hours so I am pretty open to suggestions. I am also lazy/busy, though.
As such, edits will probably come slow (I have another class on here that I would probably work on first).
Neat concept.
1) Requirements: I would change "kill and animal" to "sacrifice a living creature in a ritual that takes one hour" and move it to be included in a level 1, class-defining class feature.
2) Skills: You have 4+Int, and a class feature that keys off of Int. You also have a short list of class skills. I would either get rid of Int in class features, or expand the list of class skills.
3) Spells: You will need to -eventually- come up with a spell list as varied as that of the paladin and ranger. Also, move Spells down the list to in between the 3rd and 5th level features.
4) Dark Bane: "A dark knight may make a concession to death to inflict suffering upon her enemy. Before an attack roll is made, he can declare the attack a dark bane. If the attack hits, it deals an additional +1d8 points of negative energy, and the dark knight takes an equal amount of negative energy. The negative energy the dark knight takes cannot be ignored or reduced in any way.
5) Blood Weapon: I would change this to Cha-based, and make spellcasting Cha based too.
6) Deeper Bane: The damage inflicted goes to 2d8. Does the damage to the dark knight stay at 1d8?
7) Diehard: I personally hate this feat, and believe it is a faster path to death than even raging. But...
8) Death's Friend: what I thought of when I read this, is that it should be a 1st level ability (tied in with sacrafice thingy) that allows the dark knight to use charisma instead of con to determine the negative HP at which point he dies and for the stabilization roll. THEN allow him to add his level the the negative Cha at which he dies, and grant a scaling bonus for stabilizing. Kind of crazy I know, and unclear, but thats what I thought of.
1. I am not sure I want it to be that formal. I don't think of the Dark Knight as a holy man so much as someone that death favors due to their philosophy and willingness to trade his own well being for the destruction of others.
2. Yeah. I gotta add more skills or change it to 2+int, perhaps. I will probably do whichever version is more conducive to balance.
3. I am avoiding coming up with a full spell list like the plague. I probably should, though. I also want to make up a spell or two that interacts with the blood blade and dark bane abilities in particular.
4 and 6 together: Deeper Bane keeps the damage the Dark Knight takes the same. I wanted the trade-off to be 1d8 of damage to self in exchange for 2d8 on the enemy. I just did not want to give the player that at level 1. Due to that favorable trade-off, I wanted the damage on the Dark Knight to happen on a hit or a miss. I appreciate that your version is more streamlined, but it does not have all the features I would like.
5. I am using intelligence as partially a holdover from the actual final fantasy game mechanics, but mostly because I do not see this kind of class being particularly wise or personable. I could see them being calculating, though.
7. It really is a quick path to death. I thought that fit thematically. When the dark knight gets the feat, it should really only be used as a last resort. The abilities later in the class, make a suicidal playstyle increasingly tenable, though.
8. Using the mental stat instead of con might reduce MAD. That is an idea and I will likely use it.
I am seeing all the typos I made now and it is killing me. I gotta learn to use google docs better.
I don't blame you about the spell list. Do it last.
Hey peoples. I finally got around to editing this class as a way to take my mind off some stuff.
I am more or less satisfied with it, but I would still appreciate your input.
Here is the newer version of the class:
I wrote up a spell list, made some class-specific feats, and edited places where I caught mistakes.
@ Ciaran
I put int-as con for dying in the die-hard part of the class.
The way you have them written, Dark Bane and Blooded Weapon can be used at the same time, essentially negating the damage to the dark knight and dealing an additional 2d8 to the enemy. Either way, since these two abilities have similar effects, perhaps they could be rolled into one class feature.
The first half of Death's Friend would make a nice 1st level ability. But if it stays at 7th level, remember that beginning at 5th level, the dark knight is using intelligence instead of constitution.
The way you have them written, Dark Bane and Blooded Weapon can be used at the same time, essentially negating the damage to the dark knight and dealing an additional 2d8 to the enemy. Either way, since these two abilities have similar effects, perhaps they could be rolled into one class feature.
The first half of Death's Friend would make a nice 1st level ability. But if it stays at 7th level, remember that beginning at 5th level, the dark knight is using intelligence instead of constitution.
I did remember. I see where you are thinking I forgot in the wording, though. I added a little parenthetical just to make the intent a little more clear.
I added some wording on Blood Weapon. I intended for these two abilities to not be usable on the same attack so the Dark Knight sort of "yo-yos" his HP up and down during a fight. Now I explicitly say that Blood Weapon cannot modify the same attack as Dark Bane.
Do you think my two feats are okay? I think I need to change Soul Eater expert. I just want Soul Eater to be a viable ranged option for later levels if the player wants to invest in that. Perhaps I should move the "level to chance of dying" ability to level 1. I'll meditate on that.
Has has blood knight been used by another class? I think that would fit your thematic better.
If you don't want certain class features to be used in conjunction, such as Dark Bane and Blood Weapon, you can make them use a swift action. That would do the trick.
Blood Weapon: You have a class that chooses to take damage so that it can inflict extra IF the attack hits. You also have a healing mechanic that is spent before the attack roll and only heals IF the attack hits. I see this as heavily weighed against the dark knight. What if you took a cue from the Grit mechanic and had the healing automatically happen when the DK scores a crit or drops an enemy to zero HP?
Soul Eater: Why doesn't this ability heal HP? With a name like Soul Eater I kind of assume it would. Also, i would work on improving the wording.
Death's Friend: just an idea...
Beginning at 7th level, a dark knight adds her class level to her Constitution score for the purposes of determining the number of negative hit points she can be at before she dies. She also adds Intelligence bonus to Constitution checks made to stabilize when dying and to saving throws against energy drain and death effect.
Undeath's Enemy: I would be in favor of dropping this ability altogether and possibly removing "negative energy" from Dark bane.
Extra Blood: I don't know what the standard is for class features that are based off of one per level. Three sounds OK though.
Implements of Death: what is Blade of Thanos? Also, I'm not a fan of simply slapping weapon focus on all of those. Maybe a bonus to confirming critical threats, or increasing the damage and healing done with Blood Weapon?
Soul Eater Expert: seems like this should just bee built into the class.
Death's Brother: I like everything that it does, but it feels like it is missing something. some kind of flavorful theme defining aspect. not sure what could do the trick though. maybe the ability to make it harder or even impossible for enemies you kill to be revived? you have a bunch of abilities that implies you have a connection to a death god of some kind.
also I agree that soul eater expert should just be a class feature.
I like what i am seeing.
@Excaliburproxy: Did you mean Blade of Thanatos?
@Excaliburproxy: Did you mean Blade of Thanatos?
Haha. I did. Damn Marvel, confusing my brains. It was either that or I was combining Eros and Thanatos into one thing. That thing is sex death.
Has has blood knight been used by another class? I think that would fit your thematic better.
If you don't want certain class features to be used in conjunction, such as Dark Bane and Blood Weapon, you can make them use a swift action. That would do the trick.
Blood Weapon: You have a class that chooses to take damage so that it can inflict extra IF the attack hits. You also have a healing mechanic that is spent before the attack roll and only heals IF the attack hits. I see this as heavily weighed against the dark knight. What if you took a cue from the Grit mechanic and had the healing automatically happen when the DK scores a crit or drops an enemy to zero HP?
Soul Eater: Why doesn't this ability heal HP? With a name like Soul Eater I kind of assume it would. Also, i would work on improving the wording.
Death's Friend: just an idea...
Beginning at 7th level, a dark knight adds her class level to her Constitution score for the purposes of determining the number of negative hit points she can be at before she dies. She also adds Intelligence bonus to Constitution checks made to stabilize when dying and to saving throws against energy drain and death effect.Undeath's Enemy: I would be in favor of dropping this ability altogether and possibly removing "negative energy" from Dark bane.
Extra Blood: I don't know what the standard is for class features that are based off of one per level. Three sounds OK though.
Implements of Death: what is Blade of Thanos? Also, I'm not a fan of simply slapping weapon focus on all of those. Maybe a bonus to confirming critical threats, or increasing the damage and healing done with Blood Weapon?
Soul Eater Expert: seems like this should just bee built into the class.
On blood knight: This was actually an attempt to turn the "Dark Knight" final fantasy class into a viable Pathfinder class. I may agree with you, but I am gonna keep it as Dark Knight for the moment. Lots of names would change if I tried to publish this or something.
On blood weapon: With the critical hit idea, I worry that is game-able, but perhaps I could implement it with some restrictions. I sort of like it. Though I sort of wanted this class to favor weapons other than high-crit weapons (the scythe and such instead of falchions). So maybe just the death version? I will think about that more. Maybe when you kill an enemy with at least a CR of 1/2 his level, I can let the Dark Knight expend one use of Blood Weapon as an immediate action to heal twice the normal drain value in hit points.
On Soul Eater: This is actually another hold-over from the Final Fantasy nomenclature. Really, Soul Eater and Dark Bane are nearly interchangeable abilities (the names differ from game to game if I recall). The implication is that the ability eats the Dark Knight's soul.
On swift action activations: I kind of want this class to have the option of "going nova" and trying to use dark Bane at each iterative attack. And I also don't mind if the player is using Blood weapon on certain iterative attacks and then dark bane on another.
Death's Friend Idea: That is going in. Thanks!
On Undeath's Enemy: Well, this is part a balance concern and part a flavor concern. Negative energy is "death" energy so I wanted it to match with flavor. Also in the first few levels, I wanted the class to have a sort of built-in weakness since I actually think the Dark Bane ability can prove to be super strong. At level 4 with vital strike and a great axe, you are probably looking at around 37 damage. For reference: A CR 3 Black Bear has 32 health and a CR 5 Basilisk has 57 health. This is almost a ranger-like thing. They start out only being good at killing one kind of thing (living stuff) and then that expands over time.
On implements of death: Well, I like the weapon focus feat and I always sort of liked turning it into a feat that effected baskets of weapons. Perhaps I should change this to granting a +1 to damage for every 1 point bonus from Blade of Thanatos (or 1.5 additional damage when you use a weapon in two hands)?
On Soul Eater Expert: Point taken. I'll probably just throw that in at level 9 or 10.
Death's Brother: I like everything that it does, but it feels like it is missing something. some kind of flavorful theme defining aspect. not sure what could do the trick though. maybe the ability to make it harder or even impossible for enemies you kill to be revived? you have a bunch of abilities that implies you have a connection to a death god of some kind.
also I agree that soul eater expert should just be a class feature.
I like what i am seeing.
On death's brother: I am not sure what else to do with it. I think of Death's Brother as kind of being a differently-versatile immortality ability that some other classes get. If you can think of something to add to it then tell me.
On soul eater expert: See Ciaran response.
Edit:
I have made those edits in the document that I am most sure about.
Okay, this is mostly dotting to consider for later, buuuuuuuut...
Question: do you think maybe making a few of the options that Ciaran thinks should be relagated to first level something akin to rogue talents, with "deeper" versions being available later?
Also, I do think that they should get the Endurance feat as well, and/or maybe a version of Mettle (that allows them half damage on a successful fortitude or will save).
I would also agree that, instead of "must kill one animal" it should be "must kill one living creature". I do prefer Ciaran's idea over-all, simply because I think that's both more flavorful and makes more sense: they don't have to be a holy man... the ritual can be entirely arcane (or "other", really) and it still makes sense. This is especially true since they gain supernatural powers and spellcasting (though I might suggest nixing the spellcasting to focus on other aspects of the character).
Were I to ever use it, I'd probably look into making the changes I outline above, which is one of the reasons I'm interested in seeing those applied. The freedom to choose would also make sense with the ritual, as well.
Regardless, it's a very nice basic idea, though. I'll try and find time to look at/think about it later and maybe put in more input - I'm in a bit of a time-crunch at present. 'Cause, life amirite?! :D
Okay, this is mostly dotting to consider for later, buuuuuuuut...
Question: do you think maybe making a few of the options that Ciaran thinks should be relagated to first level something akin to rogue talents, with "deeper" versions being available later?
Also, I do think that they should get the Endurance feat as well, and/or maybe a version of Mettle (that allows them half damage on a successful fortitude or will save).
I would also agree that, instead of "must kill one animal" it should be "must kill one living creature". I do prefer Ciaran's idea over-all, simply because I think that's both more flavorful and makes more sense: they don't have to be a holy man... the ritual can be entirely arcane (or "other", really) and it still makes sense. This is especially true since they gain supernatural powers and spellcasting (though I might suggest nixing the spellcasting to focus on other aspects of the character).
Were I to ever use it, I'd probably look into making the changes I outline above, which is one of the reasons I'm interested in seeing those applied. The freedom to choose would also make sense with the ritual, as well.
Regardless, it's a very nice basic idea, though. I'll try and find time to look at/think about it later and maybe put in more input - I'm in a bit of a time-crunch at present. 'Cause, life amirite?! :D
On talents: I don't wanna make a talent list. I really like classes that grant talents, but I think my build of the class is sort of "tight". A lot of the things I want to put into the class have to come in a certain order to make sense. Still, I will definitely think about it. I don't think it would be so bad to give this class damage vs. undead earlier if the class is willing to put off the extra 1d8 from deeper bane or w/e. And that would leave room for easy expansion of the class later.
On "animal" wording: I wanted the class to not be able to squash bugs for powers.
On "sacrifice" requirement: I just am really not feeling it. It is all too ritualistic for the ethos of the class I have in my head. Like: I don't see this class even "asking" things of death exactly. It is more like death just gives the dark knight these powers because death just likes the person and the way she thinks and operates. If you want to use this class in your game though, requiring a specific sacrifice is fine. Make the flavor of the class whatever you want for the purposes of your setting.
On endurance: I actually had been considering giving this class endurance for free at level 2. Maybe I will. I worry that I am front-loading the class too much.
On mettle: Naw. I sort of want this class to be risky and that goes against the theme of risky-ness.
On spell-casting: I like spell-casting in this class. It both emulates a lot of iterations of the Dark Knight class from the games and tacks on a lot of extra options with very little extra work on my part. However, I think spell-casting is the first thing I would get rid of for archetypes as it is the least tied in to the remainder of the class's abilities. I am just not quite sure what I will give the class instead of spells for these archetypes. Chime in with ideas. I actually want to give this class more standard-action options. I like standard action damage options in general for martial-focused classes.
An interesting class idea. I might have to use this
An interesting class idea. I might have to use this
Hey. Glad that you like it.
Believe it or not, I've still not gotten fully involved in it! I'm just passing by, but noticed this so I wanted to comment...
On "sacrifice" requirement: I just am really not feeling it. It is all too ritualistic for the ethos of the class I have in my head. Like: I don't see this class even "asking" things of death exactly. It is more like death just gives the dark knight these powers because death just likes the person and the way she thinks and operates. If you want to use this class in your game though, requiring a specific sacrifice is fine. Make the flavor of the class whatever you want for the purposes of your setting.
Actually... I think you're looking at the wording of "sacrifice" differently than I am.
You're looking at "sacrifice" as some sort of petition, which makes sense (as it is implied in the name), but I'm interpreting it as more of a kind of material cost for longer-casting-time spells - "kill" would be fine, but the idea is that it's ritualistic magic. Not petitioning the personification of death, not trying to ask for power - simply utilizing killing as a magical effect in order to gain power.
If you don't want bug-squashing, put a HD-minimum (at it's most basic, let's say 1 HD per 2 class levels, minimum 1).
The reason I lobby for killing a living creature instead of killing an animal is because animals are exceedingly specific - to you "kill an animal" means "go hunting and kill, or purchase a pet and kill" (which doesn't really fit with the classes in any of the iterations of FF that I've ever played, and, while dark, doesn't a non-evil alignment: a butcher could very easily be a dark knight without ever adventuring, for instance).
Both of us want to avoid "easy" loopholes, but both of us feel differently on the wording of what best gives the gist of a mystical class beholden to none, but blessed for their willingness (and desire) to spread death.
In the case of what you're looking for, then, I might recommend making this a Ranger alternate class (like the antipaladin, ninja, or samurai). Favored Enemy + Instant Enemy is... pretty great, actually, and perfectly fits the flavor of the class. Trade out their specific ranger spells for other spells-list (maybe looking at the old 3.5 Assassin or Blackguard prestige classes for spell-list), or, instead of ranger, perhaps basing it off the Magus (for a similar effect) trading out the magus-specific elements for more "dark knight" style stuff.
One possibility is trading some of its "always" abilities for more spells, or making them tied to a limited-use resource (like a Paladin's smite or magus' arcana).
If you really want to differentiate them, drop the armor proficiency to medium, make the shields light shields, and give them a few exotic weapons (to emphasize their aggressive nature over their defensive nature).
All else: fair enough... but what Dark Knights cast spells? I'm genuinely curious here, as Cecil, Gaff, and Grissom didn't (to my recollection) ever do so (unless they did so via different classes) - which are the extend of my Dark Knight history (Batman notwithstanding, naturally).
IF (and only if) I get time, would you want me to make up some talent-like things based on your basic ideas?
Anyway, I'm out! Sorry for gabbing so much! Later!
Here's a crazy idea. At a certain level, the DK gets resistance to negative energy (such as half her level). Any time she inflicts negative energy upon an enemy, she heals HP equal to that same resistance number. This might conflict with other features, but it popped in my head.
Believe it or not, I've still not gotten fully involved in it! I'm just passing by, but noticed this so I wanted to comment...
On "sacrifice" requirement: I just am really not feeling it. It is all too ritualistic for the ethos of the class I have in my head. Like: I don't see this class even "asking" things of death exactly. It is more like death just gives the dark knight these powers because death just likes the person and the way she thinks and operates. If you want to use this class in your game though, requiring a specific sacrifice is fine. Make the flavor of the class whatever you want for the purposes of your setting.Actually... I think you're looking at the wording of "sacrifice" differently than I am.
You're looking at "sacrifice" as some sort of petition, which makes sense (as it is implied in the name), but I'm interpreting it as more of a kind of material cost for longer-casting-time spells - "kill" would be fine, but the idea is that it's ritualistic magic. Not petitioning the personification of death, not trying to ask for power - simply utilizing killing as a magical effect in order to gain power.
If you don't want bug-squashing, put a HD-minimum (at it's most basic, let's say 1 HD per 2 class levels, minimum 1).
The reason I lobby for killing a living creature instead of killing an animal is because animals are exceedingly specific - to you "kill an animal" means "go hunting and kill, or purchase a pet and kill" (which doesn't really fit with the classes in any of the iterations of FF that I've ever played, and, while dark, doesn't a non-evil alignment: a butcher could very easily be a dark knight without ever adventuring, for instance).
Both of us want to avoid "easy" loopholes, but both of us feel differently on the wording of what best gives the gist of a mystical class beholden to none, but blessed for their willingness (and desire) to spread death.
In the case of what you're looking for, then, I might recommend making this a Ranger alternate class (like the antipaladin, ninja, or samurai). Favored Enemy + Instant Enemy is... pretty great, actually, and perfectly fits the flavor of the class. Trade out their specific ranger spells for other spells-list (maybe looking at the old 3.5 Assassin or Blackguard prestige classes for spell-list), or, instead of ranger, perhaps basing it off the Magus (for a similar effect) trading out the magus-specific elements for more "dark knight" style stuff.
One possibility is trading some of its "always" abilities for more spells, or making them tied to a limited-use resource (like a Paladin's smite or magus' arcana). I recognize, currently, that you're basically using a paladin chassis at present - I'm just not sure that it's the best "starting" chassis, despite their "mirror" tendencies, as there's already a "mirror-paladin": the antipaladin.
If you really want to differentiate them, drop the armor proficiency to medium, make the shields light shields, and give them a few exotic weapons (to emphasize their aggressive nature over their defensive nature).
All else: fair enough... but what Dark Knights cast spells? I'm genuinely curious here, as Cecil, Gaff, and Grissom didn't (to my recollection) ever do so (unless they did so via different classes) - which are the extend of my Dark Knight history (Batman notwithstanding, naturally).
IF (and only if) I get time, would you want me to make up some talent-like things based on your basic ideas?
Anyway, I'm out! Sorry for gabbing so much! Later!
I don't really know what you mean by making this a ranger alternate class. I am not sure if I am really interested in doing a major overhaul of the rules. Or do you mean that some other way? I do not want to swap out dark bane or soul eater for anything. These abilities are trying to do something fundamentally different from what a ranger does. Also, the mechanically encouraged build is to pump up, str, int, and con; so if I take heavy armor proficiency away, I make the class more MAD and I lose the theme of a person in gleaming black metal armor.
I would love to build an alternate class to the Magus some time, but I don't think I should do it for this class. Maybe I should try building a mystic knight or a spell fencer with that idea, though.
On paladin/antipaladins: I sort of think of this class only kinda using the same chassis of the Paladin. I feel as though my core mechanics (Blood Weapon and Dark Bane) are very different in the way they function and scale. I also feel that the high risk play style of the self-damaging abilities is somewhat unique and pretty much what I was building towards when I set out to emulate a sort of "dark knight play style".
And the major example of the Dark Knight using Black Magic is in FF11, though I am pretty sure other games also threw them some debuff spell-equivalent abilities and the like. The original NES release of FF3 actually gave them low level white magic for whatever reason.
And if you want to make talents for this class, then make some talents for this class. I will end up re-jiggering them before putting them in the document but I would totally look at them and likely implement them.
I am probably gonna change the monthly requirement a bit.
Here's a crazy idea. At a certain level, the DK gets resistance to negative energy (such as half her level). Any time she inflicts negative energy upon an enemy, she heals HP equal to that same resistance number. This might conflict with other features, but it popped in my head.
Though I like that idea, I think it may be too powerful and would unbalance the class. Also, I feel that ability might be more or less better for a tank class. And it would probably only be able to generate temporary hit points to stop in from being gamed. Did you actually see the new Reaper ability I put in at level 3? It was essentially based on your suggestions earlier.
Just now, I also decided to alter implements of death.
In general,
On including endurance:
I don't think I am going to do it. I feel like it will make half-orcs too good at this class if they go down the undying zealot path. There should be at least one other feat between them and that totes rad build. I already adjusted some wording on minus strike to accommodate such a build.
When I look at this, I feel like Dark Bane should deal 1d6 and scale like sneak attack damage rather than sprinkle the class with multiple abilities that let you add extra damage. I'd also like to see buffs that happen if the knight has low hitpoints.
When I look at this, I feel like Dark Bane should deal 1d6 and scale like sneak attack damage rather than sprinkle the class with multiple abilities that let you add extra damage. I'd also like to see buffs that happen if the knight has low hitpoints.
I like d8s because that way, the class is doing something other than just the vicious weapon quality at lower levels. However, I "sprinkle" the progression around because I want the trade-off to remain 2d8 damage to enemies and 1d8 damage to self. Otherwise, sometimes there will be odd-number versions of the damage output that will be pretty much better than the "leveled-up" even level version.
Meanwhile, I intend for vampiric blade to essentially be a support ability to the Dark Bane ability so I level that up at the same time as well.
I want to do buffs at low hit points too, but I am not really sure how well it fits into the class. Right now the proxy for that is Minus Strike in a lot of ways. However, if I implement a talent system and move stuff around, then critical damage buffs will likely be in there.
And maybe I could take out spellcasting in one archetype and give the class some additional special abilities based on personal hit point total. For starters: maybe a +4 bonus to critical hit confirmation when below half health.
The reaper ability looks nice, but I would simplify it. Instead of "reduce it to zero, spend the point, deal more damage, heal some, and then if it dies gain additional HP" I would change it to "reduce it to zero, spend a point, it does, you heal." Its less paperwork.
As an alternative, What if Reaper allowed the DK to reduce enemy to negative 1 HP, spend a point, then (wait for it...) cast a custom version of Death Knell as a free action?
The reaper ability looks nice, but I would simplify it. Instead of "reduce it to zero, spend the point, deal more damage, heal some, and then if it dies gain additional HP" I would change it to "reduce it to zero, spend a point, it does, you heal." Its less paperwork.
As an alternative, What if Reaper allowed the DK to reduce enemy to negative 1 HP, spend a point, then (wait for it...) cast a custom version of Death Knell as a free action?
*nods slowly and adds death knell as a 1st level spell for Dark Knight*
I might add this as a feat or an alternate talent if I end up doing that talent system thing.
Edit for elaboration: I think it is more "elegant" to have blood weapon generally power only hp drain in the class levels. Souls and Blood is already a clear exception to this, but I am gonna try to keep deviations from just HP drain to a minimum. I still like the idea as a feat, I think. Lots of feats give alternate uses for resource pools (see rebuke undead and the like).
I have a bunch of ideas, but I don't think my thematics match yours.
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I like parts of this, it's a nice FF4 style Dark Knight, but it honestly seems like it's going to be taking more damage than it can handle. And while things like Minus Strike are cool, they're really hard to use.
Remember, Diehard only lets you take one attack, which seems less like ignoring death than this class should. Perhaps giving it the Deathless X feat treat as it leveled up would simulate its nature better.
And why the Paladin's list? Why not the Anti Paladin?
I'd honestly consider Dark Bane unusable at 1st and 2nd level with how dangerous it was to the wielder, far too swingy, especially before the attack is rolled. Maybe on a connection, but without a bonus to hit from it, it's even riskier. I suppose Blades of Thanatos helps out with that though.
Death's Confidante seems nice, but it feels like the Dark Knight should have some way to heal themselves here, at least to keep them from death. Maybe burn a use of Blood Weapon to do so, or at least to keep the door open longer.
The rest seems pretty chill. I'd almost suggest something similar to the ability of my Invoker, their Blood Kain and Devoured by Darkness abilities.
Although if you do that, I'd suggest changing the name of the class to The Bloodedge.
I like parts of this, it's a nice FF4 style Dark Knight, but it honestly seems like it's going to be taking more damage than it can handle. And while things like Minus Strike are cool, they're really hard to use.
Remember, Diehard only lets you take one attack, which seems less like ignoring death than this class should. Perhaps giving it the Deathless X feat treat as it leveled up would simulate its nature better.
And why the Paladin's list? Why not the Anti Paladin?
I'd honestly consider Dark Bane unusable at 1st and 2nd level with how dangerous it was to the wielder, far too swingy, especially before the attack is rolled. Maybe on a connection, but without a bonus to hit from it, it's even riskier. I suppose Blades of Thanatos helps out with that though.
Death's Confidante seems nice, but it feels like the Dark Knight should have some way to heal themselves here, at least to keep them from death. Maybe burn a use of Blood Weapon to do so, or at least to keep the door open longer.
The rest seems pretty chill. I'd almost suggest something similar to the ability of my Invoker, their Blood Kain and Devoured by Darkness abilities.
Although if you do that, I'd suggest changing the name of the class to The Bloodedge.
Well, at lower levels I think that dark bane is sort of a last resort kind of ability. Most of their extra damage is going to come from Blood Weapon realistically. By level 3, I expect that to change a little bit. I see players using dark bane (likely as part of a charge) at the start of the fight and then use blood weapon once or twice more as the fight goes on to recoup earlier damage.
The ability minus strike is there exactly because you only get one action during Die Hard. If you are willing to stay up and make an attack at level 6 in hopes of ending the fight then you have an opportunity to do so (taking a risk for a chance to do around 35 damage in one attack, or even more if you have built around it with furious focus and the like).
I am using a custom spell list and not the paladin spell list. Actually, the spell list I give is probably a little more versatile than the anti-paladin, but maybe also a tad less offense focused.
The reaper ability is a little bit like the Blood Kain and Devoured by Darkness abilities. I am super hesitant about handing this class an "at will" healing option, though.
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I just think Dark Bane would be better pushed back due to that reason. At 1-2, you're giving the player the chance to kill themselves, which doesn't seem like a great idea.
I still do think the other Deathless abilities should be included, since it seems like this class wants to always be standing, but I can respect that decision.
And it's a custom list, but based off of the Paladin's. I'm saying just base it off of the Anti Paladin, since they seem more thematic to what you want.
Yeah, as an at-will for a combat heavy class they could be bad, maybe takes Blood Weapon charges to do? I'll admit I lifted them both off of Blazblue, but both were fun mechanics to me.
I just think Dark Bane would be better pushed back due to that reason. At 1-2, you're giving the player the chance to kill themselves, which doesn't seem like a great idea.
I still do think the other Deathless abilities should be included, since it seems like this class wants to always be standing, but I can respect that decision.
And it's a custom list, but based off of the Paladin's. I'm saying just base it off of the Anti Paladin, since they seem more thematic to what you want.
Yeah, as an at-will for a combat heavy class they could be bad, maybe takes Blood Weapon charges to do? I'll admit I lifted them both off of Blazblue, but both were fun mechanics to me.
I agree that dark bane is an extremely situational ability at level 1. I like it that way, though. I don't want to give the class too much right out of the gate and blood weapon is already a pretty strong level 1 ability. It is also an option that thematically encompasses the ethos of the class: destruction at the cost of self destruction. I feel it should be a class ability right out of the gate.
On blood kain-esque ability: Well, Blood Weapon is already sort of like Blood Kain from your class in that it is a damage-for-health ability. Frankly, I already think Blood Weapon is a really strong support/healing ability, especially once you get Reaper (which I feel has a particularly strong synergy with with Dark Bane in that it allows a character to immediately heal after killing an enemy with dark bane).
On the spell list: I really don't see how the spell list is based off of Paladin in any way. I gave them a pretty big glut of necromancy spells, really. Also some other spells themed on fire and demons and the like.
It is no problem at all, of course. I was just confused.
So is the file updated with new spells?
Yep!
The Link is Here
(this is the same link from somewhere in the middle of the thread)
The spells are the last thing in the document and the spell list is just before the feats.
If you have any spell ideas then let me know.