Base Class: Fighter
"Even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you will fear no evil, for I am with you; my sword and shield, they shall guide you on your way out of the Abyss."
- Psalm from a long forgotten Death Knight codex.
Death Knight
While knights are usually paragons of virtue and shining beacons of upstanding morality, death knights are in the grey area. They're not evil-aligned by nature, but they're definitely not the warriors people expect to be saved by. Truth be told, they're an enigma. You never really know who you're dealing with unless you peer inside their helmet. They're usually seen with parties of undead following their every step, like some sort of twisted Knight-Squire dynamic.
Simply put, they are knights (or fallen knights) who carefully thread on the border between life and death. They do everything in their power and then some to achieve victory over their foes.
Spellcasting
When you reach 3rd level, you augment your martial prowess with the ability to cast spells. See Spells Rules for the general rules of spellcasting.
Cantrips
At 3rd level, you know two cantrips of your choice from your spell list. You learn additional cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Death Knight table.
Spell Slots
The Death Knight Spellcasting table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.
Spells Known of 1st-Level and Higher
The Death Knight table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.
You prepare the list of cleric spells that are available for you to cast, choosing from your spell list. When you do so, choose a number of spells equal to your Wisdom modifier + your fighter level (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.
Spellcasting Ability
Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your spells, since you're treading on the same grounds as clerics in terms of your relationship with death. You use your Wisdom whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Wisdom modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier
Death Knight Spellcasting
|
DEATH KNIGHT Level |
Cantrips Known |
Spells Known |
— Spell Slots per Spell Level — |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
|||
|
3rd |
2 |
3 |
2 |
— |
— |
— |
|
4th |
2 |
4 |
3 |
— |
— |
— |
|
5th |
2 |
4 |
3 |
— |
— |
— |
|
6th |
2 |
4 |
3 |
— |
— |
— |
|
7th |
2 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
— |
— |
|
8th |
2 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
— |
— |
|
9th |
2 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
— |
— |
|
10th |
3 |
7 |
4 |
3 |
— |
— |
|
11th |
3 |
8 |
4 |
3 |
— |
— |
|
12th |
3 |
8 |
4 |
3 |
— |
— |
|
13th |
3 |
9 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
— |
|
14th |
3 |
10 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
— |
|
15th |
3 |
10 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
— |
|
16th |
3 |
11 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
— |
|
17th |
3 |
11 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
— |
|
18th |
3 |
11 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
— |
|
19th |
3 |
12 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
|
20th |
3 |
13 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
Death Magic
3rd-level Death Knight feature
You learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the Death Magic table. Each of these spells counts as a fighter spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of fighter spells you know.
Death Magic Spells
|
FIGHTER Level |
Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | inflict wounds, false life |
| 7th | ray of enfeeblement, gentle repose |
| 13th | animate dead, fear |
| 19th | banishment, blight |
Phantom Form
At 10th level, you become Half-Phantom. You no longer require food and water to survive, you never age, and the undead have disadvantage on attack rolls made against you.
Decaying Touch
Beginning at 7th level, when you use your action to make a melee weapon attack, you deal an additional 1d6 necrotic damage for every strike.
Undead Squires
At 3rd level, you learn how to summon undead squires that obey your every command. Once per long rest, you can summon an amount of undead servants equal to your proficiency bonus. A squire can only take form of a Zombie or a Skeleton, but doesn't require a corpse or a skeleton in order to be raised. You can heal your undead friends using the false life spell. Once they "die" (their HP drops to zero), they cannot be summoned again until the feature recharges. Taking a long rest banishes your current undead squires.
Spectral Surge
At 15th level, whenever you use your Action Surge, you become invisible after the additional action. Furthermore, you also have resistance to radiant and necrotic damage while invisible.
Avatar of Death
Starting at 18th level, you unlock your Avatar of Death. Once per short rest, you can use a bonus action to become one with death itself, turning yourself into the Avatar of Death.
This feature grants you the following effects for 10 minutes:
- Immunity to radiant and necrotic damage.
- Bone wings/Bat wings with a flight speed of 40ft.
- Your melee attacks deal an additional 2d8 necrotic damage.
- Your necrotic attacks and spells ignore enemy resistance or immunity to necrotic damage, unless your enemy is also an Avatar of Death.
Comments