Base Class: Fighter
A Death Knight is a fearsome warrior born with arcane power who has forgone the usual order of the world and set their own path to follow. The overwhelming presence, the peak physique and the eyes that seem to stare directly into your soul leave no room for doubt that the Death Knight is a force to be reckoned with. To stand in one's way is to look death itself, face to face. To be a Death Knight is to follow your own values, and to die for them.
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 and the Spells Listing for the sorcerer spell list. Charisma is your spellcasting modifier for casting these spells.
Soulbound Weapon
At 3rd level, you learn a ritual that creates a magical, living bond between yourself and one weapon. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest. The weapon must be within your reach throughout the ritual, at the conclusion of which you touch the weapon and forge the bond.
Once you have bonded a weapon to yourself, you can't be disarmed of that weapon unless you are incapacitated. If it is on the same plane of existence as you, you can summon that weapon as a bonus action on your turn, causing it to instantly materialize in your hand. In addition, you may also absorb its physical form within your very being, which may act as an effective storage place. If you attempt to bond with a second weapon, you must break the bond with the other one.
Arcane Art
At level 3, when you choose to take on the mantle of Death Knight, you learn the Arcane Arts from the list below.
When you activate a Arcane Art, a dark aura surrounds you imbuing you with the specific Art. You can use a bonus action to activate or deactivate one Arcane Art. Falling unconscious will deactivate all Arts currently active. At level 3 you can only benefit from one Art at a time, two at level 5, three at level 12, and four at level 18. The Art will stay active until it is deactivated. At the end of each of your turns in combat, if you have more than one Arcane Art active, you must pass a DC 15 Constitution Save, or one random Art will deactivate. You may only have 1 Arcane Art active outside of combat.
Armor of Death. Gain +2 AC against attacks.
Aura of the Damned. Any enemy creature within 20 feet must make a DC 16 Charisma saving throw or be disadvantaged when making melee attacks against you.
Etherfloat. You hover a few inches from the ground. You do not trigger pressure plates or the like; you can cross liquid surfaces if they are still; and you descend to the ground harmlessly if you choose to. This can be activated mid-air to avoid fall damage as well.
Pale Horse. You increase your speed by 15 feet.
Soulflayer. A creature you choose within 30 feet of you has disadvantage on a single saving throw of your choice while in combat.
Soulreaver. The weapon you hold becomes bathed in your dark aura . The weapon must be a bound weapon. On successful melee attacks add an additional 1d6 Necrotic damage.
Dark Aura. If a creature moves to within 30 feet of you, you can use your reaction and the creature must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you for 1 minute.
Cursed Vigor. You can remove one affliction or condition from yourself or an ally. This effect resets on a long rest.
Armor of Death
Gain +2 AC against attacks.
Aura of the Damned
Any enemy creature within 20 feet must make a DC 16 Charisma saving throw or be disadvantaged when making melee attacks against you.
Cursed Vigor
You can remove one affliction or condition from yourself or an ally. This effect resets on a long rest.
Dark Aura
If a creature moves to within 30 feet of you, you can use your reaction and the creature must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you for 1 minute.
Etherfloat
You hover a few inches from the ground. You do not trigger pressure plates or the like; you can cross liquid surfaces if they are still; and you descend to the ground harmlessly if you choose to. This can be activated mid-air to avoid fall damage as well.
Pale Horse
You increase your walking speed by 15 feet.
Soulflayer
A creature you choose within 30 feet of you has disadvantage on a single saving throw of your choice while in combat.
Soulreaver
The weapon you hold becomes bathed in your dark aura . The weapon must be a bound weapon. On successful melee attacks add an additional 1d6 Necrotic damage.
Necro Strike
At 7th level, three times per short rest, you can channel a Necrostrike when you take an attack action with your bound weapon. For your next attack you deal 2d8 Necrotic Damage.
Life Siphon
At 10th level, you learn to control the balance of life and death within yourself. When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Charisma Score. These temporary hit points expire at the next Dawn. You gain resistance to Necrotic damage as well
Death's Door
At 15th level you have learned how to dampen the effects of death. If an attack would reduce you to 0 hit points or kill you outright, you may make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw. On a success, you drop to 1 hit point instead. You may use this ability once per long rest.
Revenant
At 18th level, you fully rise to the mantle of Death Knight. You no longer require food, water, or sleep. You may still gain the benefits of a long rest if you spend 4 hours undertaking light activities such as reading or keeping watch. Additionally, when a friendly creature within 30 feet of you is knocked unconscious and not outright killed, you can use a reaction to raise them to 1 hit point instead, and gain temporary hit points equal to your Charisma Score. This is reset after a Long Rest. You also gain immunity to Necrotic Damage
Comments