Death Knight

[Sahaar]

I'm going to assume there's no DK class in 3.5e since I can't find rules for any.

+: Powerful fighter and Sorceror, Bonus feat at every 5 levels, high starting HP

-: High start HP is offset by a relatively low Hit Dice (d6), magical damage is amplified.

Alignment: Chaotic Good to Chaotic Evil, no Lawful

Starting HP: 2d12+2

Hit Dice: d6

Bonuses at Levels


Note, Save bonuses are non-cumulative. If a level has 'No bonuses', the save bonuses stay as previous level.

Level 1: Will +1, Bonus Feat

Level 2: Will +2, Fort +1

Level 3: Will +2, Fort +2

Level 4: Will +2, Fort +3

Level 5: Bonus feat, Will +3, Fort +3

Level 6: No bonus

Level 7: Will +4, Fort +4

Level 8: No Bonus

Level 9: No bonus

Level 10: Bonus Feat


(Every 5 levels, gain a bonus feat, every 2 levels, Will and Fort saves increase by +1)


DeathKnights may choose bonus combat feats as a Fighter would.

DeathKnights are essentially Fighter/Sorceror multiclassing, except both classes gain a class level at each new player level. However, you may only add one half as many spells per caster level (rounded down) for sorcerer spells.

DeathKnights are beings tethered to the mortal realm by unseen arcanic forces. Being struck with opposing magic will damage this tether. Any magical damage taken by a Deathknight is increased by +2.

I'm kind of new to Homebrewing :/

[Starbuck_II]

You should put this in the Homebrewing section me thinks.

[Admiral Squish]

You should put this in the Homebrewing section me thinks.

Seconded. There's a reason we have more than one forum.

[Greenish]

I'm going to assume there's no DK class in 3.5e since I can't find rules for any.There are Death Knights in 3.5, but it's a race, not a class. That said, Cleric/Bone Knight is essentially the same thing. :smallamused:

[Edit]: "Starting HP"? :smallconfused:

[Soranar]

it's also an undead template (and rather powerful at all , being immune to turning)

[Dusk Eclipse]

it's also an undead template (and rather powerful at all , being immune to turning)

I AFB but isn't Death Knight only immune to turning when on it's master Original plane?

[AslanCross]

I take it that this Death Knight is based on the Warcraft Death Knight? I'd think Warcraft d20 would have such a class.

The extra hit die at level 1 offset by low hit dice at subsequent levels aren't really worth it. That's even worse than the already bad racial hit dice monsters get. At least they get save progression, BAB, skill points and feats for those. All you're giving is an average of 8.5 HP (1d12+2) that will probably go away in one hit, especially considering that your later HD are d6s. Not worth it. It would be more consistent to just stick with d10 hit dice through all levels.

If it's a fighter/sorcerer, how is it going to be different from the already existing gish and gish-like classes? Duskblade has d8 Hit dice, full BAB, and high Fort saves. It has limited spellcasting and focuses more on damage dealing.
The Jade Phoenix Mage PrC combines ToB maneuvers with arcane casting.

If this is the WC death knight, it's going to be rather similar to the Bone Knight PrC from Five Nations, as was mentioned above. It's a divine caster that specializes in animation of undead.

[Milskidasith]

The mechanics are weird with the HP, and it's not exactly finished. Also, for a "powerful sorcerer" d6 hit die aren't exactly a bad thing, and if it's really a powerful one (full caster) then adding on more goodies is just going into the realm of the absurd.

EDIT: What do you mean by "add a level each level?" Fighters *only* class feature is to have bonus feats, and you already get them. Does this mean this class is a fighter, plus more bonus feats, with full sorcerer casting but less spells known?

That's pretty absurd, especially because there are good ways to get around the "spells known" issue (Sandshaper, with a one level dip, covers most of your bases in "hit X save" and utility spells.)

[Yora]

Maybe make it a variant Blackguard (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/resources/systems/pennpaper/dnd35/soveliorsage/blackguard.html) that requires the ability to cast 2nd level spells and gets a raise in caster level every two levels?

Requirements
To qualify to become a death knight, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Alignment: Any evil.
Base Attack Bonus: +4.
Skills: Hide 5 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 2 ranks.
Feats: Cleave, Power Attack.
Spells: Cast 2nd level arcane or divine spells.
Special: The character must have made peaceful contact with an evil outsider who was summoned by him or someone else.

Lvl|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special|Spellcasting
1st|+0|+2|0|+2|Aura of evil, detect good, poison use|-
2nd|+1|+3|0|+3|Dark blessing, smite good 1/day| +1
3rd|+2|+3|+1|+3|Command undead, aura of despair|-
4th|+3|+4|+1|+4|Sneak attack +1d6| +1
5th|+3|+4|+1|+4|Fiendish servant, smite good 2/day|-
6th|+4|+5|+2|+5||+1
7th|+5|+5|+2|+5|Sneak attack +2d6|-
8th|+6|+6|+2|+6||+1
9th|+6|+6|+3|+6 ||-
10th|+7|+7|+3|+7|Sneak attack +3d6, smite good 3/day|+1

This would be a start.

[Milskidasith]

Maybe make it a variant Blackguard (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/resources/systems/pennpaper/dnd35/soveliorsage/blackguard.html) that requires the ability to cast 2nd level spells and gets a raise in caster level every two levels?

Requirements
To qualify to become a death knight, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Alignment: Any evil.
Base Attack Bonus: +4.
Skills: Hide 5 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 2 ranks.
Feats: Cleave, Power Attack.
Spells: Cast 2nd level arcane or divine spells.
Special: The character must have made peaceful contact with an evil outsider who was summoned by him or someone else.

Lvl|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special|Spellcasting
1st|+0|+2|0|+2|Aura of evil, detect good, poison use|-
2nd|+1|+3|0|+3|Dark blessing, smite good 1/day| +1
3rd|+2|+3|+1|+3|Command undead, aura of despair|-
4th|+3|+4|+1|+4|Sneak attack +1d6| +1
5th|+3|+4|+1|+4|Fiendish servant, smite good 2/day|-
6th|+4|+5|+2|+5||+1
7th|+5|+5|+2|+5|Sneak attack +2d6|-
8th|+6|+6|+2|+6||+1
9th|+6|+6|+3|+6 ||-
10th|+7|+7|+3|+7|Sneak attack +3d6, smite good 3/day|+1

This would be a start.

That's on the other end of absurd; it has no reason for spellcasters to take it (half spellcasting for no spellcasting benefits?) and melees lose BAB.

[Admiral Squish]

This guy wants something very specific. An undead template that settles him up to about ECL 15, then a racial class thingie with an undead minion and fighting and casting.

[Milskidasith]

This guy wants something very specific. An undead template that settles him up to about ECL 15, then a racial class thingie with an undead minion and fighting and casting.

Then... a Walker In The Waste Necromancer specialist Wizard with some levels in a gish class? Not very gishy. You could also be a necromancer specialist wizard with the necropolitan template and build a standard gish.