SHADOW KNIGHT human in blackened steel armor stands over his kneeling opponent. “Mercy.” begs the white knight. With a smile, the dark warrior places his hand upon the paladins chest and unleashes all his hate, devouring the last of the knight's wang eee Ate ll ane sword a hand sand bore the peace rascare tide ias uae aa Thy eG weapon ath Beso i in pec usa Ane ies hou acd ilag hs ore Perit tchran sr actages Tisasoun ecewat eel ces pear ea a a pete reais Erne ont ee Ey ens epee prs oor eons ans ero Wietiy mato tapon ore anon fet or eee wil of etter he ne a hat dn ali cnindabin When wo sade hig met ey oe Sel i ested ar Soro Creatine A SHADOW KNIGHT ‘The most important aspect of a shadow knight is the nature ofhis or her ambition, This is what has driven you to seek out dark magic to augment your martial prowess. Do you wish to prove yourself better than a hated rival? Are you seeking dark power so someone you love will never be hurt again? Do you just want to watch the world suffer under a sickly green ‘miasma over some slight, real or imagined? What were your first steps along the dark path? Did you discover some dark tome of knowledge sequestered in an ancient library? Did you die and strike a deal to return to the world of the living to accomplish a task? Perhaps a devil visited you in your dreams and offered you the power to bbumiliate your rivals. As champions of their own selfish ambitions, shadow knights are rarely of any good alignment. Most have abandoned all semblance of empathy and compassion, but a rare few embrace simple amoraliy, seeing themselves as beyond abstract concepts of good and evil Quicx Burp ‘You can make a shadow knight quickly by following these suggestions, First, Strength should be your highest ability score, followed by Intelligence. Second, choose the noble background Cass FEATURES [Asa shadow knight, you gain the following class features. Hrr Ports Hit Dice: 1d10 per shadow knight level Hit Points at Lat Level: 10 + your Constitution modifier Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1410 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per shadow knight level after Ist PROFIGIENGIES ‘Armor: All armor, shields ‘Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons ‘Tools: None ‘Saving Throws: Intelligence, Charisma ‘Skills: Choose two from Arcana, Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, and Persuasion Eguirment ‘You start with the following equipment, equipment granted by your background: addition to the + (@) a martial weapon and a shield or (6) two martial weapons + (@) five javelins, or (b) any simple melee weapon + (@)adungeoneer's pack or b) an explorers pack + Chainmail SENSE THE DEAD ‘The sickly sweet stench of death is as clear to you as a warm, breeze on a summer day. As an action, you can open your awareness to detect it. Until the end of your next tara, you know the location of any corpse or undead within 60 feet of you. You know the type of any being, living or dead, whose presence you sense, but nat its identity: You can use this feature a number of times equal to 1+ your Charisma modifier: When you finish a long rest, you regain all expended uses. Harm Touch You can channel all your anger and hatred into a single touch, extinguishing the life force of a being you lay hands on. You gain a pool of dice as shown in Table: The Shadow Knight. ‘Asan action, you may touch a creature and choose to roll a ‘umber of dice from this pool Ifthe creature's eurrent hit points are less than or equal to the total rolled, the creature: drops to 0 hit points, Otherwise, the creature must make a Constitution saving throw against your spel save DC. On a failed save, the creature takes half the amount rolled as necrotic damage. On a successful save, the creature is unharmed You regain all expended dice when you complete a longq THE SHADOW KNIGHT Level Proficiency Bonus Features Ist 2 Sense the Dead, Harm Touch 2nd “2 3rd 2 4th +2 sth 3 eth 3 7th 3 8th 3 Ability Score Improvement sth +4 = oth +4 1th 4 12th +4 Ability Score Imrpovement 13th +5 = Vath Improved Harm Touch Stay Death's Hand, Mantle Ability Score Improvement Extra Attack Torrent of Dread Mantle Feature Aura of Malice Prey Upon the Fearful 15th Mantle feature Véth + Ability Score Imrpovement 17th 5 18th Aura improvernents 19th Ability Score Improvement 20th Mantle feature FIGHTING STYLE 246 Fighting Style, Spelleasting, Vampiric Strike 346 4d6 5d 6d6 746 8d6 96 1od6 Vod6 11d6 11d6 12d6 12d6 1346 13d6 14d6 14d6 15d6 15d6 SPELLCASTING At 2nd level you adopt a style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You cant take a Fighting Swe option more than once, even if you later get to choose again. DzrEnsz ‘While you are wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC. Dugunc ‘When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a+2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon, Gazar Wearon FicHTINc ‘When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll The ‘weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for ‘you to gain this benefit. PRoTEcTION ‘When a creature you can see attacks a target other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll You must be wielding ashield, By 2nd level. you have learned to draw on arcane magic through meditation and study to cast spells as a wizard does. See chapter 10 of the Player's Handbook for the general rules of spelleasting and below for the shadow knight spel list. SPELL SLOTS ‘The Shadow Knight table shows how many spel slots you have to cast your spells. To cast one of your shadow knight spells of Ist level or higher, you must expend a slot ofthe spells level or higher. You regain all expended spel slots ‘when you finish a long rest. For example, ifyou know the Istlevel spell armor of Agathys and have a Istlevel and a 2nd-level spell slot available, you can cast armor of Agathys using either slot. Spziis KNowN or 1sT LeveL AND HicHER ‘You know two Istlevel spells of your choice from the shadow knight spel ist ‘The Spells Known column of Table: The Shadow Knight shows when you learn more shadow knight spells of your choice, Each of these spells must be ofa level for which you hhave spell slots. For instance, when you reach Sth level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd levelAdditionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can. choose one of the shadow knight spells you know and replace it with another spell from the shadow knight spell lst, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots, SPELLOASTING ABILITY Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your shadow knight spells, since they are a result of your study of dark magic. You use your Intelligence whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a shadow knight spell you cast and when making an attack roll with + Spell save DC Intelligence modifier + your proficiency bonus + your ‘+ Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier ‘Vamprric STRIKE Starting at 2nd level, when you hit a creature with a melee ‘weapon attack, you can expend one shadow knight spell sot to deal necrotic damage to the target, in addition to the ‘weapon's damage, The extra damage is 2d6 for a letlevel ‘spell slot, plus 1d6 for each spell level higher than Ist toa ‘maximum of 6d6. In addition, you regain hit points equal to half the amount of necrotic damage dealt Stay DraTu’s HAND By 3rd level the necromantic magic flowing through you can revive you when you have fallen. When you sueceed at a death saving throw, you regain 1 hit point. Once you have used this ability, you cannot use it again until you have finished a short rest. ‘When you reach 3rd level you take on the mantle of an archetypal shadow knight. Up to this time you have been in a preparatory stage, committed to the darkness but not yet bound to it. Now you choose the Mantle of the Lifestealer, Mantle of the Corpsewalker, or the Mantle of the Plaguebearer all detailed at the end of the class descri Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 15th, and 20th level Asruity Score IMPROVEMENT When you reach 4th level and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th evel you can increase one ability seore of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by LAs normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature, Exrra ATTACK Beginning at 5th level you can attack twice, instead af once, whenever you take the Attack aetion on your turn, Torrent oF DREAD Starting at 6th level. as an action, you can summon up a wave of fear and dread that overcomes your foes. Each creature of your choice within 30 feet of you to make a Wisdom saving. ‘throw against your shadow knight spell save DC ifit can see you. Creatures that fail their saving throw are frightened of you for one minute. Ifa creature frightened by this effect ends, its turn more than 30 feet away from you, ican attempt another Wisdom saving throw to end the effect on it. Once, you have used this ability, you cannot use it again until you finish a short or long rest Ifyou score a critical ht or reduce a creature to O hit points, you can use this ability as a bonus action ifit is available. Aura OF MALICE Starting at 10th level you project an aura that amplifies the aggression of your allies. ll allies within 10 feet of you, including yourself, gain a bonus on damage rolls equal to your Intelligence modifier. [At 18th level the range ofthis aura inereases to 30 feet PREY UPON THE FEARFUL By 11th level you feed upon fear of your enemies. When you hita creature suffering from the frightened condition with a melee weapon, the creature takes an additional 1d8 necrotic ‘damage. You can add this damage to the damage dealt by your vampiric strike for the purposes of determining the amount of hit points you regain, Improvep Harm ToucH Beginning at 14th level your regain four harm touch dice ‘when you finish a short rest. You cannot exceed your normal maximum dice pool MANTLE ‘The mantle of a shadow knight is an homage to an iconic shadow knight from the past, an exemplar of hatred, fear, and decay through which the shadow knight can realize his own ambitions, whether that be order through domination or destruction through entropy. ‘MANTLE OF THE LIFESTEALER ‘A shadow knight who takes on the Mantle of the Lifestealer becomes a master of life force manipulation. Based upon the study of various undead creatures who draw upon the life force of others, you are able to draw vitality from your opponent and grant it to yourself and your allies. Lezcx Toucn Starting at 3rd level when you use your Harm Touch class feature and the target survives but fails its saving throw, you also regain hit points equal to half the amount of necrotic ‘damage dealt to the target (one-quarter of the total rolled} If the target dies, you regain hit points equal to half the amount rolled insteadDanx Emraray Starting at 7th level, whenever you would regain hit points from your Leech Touch class feature, your Vampirie Strike class feature, or a shadow knight spell that you cast, you can choose to grant those hitpoints to a creature within 10 feet of, you instead. {At 18th level you can choose to grant those hit points to a creature within 30 feet. Snguesrerep Sout Beginning at 15th level your hit point maximum cannot be reduced Effects which allow you to reduce your hit point ‘maximum voluntarily are not affected by this ability Lezcucuzse ‘AL 20th level as an action, you can infuse yourself with ‘vampiric energs, feasting on life force with each strike. For 1 ‘minute, your melee attacks deal an additional 1d8 necrotic damage, and each time you hit with a melee attack, you regain hit points equal to half the damage you deal with that attack. Once you use this feature, you cant use it again until you finish a long rest. MANTLE OF THE CORPSEWALKER [A shadow knight who embraces the Mantle of the Corpsewalker stands before pile of corpses and sees an army waiting to arise and serve, Surrounding yourself with undead servitors, you envision yourself as a general of the legions of the dead Graveroucn Starting at 3rd level when you use your Harm Touch class feature on a medium or small humanoid and the target dies, itrises at the start of your next turn as a skeleton or zombie. ‘The new skeleton or zombie is under your control as iit ‘were created by an animate dead spell except that it remains ‘under your control until it is destroyed. You can only have one skeleton or zombie animated in this way at any time. ‘Lucions or Tax DEAD Beginning at 7th level you gain the ability to cast animate dead without expending a spell slot. Once you have used this you cannot use it again until you have finished a long rest, Commanp UNDEAD Starting at 15th level you can use your will to bring undead under your control even those created by others. As an. action, you can choose one undead that you can see within 60 feet ofyou. That creature must make a Charisma saving throw against your shadow knight spell gave DC, fit ‘succeeds, you can't use this feature on it again It fail, it becomes friendly to you and obeys your commands until you use this feature again. Intelligent undead are harder to control in this way. Ifthe target has an Intelligence of 8 or higher, it has advantage on the saving throws If fails the saving throw and has an Intelligence of 12 or higher, it can repeat the saving throw at the end of every hour until it succeeds and breaks fre. DEATHLY CHAMPION ‘AL 20th level, you can assume a form similar to that of the undead you command Your skin takes on a gaunt, pale appearance, and your fingernails and teeth lengthen and yellow while your eyes sink. Using your action, you undergo the transformation. For 1 minute, you gain the following benefits: + You gain immunity to necrotic damage and resistance to slashing, bludgeoning, and piercing damage from nonmagical weapons, + Your weapon attacks deal an additional 18 necrotic damage. ‘+ Ian undead targets you directly with an attack or a harmful spell that creature must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC (an undead needa't make the save when it includes you in an area effect, such as the explosion of fireball) On a failed save, the creature must choose a new target or forfeit targeting someone instead of ‘you, potentially wasting the attack or spell.On a successful save, the creature is immune to this effect for 24 hours. An undead is also immune to this effect for 24 hours if you target itwith an attack or a harmfil spell PLAGUEBRINGER A shadow knight who wears the Mantle of the Plaguebringer sees destruction as the end of all things. Young or old, noble or peasant, king or pauper all fll tothe ravages of disease, and your path draws entropy in its wake, Diszasz Croup [Beginning at 3rd level you can use your action and expend a spell lotto place a cursed disease on a creature you can see ‘within 30 feet. The creature must make a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed saving throw, ‘the creature takes 248 necrotic damage for a Istlevel spell sfot, and an additional 148 necrotic damage for each spell level higher than frst. The creature suffers disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks, and may repeat the saving throw at the end of each of te turns to end the effect. On a successful save, the creature takes half damage and euffers no additional effect. Avra oF Dzcay ‘At Tth level you are surrounded by an aura of decay that protects your allies from diseases and punishes your foes. All allies within 10 feet of you are immune to disease. At 18th level this protection extends out to 30 feet, Additionally, ‘whenever a creature misses you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to cause that creature to suffer necrotic damage equal to your Intelligence modifier as the hungry parasites surrounding you feast on their unworthy flesh.Bouse BLoop Starting at 15th level you can lewy a powerful curse upon a ‘single foe, causing their blood to bol in their veins. The creature must make a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC, On a failed save, the creature succumbs to a terrible disease and suffers from disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks. While diseased, atthe start of each of the target's turns, it suffers 2410 necrotic damage and 2410 fire damage. It can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the disease on a successful save. Once you have used this ability, you cannot use it again until you have finished a long rest. Anoxt or Dzcay ‘AL 20th level you can call forth an aura of disease and decay as an action. For I minute, any enemy creature that begins its tum or enters a space within 30 feet of you takes 10 points of necrotic damage. In addition, enemies within the aura have disadvantage against shadow knight spells you cast. SHADOW KNIGHT SPELLS ist LeveL Armor of Agathys ‘Arms of Hadar Bane Detect Evil and Good Detect Magic Detect Poison and Disease Dissonant Whispers Ensnaring Strike Hellish Rebuke Hex Protection from Evil and Good Wrathfal Smite 2ND LEVEL Bestow Curse Branding Smite Darkness Find Steed Hold Person. Locate Object Magie Weapon Misty Step Protection from Poison Ray of Enfecblement Shatter 3RD LEVEL ate Dead Blinding Smite Dispel Magic Elemental Weapon Fear eign Death Magic Circle Speak with Dead ‘Vampire Touch, 4TH LEVEL Banishment Death Ward Evardl’s Black Tentacles Locate Creature Phantasmal Killer Staggering Smite 5TH LEVEL Banishing Smite Contagion Destructive Wave Dispel Evil and Good Art created with Heroforge (heroforge.com)