Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Chimaera2000 02-10-05, 03:56 PM	*Author's note: This class is based off of the Shadowknight from the EverQuest-themed game Champions of Norrath for the PS2 (though I've never played EverQuest itself), using the anti-paladin from Dragon magazine as a basis for comparison. It might not be a literal interpretation of the class from EQ, but I think it fills out the dark knight archetype very well. I've certainly had a lot of fun making this class. Enjoy! :) Shadowknight http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/EPIC_Gallery/Gallery1/44274_C1_blackguard.jpg Kayin Worg, human shadowknight Shadowknights are unholy warriors who use fear, pain and disease to attack all that is good in the world. They are deadly opponents who use evil spells to slow and cripple their enemies to weaken them for a finishing blow. Shadowknights can invoke a number of powers to perform hideous acts like spreading disease, sucking the life force from enemies, and even animating the dead. They are ruthless combatants who never show the weakness of mercy. Adventures: Shadowknights adventure primarily for personal power. While some may adventure for wealth or to advance the goals of their evil causes for a time, a shadowknight is ultimately a selfish creature at heart. In the end, personal power is the only real end that a shadowknight strives to achieve through adventuring. Characteristics: Shadowknights are fearsome foes who have a variety of ways of inflicting pain and death upon their enemies. Whereas a paladin's abilities are centered around protection and enhancement, a shadowknight's abilities are centered around harming and debilitation. Low-level shadowknights rely primarily on their martial skills to survive, while high-level shadowknights can make use of a great arsenal of spells and abilities. These powers allow them to weaken foes, empower their combat abilities, or summon reinforcements as needed. Alignment: Shadowknights must be of evil alignment and lose access to their abilities if they stray from that path. The shadowknight draws her might from the seductive power of darkness; to deny her nature is to deny her true source of strength. Religion: Shadowknights draw their strength from the dark powers, and some are content to worship the overall cause of evil. Those who worship deities are naturally drawn to deities of death, especially Hextor, Nerull, and Erythnul. Others do not worship deities but powerful devils or demon lords, often offering their services in exchange for their granted powers. Background: One does not simply choose to become a shadowknight; one's nature must cause it to embrace the darkness within. A shadowknight's background is not restricted to any one race, age, or gender; the spark of evil exists within all mortals, and there are many ways to tread the dark path. Most shadowknights have at least some formal training in the arts of war, though at some point in their lives all choose to devote themselves to the path of darkness. At this point, they are granted their new abilities, which grow at the same rate as the corruption in the shadowknight's soul. Races: Humans cover the range of alignments, so more than a few of them possess the evil nature required to become a shadowknight. The half-orc's anger and evil heritage often allows them to become brutally effective shadowknights. Shadowknights are rarer among the other races, but the seed of malice necessary to start down the shadowknight's path lies within everyone. Few among the monstrous humanoids have the discipline required to become shadowknights. However, they are relatively common among the evil subterranean races, and the drow have produced some of the most famous (or infamous) shadowknights. Other Classes: Despite their evil nature, shadowknights can acknowledge the value of allies (at least in the short term). A shadowknight adventures best with those with evil leanings, and a shadowknight will often find conflict if she adventures with a good party, especially if that party includes a paladin. However, if truces can be made, both can benefit from each other's strengths. Shadowknights feel no bias towards any class except paladins, for obvious reasons. Role: The shadowknight's role is typically to weaken enemies with spells and abilities, then close to melee. Their abilities are potent, but it is usually in melee combat that a shadowknight is at her best. Game Rule Information Shadowknights (Skn) have the following game statistics. Abilities: Charisma empowers the shadowknight’s dark abilities, making them more effective and difficult to resist. Strength is a primary ability for Shadowknights because of its role in combat. A Wisdom score of 14 or higher is needed to cast the shadowknight’s most powerful spells, and a score of 11 or greater is needed to cast any shadowknight spells at all. Alignment: Any evil. Hit Die: d10 Starting Age: Medium (as paladin) Starting Gold: 6d4 x10 (150 gp) Class Skills: The shadowknight’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Knowledge (The Planes) (Int), Ride (Dex),and Sense Motive (Wis), See Chapter 4 in the Player’s Handbook for skill descriptions. Skill Points at 1st level: (2+Int modifier)x4 Skill Points at Each Additional level: 2+Int modifier Table: The Shadowknight Spells per Day Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 1st +1 +2 +0 +0 Aura of evil, finishing - - - - blow 1/day, undead empathy 2nd +2 +3 +0 +0 Harm touch - - - - 3rd +3 +3 +1 +1 Aura of fear, dark - - - - disciplines, death knell 4th +4 +4 +1 +1 Command undead 0 - - - 5th +5 +4 +1 +1 Skeletal minion, 0 - - - finishing blow 2/day 6th +6/+1 +5 +2 +2 Disease bolt 1 - - - 7th +7/+2 +5 +2 +2 1 - - - 8th +8/+3 +6 +2 +2 1 0 - - 9th +9/+4 +6 +3 +3 Engulfing darkness 1 0 - - 10th +10/+5 +7 +3 +3 Finishing blow 3/day 1 1 - - 11th +11/+6/+1 +7 +3 +3 1 1 0 - 12th +12/+7/+2 +8 +4 +4 Life tap 1 1 1 - 13th +13/+8/+3 +8 +4 +4 1 1 1 - 14th +14/+9/+4 +9 +4 +4 2 1 1 0 15th +15/+10/+5 +10 +5 +5 Finishing blow 4/day, 2 1 1 1 disease ball 16th +16/+11/+6/+1 +10 +5 +5 2 2 1 1 17th +17/+12/+7/+2 +10 +5 +5 2 2 2 1 18th +18/+13/+8/+3 +11 +6 +6 Disease shield 3 2 2 1 19th +19/+14/+9/+4 +11 +6 +6 3 3 3 2 20th +20/+15/+10/+5 +12 +6 +6 Finishing blow 5/day 3 3 3 3 Class Features All of the following are class features of the shadowknight. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Shadowknights are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor (heavy, medium, and light), and with shields (except tower shields) Aura of Evil (Ex): The power of a shadowknight’s aura of evil (see the detect evil spell) is equal to her shadowknight level, just like the aura of a cleric of an evil deity. Finishing Blow (Su): Once per day, a shadowknight may focus her wrath upon a single enemy, possibly killing them with one vile blow. Prior to a given melee attack, a shadowknight can declare the attack to be a finishing blow. A finishing blow functions as a melee attack with the shadowknight’s Charisma bonus added to the attack roll. If she hits, she deals damage normally and the enemy must immediately make a Fortitude save (DC 10+½ shadowknight’s level+Charisma modifier) or die instantly. This is a death effect. Enemies with more than one-quarter of their hit points remaining after damage has been dealt are not required to make the Fortitude save. A shadowknight may use this ability one more time per day at 5th level and every five levels thereafter. Undead Empathy (Su): Shadowknights are granted unholy insight into the undead, enabling a disturbing form of empathic communication. A shadowknight may attempt to improve the attitude of undead that are mindless or of animal intelligence (having an Intelligence score below 3). This ability functions just like a Diplomacy check made to improve the attitude of a person. The shadowknight rolls 1d20 and adds her shadowknight level and her Charisma modifier to determine the undead empathy check result. A shadowknight may also use this ability to influence intelligent undead, but she takes a -4 penalty to this check. To use undead empathy, the shadowknight and the undead creature must be able to study each other, which means that they must be within 30 feet of one another under normal conditions. Generally, influencing an undead creature in this way takes 1 minute but, as with influencing people, it might take more or less time. Mindless undead and undead with animal intelligence generally start with an attitude of hostile. The attitude of intelligent undead varies with the creature. Harm Touch (Sp): Beginning at 2nd level, a shadowknight with a Charisma score of 12 or higher may inflict wounds with a touch. With this ability, she may inflict an amount of damage in hit points per day equal to her shadowknight level times her Charisma bonus. Using this ability requires a successful melee touch attack that doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity. The shadowknight decides how many of her daily allotment of points to use as damage after successfully touching a creature. The target may make a Will save (DC 10+1/2 shadowknight level+Charisma modifier) for half damage. Alternatively, the shadowknight can use this ability to heal undead creatures. She can choose to divide her healing among multiple recipients and doesn’t need to use it all at once. Using Harm Touch is a standard action. Aura of Fear (Su): Beginning at 3rd level, a shadowknight exudes an almost palpable aura of menace and evil. Each enemy within 10 feet of her suffers a -4 morale penalty on saving throws against fear effects. The shadowknight herself is deadened to the emotion of fear, and is immune to all fear effects. This ability functions while the shadowknight is conscious, but not if she is unconscious or dead. A shadowknight can suppress or activate this ability as a free action. Dark Disciplines: Shadowknights begin to manifest a number of malign powers beginning at 3rd level. At this level, a shadowknight receives a corruption pool with a number of points equal to one-third of her shadowknight level (rounded down), which increases as she gains levels. She may spend these points to make use of her powers, and the pool refreshes in a daily manner like spells (though she does not need to choose which powers she will use ahead of time). She gains new disciplines as she gains levels, and the use of a discipline consumes a certain number of points from her corruption pool. If she does not have a sufficient number of points to use a particular discipline, she must wait until her pool refreshes before she can use that discipline again. The shadowknight’s disciplines are detailed below. Spell-like abilities have a save DC of 10+ ½ shadowknight’s level +Charisma modifier and a caster level equal to her class level. Death Knell (Sp): A shadowknight of 3rd level or higher may siphon the life from dying creatures, duplicating the effects of the death knell spell. This ability uses one point from the shadowknight’s corruption pool. Disease Bolt (Sp): A shadowknight of 6th level or higher may spend two corruption points to hurl a ball of putrid goo at an enemy within medium range (100 ft +10 ft/caster level). The shadowknight must succeed on a ranged touch attack to strike her target. If she hits, the target must make a Fortitude save against a contagion effect, with each disease using the dark disciplines' save DC. Engulfing Darkness (Sp): A shadowknight of 9th level or higher may spend three corruption points to summon a cloud of clinging darkness capable of incapacitating enemies. She must succeed on a ranged touch attack to strike a target within medium range. The target must immediately make a Will save or be dazed (unable to take any actions) for 1d3 rounds. Life Tap (Su): A shadowknight of 12th level or higher may spend four corruption points to steal life from those she harms, drawing strength from their anguish. When a shadowknight uses her harm touch ability on a living creature, she gains a number of temporary HP equal to one-half the amount of damage dealt to that creature. She cannot gain more hit points in this manner than the victim's current hit point total +10. This ability requires a standard action to invoke and lasts for one hour. Disease Ball (Sp): A shadowknight of 15th level or higher may spend five corruption points to hurl a pulsing blob of slime that explodes into choking fumes on impact. Disease Ball functions as disease bolt, but also affects everyone within a 20-ft. radius burst. Disease Shield (Sp): A shadowknight of 18th level or higher may spend six corruption points to cover herself in a cloud of infectious fumes that affects all enemies who enter its range. The cloud expands to a 10-ft. radius around the shadowknight and moves as she does. This cloud has two effects. First, the shadowknight protected by it is immune to disease for its duration. Second, any creature that enters the cloud must make a Fortitude save. A creature that fails its save is afflicted with disease, as though by the contagion spell, while a creatured that succeeds is merely sickened. Regardless of whether the target succeeds or fails his Fortitude save, he cannot be affected by this ability again for the rest of its duration. A disease shield lasts for 1 round/caster level. Command Undead (Su): When the shadowknight reaches 4th level, she gains the supernatural ability to rebuke or command undead as a cleric as a cleric of three levels lower than her shadowknight level. She may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3+her Charisma modifier. Spells: Beginning at 4th level, the shadowknight gains the ability to cast a small number of divine spells, which are chosen from the shadowknight spell list (detailed below). A shadowknight follows the same rules for spell casting as the paladin. The shadowknight chooses her spells from the following list: 1st level: Bane, cause fear, corrupt weapon*, curse water, deathwatch, detect good, detect undead, doom, inflict light wounds, magic weapon, protection from good, ray of enfeeblement, read magic, summon monster I**, touch of fatigue. 2nd level: Bull’s strength, chill touch, darkness, eagle's splendor, scare, summon monster II**, summon swarm, undetectable alignment. 3rd level: Bestow curse, blindness/deafness, deeper darkness, ghoul touch, greater magic weapon, inflict moderate wounds, magic circle against good, ray of exhaustion, summon monster III**. 4th level: Crushing despair, death ward, dispel good, fear, inflict serious wounds, poison, summon monster IV**, unholy sword*. * These spells function as the spells bless weapon and holy sword, respectively, though they are effective against good rather than evil foes. ** Evil creatures only. Skeletal Minion: At 5th level, the shadowknight gains the ability to animate an unnaturally strong skeletal minion to serve her. To summon a skeletal minion, the shadowknight must obtain a freshly killed humanoid corpse, then perform a necromantic ritual lasting for twenty-fours hours upon it. This ritual requires that the shadowknight spend her entire corruption pool for the day to channel the dark energies required. When this ritual is complete, the corpse rises as a human warrior skeleton (detailed on p. 226 of the Monster Manual), regardless of the subject’s previous form. This skeleton cannot be turned or rebuked and is utterly loyal to the shadowknight who summoned it. It then accompanies her in her travels and obeys her commands unquestioningly. A skeletal minion remains until it is destroyed or until the shadowknight chooses to dismiss it (this can be done as a free action). After either of these events occurs, a shadowknight may perform another ritual to obtain another skeletal minion, if desired. A minion’s death holds no special consequence for a shadowknight; it is merely a tool to be used, not a companion to be cared for. As a shadowknight advances in level, her minion’s power increases as shown on the table below: Table: The Skeletal Minion Shadowknight Bonus Natural Str/Dex Special Level HD Armor Adj. Adj. 5th–7th +4 +4 +1 Empathic link, share spells, share saving throws, DR 5/magic and bludgeoning 8th–10th +6 +6 +2 Improved Natural Attack (Claws) 11th–14th +8 +8 +3 DR 10/magic and bludgeoning 15th–20th +10 +10 +4 Spell resistance Skeletal Minion Basics: Use the base statistics for a human warrior skeleton, but make changes to take into account the attributes and characteristics summarized on the table and described below. Bonus HD: Extra twelve-sided (d12) Hit Dice. As an undead creature, the minion has no Constitution score. Extra Hit Dice improve the skeletal minion’s base attack and base save bonuses. A skeletal minion’s base attack bonus is equal to that of a wizard of a level equal to the minion's HD. A minion has good Will saves (treat it as a character whose level equals the skeleton’s HD). Being mindless, it does not gain skill points or additional feats. Natural Armor Adj: The number on the table is an improvement to the skeletal minion’s existing natural armor bonus. Str/Dex Adj.: Add this figure to the minion’s Strength and Dexterity scores. Empathic Link (Su): The shadowknight has a minimal empathic link with her minion out to a distance of up to one mile. The shadowknight cannot see through her minion’s eyes, but they can communicate empathically. Note that even though they can communicate in this manner, a skeleton still does not have an Intelligence score; as such, commands must remain brief and straightforward. Unlike with a master and his familiar, a shadowknight does not have the same connection to an item or place that her minion does. Share Spells: At the shadowknight’s option, she may have any spell (but not any spell-like ability) she casts on herself also affect her minion. The minion must be within five feet at the time of casting to receive the benefit. If the spell or effect has a duration other than instantaneous, it stops affecting her minion if it moves farther than five feet away and will not affect the minion again even if it returns to the shadowknight before the duration expires. Additionally, the shadowknight may cast a spell with a target of “You” on her minion (as a touch range spell) instead of on herself. A shadowknight and her minion can share spells even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the minion’s type (undead). Share Saving Throws: For each of its saving throws, the skeletal minion uses its own base save bonus or the shadowknight’s, whichever is higher. The skeleton applies its own ability modifiers to saves, and it doesn’t share any other bonuses on saves that the master might have. Improved Damage Reduction (Ex): A skeletal minion’s damage reduction improves to 5/magic and bludgeoning. This allows its natural weapons to function as magic weapons for the purposes of penetrating damage reduction, as normal. When the shadowknight reaches 11th level or greater, the minion’s damage reduction improves to 10/magic and bludgeoning. Improved Natural Attack (Claws): A skeletal minion’s claw damage increases from 1d4 to 1d6, just as if it had gained the Improved Natural Attack feat. Spell Resistance (Ex): A minion’s spell resistance equals its master’s shadowknight level + 5. To affect the minion with a spell, a spellcaster must get a result on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) that equals or exceeds the minion’s spell resistance. Code of Conduct: A shadowknight must be of evil alignment and loses all class abilities if she willfully performs a good act. A shadowknight that is no longer of evil alignment cannot use any of her spells, spell-like abilities, or special abilities unless she successfully seeks an atonement spell and regains her evil alignment. Other than this, she does not need to follow any standards other than those her desires and lust for power dictate. Ex-Shadowknights A shadowknight who ceases to be evil or who who willfully commits an good act loses all shadowknight spells and abilities (including the services of her skeletal minion, but not weapon, armor, and shield proficiencies). She may not progress any farther in levels as a shadowknight. She regains her abilities and advancement potential if she atones for her violations (see the atonement spell description), as appropriate. Like a member of any other class, a shadowknight may be a multiclass character, but multiclass shadowknights face a special restriction. A shadowknight who gains a level in any class other than shadowknight (with the exception of the blackguard) may never again raise her shadowknight level, though she retains all her shadowknight abilities. A shadowknight's wrath must remain undiluted; one cannot embrace corruption half-heartedly. Once one has left the dark path, one can never fully return. Epic Shadowknight http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/libris_gallery/84716.jpg Talia Kamona, epic shadowknight The epic shadowknight revels in her own corruption, allowing darkness to flood every part of her mind, body, and soul. Her wrath is terrible beyond measure, and virtually no one who faces it ever survives. Table: The Epic Shadowknight Shadowknight Special Level 1st -- 2nd -- 3rd Bonus feat 4th -- 5th Finishing blow 6/day 6th Bonus feat 7th -- 8th -- 9th Bonus feat 10th Finishing blow 7/day Hit Die: d10. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier. Finishing Blow (Su): The difficulty to resist the death effect of a finishing blow is equal to 10+1/2 shadowknight level+Charisma modifer, as normal. The shadowknight gains one additional use of this ability for every five levels beyond 20th. Undead Empathy (Su): The bonus on a shadowknight’s level check is equal to her shadowknight level plus her Charisma modifier, as normal. Harm Touch (Su): Each day a shadowknight can inflict a total number of hit points in damage equal to her Charisma bonus (if any) times her class level. The save DC of this ability remains 10+1/2 shadowknight level+Cha modifier. Dark Disciplines: The shadowknight’s corruption pool does not increase after 20th level. The save DC of the appropriate powers remains 10+1/2 shadowknight level+Charisma modifer. Command Undead (Su): The shadowknight commands undead as a cleric of three levels lower, as normal. Spells: The shadowknight's caster level is equal to one-half her class level, as normal. The shadowknight's number of spells per day does not increase after 20th level. Skeletal Minion: The epic shadowknight’s skeletal minion continues to increase in power. Every five levels after 20th the minion gains +2 bonus Hit Dice, its natural armor increases by +2 and its Strength and Dexterity adjustments increase by +1. The skeletal minion’s spell resistance equals the shadowknight’s class level +5. Bonus Feats: The epic shadowknight gains a bonus feat (selected from the list of epic shadowknight feats) every three levels after 20th. Epic Shadowknight Bonus Feat List: Armor Skin, Corruption’s Embrace*, Devastating Critical, Epic Leadership, Epic Prowess, Epic Reputation, Epic Toughness, Epic Weapon Focus, Improved Aura of Fear*, Improved Combat Casting, Improved Finishing Blow*, Improved Spell Capacity, Legendary Commander, Negative Energy Burst, Overwhelming Critical, Perfect Health, Permanent Emanation, Planar Turning, Spectral Strike, Spontaneous Spell, Undead Mastery, Unholy Strike**, Widen Aura of Fear*, Zone of Animation. *See new epic feats below. ** Change the prerequisites of this feat to “smite good or finishing blow class feature, any evil alignment.” New Epic Feats Corruption’s Embrace [Epic] The dark powers reward you for your devotion to their arts. Prerequisite: Ability to use dark disciplines as a class feature. Benefit: Your corruption pool increases by two. Special: This feat may be taken multiple times. Its effects stack. Improved Aura of Fear [Epic] Your aura of fear is stronger than normal. Prerequisites: Cha 25, aura of fear class ability. Benefit: Your aura of fear causes a -8 morale penalty on saving throws against fear effects. Improved Finishing Blow [Epic] Your vile blows are particularly difficult to resist. Prerequisites: Finishing blow class feature. Benefit: Add +2 to the save DC of your finishing blow. Special: This feat may be taken multiple times. Its effects stack. Widen Aura of Fear [Epic] Your aura of fear is wider than normal. Prerequisite: Cha 25, aura of fear class ability. Benefit: Your aura of fear extends to all enemies within 100 feet of you. http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/libris_gallery/84708.jpg "Suck it, Jozan!"
SD 02-10-05, 04:43 PM	I really like what you've done with it, except that it's awfully front-loaded. What about moving some of the lower-level abilities up a bit?
Steelborn86 02-10-05, 05:17 PM	I wouldn't consider it too front-loaded, especially if compared to a paladin. Paladins basically get all their abilities in their first 5 levels, after that they just get extra smites and remove disease. You could also just make his powers similar to a ninja's and make him have Charisma modifier + 1/2 level. However, I would either make it just have powers or just have spells, having both seems kinda odd.
SD 02-10-05, 05:28 PM	Except that the paladin has to follow stiffer requirements to get those front-loaded abilities. The Skn allows three alignments and has no multiclass restrictions, making it a lot easier to jump back and forth than with a paladin. Also, shadowknight powers > divine health, though I do like how the powers scale over time instead of just handing it out based on a Charisma modifier or some such.
Astrimedes 02-10-05, 05:54 PM	I agree that it is rather odd to get special spell-like abilities and spells. I would limit it to just the spell-like abilities, as these are all pretty interesting. If there's any spells you really think they should have, just make them into spell-likes. Also, I think you should restrict multiclassing as per the paladin, as this class is very frontloaded (but this seems to be a necessity for the concept to function). On a purely flavor note, I would rename the "shadowknight powers" to something else. Because this is a point pool used to manifest these powers, it should have its own name (like a ninja's 'ki'). Off of the top of my head, I would suggest possibly 'wrath,' 'diabolism,' or 'corruption.' These aren't great suggestions, but you get the idea. :) Overall, though, great class!
Chimaera2000 02-10-05, 08:41 PM	Good point about the multiclass restrictions. The class has been updated for some minor editing and flavor additions (point taken, Astrimedes ;)).
Deskane 02-11-05, 03:13 AM	Sorry to say but in my opinion this class seems remarkably like a Black Guard only better. I like the abillities save for the death effect because on higher levels this will do nothing to bigh creatures and the such like even my 15th level dwarf fighter can make a saving throw pretty easily.
Lady Maedhros 02-11-05, 03:31 AM	I agree with the "front-loaded" assesment, and add this caveat - this class is pretty much a people (specifically caster)-killer. As an evil character class, that makes sense, but keep it in mind. When you get to higher levels, monster hit dice outstrip CR by almost orders of magnitude, and fortitude saves for fighters and monsters get really high. Your signature ability, the finishing blow and its accompanying sense weakness, will be pretty hard to make use of against anyone but a PC caster. Love the flavor, though - in fact, flavor-wise it's a much better anti-paladin than the blackguard. Minor points. Summon Skeleton seems a little out of place (just one? and controlling isn't the same as depending on). Also, getting extra hit dice and natural armor as per the paladin's mount, in addition to the fiendish template, equals overpowered. And cut the spells down to a few essential spell-like abilities, otherwise you have a very overpwered class here. On the other hand, the dark disciplines are very cool.
Deskane 02-11-05, 05:47 AM	Lady Maedhros i agree that it is a way better anti-palidin than the black guard. Maybe too good. I really love the dark disciplines they make so much more sense than just getting abilities... As for the mount i think just drop it completely because it does not work with the whole i am a super non-cowardly like fighter thing... "When you get to higher levels, monster hit dice outstrip CR by almost orders of magnitude, and fortitude saves for fighters and monsters get really high. Your signature ability, the finishing blow and its accompanying sense weakness, will be pretty hard to make use of against anyone but a PC caster." This statement i agree with 100%. Take my present epic character for example... He is a dwarf earth fighter of 20th level with 3 levels of darf paragon as per the Unearthed Arcana rules... He has a con of 40 (Base 18 + 2 for dwarf +2 Paragon +5 Tome + 6 item +2ion stone +5 Levels) he has 530 HP and a fort of 45 there is no way that this class could even get near making this guy fail for saves... There are feats in the Book of Vile darkness that you may want to look at to improve his chances of sucess...
Szatany 02-11-05, 08:04 AM	Shadowknight versus Scourge (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=233718). Let the baddest win. :devil: Would someone like to make a comparison? Or how about voting?
Chimaera2000 02-13-05, 02:32 AM	Well, after reading some of the responses and doing some thinking while the boards have been down, I've come up with some changes to the shadowknight class. Here's a short summary: 1) Removed detect good, slaughter the weak, and unholy steed from the list of shadowknight abilities. 2) Replaced the summon skeleton ability with life tap,then added the skeletal minion to replace the unholy steed. 3) Made some small tweaks to the spell list. I added detect good as a 1st level spell, eagle's splendor for 2nd, then removed vampiric touch from the spell list. 4) Added the epic level progression for the class, including new bonus feats as appropriate. Basically, I removed spells and abilities that weren't necessary for either the shadowknight's flavor or mechanics, then added spells and abilities that contributed to those traits. These changes should help to reduce the front-loading of the class and also (hopefully) help make the blackguard not obsolete. The epic progression was something that I did once I cemented the core abilities of the class. Well, there you have it! Barring minor changes, this should be the final version of this class. Thanks for the feedback that helped to contribute to it, and I'd welcome anything else in the future.
Deskane 02-13-05, 01:10 PM	one complaint about your update why did you give it detect good as a spell if it can do it at will?
Chimaera2000 02-13-05, 05:01 PM	That was one of the changes; shadowknights no longer can use detect good at will.
Wildonion 02-13-05, 05:35 PM	I have just read over the class, it was great! Good Job! :)
Astrimedes 02-13-05, 05:43 PM	Looks pretty good now, although I really didn't think there was anything terribly wrong with it before. I like the removal of detect good and the addition of it as a spell, though, I hate "detect..." at will ;) The skeletal minion is pretty interesting, and it seems to get pretty decent without becoming in danger of throwing the class' balance off. Nice picture on the bottom, BTW (Suck it, Jozan!) :rofl:
syclonious 02-15-05, 11:30 AM	The first thing i noticed is EQ lol this class was based off of ever quest or chanpions of norath becasue he gets the same abilities as the shadow knight on those two games. However i do like it and i am playtesting my own shadowknight right now which you have allready posted on. I like yours but i am afraid he is front loaded and maybe overpowered if this was ment to be the reverse of the pally then this class would kick the pally's ass any day. I like the dard disiplins though that is a pretty cool idea with the shadow knight power points and all. i just think it could be a lil overpowered. syclonious :D
Chimaera2000 02-15-05, 08:59 PM	(laughs) Actually, I was thinking of how any paladin of roughly equal power level would just go to school on my shadowknight. A fair number of the shadowknight's abilities and spells rely on either disease or fear (both of which the paladin is immune to), and almost all of its offensive powers allow saves, and saves are one of the paladin's strong points. If you factor in then paladin's healing and ability to detect evil then smite the pants of off it, then that shadowknight's probably going to be getting a run for his money. Of course, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. D & D is a game that's slanted towards good, and it provides some more incentive for a shadowknight to take some blackguard levels so they can have their revenge on those mean, bullying paladins. ;) Thanks for the response, syclonious, and you're absolutely right about it being based off of Champions of Norrath; I mentioned that at the beginning of my first post. I knew when I first started playing Champions that the shadowknight was by far my favorite class, though I didn't expect that I'd go so far as to design it for D & D. Like I said before, though, it's been a lot of fun, and I'm quite happy with how it's turned out. Thanks for the comments.
Chimaera2000 02-20-05, 08:34 PM	Added starting age and did a couple of miscellaneous formatting changes.
Chimaera2000 03-07-05, 10:08 PM	Shadowknight versus Scourge. Let the baddest win. Would someone like to make a comparison? Or how about voting? Well, it looks like that idea fell through. (shrug) I suppose if there's a class competition with a "dark" theme, then we could see how things work out then.
Chimaera2000 03-29-05, 02:51 PM	I thought I'd give this another go and ask about the class' balance. Do you think that it's overpowered? I think it might be, but I'm not certain.
Chimaera2000 04-05-05, 12:26 PM	:bump:
ShneekeyTheLost 04-05-05, 01:19 PM	Hmm... rather overpowered compared to the one I did a while back. The Dark Disciplines, while cool, are vastly overpowered. I just replaced 'Good' with 'Evil' and vice versa in the paladin sheet. So: Alignment Lawful Evil. One must be dedicated to the Evil cause to become a Shadowknight. Aura of Evil Just like an evil cleric, the power of a Shadowknight's aura of evil is equal to his level. Smite Good As Smite Evil, only it will only function on Good creatures. Profane Defense As Divine Grace. Harmtouch As Lay on Hands, only it will harm most creatures and heal undead. Aura of Fear Beginning at 3rd level, a Shadowknight learns to project an Aura of Fear. Will save, DC 10+ Cha mod + Shadowknight's level. He may do this for a number of turns per day equal to his level. Activating or Deactivating this is a Free Action that may only be done on his turn. Profane Health As Divine Health. Rebuke Undead At 4th level, a Shadowknight gains the supernatural ability to rebuke undead. She may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3+ Cha mod. She rebukes undead as a cleric of three levels lower would. Spells Same spell list as Paladin, replace holy with unholy and blessed with profane. Unholy Steed As Special Mount for Paladin. Inflict Disease at 6th level, a Shadowknight may produce a Contagion effect, as the spell, once per week. She can use this ability one additional time per week for every three levels after 6th. Code of Conduct Yes, a Shadowknight has a code of conduct, much like a Paladin. However, where a Paladin's code insists that he is Lawful Good, a Shadowknight's code insists that he stay Lawful Evil. Otherwise, it is much the same.
Chimaera2000 04-07-05, 08:27 PM	One thing to keep in mind, though, is that the shadowknight isn't meant to be an "anti-paladin" alone. It's certainly possible to just switch "good" with "evil" in the paladin's description and switch abilities and spells to ones that harm instead of heal, but I wanted to do a bit more than that for the shadowknight. In response to ShneekeyTheLost, you may be right in that the class is overpowered (I'm still trying to figure out if that's the case), but I didn't think that the Dark Disciplines were overpowered. Do you think that's more of a matter of the individual Disciplines being overpowered or that they get them on top of everything else?
Manyfist 04-07-05, 08:43 PM	I like the class.
Chimaera2000 04-07-05, 09:40 PM	I like the class. Thanks. :) I've toned down the class a little bit by changing the Dark Disciplines. Mechanically, they work the same as before, but I've increased the point cost for each of the last three powers by one, then decreased the shadowknight's corruption pool from one-half her shadowknight level to one-third. Basically, it means that you can use the highest-level Discipline that you can cast only once per day, and you can't use any other Disciplines if you do so. It's more balanced overall, plus it fits nicely with the class progression. Here's the updated version of the Dark Disciplines, if you're interested (this also can be viewed in the first post). Dark Disciplines: Shadowknights begin to manifest a number of malign powers beginning at 3rd level. At this level, a shadowknight receives a corruption pool with a number of points equal to one-third of her shadowknight level (rounded down), which increases as she gains levels. She may spend these points to make use of her powers, and the pool refreshes in a daily manner like spells (though she does not need to choose which powers she will use ahead of time). She gains new disciplines as she gains levels, and the use of a discipline consumes a certain number of points from her corruption pool. If she does not have a sufficient number of points to use a particular discipline, she must wait until her pool refreshes before she can use that discipline again. The shadowknight’s disciplines are detailed below. Spell-like abilities that allow a save have a DC of 10+ ½ shadowknight’s level +Charisma modifier. Death Knell (Sp): A shadowknight of 3rd level or higher may siphon the life from dying creatures, duplicating the effects of the death knell spell. This ability uses one point from the shadowknight’s corruption pool. Disease Bolt (Sp): A shadowknight of 6th level or higher may spend two corruption points to hurl a ball of putrid goo at an enemy within medium range (100 ft +10ft/caster level). The shadowknight must succeed on a ranged touch attack to strike her target. If she hits, the target is subject to a contagion spell. Engulfing Darkness (Sp): A shadowknight of 9th level or higher may spend three corruption points to summon a cloud of clinging darkness capable of incapacitating enemies. She must succeed on a ranged touch attack to strike a target within medium range. The target must immediately make a Will save or be dazed (unable to take any actions) for 1d3 rounds. Life Tap (Su): A shadowknight of 12th level or higher may spend four corruption points to steal life from those she harms, drawing strength from their anguish. When a shadowknight uses her harm touch ability on a living creature, she heals an amount of damage equal to one-half the amount of damage dealt to that creature. She cannot gain more hit points in this manner than the victim's current hit point total +10. This ability requires a standard action to invoke and lasts for one hour. Disease Ball (Sp): A shadowknight of 15th level or higher may spend five corruption points to hurl a pulsing blob of slime that explodes into choking fumes on impact. Disease Ball functions as disease bolt, but also affects everyone within a 20-ft. radius burst. Disease Shield (Sp): A shadowknight of 18th level or higher may spend six corruption points to cover herself in a cloud of infectious fumes that affects all enemies who enter its range. The cloud expands to a 10-ft. radius around the shadowknight and moves as she does. This cloud has two effects. First, the shadowknight protected by it is immune to disease for its duration. Second, any creature that enters the cloud must make a Fortitude save. Failure means that the creature suffers the effects of a contagion spell, success by less than five means that the enemy is sickened, while success by five or more means that the creature suffers no ill effects. Regardless of whether the target succeeds or fails his Fortitude save, he cannot be affected by this ability again for the rest of its duration. A disease shield lasts for 1 round/two shadowknight levels.
Chimaera2000 04-18-05, 12:11 PM	Well, I've been doing some thinking, and I think the class is actually balanced now with the changes to the Dark Disciplines. Does this seem accurate? Any further comments are welcome and appreciated.
nycfarmkid 04-18-05, 09:32 PM	This class doens't look too bad. I just dont like the code of conduct against committing a good act. I think its perfectly within the realm of the Lawful Evil alignment to commit a good act when it suits their purposes. They are still evil. Because of this this class would almost never fit in with non-evil characters, since most people do a good act from time to time. It would almost entirely be restricted to evil campaigns or as an NPC opponent to a good alined party.
nycfarmkid 04-18-05, 11:52 PM	Double post
Chimaera2000 04-24-05, 04:21 PM	This class doens't look too bad. I just dont like the code of conduct against committing a good act. I think its perfectly within the realm of the Lawful Evil alignment to commit a good act when it suits their purposes. They are still evil. Because of this this class would almost never fit in with non-evil characters, since most people do a good act from time to time. It would almost entirely be restricted to evil campaigns or as an NPC opponent to a good alined party. Thanks for the comments, and I'll think about their code of conduct a bit. The implication was that "good acts" entailed something completely selfless (i.e. something going completely against what a shadowknight is), just like setting babies on fire out of spite goes completely against what a paladin is. As you said, a lawful evil character might do seemingly "good acts," but the key in that quote is "when it suits their purposes." Therefore, it's not a truly good or selfless act after all, is it? Semantics aside, I'll keep what you said in mind, since this class is designed with PC's in mind. In any case, I'm still interested in what people have to say about this class in terms of balance. I've thought about it for a while, and I do think it's balanced when compared to both the paladin and the hexblade, but I'd still welcome more feedback. Any more comments?
Chimaera2000 05-09-05, 06:29 PM	:bump:
thasis 05-09-05, 06:51 PM	I realy like this. I'm a magor Champions of Norrath fan so it's like da bomb. Awsome job. Seem yah put alot of work into this.
Rechan 09-01-05, 05:07 PM	I like this class. I really do. I may steal it for my Eberron game. It makes a perfect member of the Emerald Claw. Though, one thing I do think: The skeleton should get an int mod. I enjoy the thought of an intelligent, powerful skeleton. Not a lich, but something that can talk and theorize. The skeleton becomes the shadowknight's squire. Another thought that occurs to me is a Bestow Curse ability. Perhaps one of the Shadowknight's Pool abilities, bestowing a Curse upon the individual with a successful melee attack.
Chimaera2000 09-05-05, 02:03 PM	Thanks for the praise,thasis. This project was a lot of work, but since I love both Champions of Norrath and the dark knight archetype, this project was a labor of love. Thanks for the comments and suggestions, Rechan. The current flavor of the skeletal minion is simply a mindless cohort which serves your commands unquestioningly. However, if you would prefer it to become intelligent in your game, you can simply swap in the paladin's mount chart and modify it as you wish. A bestow curse ability is already covered by the shadowknight's ability to cast bestow curse as a 3rd-level spell; however, if you wanted to play around with class abilities for your game, again, be my guest. I designed the class to be both a translation of the shadowknight from Champions of Norrath and a dark knight base class, so you could play around with the abilities of the former if you wanted to match your impression of the latter.
Chimaera2000 11-04-05, 12:29 AM	After doing some playtesting, I did a couple of changes. I changed up some things here and there with the dark disciplines and undead minion for clarification, but the big change that I made was removing Sense Weakness and adding Undead Empathy. Old: Sense Weakness (Su): At will, a shadowknight may use her dark insight to sense weakness in a given enemy. As a full-round action, she may study a given enemy and make a shadowknight level check vs. a DC of (5+enemy's Hit Die). If she succeeds, she can determine whether or not the enemy is currently vulnerable to the death effect of her Finishing Blow ability New: Undead Empathy (Su): Shadowknights are granted unholy insight into the undead, which they use to engage in a disturbing form of empathic communication. A shadowknight may attempt to improve the attitude of undead that are mindless or of animal intelligence (having an Intelligence score below 3). This ability functions just like a Diplomacy check made to improve the attitude of a person. The shadowknight rolls 1d20 and adds her shadowknight level and her Charisma modifier to determine the undead empathy check result. A shadowknight may also use this ability to influence intelligent undead, but she takes a -4 penalty to this check. To use undead empathy, the shadowknight and the undead creature must be able to study each other, which means that they must be within 30 feet of one another under normal conditions. Generally, influencing an undead creature in this way takes 1 minute but, as with influencing people, it might take more or less time. Mindless undead and undead with animal intelligence generally start with an attitude of hostile. The attitude of intelligent undead varies with the creature. I made this change on account of Sense Weakness being a useless ability (you're better off to just attack an enemy than spend time confirming he's vulnerable, especially against high-Hit Dice foes). I wanted something to replace it with and I came up with the idea of Undead Empathy. I don't think it unbalances the class, though I'm always open to opinions. What do you think?
Chimaera2000 11-21-05, 12:07 PM	I've done some tweaking here and there. First, I changed two of the dark disciplines (life tap and disease shield), with the first now giving temporary HP instead of healing and the second making victims sickened on a succesful save. Second, I clarified the skeletal minion to confirm its mindless nature (it doesn't gain feats or skill points) and did a couple of other miscellaneous clarifications. Lastly, I changed the spell lists, removing some spells and adding others to follow consistent themes and match up with the paladin's spell selection. For those who are interested, here are the changes: 1st: Added detect undead and touch of fatigue. 2nd: Removed desecrate and shatter. Added chill touch, scare, and summon swarm. 3rd: Added ghoul touch and ray of exhaustion. 4th: Added crushing despair. Comments are very welcome. Especially with my current playtesting happening, I'd love to hear feedback from the boards.
Chimaera2000 11-23-05, 02:47 PM	:bump:
Silas_Dragonborn 01-26-07, 11:22 AM	I don't know whether I'm not looking hard enough or not, but I've been looking for an evil answer to the paladin for AGES. And this core class has answered my prayers! NICE ONE!!:bow: :thumbsup: