What to do with a Death Knight

So, as the posters who have been here for a long, long time will remember, I am responsible for designing the 3E death knight conversion. I've always seen them as great epic villains - kind of the undead D&D equivalent of Darth Vader.

So my question is, if you were to build an adventure or an entire campaign around a death knight, what would it involve? Would you use them as the primary villain? Would they play some other role? What would they be doing?

Or another question, if you have used a death knight in your game since the Dragon article, or since the release of Monster Manual II, what role did they play in your campaign?

Which Death Knight did you work on? I've seen a few conversions.

I think it would make an awesome campaign if you started out with a paladin as an NPC with ties to the party, and then gradually move him down the moral ladder towards death knighthood. If you do this right, it could take years of game time, so gradual that the PCs barely notice that their friend is slowly becoming the BBEG. Maybe it's the Star Wars geek in me, but I love those downward spiral story arcs.

Minions of Undeath

I have used one and the party will actually encounter another very soon. But I do not use them as the primary villain. In my campaign, a theocratic empire exists which worships a God of the Undead. The rulers of this empire obviously are priests or priest - liches associated to the Cult of Undeath. Death Knights are often generals of their military forces. While many of the warriors of this nation are humanoid, faithful or exceptional warriors can be guaranteed an afterlife as a Death Knight or Skeletal Warrior.

So far the death knights in print are the one in Dragon 290 or 291??? Anyway, that was written by me, but accidentally credited to Rich Redman. It was corrected in the followup article the following month.

Then MMII reprinted the same one.

The others that have been done are the template Mongoose did in Necromancy: Beyond the Grave (an OGL violation if I'm not mistaken) and the Demonic Knight, which appears in the Tome of Horrors, which is quite good, and not really the same anyway. I had nothing to do with any of these.

I love the idea above, firstly.

How about making him a legend first? Let the PC's come across accounts of his deeds in ancient times, let him build up a mystique and a good deal of terror, and when they've just started to realise he's actually going to turn up in person, have him toast a town or something. Something large and impressive that the PC's can't deal with straight off. If they choose to try and take him out immediately, kill 'em.

Let them work against his schemes without ever meeting him, let him send minions after them, and eventually let them try and track him down.

I think statting him at CR20 and leaving him there (maybe advancing him 1pt of CR for every 3 or 4 levels the PCs gain) would keep him nicely ahead of them...

Tallarn said:

I love the idea above, firstly.

How about making him a legend first? Let the PC's come across accounts of his deeds in ancient times, let him build up a mystique and a good deal of terror, and when they've just started to realise he's actually going to turn up in person, have him toast a town or something. Something large and impressive that the PC's can't deal with straight off.

Click to expand...

So far I like all the ideas posted. This one sounds very Heart of Darkness-ish. Build him up as a really good and noble guy, and then find out he's behind all these attrocities.

Great stuff. Keep it coming!

I was thinking, what a great eveil competitor they would make.

The party needs to assemple X (fill in powerful artifact, that is in pieces and needs to be assembled for some reason - another big bad, planar incursion, stop the end of the world, etc) The artifact or relic is in five pieces. The party is recruited to assemble this relic.

After series of trials and tribulations they arrive to the location of the first piece, only to find it missing, and the area has been ravaged. Scattered survivors report seeing a dakened knight and his minion, how they slaughtered everyone.

If they go for the second one, have them arrive as the DK is leaving, they still missed

The next piece, have them just beat the DK, fighting his minions as he flees.

Smart PCs will go for the fifth item instead of the fourth beating the trials to get the last piece, knowing all the while that the DK and his forces have the fourth piece.

Now time is running short. The end of the world is near. Cataclysm is at hand.

The DK has retreated to his black fortress with his pieces of the relic to keep them from being assembled and letting the world end.

Now you have set up for two things. The PCs must assult the DK's fortress (or infiltrate) leading up to a triumphant battle with the creature of Night.

Should they win, they have the relic and are able to close the opening gate, stop the endo fo the world, what have you.

That way the DK is a pervasive threat, but only for the finale. He/she may not even be dutibound to whatever event is happening, he may simply desire to see the end of the world, and this is his chosen quest.

Several adventures worth of fun, danger, and ominous threat to a dramatic conclusion.

Off the top of my head, this is what I would do.

Razuur

One of the Story Hours had a cursed Dwarven Defender that seemed to be a Dwarven Defender Death Knight (although perhaps not using the template).

I havn't used any of the Death Knights yet, because we usually don't play high enough level to use them.

If I was going to use a Death Knight, I guess I would use it in one of two ways. Either a recuring enemy template (you killed the blackguard, well, he has been animated as a death knight) or as a temptation (i.e. Lord Soth's fall).

Tom

What to do with a death knight?

Slash it and hack it
And bash it with glee,
And smite it 'tween the eyes
For Pelor and me.

If I did use a death knight I'd probably use it as a major villain, leaving the PCs a number of reasons to go after it, and when they eventually do, handing them a fairly (not completely, since that would make the decision easy) good reason for them to work with it againsts a greater evil. I'd also make him utterly evil and totally honorable. Hard choices are always fun

To me, the main theme of a Death Knight is that of betrayal. In D&D lore (in stories of such luminaries as St. Kargoth and Lord Soth), the Death Knights were the first blackguards - before there WERE Blackguards. They paid the ultimate price for their betrayal - eternal guilt and pain - but they were gifted with unbelievable powers in exchange for their treachery.

A Death Knight's story should center around betrayal of some sort. Any Lawful Good characters or paladins in a group might see the Death Knight as a special foe, because they themselves are not that far from where the Death Knight once was. If any group members are dealing with betrayal, the themes and issues of trust and betrayal would play marvelously off of the stories of a particular Death Knight and how he got the way that he currently is.