D&D 5E Help with a death knight?

In my home game (Tomb of Annihilation), the 4th level PCs are about to face a death knight named Ras T'fima. We ended on a cliffhanger with the death knight coming out of mists along with 2 ghouls after the PCs took treasures & books from a library "thou shalt not steal from" which the death knight watches over. In a bit of narrative flourish, I had him appear in mists intermittently, then peel off the "skin" of a ghoul the PCs approached, revealing himself.

I'm having trouble figuring out how to portray this death knight character-wise. More LN than LE. Not necessarily an unavoidable fight. Possibly parlayed with.

Briefly, he was once a servant of a N god of self-discovery & he championed the cause of marginalized people living at the edge of a holy city's magical wall of impenetrable illusion. However in his overzealousness, he veered toward hubris & his god stripped him of his divine powers (immortality & controlling weather). Unwilling to relinquish power and the prestige of his office, he feigned he still possessed his god's favor by mimicking his former powers with sorcery (specifically "gem magic") and a corruptive artifact known as the Ring of Winter. However, an adventurer convinced Ras T'fima that he could maintain his honor if he relinquished his office and turned over the corruptive ring; at last agreeing, Ras T'fima went on to lose his office, but he managed to change the holy city's policy towards those outside its walls...bringing down the wall of impenetrable illusion.

Fast forward 100 years. The holy city is gone – most believe it destroyed by flooding, but a few know that it actually has been sequestered in a demiplane by the god's servants. Ras T'fima, stripped of his divine powers, died. However, he returned as a death knight to spend a long time atoning for his hubris. He was tasked to watch over the ruins of the holy city and defend it from despoilers, cut off from the rest of his culture as punishment. In fact, as long as his vigil endures, any treasure taken from the holy city turns to ash.

Any ideas how to role-play him?

EDIT: I can readily tweak stat blocks to make any potential fight more "level appropriate." That's not the advice I'm looking for. What I am looking for is advice on the role-playing side.

Regardless of how you roleplay him, he must point at a giant dragon when they first meet him and dramatically say “Die.”

You could give him a few minutes of conversations. He could be friendlier and more easily convinced to give up treasures if one of the characters worships or is the cleric of his former god provided that Ras T'fima wants to atone for his sins. He could also be convinced if one of the characters was from the same group of marginalized people the death knight championed before his death.
However a level 4 appropriate death knight would in my opinion be more like a lieutenant of the real death knight. Maybe this one only thinks he is Ras T'fima? I would make the whole encounter a short conversation and a challenging fight for the lvl4 PCs who would eventually triumph over the "death knight" only to learn that the real death knight woke up from his slumber and is now seeking to get the stolen treasure back...with interest.

The golden standard for a death knight remains Lord Soth, of course. And the idea of nobility fallen due to personal failing is as old as stories.

So i think you could use those factors as hooks to roleplay him. He could be grim and determined, but that IS a little played out at this point.

So how about this: I don't know if you've ever had to turn to a debt consolidation company or addiction treatment center, but for any person who has, there is a period of buoyancy after the initial consultations. You've been defeated and hopeless for so long, and finally you have a plan to address the problem permanantly - it's a powerful feeling of relief and almost joy, and it can carry you for a while.

So I think could be more interesting to play the character at that point of hope and excitement at seeing an opportunity to attone for past misdeeds and overcome the personal failings that led him to where he is. A joyful and exuberant undead creature, let alone a death knight, would be a rare and unexpected thing to encounter.

For personality, I’d recommend looking to either Dekkion, in the old D&D cartoon’s Quest of the Skeleton Warrior episode, or the T’lan Imass of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. The T’lan Imass, in particular, seem appropriately inspiring. For them, their humanity is a distant thing, their oath to fight their enemies the Jaghut paramount. They are utterly implacable when it comes to the vow, though individuals throughout the series seem to become more human as they spend more time with them.

A couple things come to me by looking at this. Keep on the Shadowfell where these was a former knight you could speak with or fight. I would have to look up his whole bit. The other is the movie Indiana Jones and last Crusade where they are in the cup room with the Knight Templar (even though he is not undead).

I try to give NPCs just one hook for the players to remember or play along with. Dead wife or child is always a staple in movies and books. Even Lord Soth was all about his wife and love gone bad. Change it up a bit and have him read a book that corrupted his soul and made him believe he was something different. He must still believe he is acting on good faith to his tenants of god. Perhaps he can be saved and resurrected? Perhaps he is looking for something like parts of an amulet that join together and open the BBEBook of doom because he thinks foolishly that he can stop the coming apocalypse.

I smell future quest-bait.

With almost anyone cursed to endless life, I tend to play them as...

Bored to undeath.

Puns aside, This is an intelligent creature given a super boring task for all eternity. How would that creature interact with PCs?

BookBarbarian said:

With almost anyone cursed to endless life, I tend to play them as...

Bored to undeath.

Puns aside, This is an intelligent creature given a super boring task for all eternity. How would that creature interact with PCs?

Click to expand...

I can totally see something out of Supertroopers: I'll mess with the next batch of adventurers who come into the city, see how many times I can say goblin.....

MechaTarrasque said:

I can totally see something out of Supertroopers: I'll mess with the next batch of adventurers who come into the city, see how many times I can say goblin.....

Click to expand...

I could definitely see one trying to prolong the encounter just to break up the monotony.

What if he was desperate for news from the outside world, but gets frustrated when he can't even recognize any of the names and places?

I probably wouldn't have him attack unless the PC's try to leave.

Well, sounds like he's a good plot device. I'd skip the stat issues, and give him

1) A purpose
2) Specific powers to assist in the purpose


My suggestions are thus:

1) You've got the purpose, well done

2) Anyone in possession of an object under BBEG's protection automatically fails any saves regarding spells cast by said BBEG. Also, BBEG can now cast Bestow Curse, Contagion, or any other nasty spell you'd like. Also, the duration of said spell is now permanent and does not require concentration. This guy is pretty restricted in his given duty, so it would be fair that his powers to enforce that duty on his turf would be significant. The party has violated an ancient site. Once the party rogue is stuck with disadvantage on all DEX checks for the foreseeable future, or has a scorching case of Flesh Rot and takes double damage vs. everything, they'll probably be more than happy to return the book or jump through any number of hoops to get rid of it.

Curses of this nature are far more feared by players than mere tactical threats. You're basically messing with their favorite toy, and it's conveniently reversible once they've either complied with your plot line or come up with something of their own so clever you just can't help yourself but let them win with it.

As far as role playing goes, avoid anything you think Lord Soth would do. Make him bored of his charge. Make him long over the fact that he's working off his past sins. It's been 100 years already and he's still here. He won't open up with this stuff, but have they players see not a demon knight hungry to claim their souls in righteous wrath, but one who is resigned to the task but clearly past any emotional investment in it. Bored. Maybe even secretly happy someone has given him cause to rouse from his slumber. Maybe he wants to be destroyed. Maybe he wants to capture them out of spite and join his misery. Or trick them into taking up the duty while he passes to the next world. Anything but Soth.