Bone Knight
Standing shoulder to shoulder with a legion of undead, a man clad in plate armor adorned with bones leads the charge against enemies invading his homeland. The undead behind him follow suit in a frenzy, eager to help their general stem the tide.
In one swift motion, a dwarf cuts down one of his foes and holds out his holy symbol. Before the corpse hits the ground it rises again, carrying a longsword and a light steel shield, ready to aid his master.
Staring out the window next to her seat on the lightning rail, a elven woman clutches her holy symbol fastened around her neck. Ahead was Fort Bones, the place she had come to for one purpose: atonement.
Whatever their origin, bone knights pride themselves on their skill over undeath. At once so similar to paladins and yet so different, they are as feared by their enemies as they are loved by those whom they protect. Distinguished by their bonecraft armor and weapons, bone knights are recognized around the globe as fearsome fighters.
The Bone Knight
| Level | Features | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Spellcasting, Bonecraft Equipment, Paladin Conversion, Channel Divinity (1/rest) | 2 | — | — |
| 2nd | Channel Divinity: Skeletal Advance, Improved Bonecraft Equipment | 3 | — | — |
| 3rd | Tide of Bones | 4 | 2 | ─ |
| 4th | Improved Bonecraft Equipment, Channel Divinity (2/rest) | 4 | 3 | ─ |
| 5th | Death Strike | 4 | 3 | 2 |
Prerequisites
In order to advance as a bone knight, you must meet the following prerequisites (in addition to the multiclassing prerequisites for your existing class):
- Strength 13. Bone knights need to be in peak physical condition to keep up with training.
- Ability to channel divinity. A bone knight must learn how to manipulate the undead in powerful ways, something only accomplished through divine means.
- Character Level 5th. Bone knights are some of the most experienced people in the world, and don't accept just anyone. You must be a 5th-level character before attempting to join their order.
- Complete a special task. Despite the image they hold as fearsome protectors, bone knights often join the order after hitting rock bottom. This is no mere "fallen on harsh times" occasion — to become a bone knight, your PC must have a compelling reason to join the order, and a fierce passion or spiritual need to do so.
Class Features
As a bone knight, you gain the following class features.
Hit Points
- Hit Dice: 1d10 per bone knight level
- Hit Points per Level: 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per bone knight level
Proficiencies
- Armor: All armor, shields
- Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
- Tools: Smith's tools
- Saving Throws: None
- Skills: None
Equipment
The bone knight prestige class does not grant any special equipment.
Spellcasting
As a bone knight, your previous divine magic subtly shifts towards necromancy. See chapter 10 of the PHB for the general rules of spellcasting and chapter 11 of the PHB for the cleric and paladin spell lists.
Preparing and Casting Spells
The Bone Knight table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.
You prepare a list of spells from the cleric or paladin spell list that are available for you to cast. To do so, choose a number of cleric or paladin spells equal to your relevant spellcasting modifier + your bone knight class level (minimum of one spell). Your relevant spellcasting modifier is determined in the following section. The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.
Spellcasting Ability
When you take your first level of the bone knight prestige class, choose Wisdom or Charisma. This ability is your spellcasting ability for your bone knight spells. You use this chosen ability whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use this relevant spellcasting ability modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a cleric or paladin spell you cast, and when making an attack roll with one.
- Spell Save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your relevant spellcasting modifier
- Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your relevant spellcasting modifier
Ritual Casting
You can cast a cleric or paladin spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared.
Spellcasting Focus
You can use a holy symbol as a spellcasting focus for your cleric or paladin spells.
Bonecraft Equipment
At 1st level, you learn to make and wear the distinctive bonecraft armor used by the order of bone knights. You can produce a suit of bonecraft medium or heavy armor that would normally be composed mostly of metal. The bonecraft armor has the same cost and time to create as normal armor of that type. While wearing bonecraft armor, you have advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) checks. Only a character with this ability can effectively wear bonecraft armor.
Additionally, you learn to craft weapons with pieces of bone worked into the design. The bonecraft weapon has the same cost and time to create as a normal weapon of that type.
Paladin Conversion
If you were a paladin or ex-paladin before becoming a bone knight, you can never again gain additional levels as a paladin, since your association with the undead forever taints you. However, you retain your paladin abilities, including Lay on Hands, Fighting Style, Divine Health, and spellcasting. You cannot detect undead with Divine Sense, and Divine Smite does not grant extra damage when the target is an undead. You can use Lay on Hands to cure living or undead creatures.
Channel Divinity
Your dedication to being a bone knight allows you to channel divine energy to fuel magical effects. Each Channel Divinity option provided by this prestige class explains how to use it.
When you use you Channel Divinity, you choose which option to use. You must then finish a short or long rest to use your Channel Divinity again.
Some Channel Divinity effects require saving throws. When you use such an effect from this prestige class, the DC equals your bone knight spell save DC.
Beginning at 4th level, you can use your Channel Divinity twice between rests. When you finish a short or long rest, you regain your expended uses.
Channel Divinity: Rebuke Undead
As an action, you present your holy symbol and speak admonishment against the undead. Each undead that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is frightened of the bone knight for 1 minute. If a creature frightened by this effect ends its turn more than 30 feet away from the bone knight, it can attempt another Wisdom saving throw to end the effect on it.
If you have the Destroy Undead feature, you may use it when a creature fails a saving throw against your Rebuke Undead feature. You also add your bone knight level to your cleric level to determine the Destroy Undead's threshold. Once you gain this feature, you can no longer turn undead creatures.
Improved Bonecraft Equipment
Beginning at 2nd level, you are able to more effectively wield your bonecraft armaments. While wearing your bonecraft armor, you have advantage on saving throws against being stunned.
Additionally, while wearing your bonecraft armor and wielding a bonecraft weapon, if you get a critical hit on a living creature you may use your bonus action to force the target to make a Constitution saving throw or become frightened. The DC for this saving throw is equal to your spell save DC. At the beginning of each of the target's turns, it may attempt the saving throw again, ending the effect on a success.
At 4th level, your bonecraft weapon becomes more deadly in your hands. So long as you are wielding your bonecraft weapon, it deals an extra 1d6 damage against living creatures. A bonecraft weapon bestows this benefit on its ammunition.
Channel Divinity: Skeletal Advance
Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to assume control of undead from a willing caster near you. As an action, so long as you are within 60 feet of a willing caster that is controlling undead, you present your holy symbol and utter a prayer of dominance. Each undead controlled by the willing caster that can see or hear you within 60 feet of you must obey your commands for 24 hours, or until you use this Channel Divinity option again. The combined CR of the undead controlled by this ability cannot be higher than twice your bone knight level.
Tide of Bones
At 3rd level, your command over the undead increases to animating the dead. If you kill a living humanoid creature while using your Attack action, you may as a bonus action cast animate dead on the corpse without expending a spell slot or material components. It retains the weapons and armor it had in life, but is otherwise a normal zombie.
This undead's CR counts against the the maximum number of undead you control at once with your Skeletal Advance feature. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your bone knight class level, regaining all expended uses on a short or long rest.
Death Strike
At 5th level, you gain the ability to channel necrotic energy into your bonecraft weapon. Once per short rest, you may use a bonus action to enhance your bonecraft weapon with necrotic energy, draining it of all color and causing a cold mist to surround it. If you use your Divine Smite ability while it is in this condition, the damage of your Divine Smite is necrotic.
When you hit an enemy with your bonecraft weapon the target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or become frightened. The DC for this saving throw is equal to your spell save DC. At the beginning of each of the target's turns, it may attempt the saving throw again, ending the effect on a success. The target also takes an additional 1d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier of necrotic damage.
Your weapon remains in this condition until either a minute has passed or you have successfully hit living targets with the bonecraft weapon a number of times equal to your spellcasting ability modifier. For the duration of this effect, your bonecraft weapon is considered magical.