Dark Knight (1.3) by

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<div class='cover-header' style="top:150px;font-size:350%;">Dark Knight</div>

<div class='cover-header' style="top:297px;font-size:250%;">5e class</div>

<div class='cover-footer' style="font-size:200% ">A conversion of FFXIV's Dark Knight job, for the world's greatest roleplaying game. </div>

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## Dark Knight
A swordsman clad in black armor cleaves his way through the cathedral with a hulking slab of iron, an aura of darkness radiating from him. His blows are brutal and unrelenting, sundering the armor of the depraved High Theogonist's templars with ease. The now fearful priest turns and runs, claiming he is no man, but an accursed demon.

Standing before a wounded villager, a woman veiled in shadow holds out her hand towards a hateful, superstitious mob. She alone stands between the delirious crowd and the innocent soul. She slices the soft flesh of her palm and traces a sigil in the air before her, barely containing her animosity as the frenzied horde is engulfed in a flood of darkness.

Battered and bloodied, a warrior drags himself to his feet after suffering a mortal wound. His robes and steel armor are stained black with his own blood, and he intuitively braces as a wave of supernatural energy bursts forth from his body. Using pain as a font of strength, he strikes down the abhorrent beast before him with a savage sweep and collapses to his knees, victorious.

It is dark knights freedom from the bounds of the law which make these profane avengers so effective...and terrifying to their enemies. Paying no heed what is lawful, a dark knight is concerned solely with what is ethical and just in their view. Those who spread tyranny and injustice, or abuse the weak and the defenseless, best prepare, lest they find themselves on the receiving end of a dark knights blade.

### Protecting the Meek

A dark knight is a warrior who has taken up arms to serve the downtrodden. They serve no lords or institutions, believing no one is exempt from justice, no matter their position in society. They protect the commonfolk from not only banditry and dreadful monsters, but from corrupt men and women who seek to oppress them. In return, dark knights are often fed and housed by those they protect, or rely upon bounty hunting and raiding their victims to support themselves.

### Inner Darkness

When an adventurer chooses the path of a dark knight, they understand that they are renouncing their rights to be a regular member of society. They belong to no commonality, acting as paragons of justice who see no allegiance. To assist them in their quest, dark knights are able to sacrifice their own life force to power *Dark Arts*, drawn from a well of darkness within themselves. They cause themselves great pain and suffering in order to allow woeful entropy to course through their body, which they harness in a variety of ways.

### A Lonely Path

Dark Knights are natural adventurers, living outside the law to see their goals realized. They can be found within remote villages protecting the inhabitants from predation while the land's knights turn a blind eye to their plight, or they may travel the world seeking out institutionalized injustice and smiting it with lurid violence. These dark retributors act on behalf of the commonfolk without expecting praise nor admiration, and are keenly aware that they will not be celebrated like an esteemed knight or righteous paladin would be. Instead, they understand they will be demonized by history, and impassively accept such facts.

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##### Dark Knight Table
| Level <DIV style="position: absolute; top:100px; right:60px; width:160px; height:25px">-Spells Known-</DIV> | Proficiency Bonus  | Features| Dark Arts<br>Points<br> | Edge of<br>Darkness | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|
| 1st | +2 | Heart of Darkness, Darkside | 2 | 1d4 | — | — |— |— |— |
| 2nd | +2 | Blood Price, Fighting Style | 2 | 1d4 | — | — |— |— |—|
| 3rd | +2 | Dark Arts, Stalwart Soul, Voice in the Abyss  | 3 | 1d4 | 3 | — |— |— |—|
| 4th | +2 | Ability Score Improvement | 3 | 1d4 | 3 | — |— |— |—|
| 5th | +3 | Extra Attack, Oblation | 4 | 1d6 | 4 | 2 |— |— |—|
| 6th | +3 | Voice in the Abyss Feature | 4 | 1d6  | 4 | 2 |— |— |—|
| 7th | +3 | Shadowskin  |5 | 1d6 | 4 | 3 |— |— |—|
| 8th | +3 | Ability Score Improvement | 5 | 1d6 | 4 | 3 |— |— |—|
| 9th | +4 | Reprisal | 6 | 1d8 | 4 | 3 | 2 |— |—|
| 10th | +4 | Voice in the Abyss Feature | 6 | 1d8 | 4 | 3 | 2 |— |—
| 11th | +4 | Blackblood | 7 |  1d8 | 4 | 3 | 3 |— |—|
| 12th | +4 | Ability Score Improvement | 7 |1d8 | 4 | 3 | 3 |— |—|
| 13th | +5 | Mired Empathy| 8 |1d10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 |—|
| 14th | +5 | Voice in the Abyss Feature | 8 | 1d10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 |—|
| 15th | +5 | Dark Mind | 9 | 1d10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |—|
| 16th | +6 | Ability Score Improvement | 9 | 1d10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |—|
| 17th | +6 | Living Dead| 10 | 1d12 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |1 |
| 18th | +6 | Undying Redemption | 10 | 1d12 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |1 |
| 19th | +6 | Ability Score Improvement | 11 | 1d12 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 20th | +6 | Salted Earth | 12 | 1d12 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
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*Multiclass Prerequisites: Charisma 13 and Constitution 13*

## Class Features
As a dark knight you gain the following class features.

#### Hit Points
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- **Hit Dice:** 1d10 per dark knight level
- **Hit Points at 1st Level:** 10 + your Constitution modifier 
- **Hit Points at Higher Levels:** 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per dark knight level after 1st

#### Proficiencies
___
- **Armor:** All armor, shields
- **Weapons:** Simple weapons, martial weapons
- **Tools:** None
- **Saving Throws:** Constitution, Charisma 
- **Skills:** Choose two from Athletics, Arcana, History, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, and Survival

#### Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

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- *(a)* a martial weapon and two daggers or *(b)* two martial weapons
- *(a)* five javelins or *(b)* a hand crossbow and quiver of 20 bolts
- *(a)* an explorer's pack or *(b)* a dungeoneer's pack
- chain mail and a horror trinket *(chosen from the Horror Trinket table on pages 13-14)*

### Heart of Darkness

You have survived a dangerous, long-guarded ritual that alters your life’s blood, forever binding you to the darkness. You gain *Darkvision* with a range of 120 feet. When you reach 3rd level in this class, you learn the *hex* spell, which doesn't count against your number of dark knight spells known.

Undertaking the ritual also empowers your body to control and shape *Dark Arts* – profane magic summoned by the expenditure of your own blood and life essence – to deliver merciless death to the wicked. You have 2 points of Dark Arts, and you gain more as you reach higher levels, as shown in the Dark Arts Points column of the Dark Knight table. You can never have more Dark Arts points than shown on the table for your level. You regain all spent Dark Arts points when you finish a long rest.

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Some of your  features make use of your Dark Arts and require your target to make a saving throw to resist the feature's effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:

**Dark Arts Spell DC** = 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Charisma modifier.

### Darkside

In times of peril, you can sacrifice a portion of your life force to beckon the darkness that churns within you. As a bonus action, you can expend 1 Dark Arts point to gain the effect of *Darkside*. When you do so, you take necrotic damage equal to one roll of your Edge of Darkness die, as shown in the *Edge of Darkness* column of the Dark Knight Table.

While succumbing to your darkside, you gain the following benefits:

* Your melee weapon attacks are magical, and score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.
* When you make a melee weapon attack, you deal bonus necrotic damage equal to one roll of your Edge of Darkness die.
* You regain hit points equal to half of the bonus necrotic damage done (rounded down), or all on a critical hit. You do not gain this healing if the target of your attack is an undead or a construct.

Your darkside lasts for 1 minute, and ends early if you are incapacitated.

### Fighting Style

Starting at 2nd level, you adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can't take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again.

* [Blind Fighting](https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/035/508/809/large/edward-tsang-iszy-x.jpg?1615157342)
* [Defense](https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/035/508/809/large/edward-tsang-iszy-x.jpg?1615157342)
* [Dueling](https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/035/508/809/large/edward-tsang-iszy-x.jpg?1615157342)
* [Eldritch Warrior ]() *(described below)*
* [Great Weapon Fighting](https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/035/508/809/large/edward-tsang-iszy-x.jpg?1615157342)
* [Interception](https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/035/508/809/large/edward-tsang-iszy-x.jpg?1615157342)
* [Two Weapon Fighting](https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/035/508/809/large/edward-tsang-iszy-x.jpg?1615157342)

##### Eldritch Warrior

You learn two cantrips of your choice from the wizard spell list. They count as dark knight spells for you, and Charisma is your spellcasting ability for them. Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of these cantrips with another from the wizard spell list.

### Blood Price

Starting at 2nd level, you can sacrifice your life force to replenish the well of darkness within you. As a bonus action, you can expend one of your Hit Dice and roll it. You take necrotic damage equal to the amount rolled and recover Dark Arts points equal to half of the damage taken (rounded down).

This damage cannot be reduced or mitigated by any means, and any excess Dark Arts points over your maximum are lost. If the necrotic damage from this feature would incapacitate you, you suffer an entropic backlash; you are left with 1 hit point, gain 1 point of exhaustion, made prone, and any remaining Dark Arts points are lost.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, recovering any expended uses upon finishing a long rest.

### Dark Arts

Starting at 3rd level, you can draw from the well of darkness within yourself to cast spells. See chapter 10 for the general rules of spellcasting and the *Dark Arts* section at the end of the class description for the *Dark Knight Spell List* and a detailed explanation on how to cast spells using Dark Arts.

### Stalwart Soul

By 3rd level, your familiarity with immoral corruption and the grim, uncompromising principles of impartial justice have reinforced your resolve. You can no longer be frightened.

### Voice in the Abyss

When you reach 3rd level, you confront the darkness that has tormented your soul, receiving absolution and renewed sense of conviction. Now fully committed, you choose a path which best reflects your intent as a dark knight, which are all covered in more detail at the end of the class description.

Your choice grants you grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th, 10th, and 14th level.

### Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

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### Extra Attack

Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the *Attack* action on your turn.

### Oblation

Starting at 5th level, you can use your reaction to expend and roll one of your Hit Dice to ward yourself, or a creature of your choosing within 30 feet of you, in a protective barrier whenever they are hit by an attack or damaged as a result of a magical effect or spell. The target gains temporary hit points equal to the die result + your Constitution modifier.

### Shadowskin

By 7th level, you are so suffused with unholy darkness that being exposed to negative energy inures you to its effects. You gain resistance to necrotic damage. In addition, when you roll damage for a melee weapon or melee spell attack and deal necrotic damage, your attack ignores resistance to that type.

### Reprisal

Beginning at the 9th level, those who dare to interfere with your just crusade are punished for their audacity. Whenever an attack roll would miss you due to your AC, you can use your reaction to make a melee weapon attack against your attacker if they are within your reach. On a hit, the next attack roll the creature makes before the start of its next turn has its roll reduced by an amount equal to your Strength modifier.

Additionally, you can utter a vow of vengeance against a creature that subjects you to a grievous wound. If you are damaged as the result of a critical hit while succumbing to your darkside, you can expend 2 Dark Arts points to curse your attacker if they are within 120 feet of you and you can see them. While cursed, your melee weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 18-20 and you roll your Edge of Darkness die twice on a hit.

The curse lasts for the remainder of your darkside, and ends early if the target dies, you die, or you are incapacitated.

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### Blackblood

By 11th level,  you have learned how to channel your suffering into vehement weapon strikes and baleful wards. While succumbing to your darkside, you gain the following abilities:

##### Bloodspiller

Whenever you take the *Attack* action on your turn, you can choose to expend 10 hit points and 1 Dark Arts point to gain the effect of *Bloodspiller* until the start of your next turn. While under the effect of Bloodspiller, you gain advantage on melee weapon attack rolls and your melee weapon attacks deal an extra 10 damage.

##### Carve and Spit

As an action, you can choose to expend 5 hit points and 1 Dark Arts point to make a melee weapon attack against any number of creatures within 5 feet of you, with a separate attack roll for each target. You can increase the radius of Carve and Spit by 5 feet by expending an additional 5 hit points, to a maximum of 10 feet.

##### Flood of Shadow

When you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend 2 Dark Arts points as a bonus action to force the target to make a Constitution saving throw against your Dark Arts Spell DC. On a failed save, the target is blinded until the end of your next turn.

##### The Blackest Night

As an action, you can choose to expend and roll 2 Hit Dice to wreathe yourself, or a creature of your choosing within 30 feet of you, in a barrier of writhing, vein-like shadows for 1 minute. The target becomes heavily obscured to others and gains temporary hit points equal to the rolled dice + your Constitution modifier x 2 + half your dark knight level (rounded down).

If the temporary hit points provided by the barrier are fully absorbed before it expires, you become infused with avenging darkness. The next successful attack roll you make deals an extra 2d12 necrotic damage.

### Mired Empathy

Starting at 13th level, your intimate understanding of personal darkness and suffering allows you to recognize and empathize with fellow troubled souls. You are aware of any living creature that is in severe emotional duress, tormented by feelings of guilt, or burdened with unfathomable grief within 60 feet of you. When you are in range of a creature afflicted by such sorrows, you are alerted to their presence by faint tendrils of intangible darkness that appear to gather and seep from their chest.

As an action, you can touch a distraught creature and expend 1 Dark Arts point to attempt to psychically commune with them, potentially gaining insight into their mental afflictions. When you do so, the target must make a Charisma saving throw against your Dark Knight Spell DC. The target can choose to voluntarily fail their saving throw if they wish. On a fail, you can feel the emotions that are causing the target distress, and become aware of any unresolved trauma that lies in their psyche (such as the loss of a loved one, a profound, visceral hatred for another, or anguish over an outcome they were powerless to prevent).

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On a success, the communion fails and you take 2d6 psychic damage as the target's mind harshly rebukes your presence.

### Dark Mind

Beginning at 15th level, you've learned to quell the invasive whispers that claw at your mind. This persistent mental discipline is a natural bulwark against the deceptions of outside trickery and manipulation, granting you proficiency with Wisdom saving throws.

In addition, whenever you fail a Wisdom saving throw against a hostile effect or spell, you can expend 2 Dark Arts points as a reaction to reroll your D20, potentially causing you to succeed. Furthermore, you can choose to gain advantage on your reroll by expending 2 additional Dark Arts points (to a maximum total of 4 Dark Arts points.)

### Living Dead

By 17th level, your prolonged exposure to death and the ruinous entropy of your Dark Arts has corrupted your soul and diluted your spirit, causing you to involuntarily exude a dreadful aura that makes others uncomfortable in your presence, while also draining the color from your eyes and tinting your skin a pallid, sickly gray.

You retain your creature type, yet you register as Undead to spells and other effects that detect the presence of the Undead creature type. Additionally, your unnatural, unsettling nature imposes disadvantage on both performance and persuasion (Charisma) ability checks whenever you interact with a creature of a non-evil alignment.

While your gruesome appearance and unholy disposition can be viewed as detriments, you have inherited beneficial traits and characteristics typically associated with the living dead. You are permanently under the following effects:

* You are immune to the effects of disease and poison.
* You age at a slower rate. For every 10 years that pass, your body ages only 1 year.
* You are immune to the effects of exhaustion, and do not need to eat, drink or breath. Instead of sleeping, you enter an inactive state for 4 hours each day. You do not dream in this state; you are fully aware of your surroundings and notice approaching enemies and other events as normal.
* You gain advantage on death saving throws and regain hit points equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum of 1) whenever you start your turn with no more than half your hit points remaining and you are not incapacitated.

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### Undying Redemption
Beginning at 18th level, you can completely surrender yourself to the lurid darkness and tempestuous emotions swirling within your soul, instilling within you an unholy tenacity to continue fighting, regardless of the severity of your wounds. When you are reduced to 0 hit points without being killed outright, you can choose to expend 5 Dark Arts points to activate *Undying Redemption* using a special reaction. You can use this reaction if you have already used a reaction this round, but not if you used a reaction this turn.

When you do so, you regain 1 hit point and you cannot fall below 1 hit point for a number of rounds equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1). While you are under the effect of Undying Redemption, you cannot benefit from the effects of your *Blood Price* feature.

Immediately after the effect of Undying Redemption ends, make a Death Saving Throw. Your speed is reduced to 0 until the start of your next turn on a success. On a fail, you cannot move or take actions until the start of your next turn.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

### Salted Earth
At 20th level, you gain the ability to manifest an aura of desolation and defilement from the well of darkness within you. As a bonus action, you can expend 1 Dark Arts point to exude an aura of desecrating, negative energy that whorls around you for 1 minute. The aura has a radius of 30 feet and is considered difficult terrain for creatures other than yourself, or those of your choosing (to a maximum equal to your Charisma modifier). Whenever an enemy creature starts its turn in the aura, it takes 10 necrotic damage and you regain hit points equal to the damage done if the target has a CR greater than 0 and is not an undead or a construct. The body of a creature killed within the aura is withered beyond recognition.

While the aura lasts, you can use an additional bonus action on your turn to unleash a flood of enervating energy that ripples throughout the aura. Hostile creatures within the aura must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your Dark Arts Spell DC or they cannot take reactions and their speed is reduced to 0 until the end of their next turn.

Once you benefit from this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest or until you expend 5 Dark Arts points to use it again.

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## A Flame in the Abyss

A dark knight lives and dies by sword with an understanding that the path they have chosen for themselves is a sad, lonely existence mired in suffering. These dark warriors are fully prepared to give the ultimate sacrifice to safeguard the weak and the oppressed, knowing that those they seek to defend will view them as nothing less than a villain or a monster. Yet no matter how bleak existence may seem, or how cruel and ignominious mortals can be to one another, dark knights can find solace in the simple fact their endless struggle has brought hope to the hopeless — no matter how trivial or small the deed, it was done because it was the right thing to do, and nothing more.

This understanding helps a dark knight navigate the oppressive, suffocating darkness of the world around them, kindling a gentle, flickering flame in the abyss. This sole spark is the seed of hope in a dark knight's heart, a benevolent guidestone that keeps them from straying from the path into damnation...or simply provides a remorseful dark knight a means to channel their unavoidable grief and sorrow.

## Original Sins

One seeking to become a dark knight must be introduced to it through some means, be it an ancient tome inscribed with their rituals  or a mentor searching for an apprentice to impart their knowledge. However, equally as important as the means to become a dark knight are the fledgling's reasons for pursuing dark vigilantism — Do they lack power to defend their loved ones and see the dark arts as a means to an end? Did they make a mistake that cost them greatly, and they wish to make amends for their folly? Or are they bent on vengeance for some past wound or loss that drove them to choose this dark warrior’s path?

An aspiring dark knight must eventually face the darkness that lurks in their heart and overcome their greatest fears and regrets, which is seen as the culmination of all the dark knight’s training. Once they have done so, they select a path that best represents their dedication to the greater good.

## A Path Shrouded in Sorrow

Each path available to a dark knight is an unending journey of pain, misery, and endless death. But these stalwart warriors shoulder their burdens with quiet stoicism, taking small comfort in knowing the suffering they endure keeps evil at bay, if only for a brief moment. At 3rd level, you must choose one of the below options for your death knight:

A *Deathbringer* walks the path of the unyielding executioner, embracing their vengeful Darkside to deliver vehement strikes that pierce mind, body, and soul to ensure the guilty face rightful judgement. The *Shadowbinder* peers inwards, taking note of the darkness swelling within their breast and channeling its ruinous entropy into powerful, advanced forms of Dark Arts. And lastly, the *Bloodletter* is voracious martyr who sneers in the face of suffering, weaponizing sacrifice in the form of soul-devouring strikes and maniac states of bloodthirsty delirium.

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## Deathbringer

The path of the Deathbringer is a solemn commitment to punish those who have committed a grievous sin. When a lord orders the wanton slaughter helpless villagers, when an entire people turn to genocide in blind worship of a god, when a cutthroat merchant's guild grows too violent and abusive, when warring armies pillage and terrorize the countryside – at times like these, dark knights arise and swear an oath of retribution to set right that which has gone wrong. To these merciless executioners, their own purity is not as important as delivering uncompromising justice.

#### Shadow of Death

When you choose this subclass at 3rd level, you judge the guilty by unleashing an inexorable curse of death upon them, marking them as the target of due vengeance. When you succumb to your darkside, you can expend an additional Dark Arts point to choose one creature you can see within 30 feet of you as part of the same bonus action. The target is cursed for the duration of your darkside. The curse ends early if the target dies, you die, or you are incapacitated.

While a creature is cursed, you gain a bonus to your attack rolls against it equal to your Charisma modifier, and your weapon attacks ignore resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage. In addition, your attack rolls against the target cannot be affected or prevented by spells with a level equal to your proficiency bonus or lower from the Abjuration school of magic unless you wish them to be.

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#### Weight of Sin

Beginning at 6th level, you can burden your enemies with the weight of their sins. As an action, you can  surround yourself with an aura of oppressive gloom that lasts for 1 minute. The aura has a radius of 15 feet and reduces any bright light within its area to dim light. Whenever a hostile creature starts its turn in the aura, they must make a Wisdom saving throw against your Spell Save DC. On a failed save, the target takes psychic damage equal to your Charisma modifier and they become frightened of you until the start of their next turn. Constructs and creatures that can't be frightened are immune to the effects of the aura.

Once you benefit from this ability, you must finish a short or long rest before you can do so again.

#### Dark Passenger

At 10th level, obscuring darkness and lurking shadow aid you in delivering inescapable death to the wicked. Whenever you are entirely within dim light or darkness, you gain the following benefits:

* Your speed increases by 10 feet and opportunity attacks against you have disadvantage.
* You have Blindsight with a range of 10 feet.
* Whenever a creature moves within 10 feet of you, you can use your reaction to expend 1 Dark Arts point and force the creature to make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, bladed tendrils of darkness impale the target, dealing 2d10 necrotic damage and restraining it for as long as you both remain within 30 feet of each other and are entirely within dim light or darkness.

A creature restrained by the tendrils, or one that can touch the creature, can use its action to make a Strength check against your Spell Save DC. On a success, the target is freed.

#### Quietus

At 14th level, your conviction to punish the unjust has become so strong that your very presence is a merciless bane to the corrupt and the depraved. Whenever a creature cursed by your *Shadow of Death* feature starts their turn within 30 feet of you, they take necrotic damage equal to 1d6 + half your dark knight level.

## Shadowbinder

A great darkness lurks in the heart of every man and woman, an abhorrent and wicked monster capable of performing acts of cruelty so inhumane to make even the most resolute cleric or stalwart paladin question their faith; a fact all dark knights are intimately familiar with. But where other dark knights are content to harness the darkness as nothing more than a destructive tool of death, Shadowbinders peer deep into the abyss to glimpse hidden truths – to find understanding and purpose in the tempestuous currents of the stygian void.

To a Shadowbinder, darkness is not something to be feared, but a misunderstood force of nature that, while certainly malefic, can also be equally as soothing as the brightest ray of light.

#### Abyssal Communion

At 3rd level, you have gleaned esoteric knowledge from your introspective reflections and meditations within the void of the abyss. You gain shadowbinder spells at the levels listed.

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##### Shadowbinder Spells
| Dark Knight Level | Spells |
|:---:|:-----------:|
| 3rd | *dissonant whispers*, *sleep* |
| 5th | *shadow blade*, *thought shield* |
| 9th | *life transference*, *summon shadowspawn* |
| 13th | *death ward*, *phantasmal killer* |
| 17th | *antilife shell*, *cone of cold* |

Shadowbinder spells cost Dark Arts points to cast and follow the same rules as any other spell cast using your *Dark Arts* spellcasting feature. See the Dark Arts section at the end of the class description for a detailed explanation on how
to cast spells using Dark Arts. If you gain a shadowbinder spell that doesn't appear on the dark knight spell list, the spell is nonetheless a dark knight spell for you.

Also starting when you choose this subclass at 3rd level, you have learned to draw upon the power of shadow, gaining the following benefits:

* **Darkness**. You can expend 2 Dark Arts points to cast the *darkness* spell. You can see within the spell's area when you cast it with this feature. While the spell persists, you can move its area of darkness to a space within 60 feet of you at the start of each of your turns. 
* **Dancing Shadows**. You know the *minor illusion* cantrip and use Charisma as your spellcasting ability for it.

#### Syphon Strike

When you reach 6th level, you've learned how to replenish the well of darkness within you by syphoning the life force of dying creatures. Whenever you reduce a creature with a CR greater than 1/2 within 60 feet of you to 0 hit points with the damage from your *Edge of Darkness* feature, or with a 1st level spell or higher from the Illusion or Necromancy schools of magic for the first time on a turn, you recover expended Dark Arts points based on the *Syphon Strike Table* below. You can only recover Dark Arts points from a slain creature once per round using this feature, with any excess Dark Arts points over your maximum being lost.

You do not benefit from this ability if the target of your attack is a construct or an undead.

##### Syphon Strike Table
| Creature Size | Dark Arts Points  |
|:---:|:-----------:|
| Tiny | 1 |
| Medium | 1 |
| Large | 2 |
| Huge | 3 |
| Gargantuan | 4 |

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#### Dark Missionary

Beginning at 10th level, your knowledge of sacrifice and occult rituals allows you to convert the suffering of yourself and your allies into a font of restorative, eldritch power. As an action, you can touch an ally within range over the course of 1 minute and expend one of your Hit Dice, taking necrotic damage equal to 10 + your Charisma modifier. When you do so, you harvest a *Dark Missionary Die* from your offering, an opaque orb of darkness that seeps into the body of the the touched ally. This special die is a d10 and lasts for a number of hours equal to your Charisma modifier.

While this special die is in their possession, a creature can choose to take an action on their turn to expend and roll the die to gain one of the following effects:

* The target regains hit points equal to 3d10 + 10.

* The target recovers expended Spell Slots equal to the amount rolled and immediately takes necrotic damage equal to 3 times the initial dice roll. This damage cannot be reduced or mitigated by any means, and none of the Spell Slots recovered can be 5th level or higher.

If the necrotic damage from the Dark Missionary Die would incapacitate the target, it suffers an entropic backlash; it is left with 1 hit point, gains 1 point of exhaustion, made prone, and any Spell Slots gained using the die are lost.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

#### Living Shadow

At 14th level, you can harness the surrounding gloom to confound your enemies and cloak yourself in concealing shadow. As an action, you can expend 6 Dark Arts points to cast the spell *investiture of shadow*.

##### Investiture of Shadow
*6th-level transmutation*
___
- **Casting Time:** 1 action
- **Range:** Self
- **Components:** V, S
- **Duration:**  Concentration, 10 minutes
- **Classes:** Dark Knight
___

Swirling shadows wreath your body, causing you to become heavily obscured for the spell’s duration. Until the spell ends, you gain the following benefits:

* You can see normally in darkness, both magical and nonmagical, to a distance of 120 feet.
* You can can move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain, but you take 1d10 force damage if you end your turn inside a creature or an object.
* You can use your action to create a 15-foot radius sphere of magical darkness centered on a point you can see within 60 feet of you. Only one instance of darkness created by this ability can exist at any time. Each creature in that area must make an Intelligence saving throw. A creature takes 3d10 psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. If a creature that lacks an immunity to being frightened fails the save, that creature is also frightened of you until the end of your next turn.

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## Bloodletter

For some dark knights, their pact with darkness is one of penance, not vengeance. Perhaps they are rectifying a terrible mistake of their past, or take sole blame for an event that lead to a great, personal tragedy. Regardless of intent, a dark knight who walks the path of the Bloodletter will gladly spill every drop of blood in their body defending the weak from suffering even the most minute of injuries. These willing martyrs revel in their sacrifice, and unsettle their allies equally as much as their enemies with displays of bloodthirsty euphoria.

Wielding bloodcaked blades as a means to inflict agony, these crimson-soaked knights bend the very rules of mortality to control the front-lines of the battlefield, and those who follow this path must be mindful to not lose sight of their own humanity during their voracious crusades.

#### Souleater

When you choose this subclass at 3rd level, your darkside sustains you by devouring the soul of your enemies. Whenever you regain hit points as a result of your *Edge of Darkness* feature, you can choose to expend 1 Dark Arts point as a bonus action to gain temporary hit points equal to twice the amount healed + your Charisma modifier.

#### Aura of Sacrifice

At 6th level, your reverence of pain allows you to atone for past sins by transferring an ally's suffering onto yourself. When a creature within 10 feet of you takes damage, you can use your reaction to magically take that damage, instead of that creature taking it. This feature doesn't transfer any other effects that might accompany the damage, and this damage can't be reduced in any way.

At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.

#### Blood Weapon

Beginning at 10th level, you are empowered by the suffering you endure in battle. Whenever you fall below certain hit point thresholds, you gain one or more of the following benefits:

* **Every 25 Missing Hit Points.** You gain a +1 bonus to melee weapon and melee Spell Attack damage rolls.
* **Every 50 Missing Hit Points.** You gain a +1 bonus to melee weapon and melee Spell Attack attack rolls.
* **Every 100 Missing Hit Points.** You gain a +1 bonus to AC and saving throws.

Additionally, while you are succumbing to your darkside, you can choose to expend 1 or more Hit Dice whenever you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, up to a maximum total of 5 Hit Dice per turn. For each Hit Die spent, roll the die and add your Constitution modifier to it. You immediately gain temporary hit points equal to half the total (rounded up), and the target of the attack takes necrotic damage equal to the same amount.

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#### Scarlet Delirium

By 14th level, your maimed body is wracked with the scars of battle and sacrificial wounds derived from your Dark Arts. To endure the punishment of pushing your body beyond mortal limits, you've learned to harness the darkness within you to ward your flesh and grant it a facsimile  of life. As a bonus action, you can choose to expend 2 Dark Arts points to gain the effect of *Scarlet Delirium* for 10 minutes. While under the effect of Scarlet Delirium, you gain the following benefits:

* You have advantage on Constitution, Dexterity, and Strength checks and saving throws.
* You gain additional temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus whenever a spell, feature, or effect would cause you to gain any.
* You gain an additional reaction. You can only use this reaction to activate your *Aura of Sacrifice* feature. 
* You suppress the effects of exhaustion, sleep, and the stunned condition as long as you remain in your delirious state. If you already have levels of exhaustion when you enter your Scarlet Delirium, their effects are suspended for the duration.

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# Dark Arts
Dark Knights draw upon the darkness that resides within every living creature to manipulate and channel the raw magic of the weave. Unconcerned with the origin of the dark powers they wield, dark knight's focus solely on exerting their own force of will through strong emotions – hatred, loathing, sorrow, fear, regret, and even compassion or  love – as conduits to bring forth their ruinous Dark Arts against the corrupt and the profane.

Some scholars speculate that the source of a dark knight's power seeps from planar fissures connecting to the dreadful wastes of the Shadowfell, or from otherworldly deities such as the estoeric Raven Queen or the loathsome Orcus. Even more outlandish theories claim their abyssal magics are the fading echoes of Shar's lamentable Shadow Weave. However, dark knight's are pariahs within society, shunned as exiles and wanted fugitives – unfortunate circumstances that make it increasingly unlikely that the realms will ever truly know the veracity surrounding their occult arts.

## Casting Spells

Beginning at 3rd level, you can expend Dark Arts points to cast spells. See chapter 10 for the general rules of spellcasting.

The Dark Knight table shows how many spells of each level you can know and cast using Dark Arts points. Unlike typical spellcasters, you do not rely on spell slots to determine the amount of spells you can cast between long rests. Instead, you rely on expending both your hit points and your hit dice to replenish your small pool of Dark Arts points. Most dark knight features and abilities require the use of Dark Arts points or hit dice to activate, so carelessly expending Dark Arts points to cast spells can deprive you of a critical resource, to potentially disastrous consequences.

To cast a Dark Knight spell using Dark Arts points, you must expend 1 Dark Arts point of the spell's level or higher. For example, you can expend 1 Dark Arts point to cast a 1st level Dark Knight spell, 2 points to cast a 2nd level Dark Knight spell, and so on. When casting spells using Dark Arts points, you use the spell's casting time and rules, but you do not need to provide material components for it.

You prepare the list of dark knight spells that are available for you to cast, choosing from the dark knight spell list. The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. You can change your list of prepared spells when you finish a long rest. Preparing a new list of dark knight spells requires time spent in deep introspection and meditation: at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell on your list.

### Spellcasting Ability

Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your dark knight spells, since their power derives from harnessing the raw strength of your overwhelming emotions. You use your Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a dark knight spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

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**Dark Knight Spell DC** = 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Charisma modifier.

**Dark Knight Spell Attack Modifier** = your proficiency modifier + your Charisma modifier.

### Spellcasting Focus

The source of your occult magic is gleaned from tapping into the font of potent, impassioned emotion lurking within your soul, but many fledgling dark knights find comfort in channeling their dark arts through a trinket – an object or beloved memento that serves as a reminder for why they have chosen a path of sorrow, or as a grounding totem to prevent themselves from fully slipping into inescapable darkness.

You can choose to use a horror trinket from the table below (or one of your own design with your DM's approval) as a spellcasting focus for your dark knight spells if you wish.

## Dark Knight Spell List

##### 1st Level
- Absorb Elements *(XGtE)*
- Armor of Agathys
- Arms of Hadar *(PHB)*
- Bane
- Command
- Cause Fear *(XGtE)*
- Compelled Duel *(PHB)*
- False Life 
- Hellish Rebuke
- Hex *(XGtE)*
- Inflict Wounds
- Ray of Sickness *(PHB)*
- Wrathful Smite *(PHB)*

##### 2nd Level
- Blindness/Deafness
- Blur 
- Darkness
- Darkvision
- Earthbind
- Hold Person
- Magic Weapon 
- Mind Spike *(XGtE)*
- Misty Step
- Pass Without Trace
- Ray of Enfeeblement 
- Silence
- Wither and Bloom *(SCoC)*

##### 3rd Level
- Bestow Curse
- Blink 
- Counterspell
- Dispel Magic
- Enemies Abound *(XGtE)*
- Fear 
- Hunger of Hadar *(PHB)*
- Phantom Steed
- Protection from Energy

\pagebreakNum

- Remove Curse
- Spirit Shroud *(XGtE)* 
- Vampiric Touch

##### 4th Level
- Blight
- Confusion
- Dimension Door
- Elemental Bane
- Evard's Black Tentacles *(PHB)*
- Locate Creature
- Shadow of Moil 
- Staggering Smite *(PHB)*

##### 5th Level
- Circle of Power
- Destructive Wave *(necrotic)* 
- Enervation *(XGtE)* 
- Hold Monster
- Scrying 
- Synaptic Static *(XGtE)* 
- Unholy Weapon *(UA)*
- Wall of Force

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##### Unholy Weapon
*5th-level abjuration*
___
- **Casting Time:** 1 bonus action
- **Range:** Touch
- **Components:** V, S
- **Duration:**  Concentration, 1 hour
- **Classes:** Dark Knight
___

You imbue a weapon you touch with unholy power. Until the spell ends, the weapon turns bright light and dim light in a 15-foot radius into darkness and bright light into dim light for an additional 15 feet. In addition, weapon attacks made with it deal an extra 2d8 necrotic damage on a hit. If the weapon isn’t already a magic weapon, it becomes one for the duration. As a bonus action on your turn, you can dismiss this spell and cause the weapon to emit a burst of enervation. Each creature of your choice that you can see within 30 feet of the weapon must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 4d8 necrotic damage, and its speed is halved. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and suffers no other effects. At the end of each of its turns, a blinded creature can make a Constitution saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success.

\pagebreakNum

##### Horror Trinket Table
| d100 |Trinket | d100 | Trinket
|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
| 01  | A picture you drew as a child of your imaginary friend. | 26 | Pallid leather gloves crafted with ivory fingernails. | 
| 02  | A lock that opens when blood is dripped in its keyhole. | 27  | Dice made from the knuckles of a notorious charlatan. | 
| 03  | Clothes stolen from a scarecrow. |  28  | A ring of keys for forgotten locks. | 
| 04  | A spinning top carved with four faces: happy, sad, wrathful and dead. |  29  | Nails from the coffin of a murderer. | 
| 05  | The necklace of a sibling who died on the day you were born. | 30 | A key to the family crypt. |
| 06 | A wig from someone executed by beheading. |  31 | A bouquet of funerary flowers that always looks and smells fresh. |
| 07 | The unopened letter to you from your dying father. | 32 | A switch used to discipline you as a child. | 
| 08 | A pocket watch that runs backward for an hour every midnight. | 33 | A music box that plays by itself whenever someone holding it dances. |
| 09 | A winter coat stolen from a dying soldier. | 34 | A walking cane with an iron ferule that strikes sparks on stone. | 
| 10 | A bottle of invisible ink that can only be read at sunset. | 35 | A flag from a ship lost at sea. |  
| 11 | A wineskin that refills when interred with a dead person for a night. | 36 | Porcelain doll's head that always seems to be looking at you. |    
| 12 | A set of silverware used by a king for his last meal. |  37 | A wolf's head wrought in silver that is also a whistle. |   
| 13 | A spyglass that always shows the world suffering a terrible storm. | 38 | A small mirror that shows a much older version of the viewer. | 
|14 | A cameo with the profile's face scratched away. | 39 | Small, worn book of children's nursery rhymes. |   
|15 | A lantern with a black candle that never runs out and that burns with green flame. | 40 | A mummified raven's claw. |   
|16 | A teacup from a child's tea set, stained with blood. | 41 | A broken pendent of a silver dragon that's always cold to the touch. |  
|17 | A little black book that records your dreams, and yours alone, when you sleep. |  42 | A small locked box that quietly hums a lovely melody at night but you always forget it in the morning. |
| 18  | A necklace formed of the interlinked holy symbols of a dozen deities. | 43 | An inkwell that makes one a little nauseous when staring at it. | 
| 19  | A noose that feels heavier than it should. | 44 | An old little doll made from a dark, dense wood and missing a hand and a foot. | 
| 20  | A birdcage into which small birds fly, but once inside, never eat or leave. | 45  | A black executioner's hood.
| 21  | A lepidopterist's box filled dead moths with skull-like patterns on their wings. | 46 | A pouch made of flesh, with a sinew drawstring. |
| 22  | A jar of pickled ghouls' tongues. | 47 | A tiny spool of black thread that never runs out. |
| 23  | The wooden hand of a notorious pirate. | 48 | A tiny clockwork figuring of a dancer that's missing a gear and doesn't work. |
| 24  | An urn with the ashes of a dead relative. | 49 | A black wooden pipe that creates puffs of smoke that look like skulls. |
| 25  | A hand mirror backed with a bronze depiction of a medusa. | 50 | A vial of perfume, the scene of which only certain creatures can detect.. |

</div>

\pagebreakNum

##### Horror Trinket Table
| d100 |Trinket | d100 | Trinket
|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
| 51  | A stone that emits a single endless sigh. | 76 | A candle made from a severed hand. | 
| 52  | A rag doll with two red dots on its neck. | 77  | A clockwork device that beats like a heart. | 
| 53  | A spring-loaded toy with a missing crank. |  78  | A blank masquerade mask. | 
| 54  | A jar containing a harmless but agitated, animate ooze. |  79  | A glass eye with a live worm inside. | 
| 55  | A black wooden die with 1's on all the faces. | 80 | A sheet with two eyeholes cut in it. |
| 56 | A child's portrait with the word "born" written on the back, along with next year's date. |  81 | The deed to a place called Tergeron Manor. |
| 57 | A dagger-sized shark tooth. | 82 | An ornate, wax-sealed crimson envelope that resists all attempts to open it. | 
| 58 | A finger thats taken root in a small pot. | 83 | A mourning veil trimmed in black lace. |
| 59 | A toolbox containing the remains of a dangerous but broken clockwork arachnid. | 84 | A straightjacket covered in charcoal runes. | 
| 60 | A pitcher-sized, opalescent snail shell that occasionally, inexplicably shudders or tips over. | 85 | A tattered, burlap mask with a crooked smile painted on it. |  
| 61 | The logbook of an ice-breaking ship called the Haifisch. | 86 | A green ribbon designed to be worn as a choker. |    
| 62 | A small portrait of you as a child, alongside your identically dressed twin. |  87 | Dentures with mismatched, sharpened teeth. |   
| 63 | A silver pocket watch with thirteen hours marked on the face. | 88 | A warm, fist-sized egg case. | 
|64 | A woodcut of a wolf devouring its own hind leg. | 89 | A copper ring with "mine" engraved on the inside. |   
|65 | A planchette etched with raven skulls. | 90 | A glass ampoule with containing a neon green fluid. |   
|66 | A moist coral figurine of a lamprey with arms, legs, and a bipedal stance. | 91 | An eye patch embroidered with a holy symbol. |  
|67 | A broken fingertrap sculpted with roaring tigers. |  92 | A severed big toe with a nail that continues to grow. |
| 68  | A pearl necklace that turns red under the full moon. | 93 | A journal that responds with short answers to queries written into its blank pages. | 
| 69  | A fossil of a fish with humanoid features. | 94 | A glove with a mouth-like design stitched on the palm. | 
| 70  | A plague doctor's mask. | 95 | An ornate but empty reliquary made of silver and fractured glass. |
| 71  | A smudged talisman with smudged, shifting ink. | 96 | A ceramic figure of a cat with too many eyes. |
| 72  | A locket containing the smeared image of an eyeless figure. | 97 | A crumpled paper ticket bearing the words "admit none". |
| 73  | A canopic jar with a lid sculpted like a goat. | 98 | A silver coin with your face on one side.. |
| 74  | A jack-o'-lantern made from a small, pale gourd. | 99 | A shrunken gremishka head that twitches when anyone casts magic nearby. |
| 75  | A single high-heeled, iron shoe. | 100 | A sunburst amulet with a red stone at the center. |

</div>

\pagebreakNum

This is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the material used here are property of Wizards of the Coast.
___
©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

##### Credits
Brew by [u/Celvira](https://www.reddit.com/user/Sufficient_Suspect81)  
Created using [GM Binder](https://www.gmbinder.com/)  
Based on the [FFXIV to D&D Project](https://www.reddit.com/r/FFXIVxDnD/) by [u/SilentSoren](https://www.reddit.com/user/SilentSoren/), whose hard work and dedication made this edit possible!

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