Creating a Death Knight
“Death knight” is an acquired template that can be added to any living (or recently dead) creature with a base attack bonus of +11 or more (referred to hereafter as the base creature).
The base creature is generally a being that has fallen from grace or committed some great betrayal. The severity of the creature's crimes (or the nature of its curse) determines which rank of the template the creature receives. A death knight's rank generally remains static thereafter.
A death knight has all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Size and Type: The base creature's type changes to Undead (Augmented [base creature's type]). Do not recalculate base attack bonus, saves, or skill points. Size is unchanged.
Hit Dice: Increase all current and future Hit Dice to d12s. Death knights also gain bonus hit points using their Charisma modifier in place of their Constitution modifier.
Armor Class: A death knight has a +5 natural armor bonus or the base creature’s natural armor bonus, whichever is better. Death templars gain a +6 profane bonus to AC and death lords gain both a +6 profane bonus and a deflection bonus equal to their Charisma modifier.
Attack: A death knight has a touch attack that it can use once per round. If the base creature can use weapons, the death knight retains this ability. An base creature with natural weapons retains those natural weapons. A death knight fighting without weapons uses either its touch attack or its primary natural weapon (if it has any). A death knight armed with a weapon uses its touch or a weapon, as it desires.
Full Attack: A death knight fighting without weapons uses either its touch attack (see above) or its natural weapons (if it has any). If armed with a weapon, it usually uses the weapon as its primary attack along with a touch as a natural secondary attack, provided it has a way to make that attack (either a free hand or a natural weapon that it can use as a secondary attack).
Damage: A death knight without natural weapons has a touch attack that uses negative energy to deal 1d8 points of damage plus its Charisma modifier to living creatures; a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 death knight’s HD + death knight’s Cha modifier) halves the damage. A death knight with natural weapons can use its touch attack or its natural weaponry, as it prefers. If it chooses the latter, it deals 1d8 points of extra damage per rank plus its Charisma modifier on one natural weapon attack.
Special Attacks: A death knight retains all the base creature’s special attacks. Save DCs are equal to 10 + 1/2 death knight’s HD + death knight’s Charisma modifier unless otherwise noted.
Despair (Su): At the mere sight of a death knight, viewers must succeed on a Will save or be paralyzed with fear for 1d8 rounds per rank. Whether or not the save is successful, that creature cannot be affected again by the same death knight's despair ability for 24 hours.
Spell-like Abilities: Death knights receive the following spell-like abilities at a caster level equal to their HD. 3/day - animate dead, detect magic, dispel magic, fireball, see invisibility, wall of ice; 1/day - power word stun, symbol of fear, symbol of pain.
Death templars receive the following abilities instead. Constant - detect magic, see invisibility; at will - enhanced fireball, wall of ice; 3/day - animate dead, greater dispel magic, power word stun, symbol of fear, symbol of pain; 1/day - create undead, power word blind.
Death lords receive the following abilities in place of the previous two. Constant - detect magic, see invisibility, true seeing; at will - animate dead, enhanced fireball, greater dispel magic, power word stun, symbol of fear, symbol of pain, wall of ice; 3/day - create undead, power word blind; 1/day - create greater undead, power word kill.
Special Qualities: A death knight retains all the base creature’s special qualities and gains those described below.
Damage Reduction (Su): A death knight’s undead body is tough, giving the creature damage reduction according to the table below. Its natural weapons are treated as magic and evil for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Death lords treat their natural weapons as epic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Immunities (Ex): Death knights have immunity to cold, electricity, fire, polymorphing (though they can use polymorph effects on themselves), and mind-affecting attacks.
Spell Resistance (Ex): A death knight has SR equal to 10 + its HD.
Turn Immunity (Ex): A death knight can not be turned. However, a holy word spell can banish them to the Abyss as though they were demons.
Undead Cohort: If the death knight posseses the Leadership feat, his cohort becomes either a neonate lich, a phantom ghost, a forgotten ancient dead or a newborn vampire.
Undead Followers: If the death knight posseses the Leadership feat, instead of living followers, he receives zombies or skeletons of the same HD. The followers of a death lord receive the corpse or bone template instead of the zombie or skeleton template respectively.
Abilities: The base creature's ability scores increase according to the table below. Being undead, a death knight has no Constitution score.
Skills: Same as the base creature.
Organization: Solitary, or with cohorts/followers, as above.
Challenge Rating: +2, with an additional +1 per rank.
Treasure: Standard coins; double goods; double items.
Alignment: Any evil.
Advancement: By character class.
Death Knight; +8 Str, +4 Cha. DR 15/good. 2 salient abilities.
Death Templar; +12 Str, +2 Wis, +6 Cha. DR 15/epic and good. 3 salient abilities.
Death Lord; +16 Str, +4 Wis, +8 Cha. DR 20/epic and good. 5 salient abilities.