Tuesday 1 May 2012

May of the Dead: Death Knight

Dead but not buried.... Swaard of the Trollhaunt!
Things have been a bit "undeathly" around here recently. First off, I introduced Methragor's Skull into our 4E campaign, framing him as the leader of an orc army besieging Fallcrest. We also saw the return of our recently dead ranger, who came back as the terrifying death knight you see to your left - his latest incarnation in quite a long line, and one that drives his character even further into our story. Then, around the same time that Swaard of the Trollhaunt was clawing his way back from the dead, the guys over at Going Last invited us to contribute to their May of the Dead blog carnival: a coincidence which led directly to the article you see below.

I can't see many people wanting to introduce a death knight into their campaigns, so I've tweaked the fluff to make them more accessible (and bring them in line with my own campaign world). I'm quite keen on their benefit replacements too: especially the unholy flames power, which I've (hopefully) balanced somewhere between the revenant's dark reaping and a dragonborn's breath weapon. 

Anyway, see what you think! I certainly had fun writing it, and I think we can all agree Tjaart came up with a truly fantastic piece of made-to-order artwork. Also, be sure to keep an eye on May of the Dead throughout the month, so you can check out what the other contributors come up with! I certainly will be.


9 comments:

  1. Oh man, what a game we had and I really enjoy the new, "deader" Swaard a lot. Can't wait to get to a village and scare the children. Muhahahaa...

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    1. Yeah, and I can't wait to have some Val Helsing inspired hardnut hunt you down afterwards! :D

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    2. So you DO think I am evil... tsk tsk tsk... and here I thought Swaard has turned over a new leaf.

      You just like the 2 hour debates over morality that get's triggered when someone just vaguely try to pois.. drug their comrades, and once in a while palm a jewel or lightly torture people to get world saving information or summink.

      I always think... what would Jack Bauer do?

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  2. I'm normally not one for home-brewed races, but this one looks legit. I would play this happily and allow a player to do the same in any of my games.

    Well done!

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    1. Thanks, Sorcerer Blob. I couldn't ask for more, really :)

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  3. PC Death Knight = Awesome! One minor gripe: the effect of Unholy Flames suggests it heals the PC, but it only targets enemies.

    Otherwise, this is fantasstic; I would definitely be on board with using this in a game... the story of it is just so interesting.

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    1. Thanks! I'm glad you liked it, and yes - I should probably make that Target line a bit clearer.

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  4. Very nice. It works so well because writing this up as a racial variant is far more elegant than creating an entirely new race.

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    1. Thanks! I thought the overall vibe was similar to the Revenant, so it made sense to do it as a variant.

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