Dark Knight FF (5e Class)
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Dark Knight, Final Fantasy-esque
Dark Knights are not evil by nature. They are Knights by nature, and are still bound by a path of righteousness. Dark Knight's seek to maintain order within the realm, by fighting for one side; the living. You are equipped with powerful skills as you level, but they'll require you to expend spell slots to use them. Famous Dark Knights may include Cecil Harvey, Zeid, and Alternis Dim.
- Quick Build
You can make a Dark Knight quickly by following these suggestions. First, Strength should be your highest ability score, followed by Constitution. You may select any background, as long as you can explain it adequately to your DM.
Class Features
As a Dark Knight you gain the following class features.
- Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d10 per Dark Knight level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + Constitution modifier per Dark Knight level after 1st
- Proficiencies
Armor: All armor, shields
Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
Tools: none
Saving Throws: Strength, Wisdom
Skills: Choose two from Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Persuasion, and Religion.
- Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- (a) a martial weapon and a shield or (b) two martial weapons
- (a) five handaxes or (b) any two simple melee weapons
- (a) a priest's pack or (b) an explorer's pack
- (a) Chain mail, (b) scale mail, or (c) studded leather
| Level | Proficiency Bonus | Features | —Spell Slots per Spell Level— | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | |||
| 1st | +2 | Spellcasting, Blood Weapon, | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2nd | +2 | Fighting Style, Death Defiant | 2 | — | — | — | — |
| 3rd | +2 | Arcane Circle, Last Resort | 3 | — | — | — | — |
| 4th | +2 | Ability Score Improvement | 3 | — | — | — | — |
| 5th | +3 | Extra Attack | 4 | 2 | — | — | — |
| 6th | +3 | Crimson Blight | 4 | 2 | — | — | — |
| 7th | +3 | Soul Eater | 4 | 3 | — | — | — |
| 8th | +3 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 3 | — | — | — |
| 9th | +4 | Arcana Killer | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — |
| 10th | +4 | Dark Sword | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — |
| 11th | +4 | Anti Curse | 4 | 3 | 3 | — | — |
| 12th | +4 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 3 | 3 | — | — |
| 13th | +5 | — | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | — |
| 14th | +5 | Muted Soul | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | — |
| 15th | +5 | Extra Attack (Special) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — |
| 16th | +5 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — |
| 17th | +6 | Arcana Slaughterer | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 18th | +6 | Last Resort Improvement | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 19th | +6 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 20th | +6 | Blood Soaked Weapon | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
Spellcasting
Through your training, you have learned to draw on darkened energies through concentration and psyche manipulation to create magical effects in lieu of the spells that clerics, paladins, or other spellcasters cast.
The Dark Knight table shows how many spell slots you have to create your effects. To use one of your dark knight features at a 1st level of spell level or higher, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.
- Darkened Power
Some of the Dark Knights features will utilize a save DC, not unlike a spell save DC. This DC is 8+ constitution + your proficiency bonus. Unique to Dark Knights, as their Constitution allows them to undergo more strenuous uses of the dark energy that empowers them.
Blood Weapon
With your dark arts, you may expend a spell slot as a bonus action to activate your Blood Weapon feature. The weapon must deal slashing damage, and can only be activated on one weapon at a time.
Blood Weapon is a Dark Knight technique that allows one to drain hit points through their weapon attacks and restore their own in turn. If a Dark Knight's HP is full, this feature is not considered active until they are below maximum HP once more. On a successful weapon attack, you deal an additional 1d6 per spell slot level of necrotic damage, regaining hit points equal to the damage dealt. This technique has a different effect on the undead, harming you instead and restoring hit points to undead equal to the damage dealt. Your Blood Weapon lasts for 1 minute with concentration. It ends early if you are knocked Unconscious or are killed.
Fighting Style
At 2nd level, you adopt a 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.
- Defense
While you are wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.
- Dueling
When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.
- Great Weapon Fighting
When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.
- Protection
When a creature you can see attacks a target other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll. You must be wielding a shield.
- Two-Weapon Fighting
When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.
Death Defiant
At 2nd level, your training to harnessing negative and dark energies has taken root in the fiber of your being. You gain resistance to necrotic damage, and magic or spell effects that would instantly kill you have a 50% chance to fail and have no effect. This chance to fail is not applied to instant death via massive damage.
Arcane Circle
At 3rd level, you can expend a spell slot as a bonus action to cast Arcane Circle. Within 10 feet of you, you and friendly creatures are granted resistance to damage from spells. This affect may last up to 1 minute, with concentration. When casting Arcane Circle at higher levels, the radius increases by 10 feet per spell slot level.
Last Resort
At 3rd level, you can expend one spell slot as a bonus action to activate your Last Resort feature. A crimson colored aura surrounds your body, forcing hostile creatures within 20 feet of you to make a Wisdom Saving Throw against your Dark Power DC. On a failed save, they must focus their attacks on you. When you land an attack on a creature during Last Resort, you deal 1d12 extra damage of the weapons type. If a creature lands an attack on you, you suffer an additional 1d12 of the damage type. Activating Last Resort with higher level spell slots will increase these damage rolls by 1d12 per spell level. (I.E. Level 2 Spell slot is 2d12, Level 3 is 3d12, so on)
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.
Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn. The number of attacks increases to two at level 15 if you have the Blood Weapon feature activated.
Crimson Blight
At 6th level, your attacks are imbued with powerful energy. Whenever you hit a creature with a melee weapon, the creature takes an extra 1d4 force damage.
Soul Eater
At 7th level, you can expend a spell slot as a bonus action to cast Soul Eater. This effect lasts for 1 minute.
You are devoted to fight for the living, and sacrifice your health for increased damage. When landing successful weapon attacks, add 1d8 of the weapons damage type to the damage rolls. At higher spell slot levels, you undergo severe strain, and while increasing damage done by 1d8 per spell level, while additionally suffering that a sum of half that same damage upon dealing it.
Arcana Killer
At 9th level, when a creature within 5 feet of you casts a spell, you can expend a spell slot to make a melee weapon attack against that creature using a special reaction. Using this special reaction is considered using your reaction, however, you may continue to use this Arcana Killer feature as many times as it is subsequently activated, as long as you possess the requisite spell slots. The weapon attack deals an extra 1d8 force damage per spell level. When you damage a creature that is concentrating on a spell, that creature has disadvantage on the saving throw it makes to maintain its concentration.
Dark Sword
At 10th level, you may expend a spell slot to use your Dark Sword feature on an attack roll. Despite the name, Dark Sword can be used with any weapon you are proficient in. This special attack roll will attempt to Stun a creature with an additional damage of 1d10 + your STR modifier. This damage increases by 1d10 per spell slot level above level 1. The target must pass STR saving through against your save DC, or be subjected to the stunned condition for the next round.
Anti Curse
At 11th level, your obsession with harnessing negative and dark energies has further taken hold in your body and soul. Conferring resistance to all damage incurred by a type of curse, rolls to remove a curse from you are always granted advantage, and penalties to ability scores from curses are not applied as long as you are above half of your maximum HP.
Muted Soul
At 14th level, when you use Last Resort, you may choose to require only enemies within 10 feet from you to focus their attacks on you.
Extra Attack (Special)
At 15th level, if you have Blood Weapon active, you may make two weapon attacks when you take the Attack option.
Arcana Slaughterer
At level 16, you have advantage on saving throws against spells cast by creatures within 30 feet of you.
Last Resort Improvement
At 18th level, you've learned how to reduce the damage you take by going into a frenzy like state. Instead of taking an additional 1d12 of damage when a creature lands an attack on you, you now only take 1d6 regardless of which spell slot you expended.
Blood Soaked Weapon
At 20th level, when you activate Blood Weapon, it will activate regardless of the status of your current HP. You can store temporary hit points in lieu of regaining standard hit points if you are at max HP. During Blood Weapon, the temporary hit points may stack, however you may not stack these temporary hit points afterwards, even if you activate Blood Weapon once more.
Multiclassing
Prerequisites. To qualify for multiclassing into the dark knight class, you must meet these prerequisites: Str 13 or Dex 13, Cha 13 Proficiencies. When you multiclass into the dark knight class, you gain the following proficiencies: Simple and martial weapons, light and medium armor, shields.
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