Prestige Class from Five Nations(Eberron setting book):
BONE KNIGHT“We shall emerge triumphant from this dreadful war or be reduced to
dust. We defend Karrnath with our spilled blood, our last breath, our
very bones.”
— Madox Kaminarr, bone knight of Karrnath
Bone knights are Karrn patriots, living protectors who
fi ght alongside the undead legions of their land. During
the Last War, they provided tactical expertise and fi ne
control to the legions of undead Kaius raised to defend
his people. In postwar Karrnath, they serve as elite
knights who travel abroad to complete missions that
serve the greater glory of their king. They wear suits of
bonecraft armor that they craft themselves and learn to
harness the power of necromancy, turning hordes of
undead into disciplined, even cunning, troops.
Becoming a Bone Knight
Most bone knights begin their service to Karrnath as
clerics or cleric/fi ghters. A few ex-paladins also drift
easily into the bone knight class, regaining much of
what they lost for straying from the highest ideals of
the paladin.
Bone knights train in the armies of Karrnath and
must swear oaths to the nation’s king. A handful of
others are taught by the Order of the Emerald Claw,
who fi rst proposed the idea of knights shepherding
the undead.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Base Attack Bonus: +4.
Skills: Craft (armorsmithing) 6 ranks, Knowledge (religion)
4 ranks, Ride 6 ranks.
Special: Ability to turn or rebuke undead.
Special: Ability to cast 1st-level divine spells.
CLASS FEATURES
d10 HD
Medium BAB
good Fort save
Class Skills (2 + Int modifi er per level): Craft (armorsmithing), Craft (weaponsmithing), Handle Animal, Intimidate, Knowledge
(nobility and royalty), Knowledge (religion), Ride.
The following class features refl ect the bone knight’s
commanding presence on the battlefi eld and his mastery
of necromancy.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Bone knights
are profi cient with all simple and martial weapons and
with all armor and shields (including tower shields).
Bonecraft Armor (Ex): 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. It is possible to spend additional time and
money to produce spiked or masterwork bonecraft
armor (which may then be further enhanced through
magic). Only a character with this ability can effectively
wear bonecraft armor.
The armor grants you a +4 bonus on Intimidate
checks made while you wear it. In addition, the armor
grants you damage reduction 1/bludgeoning if it is
medium armor or damage reduction 2/bludgeoning if
it is heavy armor. Bonecraft armor is not metallic and
not subject to spells such as chill metal or to special attacks
that target metal, such as a rust monster’s touch.
Paladin Conversion: If you were a paladin or expaladin
before becoming a bone knight, you can never
again advance levels as a paladin, since your association
with the undead forever taints you. However, you
retain (or regain) certain paladin abilities, including
divine grace, lay on hands, aura of courage, divine
health, and spellcasting. You cannot detect or smite
evil or remove disease. You can use your lay on hands
ability to cure living or undead creatures. You lose the
service of your special mount (but see the summon skeletal
steed ability, below).
Rebuke Undead (Su): At 1st level, you gain the
ability to rebuke undead as a cleric of your bone knight
level. If you already had the ability to turn or rebuke
undead, you add your previous effective cleric level
to your bone knight level to determine your effective
cleric level for rebuking undead now. You can no
longer turn undead once you gain this ability.
Spellcasting: Beginning at 2nd level, you gain
new spells per day and an increase in caster level (and
spells known, if applicable) as if you had also gained
a level in a divine spellcasting class to which you
belonged before adding the prestige class level. You
do not, however, gain any other benefi t a character
of that class would have gained. If you had more than
one divine spellcasting class before becoming a bone
knight, you must decide to which class to add each level
for the purpose of determining spells per day, caster
level, and spells known.
If your only divine spellcasting ability prior to
becoming a bone knight was as a paladin, you continue
to advance your paladin spellcasting as normal.
In addition, you add the following spells to your spell
list, as if they appeared on the paladin’s spell list:
1st—bane, deathwatch, doom; 2nd—death knell, desecrate, gentle
repose; 3rd—bestow curse.
Bone March (Su): At 2nd level, you gain the ability
to assume control of animated undead from a willing
caster as a standard action. You must be within 60
feet of both the caster and the undead to assume control.
The maximum total Hit Dice you may command
in this manner is equal to four times your class level.
You may not control any individual undead creature
with more Hit Dice than your class level; for example,
a 2nd-level bone knight can control up to 8 Hit Dice
of undead creatures, each with 2 Hit Dice or less.
Summon Skeletal Steed (Sp): At 2nd level, you gain
the services of a skeletal steed: a heavy warhorse with the
skeleton template applied (or a war pony with the skeleton
template applied for Small bone knights). You may
call this steed in the same fashion as a paladin whose
level equals your paladin level plus your bone knight
level, and the steed gains the same special abilities as a
paladin’s special mount at the same effective level.
A skeletal steed cannot be turned while its bone
knight master rides it.
Master of the White Banner (Su): Beginning at
3rd level, you grant any undead under your control
turn resistance equal to your Charisma bonus (if any)
as long as they are within 60 feet of you.
Improved Bonecraft Armor (Ex): At 4th, 7th,
and 10th levels, the damage reduction afforded by your
bonecraft armor increases by 1. Moreover, you gain
additional benefi ts while clad in your bonecraft armor,
as described below:
At 4th level, your bonecraft armor grants you immunity
to stunning attacks and nonlethal damage.
At 7th level, your bonecraft armor has a 50% chance
of negating any critical hit or sneak attack made against
you. In addition, the bonecraft armor allows you to act
and fi ght without penalty even while disabled or dying.
At 10th level, your bonecraft armor grants you
immunity to extra damage from critical hits and
sneak attacks.
Fill the Ranks (Sp): At 5th level, you can use a
limited form of animate dead once per day. The target
corpse rises as either a Karrnathi skeleton or Karr nathi
zombie (depending on the condition of the corpse and
your preference). This undead’s Hit Dice count against
the maximum number of undead you can control at
once with your bone march ability.
See the EBERRON Campaign Setting for Karrnathi skeleton
and Karrnathi zombie statistics (pages 292–293).
Bonecraft Weapon (Ex): At 6th level, if you have
at least 6 ranks in Craft (weaponsmithing), you can
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. It is
possible to spend additional time and money to produce
a masterwork bonecraft weapon (which may then
be further enhanced through magic).
In the hands of a bone knight of 6th level or higher,
a bonecraft weapon deals +1d6 points of damage against
living creatures. A bonecraft ranged weapon bestows
this benefi t on its ammunition.
Exoskeleton of Undeath (Ex): At 8th level, your
bonecraft armor fuses to your body and cannot be
removed without killing you. However, you gain immunity
to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, death
effects, fatigue, exhaustion, ability damage to your
physical ability scores, ability drain, energy drain, and
death from massive damage.
Death Strike (Su): At 9th level, once per day, you
may use a bonecraft weapon (see above) to strike down
a living foe. You must decide to use this ability before
the attack roll is made. If the attack succeeds, the target
must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 10 + your bone
knight level + your Cha modifi er) or die. This is a necromantic
death effect.
