Dark Knight
A Dark Knight is born when a Paladin’s soul has been taken. A Dark Knight is never willingly created. The will born from their making is unbreakable in their quest to crush all until their soul is returned. The core powers that are the hallmark of other Paladins are tainted.
Ideals: A soulless life is an abomination that must be destroyed or restored.
All are dust before my ire.
My soul’s return is the core of my existence.
Others must be kept at arm’s length.
| Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3 | Bane, Ray of Sickness |
| 5 | Phantasmal Force, Ray of Enfeeblement |
| 9 | Enemies Abound, Spirit Shroud |
| 13 | Blight, Phantasmal Killer |
| 17 | Contagion, Destructive Wave |
Subclass Features
Touch of the Void
Your emptiness replaces your Lay of Hands restoration properties with a pool of roiling Necrotic damage barely held back. You have the same number of hit points that on a successful unarmed strike you can expend as a bonus action to deal Necrotic damage equal to the hit points expended in Necrotic damage.
On a successful unarmed strike you can instead choose to expend 5 hit points from your pool to inflict the Blinded or Deafened condition until the end of their next turn.
Oath Spells
Your drive and frightfulness will grant you certain spells. You know the following spells and they do not count towards the number of spells you can prepare.
Aura of Emptiness
Your Aura of Protection is corrupted. Those within your aura instead have disadvantage on saving throws for Paladin spells.
Soulless Existence
Your prolonged time without a soul gives you immunity to the Charmed and Frightened conditions.
Aura of Despair
Your Aura of Courage is corrupted. Creatures that start their turn within your aura must make a WIS saving throw DC equal to your spell save DC and on a failed save become Frightened. On a successful save a creature is Immune to this effect for 24 hours.
You can suppress and activate this aura at will requiring no action.
Dark Strikes
Your Radiant Strikes are corrupted. The bonus damage becomes Necrotic damage instead.
Damning Touch
Your Restoring Touch is corrupted. You can expend 5 hit points from your pool on a successful hit to cause the target to become Stunned by the creeping darkness within you until the end of their next turn.
Unbreakable Will
Your desire to regain your soul can overcome all obstacles. You can use your reaction to give yourself advantage on a saving throw.
Soulless Berserker
Your existence becomes maddening with each day being drained of hope. As a bonus action you can enter a state of hatred for 10 minutes. During this time you have the following features
Each time you miss an attack you become enraged, giving your next attack advantage.
If you hit a creature with an attack that has advantage you deal an additional damage die of damage from your melee weapon.
Your attacks of opportunity are critical hits as your fury guides your aim.
Each time you reduce a creature to zero hit points, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Paladin level as the void within you devourers their essence. A creature reduced to zero hit points by you cannot be revived (This feature does not work on Angels that have not fallen and Constructs).
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest or you expend a 5th level spell slot to regain the use of this feature (No action required).