Plague Knight

Volwryn’s reality is a balance of life, death, order, and chaos that sways on its axis at the hands of those who would champion their cause. Plague knights are masters of death, creating necromantic armies of undead and spreading disease in their wake. When everything is dead, there will be nothing left for the Chaos to claim.

Armor Proficiency

Plague knights are proficient with all types of armor (light, medium, and heavy), but not with shields. This alters the veritus champion’s armor and shield proficiencies.

Runeforging (Ex)

Plague knights pay their blood debt with runes specially crafted during their morning ritual. At 1st level, when a plague knight fills his blood debt each morning, he can immediately dedicate 12 of those points to a single two-handed melee weapon or split between two light or one-handed melee weapons he wields. This functions as sheathed in blood, except the bonuses last until the next time the knight fills his blood debt.

As he gains levels, a plague knight can dedicate more of his blood debt to his weapons with runeforging, in the same way a veritus champion improves his weapon through sheathed in blood.

Beginning at 12th level, a plague knight can take 5 minutes to change the enhancement bonuses and weapon properties applied to his weapons using this ability, so long as the resulting total is the same. This time can be spent in conjunction with scourge of volwryn (see below).

This alters blood debt and sheathed in blood.

Undead Companion (Ex)

As long as a plague knight has at least 12 points of his blood debt dedicated to his weapons, he gains an undead companion. This functions as the necromancer class feature, except the knight’s effective druid level is equal to half his veritus champion level (minimum 1st).

Grip of Death (Su)

At 2nd level, a plague knight gains Improved Drag as a bonus feat. As long as he has at least 12 points of his blood debt dedicated to his weapons, a plague knight can attempt to drag an enemy toward him from up to 30 feet away. The knight doesn’t move when dragging a creature in this way.

At 7th level, the knight gains Greater Drag as a bonus feat.

This replaces Endurance and Die Hard.

Scourge of Volwryn

 At 3rd level, a plague knight can take 5 minutes to tap into the soul of Volwryn from across any planar boundary to transform his power over undeath into something else. When he does, the plague knight becomes his choice of a blood knight or frost knight. He gains those abilities in place of undead companion, festering strike, fetid decay, plaguebringer, and army of undead.

Sickening Strikes

At 6th level, a plague knight can convert 12 points of his blood debt as a standard action to cast sickening strikes as a spell-like ability. Creatures normally immune to disease can be affected by the knight’s sickening strike, but do gain a +2 bonus to save against it.

This replaces waves of blood.

Fetid Decay (Su)

At 9th level, as long as a plague knight has at least 12 points of his blood debt dedicated to his weapons, he can cast boiling blood, targeting any creature (even if it doesn’t have blood), and the damage dealt counts as both negative energy and fire (it affects creatures resistant or immune to fire damage normally).

At 13th level, the knight can target one creature per three levels, no two of which may be more than 50 ft. apart.

At 17th level, the knight can use fetid decay a number of times per day equal to his Constitution modifier (minimum 1) without converting blood debt to do so.

This replaces blood burst at the listed levels.

Plaguebringer (Su)

At 11th level, when a plague knight hits a creature already affected by his sickening strikes with an attack, each enemy within 10 feet of that creature must also save against the effect. Each creature that fails its save (including the original target) takes damage equal to the knight’s Constitution modifier.

This replaces Survivor.

Army of the Undead

At 15th level, as long as a plague knight has at least 12 points of his blood debt dedicated to his weapons, he can convert 60 points of his blood debt to cast summon nature’s ally V, but only to create 1d4+1 creatures. Those creatures gain undead traits, a +7 bonus to AC, attacks, and saves, and a +3 bonus to damage. These bonuses also apply to the knight’s undead companion.

At 18th level, the knight can cast summon nature’s ally VI instead, and his bonuses increase to +9 and +4.

At 20th level, the knight can cast summon nature’s ally VII instead, and his bonuses increase to +10 and +5.

This replaces blood possession.