Knights of the Eternal Dark: Taking the fight to the sunless deeps

Long ago in the kingdom of Stranghen, King Sturm so feared dying that he emptied the royal coffers to obtain a form of immortality, ruining the prosperity of his once powerful dynasty just to become a lich, gaining the title, the Deathless. Under the long rule of Sturm the Deathless the royal house eventually regained its status and prosperity, but it grew corrupt and morbid, leading the entire nation to revering the undead. One aristocrat after another turned to the Dark Arts to avoid death and hold onto the reigns of their power with bony hands. Life became cheap as the wealthy fed upon the poor, leeching the warmth of life from whomever they grew tired of to extend their false immortality. Love, joy, beauty, and compassion were gradually replaced by greed, hunger, vengeance, and cruelty.

The populace groaned under the tyranny of the undying regime for centuries, at once revering and fearing the undead masters who preserved the past at the expense of their nation’s future. During the eighteenth century of King Sturm’s reign a resistance arose that was able to face the terrible monsters that lead this degenerate nation, an order of stoic knights forming from among the common folk that dedicated itself to the eradication of undead. Dark souls they were in their own way, grimly facing the insoluble task of slaying thousands of undead lords. They gave up the light of day to live in the underground, becoming night-time hunters of the aberrant horrors that ruled the night, calling their resistance movement the Order of the Eternal Dark, though the common folk they defended came to call them the Greyswords for their sombre dress and corpse-like demeanour.

Most of these dauntless warriors died horrible deaths before they reached their middle years, and those who lived longer were often cursed or driven mad by the terrors they saw over their careers. But they never gave up the fight. It took much blood to wash away the taint of undeath from their country, these fearless warriors giving their lives willingly, and after a war that lasted for centuries their order was victorious. In the end, they hunted down and killed King Sturm and his retinue of wraiths and vampires, freeing Stranghen from his vile clutches. The war was over; they had rid the land of thousands of undying tyrants and brought an end to a horrible epoch in their nation’s history.

Peace did not come easy to men and women who had seen so much fear and pain, many of them could not adapt to a life of tranquillity. They were scarred and maddened by their suffering, having forgotten how to live a normal life. So when the war was over many of these holy warriors of the night moved on to other nations, endlessly hunting for deathless horrors to slay, and the order spread across the world, a silent answer to the howls in the dark…

Pillars of self-discipline, passionately dedicated (some would say obsessed) to the destruction of the undead, they do not often work well with others and can gain a bad reputation as “loose cannons”. To the Greyswords this just means they don’t let rules and regulations, or petty points of honour and pride, get in the way of killing undead monsters. Though they work effectively in small units and often form strong partnerships, many Greyswords fight and die alone in the dark…

Level Special Abilities

1 Aura of Good, Detect Undead, Smite Evil 1/Day, Grim Countenance

2 Divine Grace, Dark Lore

3 Aura of Courage

4 Turn Undead

5 Smite Evil 2/Day, Night Stalker (60’ dark vision)

6 Restoration 1/Week

7 Special Mount

8

9 Restoration 2/Week

10 Smite Evil 3/Day

11

12 Restoration 3/Week

13

14

15 Restoration 4/Week, Smite Evil 4/Day, Night Stalker (120’ Dark Vision)

16

17

18 Restoration 5/Week

19

20 Smite Evil 5/Day

GAME RULE INFORMATION

Greyswords have the following game statistics.

Abilities: Charisma enhances a greysword’s ability to smite, self-protective abilities, and ability to channel energy. Strength is important for its role in combat, something that all greyswords must face without fear or hesitation. A Wisdom score of 14 or higher is required to get access to the most powerful Greysword spells, and a score of 11 or higher is required to cast any divine spells at all.

Alignment: Virtuous and brave, but often anti-social and rebellious, Greyswords must be Chaotic Good in alignment.

Hit Dice: 1d10

Class Skills

The greysword’s class skills are bluff, climb, concentration, hide, intimidate, jump, knowledge (arcane, religion, undead), ride, survival, diplomacy, profession, search, sense motive, craft, use rope, swim, gather information, move silently, tumble, balance.

Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int Modifier) * 4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int. modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of greysword.

Weapons and Armour Proficiency: Greyswords are proficient in all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armour, and with all shields.

Smite Evil (Su): Once per day, a greysword may attempt to smite evil with one normal melee attack. The greysword adds any Charisma bonus to the attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per class level. If the greysword accidentally smites a creature that is not evil, the smite attempt has no effect, but the ability is still used up for that day.

Aura of Good: The power of a greysword’s aura of good (see the spell detect good) is equal to his class level.

Detect Undead (Sp): At will, a greysword can detect undead as the spell.

Grim Countenance: Greyswords are not known for sparkling wit, charm, or good looks. Grim resolve and the dust of the grave stain them, making others fearful of them even while their courage and virtue remain unquestioned. Many greyswords intentionally take to dressing and acting in a manner that reminds others of the undead, for which they are often mistaken. Filed teeth that look like fangs, blackened armour, weapons, and equipment, and a sullen refusal to be chipper or happy are common affectations among these gloomy but pious warriors. Greyswords gain a +4 bonus on Intimidation skill checks but suffer a -2 penalty on all other Charisma-based skill checks.

Dark Lore: Greyswords study every weakness of the undead, and learn to take advantage of flaws in the corporeal forms of the undead. By 2nd level, they learn to make critical attacks against corporeal undead as though these enemies were alive. If the knight is using a ghost touch weapon, critical hits may be made against incorporeal undead as well.

Divine Grace (su): At 2nd level, a greysword gains a bonus equal to his or her Charisma bonus (if any) on all saving throws.

Aura of Courage (su): The grim determination and fearlessness of these warriors is inspiring to others. At 3rd level, a Greysword becomes immune to fear (magical or otherwise). Each ally within 10’ of a Greysword gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against fear effects. This ability functions while the knight is conscious, but not while he or she is unconscious or dead.

Turn Undead (su): When the Greysword reaches 4th level the supernatural ability to turn undead by channelling positive energy is acquired. The greysword may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3+ any Charisma bonus. Greyswords turn undead as a cleric of three levels lower would.

Spells: Beginning at 4th level, a greysword gains the ability to cast a small number of divine spells, which are drawn from the greysword spell list. A greysword must choose and prepare her spells in advance.

To prepare or cast a spell, a greysword must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a greysword’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the greysword’s Wisdom modifier.

Like other spell-casters, a greysword can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Greysword. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Wisdom score. When Table: The Greysword indicates that the greysword gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, she gains only the bonus spells she would be entitled to based on her Wisdom score for that spell level The greysword does not have access to any domain spells or granted powers, as a cleric does.

A greysword prepares and casts spells the way a cleric does, though she cannot lose a prepared spell to spontaneously cast a cure spell in its place. A greysword may prepare and cast any spell on the greysword spell list, provided that she can cast spells of that level, but she must choose which spells to prepare during her daily meditation.

Through 3rd level, a greysword has no caster level. At 4th level and higher, her caster level is one-half her greysword level.

Special Mount: Upon reaching 7th level, a greysword gains the service of an unusually intelligent, strong, and loyal steed to serve her in her crusade against evil. This mount is usually a heavy warhorse (for a Medium greysword) or a war pony (for a Small greysword). Instead of a normal mount the greysword has the option of choosing a special beast more suited to travel underground such as a wolf, panther, or snake. Although they cannot be ridden they otherwise serve the knight as a special mount would.

Once per day, as a full-round action, a greysword may magically call her mount from the celestial realms in which it resides. This ability is the equivalent of a spell of a level equal to one-third the greysword’s level. The mount immediately appears adjacent to the greysword and remains for 2 hours per greysword level; it may be dismissed at any time as a free action. The mount is the same creature each time it is summoned, though the greysword may release a particular mount from service.

Each time the mount is called, it appears in full health, regardless of any damage it may have taken previously. The mount also appears wearing or carrying any gear it had when it was last dismissed. Calling a mount is a conjuration (calling) effect.

Should the greysword’s mount die, it immediately disappears, leaving behind any equipment it was carrying. The greysword may not summon another mount for thirty days or until she gains a greysword level, whichever comes first, even if the mount is somehow returned from the dead. During this thirty-day period, the greysword takes a -1 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls.

Night Stalker (ex): The Greysword is affected by the time spent pursuing the undead, adapting to life in the complete darkness of the tomb. At 5th level the greysword can effectively see in complete darkness to a range of 60’, but suffers a -1 strike penalty in normal daylight. Greyswords who have gained this ability can be recognised by their deathly pallor, gained from spending years wandering in dark caves and prowling the night, never getting to see the sun.

By 15th level, adaptation to the dark allows greyswords to see in complete darkness to a range of 120’. Greyswords who reach this level are effectively nocturnal, sleeping during the day instead of at night, and suffer a -2 strike penalty in normal daylight. A spot check (DC 10) is required to not mistake them for undead, and they gain a +10 bonus on skill checks when attempting to pass for a corpse or corporeal undead.

Restoration (su): Devoted to fighting the taint of undeath, greyswords learn to heal the life-draining attacks of the undead and fiends. At 6th level a greysword gains the ability to cast restoration, as the spell, once per week. This ability may be used an additional time per week for every 3 levels gained, to a maximum of 5 times a week at 18th level. Caster level is equal to the greysword’s class level.

Code of Conduct: A greysword must be chaotic good and loses all class abilities if he or she ever willingly commits an evil act. Additionally, a greysword’s code of conduct requires that members of this class slay any undead they can, help those in need (provided this does not help further evil ends or aid the undead), punish those who harm or threaten innocents, and free anyone enslaved or oppressed.

Associates: While greyswords adventure with characters of good or neutral alignment, a knight will never knowingly associate with evil characters or any type of undead, nor will then continue any association with someone who regularly offends the greysword’s moral code. Greyswords may not accept henchmen, followers, or cohorts who are lawful or evil.

Ex-Greyswords: A greysword who ceases to be chaotic good, willingly commits an evil deed, grossly violates the code of conduct, or who allows an undead creature to exist loses all class abilities and spells (but not weapon, armour, and shield proficiencies). The knight may not progress any further in levels as a greysword. All class abilities and advancement potential may be regained if the violations are atoned for (see the atonement spell description), as appropriate.

Like members of any other class, a greysword may be a multiclass character, but multiclass Knights of the Eternal Dark face a special restriction. A greysword who gains a level in any other class may never again rise in greysword level, although all class abilities are retained.