Mirror Knight (3.5e Monster)
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The mirror knight is the undead remains of a Giant embedded within a protective shell of ornately engraved silvered mithral armour. Mirror knights are a relic from an age long past, before men walked the earth, when powerful races of giants held dominion over large portions of the world. It has been speculated that these mighty necromantic constructs are the result of ancient warriors who had their consciousness and dead flesh willingly sealed so they could continue to hold vigil over the ruined remains of their once splendid, continent-spanning homeland. Mirror knights are exceedlingly rare and incredibly dangerous, taking entire armies to put down. Even so diminished by its undead state, the strength of the ancient warrior inside the armour is enough to cut swathes through entire batallions. All but the most stalwart of would-be heroes would be smart to turn away upon finding a mirror knight guarding a tomb or a treasure.
A mirror knight stands an imposing 12 feet tall and weighs 1,500 pounds.
Combat[edit]
A mirror knight's natural weapons and any weapons it wields are treated as silver and adamantine for the purpose of bypassing [{SRD:Damage Reduction|damage reduction]]. Furthermore, its devastating lightning greatsword also has the properties of orichalcum, bypassing deflection bonuses to Armor Class, magical and supernatural shields, and any spells or spell-like abilities that grant either shield bonuses to AC or damage reduction.
A mirror knight still counts as undead for the purpose of being affected by cure and inflict spells, but its reconstruction as a magical construct protects it from such effects that would disrupt or destroy undead outright. A mirror knight can be turned or rebuked, but not destroyed or commanded.
A mirror knight gains the full benefits of its equipment, as described below, and furthermore has the following special attacks and abilities.
Martial Defense: A mirror knight draws upon the centuries of combat experience it host possesses, and both strikes and defends with great discipline. As such, it has a martial defense of 30. Any creature attempting to attack the mirror knight with a martial maneuver must succeed a DC 30 initiator check. If the result equals or exceeds the mirror knight's martial defense, the maneuver works normally, although the knight is still allowed a saving throw where applicable. If the initiator fails the check, the maneuver is blocked, parried or otherwise overcome as to have no effect on the mirror knight. If an attack is made as part of the maneuver, it may still hit, but it will only be a regular attack.
Mirror Shade (Sp): The mirror knight can use the power of its shield and the necromantic energies that sustain it to capture the 'essence' of any Medium sized or smaller creature that casts a reflection upon it. As a 1-round action, the knight slams its mirror shield down onto the ground, facing the targeted creature. While the mirror knight is capturing the essence of a creature, it cannot attack or defend itself, losing its martial defense and its shield bonus to Armor Class for the duration, including any of the special benefits the mirror shield bestows.
During the round this ability is used, the shadowy reflection cast upon the mirror remains even if the creature that projected it moves away, and gains a sinister life and animus of its own. At the start of the mirror knight's next turn, the mirror shade forces its way out of the shield and starts its turn within a space adjacent to the mirror knight.
A mirror shade has the same vital statistics as the base creature, including ability scores, Armor Class, saving throws and hit points. The mirror shade has access to all of the base creature's attacks and abilities, and is armed with a perfect simulacrum of any mundane and magical gear the base creature was wearing and carrying at the moment of capture, as well as the same amount of prepared or spontaneous spell and/or ability slots. However, all attacks, spells and special ability components created by the mirror shade are treated as a shades effect, either dealing only 80% of the damage or having an 80% chance to be effective if disbelieved with a successful DC 31 Will save (Charisma-based). The mirror shade is under a constant mind blank effect and serves the mirror knight unquestioningly, though it disappears if the base creature dies or if it is killed or dismissed. This ability is the equivalent of a 9th-level spell.
A mirror shade cannot be dispelled outright, but a successful DC 29 dispel check will stagger the shade for 1 round.
After using this ability, the mirror knight must wait 2d4 rounds before it can be used again.
Maneuver-Like Abilities (Ex)[edit]
A mirror knight possesses unique maneuver-like abilities. It may choose to spend one standard action to recover an expended maneuver. This standard action may include one normal attack action. A regained maneuver cannot be used in the same round in which it is recovered. The mirror knight's effective initiator level is equal to its base attack bonus (18).
Electrified Slash: As a standard action, the mirror knight flourishes his lightning greatsword in a wide arc and charges it with powerful electric energy, releasing it in a sword beam that travels along the path of the slash. The mirror knight makes an attack roll at a -4 penalty to any creature and object within a 60-foot line. Any creature so hit takes triple the lightning greatsword's electricity damage (6d6+36).
Jump Attack: The mirror knight powerfully leaps into the air and descends upon its enemies with a devastating overhead blow. It makes a Jump check as a part of a full-round action attack. The result of the check denotes the maximum distance the knight can jump to reach its target, and if the resulting attack roll hits, the mirror knight deals 2d6 extra points of damage for every 5 points of the check result.
Shield Charge: The mirror knight enters a charge as a full-round action, allowing it to move up to 4 times its land speed in a straight line until meeting an obstacle or opponent. If the first opponent fails a DC 43 Reflex save, the target takes 2d8+20 bludgeoning damage and is effectively bullrushed with a +8 bonus to the mirror knight's opposed check, for a total of +27. Evasion or improved evasion have no effect on the result, but grant a respective +4 and +8 bonus to the saving throw. The mirror knight moves with the opponent, pushing them back and possibly including additional targets within the bull rush, forcing them to also make a Reflex save and an opposed check. The mirror knight's movement ends when its bull rush is stopped, dealing 2d6 points of additional damage for every 5 feet a creature was pushed back. If the mirror knights movement reaches a solid obstacle, like a strong wall or pillar, any bullrushed opponents crushed into it take triple damage from the shield bash.
Thunder Pulse: As a full-round action, the mirror knight slams its sword down into the ground, and brings out all of its latent power into a swiftly expanding electric shockwave that ripples through the atmosphere. Any creature within 120 feet of the mirror knight (in 3 dimensions) must make a DC 39 Fortitude save or become stunned and suffer the effects of the wingbindSpC spell, both for 1 round.
Equipment[edit]
A mirror knight is a powerful construction that combines the powers of necromancy and golemcraft, and as such it comes heavily equipped to aid it in combat. All of the following items are appropriate for creatures of Large size.
Lightning Greatsword: This +5 greatsword is fashioned from silvered orichalcum, possessing the properties of both materials. Its base damage is 3d6+10 slashing and 2d6 electricity. The wielder of the lightning greatsword adds his Wisdom or Charisma bonus to the electricity damage the weapon deals, whichever is larger. Wielding a lightning greatsword grants access to the 1st through 8th-level spells of the Voltage domain, usable at will as spell-like abilities channeled with the weapon as a focus. Whenever the lightning greatsword's magic is used, the wielder must wait for a number of rounds equal to the level of the domain spell used before he can invoke another domain spell. The effective caster level of these effects are equal to the wielder's base attack bonus. To invoke a spell, his effective caster level needs to be high enough to cast that spell normally (BAB/CL 13th for a 7th level spell, etcetera).
Mirror Plate: This +5 mithral full plate is coated with alchemical silver bonded tightly to its owner, and grants an additional +2 armor bonus when worn by an undead creature. The mirror plate reflects energy very efficiently, conferring a spell resistance of 30 and resistance to electricity 30 when worn.
Mirror Plate Helm: This oddly shaped helm is part of the mirror plate regalia, shaped like an angelic face framed on either side by two more faces, not unlike the asura of old, and adorned with a crown of silvered thorns. The wearer of the mirror plate helm has no visual blind spot, enabling to see in all directions and making them impossible to flank or sneak attack unless the attacker cannot be perceived by any of the wearer's modes of sight.
Mirror Shield: This large and heavy +5 greatshield is an ornately framed, oval-shaped mirror that casts a murky reflection of whatever light hits it. When wielded, the shield grants its user a ward of 25 or its total AC, whichever is lower. The wielder of a mirror shield has a 50% chance to reflect any rays, lines, cones and even magic missile spells that target him. This chance increases to 75% when fighting defensively, and to 100% when using the total defense option. Any spell or effect reflected by this special quality has a 30% chance to be rebounded onto the attacker, otherwise it is merely negated upon hitting the shield.
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