Wraith Knight (3.5e Prestige Class)

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A Knight with an organization that ensures the flow of life and death remains rigid. 10 Other Other

Wraith Knight

“	My masters tell me there's been too much killing here lately. I have come to put a stop to that.	”
—Akiri, an Orc Wraith Knight before destroying both a Necromancer and the adventurers trying to stop him.

Most think of wraiths as incorporeal monsters, meant to drain away and destroy all life. While that is certainly how shadows operate, nothing could be further from the truth for wraiths. Wraiths are spirits which guard the boundaries and flow of life and death and make sure they continue to flow correctly. Wraith Knights are knights who have taken up this mantle.

Just because they aren't the monsters that most incorporeal undead makes them out to be does not make them good, helpful, or kind. Wraiths have their own agenda, and individual members of the class run the gamut from Evil to Good. It's expected that there would be little in common between such different members.

Becoming a Wraith Knight

Entry Requirements  

Alignment:	Must be lawful.
Skills:	Knowledge (Religion) 13 ranks.
Feats:	Ghost Hunter.
Special:	Designate Opponent class feature

A member of the order of Wraith Knights gains immunity to energy drain and death effects, as if under the effects of a continuous death ward. This represents the 10th-level class feature of the Knight.

Table: The Wraith Knight

Hit Die: d12

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+1	+2	+0	+2	Aspect of the Wraith, Life Drain
2nd	+2	+3	+0	+3	Light Step, Wraith Travel
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+3	Ghostly Steed
4th	+4	+4	+1	+4	Mist Form, Vitality Drain
5th	+5	+4	+1	+4	Wraith Ascendance
Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level) Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Geography) (Int), Knowledge (History) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Wraith Knight.

Aspect of the Wraith: A Wraith Knight is transformed into a Swordwraith upon becoming a Wraith Knight.

Life Drain (Su): The Wraith Knight's Designate Opponent class feature also deals a point of strength or constitution drain per class level. The Knight chooses which attribute to drain when making the attack.

Light Step (Sp): A Wraith Knight can use air walk, fly, and levitate as spell-like abilities at will (caster level equal to character level). However, they can only be used as personal spells.

Wraith Travel (Sp): A Wraith Knight can use shadow walk as a spell-like ability at will.

Ghostly Steed: A Wraith Knight can summon a mount similar to the Paladin's ability. This mount must be a creature of your CR-2 or lower. You must be reasonably able to ride on such a creature. This creature appears ghostly and insubstantial, but nevertheless is not incorporeal and cannot have the incorporeal subtype. Any spell or spell-like ability that you cast upon yourself may also, at your option, affect your mount. If your mount is slain or you wish to change mounts, you may gain a new one by performing a ceremony requiring 24 uninterrupted hours of prayer.

Upon gaining the Wraith Ascendance class feature, your mount may be incorporeal and gains the benefits of Wraith Ascendance whenever you use it.

Mist Form (Su): Even while not fully incorporeal, the Wraith Knight is difficult to hit with most weapons, even magic weapons. Attacks against the Wraith Knight have a 50% miss chance. Ghost Touch weapons bypass this miss chance.

Vitality Drain (Su): Instead of Life Drain, a Wraith Knight can choose to deal one negative level when making an attack with her Designate Opponent class feature. Twenty-four hours later, a victim must make a Fortitude saving throw equal to 10 + 0.5 ½ the Wraith Knight's character level + the Wraith Knight's strength bonus to remove the negative level.

Wraith Ascendance (Su): Upon reaching fifth level, the Wraith Knight takes on the full aspects of the wraiths. The Knight may gain or lose the Incorporeal subtype as a full-round action, and may travel to and from the Ethereal plane as a standard action (as if using ethereal jaunt, but with no duration limit).

Campaign Information

Playing a Wraith Knight

Combat: Wraith Knights act much as Knights do -- protect their allies in combat, and dish out large damage to people that ignore them. This prestige class gives them additional movement and offensive options, while providing some interesting new defense designed to make them harder to hit and thus more likely to get their damage off.

Advancement: Wraith Knights are expected to find another prestige class that takes them from levels 16-20 after finishing this one.

Resources: Wraith Knights that are active in following up on leads from the shadowy Wraith Masters can count on non-combat assistance from these figures. This can include assistance breaking and entering exotic locales, item and soul trade, and other such high level concepts.

Wraith Knights in the World

Wraith Knights, in theory, answer to the Council of Wraiths. These creatures meet on the Ethereal Plane to discuss official business. This business includes things like:

• The soul trade.
• Soul travel from material to outer planes.
• Great creation or destruction of souls; or, sudden and unnatural spikes in birth or death rates.

What this Council is, and their exact mission, is kept purposely vague for maximum DM flexibility. Similarly, there may not be complete harmony or concurrence between every Council member and Wraith Knight. After all, the class is open to all lawful alignments — not merely those who are lawful good.

NPC Reactions: The Wraiths aren't exactly well-known outside of circles knowledgable about the planar infrastructure, so peasants in general will find the whole thing bizarre. Anyone who has had a bad experience with incorporeal undead will probably show some kind of prejudice. Clerics may find similarly-aligned Wraith Knights to be friends, thanks to their shepherding of the soul trade and travel in some fashion.

Wraith Knight Lore

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Religion) can research Wraith Knights to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Knowledge (Religion)

DC	Result
11	Wraith Knights can show up in times of great boon or great peril.
16	If a Wraith Knight arrives out of the blue, and everything seems normal, something weird is probably happening beneath the surface.
21	Wraith Knights' authority is derived from the Council of Wraiths, the shadowy Wraith Lords.
26	The Wraith Lords meet and discuss matters in a citadel on the Ethereal Plane.

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