Never Have Your Players Face A Death Knight - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Never Have Your Players Face A Death Knight

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
kipper_snifferdoo_02
Nov 12, 2004 12:21:29 So in my home campaign, Chemosh has a Death Knight (could be Ausric Krell they've never asked him) that the god has sent after the players to retrieve an amulet from them. The amulet has been magically bonded to the Half-Kagonesti ranger and he's been unable to get rid of it. But it has also provided a number of clues to the elven sisters past (who have just discovered they are half Silvanesti and now have a lead on a city where they believe their mother is being held.)

Anyway the first time they encountered this Death Knight he arrived with a spellstiched ghast that jumped the ranger and took the amulet, but other than the Death Knight scaring the crap out of everyone and the ghast paralyzing the ranger and roughing him up a bit they left everyone alone and disappeared with the amulet. The players were around 3rd or 4th level.

However the Death Knight didn't know about the bond and the amulet returned to the ranger. (Much to the ranger's dismay.) The Death Knight was severely punished by Chemosh for his failure.

After months of adventuring the players found themselves in the elven sisters grandfather's farmhouse. Last night there was a knock on the door and the ranger answered it. Standing at the front door was the Death Knight. This time the Death Knight knew what he had to do to retrieve the amulet. The ranger grabbed his weapons and called to Forge (the dwarven priest of Sirrion) for help. Telbin (the kender) ran upstairs to get the elven sisters.

The Death Knight calmly asked for the amulet and the ranger tried to talk his way out of getting killed. Then the back door opened up and the spellstiched ghast slunk into the kitchen and started looking the ranger up and down for the amulet. Forge cast consecrate and headed for his hammer in the corner. The ranger maneuvered away from the pawing hands of the ghast and the Death Knight pointed his finger at the ranger and said "die". The ranger obliged. Then the ghast started going through his pouches.

The elven sisters and the kender headed down stairs, but the Death Knight cast a wall of ice across the room blocking them from entering the room. The kender had managed to make a small hole in the ice and started to crawl through from the top of the stairs but got stuck. The dwarven cleric wisely rushed the wall of ice and cracked it but failed to break it.

The ghast found the amulet and with the twirl of a red cloak he disappeared in a swirl of smoke. Then the Death Knight started to mumble and shudder and he appeared to be sucking all the heat out of the room. The wizard with her magical blindsight could sense that a great amount of energy was building up and she figured it was going to be released so she told everyone to get out of the house as fast as they could. They plucked the kender out of the ice wall and ran upstairs and out of a window onto the overhang of the front porch. The dwarven cleric grabbed the ranger's body and ran out the front door.

Then, the Death Knight released and abyssal blast that blew everyone to the ground. The kender was on death's door, the wizard was barely conscious, and her sister Theanna, (the rouge with the ring of fire protection) actually took minimal damage. Forge took lots of damage, but he's always been tough. Luckily their grandfather and cousin were already running away when the blast took affect.

The house was obliterated and the Death Knight just stood calmly within the debri and focused his sights on the dwarven cleric saying that his god would reward him greatly for eliminating a cleric of Sirron. Forge took the hint and started to run as fast as his dwarven legs would carry him.

Theanna healed Telbin and brought him back just enough to walk. Rouge stood protectively over the body of Telbin and her sister and cast her most deadliest lighting bolt at the Death Knight (i.e. War Mage with Maximized Lightning Bolt) and unbelievably she got through the Dark Knight's defenses! The blast knocked the Death Knight back a step and he turned toward her. Before she could react the Knight drew his sword and impaled the wizard on it. Rouge fell to the ground dead. Then Theanna and the kender ran as fast as they could into the dark of the night...

So in summation, pitting your 8th level party against a CR22 Death Knight is not a good idea unless you are looking to obliterate them... But it makes for a great story doesn’t it?
#2
Sysane
Nov 12, 2004 12:30:05 That sounded like a great session (for you anyway, not your PCs).
#3
frostdawn
Nov 12, 2004 14:27:28 Damn Kip, that was pretty brutal.
#4
valharic
Nov 12, 2004 14:59:47 Holy Bahgeezus!! That's great! A lesson learned that night I think.
#5
eaglos
Nov 12, 2004 16:26:41 I do not see a problem in the matchup between your party and the death knight. Your players must learn when to flee the scene like cowards and when to stand and fight (and probably die) like heros!

Why even think of fighting a death knight
----

Thumbs up for the death knight! He treated them as they deserverd.
#6
Dragonhelm
Nov 12, 2004 17:46:37 Making up for being late to Killer Breakfast this year? ;)

Next time, take them up against this guy.

Then make all of their old characters who died his undead servants. :heehee
#7
zombiegleemax
Nov 12, 2004 18:57:45 It was a great session and it was rather brutal. That was exactly how I wanted ot to go. :D Although in the end I had one more casualty than I had planned for. (actually two, the kender's skunk familiar died as well.) But the War Mage decided to take her best shot, which she did take a GREAT shot, but then she died for it. I don't think next time they will be hanging around to cast spells at him.

Heh, to be honest the players knew that I had pulled a few punches to keep them alive sometimes and I wanted to dispel the myth that they would "always" get off the hook just to make them a little more cautious. (In fact the wizard was taken to -9 just a couple days before in a battle against a black dragon because she hung around casting spells while everyone else was running. I hope she learned her lesson. heh)

Making up for being late to Killer Breakfast this year? ;)

LOL!

Next time, take them up against this guy.

I might just use him. Basically the Death Knight does have a backstory to him. The spellstiched ghast is his son that he offered up to Chemosh. Now they are together forever in undeath.

Then make all of their old characters who died his undead servants. :heehee

That's not too far from what might happen actually. They are going to be heading to Haven to find a cleric to raise the dead, but first they will run into Mina who will offer to make reprimands for the sloppy work of the Death Knight and she will raise the characters with the "blessing of Chemosh"... making them the Beloved of Chemosh in the process... Mwhahahah I hope they turn her offer down. But we'll see...
#8
zombiegleemax
Nov 12, 2004 19:14:31 Dang Kip I hope you never ask me to play in a game of yours.

My party did meet a death knight twice. It was the death knight's job to keep all mortals out of a necromancers tower that he had failed to destroy (a long story in and of itself). Anyway the characters managed to get by him somehow and then had to face the lich inside. Talk about "out of the frying pan and into the fire." The lich has been cursed for his betrayl to the Orders. His curse is that he cannot ever leave the tower nor can he enter the library, which contains all the spellbooks. He knows there is a spell in those books that will free him, but he cannot enter nor can he command his minions to enter either. The lich tells them they can leave should they retrieve him this specific book from the library. Oh yeah, and they have to give up 1 party member and all their magical items. (I had gone a bit monty haul and needed to reduce their magic. I wasn't that bad, they would have gotten new stuff eventually.)

The party had no real leader and we had 2 new people. One of the new guys takes control of the party and agrees to the liches demands. He has a plan though. He thinks he can outsmart a 1000 year old lich. Bad move.

He gets the book and tears it in half, giving part of it to the party and takes the other half to the lich. He tells the lich that he will get the other half, so long as everyone gets to go free. The lich slays him outright and then conjures 8 giant skeletons, the kind with the fireballs in their bellies to prevent the rest of the party from leaving. They charged the skeletons and died themselves within 3 rounds.

In the end they the lich got his book and was able to free himself and now there's a 1000 year old lich running around Krynn. 2 people weren't there for that encounter so they we "watching camp." So the Human female fighter and the Kender make rogue are the only remaining party members and they went to go and investigate what was taking the rest of the party so long to get back. They too find the overgrown path that leads to the tower and run into the death knight who tellls them their friends are lost to them and they should prepare the world for the terror to come.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 kipper_snifferdoo_02 Nov 12, 2004 12:21:29	So in my home campaign, Chemosh has a Death Knight (could be Ausric Krell they've never asked him) that the god has sent after the players to retrieve an amulet from them. The amulet has been magically bonded to the Half-Kagonesti ranger and he's been unable to get rid of it. But it has also provided a number of clues to the elven sisters past (who have just discovered they are half Silvanesti and now have a lead on a city where they believe their mother is being held.) Anyway the first time they encountered this Death Knight he arrived with a spellstiched ghast that jumped the ranger and took the amulet, but other than the Death Knight scaring the crap out of everyone and the ghast paralyzing the ranger and roughing him up a bit they left everyone alone and disappeared with the amulet. The players were around 3rd or 4th level. However the Death Knight didn't know about the bond and the amulet returned to the ranger. (Much to the ranger's dismay.) The Death Knight was severely punished by Chemosh for his failure. After months of adventuring the players found themselves in the elven sisters grandfather's farmhouse. Last night there was a knock on the door and the ranger answered it. Standing at the front door was the Death Knight. This time the Death Knight knew what he had to do to retrieve the amulet. The ranger grabbed his weapons and called to Forge (the dwarven priest of Sirrion) for help. Telbin (the kender) ran upstairs to get the elven sisters. The Death Knight calmly asked for the amulet and the ranger tried to talk his way out of getting killed. Then the back door opened up and the spellstiched ghast slunk into the kitchen and started looking the ranger up and down for the amulet. Forge cast consecrate and headed for his hammer in the corner. The ranger maneuvered away from the pawing hands of the ghast and the Death Knight pointed his finger at the ranger and said "die". The ranger obliged. Then the ghast started going through his pouches. The elven sisters and the kender headed down stairs, but the Death Knight cast a wall of ice across the room blocking them from entering the room. The kender had managed to make a small hole in the ice and started to crawl through from the top of the stairs but got stuck. The dwarven cleric wisely rushed the wall of ice and cracked it but failed to break it. The ghast found the amulet and with the twirl of a red cloak he disappeared in a swirl of smoke. Then the Death Knight started to mumble and shudder and he appeared to be sucking all the heat out of the room. The wizard with her magical blindsight could sense that a great amount of energy was building up and she figured it was going to be released so she told everyone to get out of the house as fast as they could. They plucked the kender out of the ice wall and ran upstairs and out of a window onto the overhang of the front porch. The dwarven cleric grabbed the ranger's body and ran out the front door. Then, the Death Knight released and abyssal blast that blew everyone to the ground. The kender was on death's door, the wizard was barely conscious, and her sister Theanna, (the rouge with the ring of fire protection) actually took minimal damage. Forge took lots of damage, but he's always been tough. Luckily their grandfather and cousin were already running away when the blast took affect. The house was obliterated and the Death Knight just stood calmly within the debri and focused his sights on the dwarven cleric saying that his god would reward him greatly for eliminating a cleric of Sirron. Forge took the hint and started to run as fast as his dwarven legs would carry him. Theanna healed Telbin and brought him back just enough to walk. Rouge stood protectively over the body of Telbin and her sister and cast her most deadliest lighting bolt at the Death Knight (i.e. War Mage with Maximized Lightning Bolt) and unbelievably she got through the Dark Knight's defenses! The blast knocked the Death Knight back a step and he turned toward her. Before she could react the Knight drew his sword and impaled the wizard on it. Rouge fell to the ground dead. Then Theanna and the kender ran as fast as they could into the dark of the night... So in summation, pitting your 8th level party against a CR22 Death Knight is not a good idea unless you are looking to obliterate them... But it makes for a great story doesn’t it?
#2 Sysane Nov 12, 2004 12:30:05	That sounded like a great session (for you anyway, not your PCs).
#3 frostdawn Nov 12, 2004 14:27:28	Damn Kip, that was pretty brutal.
#4 valharic Nov 12, 2004 14:59:47	Holy Bahgeezus!! That's great! A lesson learned that night I think.
#5 eaglos Nov 12, 2004 16:26:41	I do not see a problem in the matchup between your party and the death knight. Your players must learn when to flee the scene like cowards and when to stand and fight (and probably die) like heros! Why even think of fighting a death knight ---- Thumbs up for the death knight! He treated them as they deserverd.
#6 Dragonhelm Nov 12, 2004 17:46:37	Making up for being late to Killer Breakfast this year? ;) Next time, take them up against this guy. Then make all of their old characters who died his undead servants. :heehee
#7 zombiegleemax Nov 12, 2004 18:57:45	It was a great session and it was rather brutal. That was exactly how I wanted ot to go. :D Although in the end I had one more casualty than I had planned for. (actually two, the kender's skunk familiar died as well.) But the War Mage decided to take her best shot, which she did take a GREAT shot, but then she died for it. I don't think next time they will be hanging around to cast spells at him. Heh, to be honest the players knew that I had pulled a few punches to keep them alive sometimes and I wanted to dispel the myth that they would "always" get off the hook just to make them a little more cautious. (In fact the wizard was taken to -9 just a couple days before in a battle against a black dragon because she hung around casting spells while everyone else was running. I hope she learned her lesson. heh) Making up for being late to Killer Breakfast this year? ;) LOL! Next time, take them up against this guy. I might just use him. Basically the Death Knight does have a backstory to him. The spellstiched ghast is his son that he offered up to Chemosh. Now they are together forever in undeath. Then make all of their old characters who died his undead servants. :heehee That's not too far from what might happen actually. They are going to be heading to Haven to find a cleric to raise the dead, but first they will run into Mina who will offer to make reprimands for the sloppy work of the Death Knight and she will raise the characters with the "blessing of Chemosh"... making them the Beloved of Chemosh in the process... Mwhahahah I hope they turn her offer down. But we'll see...
#8 zombiegleemax Nov 12, 2004 19:14:31	Dang Kip I hope you never ask me to play in a game of yours. My party did meet a death knight twice. It was the death knight's job to keep all mortals out of a necromancers tower that he had failed to destroy (a long story in and of itself). Anyway the characters managed to get by him somehow and then had to face the lich inside. Talk about "out of the frying pan and into the fire." The lich has been cursed for his betrayl to the Orders. His curse is that he cannot ever leave the tower nor can he enter the library, which contains all the spellbooks. He knows there is a spell in those books that will free him, but he cannot enter nor can he command his minions to enter either. The lich tells them they can leave should they retrieve him this specific book from the library. Oh yeah, and they have to give up 1 party member and all their magical items. (I had gone a bit monty haul and needed to reduce their magic. I wasn't that bad, they would have gotten new stuff eventually.) The party had no real leader and we had 2 new people. One of the new guys takes control of the party and agrees to the liches demands. He has a plan though. He thinks he can outsmart a 1000 year old lich. Bad move. He gets the book and tears it in half, giving part of it to the party and takes the other half to the lich. He tells the lich that he will get the other half, so long as everyone gets to go free. The lich slays him outright and then conjures 8 giant skeletons, the kind with the fireballs in their bellies to prevent the rest of the party from leaving. They charged the skeletons and died themselves within 3 rounds. In the end they the lich got his book and was able to free himself and now there's a 1000 year old lich running around Krynn. 2 people weren't there for that encounter so they we "watching camp." So the Human female fighter and the Kender make rogue are the only remaining party members and they went to go and investigate what was taking the rest of the party so long to get back. They too find the overgrown path that leads to the tower and run into the death knight who tellls them their friends are lost to them and they should prepare the world for the terror to come.