Knight of the Skull

Entering battle with strength and divine magic, Knights of the Skull are the spirit of the dark Knights, like the Order of the Lily is the body and Order of the Thorn is the mind. The Skull Knights can be both brutal and subtle in their work, wielding divine magic against enemies in battle, and using seduction, manipulation, and diplomacy to achieve their goals.

Skull Knights are often placed as ambassadors or advisers to foreign powers. Such postings take advantage of their natural skill at intrigue, which they supplement with the power of their divine magic. When deployed with other Dark Knights, they act as a secret police, keeping close watch on every knight's activities and reporting violations of the Code to their superiors.

Before the Chaos War, Skull Knights were more or less specialized clerics of the Dark Queen. After the Chaos War, most of them turned to mysticism, some holding to the idea that their Queen would return. But as with the Knights of the Lily, most Skull Knights have long since given up on the Vision of their former patron.

Hit Die: d8.

Table 2-9: The Knight of the Skull

Requirements

• Alignment: Lawful evil.
• Base Attack Bonus: +3.
• Skill: Knowledge (religion) 4 ranks.
• Feat: Alertness
• Spellcasting: Ability to cast 3rd-level divine spells.
• Special: Squire of the Lily: A candidate wanting to become a Knight of the Skull must have a sponsor (A Knight of the Skull of at least 3rd level). If deemed acceptable, the candidate is considered a squire of the Lily (even though she will eventually be a Skull Knight). Optionally, the Dungeon Master may allow a player character to begin a campaign as a squire.
  Test of Takhisis: Once a charater has advanced at least one level (in any class) during the period as a squire and fulfills the requirements for the Knights of the Skull, the squire may petition to undertake the Test of Takhisis (see sidebar). If the applicant passes, she can be accepted as a knight in the Order of the Skull.

Class Skills

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features

• Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Knights of the Skull do not gain any additional weapon or armor proficiency.
• Detect Good (Sp): At will, the Knight of the Skull can detect good. This ability duplicates the effects of the spell detect good.
• Smite Good (Su): Once per day, a Skull Knight may attempt to smite good with one normal melee attack. She adds her Charisma modifier (if positive) to the attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per level. If the knight accidentally smites a creature that is not good, the smite has no effect but is still used up for that day. Smite good is a supernatural ability.
  At 5th level and again at 10th level, the Knight of the Skull may smite good one additional time per day, to a maximum of 3 times per day at 10th level.
• Aura of Evil (Ex): The power of a Knight of the Skull's aura of evil (see the detect evil spell) is equal to her class level plus her cleric level, if any.
• Spells per Day: At 2nd level, and each level thereafter, a Knight of the Skull gains news spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if she had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class to which she belonged before adding the prestige class level. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (improved chance of turning or destroying undead and so on). If the character had more than one divine spellcasting class before becoming a Knight of the Skull, the player must decide to which class to add each Knight of the Skull level for the purpose of determining spells per day.
• Dark Blessing (Su): A 2nd-level Knight of the Skull applies her Charisma modifier (if positive) as a bonus on all saving throws.
• Discern Lies (Sp): A Skull Knight of 3rd level or higher may use discern lies as a spell-like ability a number of times per day equal to her Wisdom modifier.
• Rebuke Undead (Su): At 3rd level, a Knight of the Skull gains the ability to rebuke undead as an evil cleric. Her effective cleric level is her class level -2. If she is also a cleric, add her knight level -2 to her cleric level to determine her turning ability.
• Favor of Darkness (Su): At 10th level, the Knight of the Skull is a virtual embodiment of evil. Any melee weapon that the character wields is considered an unholy weapon for purposes of bypassing the damage reduction of certain good outsiders. In addition, the weapon deals an additional +1d6 points of unholy damage to any good creature it hits. The weapon loses both properties as soon as the Knight of the Skull stops touching it.