Unholy Presence

Some death knights still embody the corrupting nature of the Scourge plague. No matter their allegiance or cause, they remain defilers of life; and nowhere is their callousness more on display than when threatened. Inflictors of the most aggressive of diseases, these unholy death knights are vicious melee combatants, capable of striking with the force of an undead legion and unleashing pestilence that would bring their foes to ruin.

Unholy Presence Spells

Death Knight Level - Spells

3rd - Corpse Explosion, Ray of Sickness

5th - Anti-Magic Shell, Ray of Enfeeblement

9th - Haste, Speak with Dead

13th - Blight, Death and Decay

17th - Army of the Dead, Contagion

Plaguebringer

When you choose this presence at 3rd level, you learn to spread plague and pestilence across the land with your own dark magic, or through an undead minion. Choose one of the following features.

Outbreak

When you deal damage with a Runic Power ability, you can afflict the creature with a terrible plague. You choose which of the diseases detailed in the "Unholy Diseases" section seen below to inflict on your target, which takes effect immediately. At the end of each of the creature’s turns, it can make the saving throw specified in the disease’s description. On a failure, the creature takes 1d6 necrotic damage per Runic Power dice originally spent and continues to suffer the effects of the disease. On a success, the creature takes no damage and suffers none of the disease’s effects until the end of its next turn. The disease ends after 1 minute or when the creature has made three successful saving throws against the disease.

If a target is inflicted with a new unholy disease while already suffering from an unholy disease, the original one ends and the new one takes effect.

Raise Dead

You learn to raise a dead humanoid as an undead minion. You can use your action and spend a spell slot of 1st level or higher to animate the corpse of a humanoid creature within 30 feet of you. See the creature's game statistics in the Undead Minion stat block. When you raise an undead minion, choose which disease its Putrid Claw attack carries with it from the "Unholy Diseases" section below. You can only have one undead minion and raising a new corpse destroys the magic that binds your previous undead minion, reducing it to a rotting corpse.

The undead minion obeys your commands as best it can. In combat, it shares your initiative count, but takes its turn immediately after yours. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action to command it to take one of the actions in its stat block or the Dash, Disengage, or Help action. If you are incapacitated or absent, the minion acts on its own.

When you expend Hit Dice to regain hit points, your minion regains a number of hit points equal to the result; it cannot spend its own Hit Dice. If it drops to 0 hit points, it immediately dies, though its remains may be raised again.

Unholy Diseases

Blood Plague : The diseased creature can’t regain hit points. Whenever it is damaged by a melee attack, the attacker gains temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier plus half your death knight level. Blood Plague is resisted by Constitution.

Crypt Blight : The diseased creature can use either an action or a bonus action on its turn, not both. Regardless of the creature’s abilities or magic items, it can’t make more than one melee or ranged attack during its turn. Crypt Blight is resisted by Wisdom.

Frost Fever : The diseased creature’s speed is halved, and it can’t take reactions. Frost Fever is resisted by Dexterity.

Unholy Blight

Beginning at 7th level, you can use your action to manifest a vile swarm of insects, which bite at your enemies and weaken their resolve. The aura has a 20-foot radius and is centered on you. It moves with you, and lasts for 1 minute or until you are incapacitated or die. When a creature other than an undead summoned by you enters the area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, it must make a saving throw based on your chosen disease saving throw, if you have not chosen a disease you may do so now. On a failed save, the creature takes necrotic damage equal to 1d6 + your death knight level and suffers the effect of your disease for one minute or when the creature has made three successful saving throws against the disease.

If a target is inflicted with a new unholy disease while already suffering from an unholy disease, the original one ends and the new one takes effect. On a successful save, the creature takes half damage, but suffers no other effects.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Dreadblade

At 11th level, the taint of necrotic energies are suffused in your weapon attacks. Whenever you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, the creature takes an extra 1d8 necrotic damage. In addition, your death knight features and spells, as well as your undead minion ignore resistance to necrotic damage, and treat immunity to necrotic damage as resistance instead.

Plaguelord

Upon reaching 15th level, you have achieved mastery over your powers of pestilence and plague. You gain one of the following features, depending on your choice at 3rd level.

Outbreak : When a creature afflicted with one of your unholy diseases dies, you can spread the disease to a different creature you can see within 30 feet of the dead creature, provided you aren’t incapacitated. This counts as a new instance of the disease for the sake of its duration and the number of saving throws needed to end it prematurely.

Raise Dead : When you spend Runic Power dice, you also add the same number of dice to the damage of your undead minion’s Putrid Claw attack until the end of its next turn. If you use multiple Runic Power abilities before your minion attacks, only the highest bonus is used.

Unholy Frenzy

At 20th level, you learn to incite an undead creature into a killing frenzy. Most death knights use this ability on themselves or their undead minion, but you can target any undead creature you can see within 60 feet. For 1 minute, the frenzied creature gains the following benefits:

It has advantage on saving throws.
Its movement speed is doubled.
When it takes the Attack action on its turn, it can make one additional attack as part of that action.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

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