Witch Knight

The witch-knight is a holy-warrior devoted to what is commonly referred to as the Dark Arts – these being most commonly divination, spirit channeling, future reading and charm making – and beings of power, which support such activities. They are either the chosen defenders of ancient religions or power-mad warriors who have sold something of themselves for sorcerous power.

By Timothy S. Brannan and The Netbook
of Witches and Warlocks Team

Witch-knights follow a mystic and arcane religion and channel the power of a spirit or deity of magic and the esoteric. Like all witches and servants of

such powers, they are gifted with unique abilities, an inherent talent for magic, the ability to see spirits and similar powers that mark them as different from others in society.

Whether feared outcasts or noble warrior sorcerers, witch-knights combine both traditional combat and magic on the battlefield as well as during knightly competitions, thus aggressions between witch-knights may result in a spectacular battle of sword and sorcery.

Hit Dice: d8

Requirements

To qualify to become a witch-knight, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria:

Alignment: To reflect their dedication to a cause or king and their status as knights (not merely warriors or soldiers), witch-knights must be lawful, but their stand on good and evil is determined by the nature of the arcane power that they serve.
Base Attack Bonus: +4
Skills: Knowledge (Arcana): 8; Knowledge (religion): 8

Special: A yearly sacrifice of magic is required for any witch-knight to reconfirm their pact with the spirits and powers she serves.

This sacrifice requires either the actual, willing destruction of a magical item owned by the character in a special ritual meant to release the energy to the spirits, or the gifting of the item to a witches’ coven, which serves the same patron. Further, at the appropriate times of the month and year, witch-knights must perform the religious and magical rituals necessary to appease the spirits and powers that they follow.

Class Skills

The witch-knight’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are: Alchemy (Intelligence), Concentration (Constitution), Craft (Intelligence), Diplomacy (Charisma), Heal (Wisdom), Knowledge (Arcana) (Intelligence), Knowledge (religion) (Intelligence), Ride (Dexterity), Scry (Intelligence), Spellcraft (Intelligence), and Use Magic Device (Charisma).
Skill Points at each level: 2 + Intelligence modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of witchknight prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Witch-knights are trained to use all simple and martial weapons, and all types of armor (heavy, medium and light) and shields.

Spells: Witchknights can learn spells of up to 5th level from their patron. Though divine in origin, these are considered arcane spells for the purposes of memorization, casting and the maximum number of any level that may be known (and cast). The witch-knight gains bonus spells due to a high Charisma, as their patrons find them (rightly or wrongly) more reliable and dedicated.

Witch-knights use the same spell list as witches.

Witch Spell Lists

Arcane Dominion: Like the witch, the witchknight gains access to coven spells: divine spells from one of three domains; this domain must be chosen at 1st level from among the three domains available. The domains to which they can gain access depends upon their patron’s temperament and interests. The witchknight receives one bonus spell per spell level each day from their chosen domain.

Also like witches, witch-knights do not gain domain based abilities or powers.

Sixth Sense: Due to their natural psychic abilities and the whispers of the spirits that surround them, the witch-knight is never caught flat-footed. This is a supernatural ability.

Armored Casting: Beginning at 2nd level, the spirits the witch-knight serves show favor to their chosen champion and grant him the ability to cast spells without the normal penalties induced by wearing armor, including full plate. This is a supernatural ability.

Inscribe Item: At 2nd level and beyond, a witch-knight is able to use arcane sigils, runes and symbols to permanently etch spells upon objects. Items such as their sword, armor, cloak and shield are often decorated in this manner.

The process and costs to do so are similar to the creation of spellscrolls, and function similarly when complete. A spell so inscribed can be cast from the object as though cast from a scroll, using up the arcane power stored in the inscription. After being used, the inscribed spell cannot be cast again until arcane power is reinvested within it through a special ritual. For all mechanical purposes this ritual is treated as if the witchknight were scribing a new scroll, including the time necessary to complete it and the costs of doing so. An object can hold only one spell inscription at a time, and once inscribed, the item can only be enchanted with that spell until the inscription is physically removed. In the case of a masterwork item, the quality is such that it is able to two separate inscriptions at once; while in the case of a magical item, it can hold one extra inscription per plus or special ability (masterwork, quality) of the item. This is an extraordinary ability.

Forge of Magic (Ex): Beginning at 3rd level, and every three levels afterwards, the witch-knight gains one of the following feats that she does not already know and has the prerequisites for: Create Talisman, Craft Magic Arms and Armor or Forge Ring.

Imbue Companion: A 4th level witch-knight with a familiar, special mount or companion animal is able to bestow upon it either the Celestial Infernal or (one of) the Elemental templates, dependent upon the alignment and nature of the spirit the witch-knight serves.

Should the witch-knight not have a familiar, special mount or companion animal, or should the current one die, upon securing another she may bestow upon it the appropriate template.

If the witch-knight has more than one of these, they may only choose one of them to bestow the template upon. This is a supernatural ability.

Sorcerous Smite: Beginning at 4th level, the witch-knight gains the ability to channel arcane energy into their blows.

By making a normal melee attack and sacrificing a prepared spell (of any level), the witch-knight can smite an enemy with arcane energies conducted through their weapon or hands, adding one point of additional damage equal to their level as a witch-knight on a successful strike. Creatures with spell-resistance (or similar) can avoid this damage with a successful check. If the attack misses, the sacrificed spell is still used up. This is a supernatural ability.

Spirit Shield (Su): The witch-knight gains the protection of spirits hovering invisibly in the air around them. This reduces damage done to him by outsiders and by magic by one point at 5th level, increasing by one point for every three levels after that.

Familiar Investment (Su): When she attains 7th level, the witch-knight is able to bless his familiar with the ability to cast one Coven spell per day. This spell can be of any level available to the witch-knight from any of his patron’s domains and does not count against the witch-knight’s own limits for the day.

As this is a spell channeled from the spirits through their familiar, the GM chooses what the spell is and if it is cast, though the witch-knight may request a spell be invoked on his behalf.

Witchery (Su): Thanks to the divine inspiration of their patron and the unseen arcane manipulations of their familiar spirit, three times per day a witch-knight may add their Wisdom modifier (if positive) to any roll.

Witch-Knight Progression
Level	BAB	Fort. Save	Ref. Save	Will Save	Special	Spellcasting
	1	2	3	4	5
1st	+1	+2	+0	+1	Arcane Dominion, Sixth Sense	0
2nd	+2	+3	+0	+1	Armored Casting, Inscribe Item	1+1
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+2	Forge of Magic	1+1	0
4th	+3	+4	+1	+2	Imbue Companion, Sorcerous Smite	2+1	1+1
5th	+4	+4	+2	+2	Spirit Shield 1/–	2+1	1+1	0
6th	+5	+5	+2	+3	Forge of Magic	3+1	2+1	1+1
7th	+6	+5	+2	+3	Familiar Investment	3+1	2+1	1+1	0
8th	+6	+6	+3	+3	Spirit Shield 2/–	4+1	3+1	2+1	1+1
9th	+7	+6	+3	+4	Forge of Magic	4+1	3+1	2+1	1+1	0
10th	+8	+7	+3	+4	Witchery	5+1	4+1	3+1	2+1	1+1