#graveknight

On the left, the graveknight! A person bound by a cursed suit of armor that simply refuses to let them die, to the point that if they're destroyed it will simply build them a new body. It's a curse they basically made themselves as powerful warrior who was betrayed and killed. They're icy cold, can let out blasts of cold, and can summon a fantastical creature for a mount at will! They're no basic skeleton either, they're fully in control and even capable of changing heart, this is basically the warrior version of a lich.

(art by RomanDubina on DeviantArt)

And so we reach a major milestone on the blog, for this is the very last Pathfinder First Edition Archetype we’re going to cover on the blog. (Though not the end of 1E content of course, what with all the class feature stuff like bloodlines, as well as retrograde revisions and whatnot).

How appropriate then, that the final archetype of First Edition on the blog should be the elegist, a form of skald focused on the legendary stories where the hero meets their end and is mourned?

Nearly all skalds focus on the stories of heroes, powerful foes, and whatnot, but an elegist, like the name suggests, focuses on stories that end in tragedy. The mighty hero defeats a great foe only to succumb to their wounds, the protagonist goes on a downward spiral that ends tragically, the hero whose death was fortold in prophecy and finally it found them, whether they struggled against it or met it head-on… All these are the purview of the elegist.

Such tales of tragedy evoke profound emotion, but it’s not especially inspiring to others. However, they do resonate with the elegist themselves, and from them they seek to either avoid a similar fate, or to find the resolve to be ready to meet such an end themselves when the time comes.

The core signature ability of the elegist is that rather than a song that inspires battle fervor, they instead create a performance that brings forth a manifestation of the sorts of sad stories they tell into reality. This entity is essentially a spiritualist’s phantom of despair, but being composed of a raw idea rather than a person’s soul. It may take the form of a more traditional phantom, or it might reflect either the story they are recalling or their favorite such tale, perhaps appearing as the protagonist, complete with marks of their tragedy like phantom wounds and whatnot.

However, unlike a true phantom, this spirit only exists while the skald maintains their performance, though they maintain their vitality throughout the day, but are restored to full health during spell preparation as the elegist refreshes the memory of the tale in their mind. If the phantom is slain, the skald must expend more of their performance to bring them back.

Naturally, these storykeepers have learned to reign in their own emotions to maintain a steady performance, making them resistant to emotion-manipulating magic.

Additionally, their own toughness and durability carries over to the phantom when it manifests as well.

True masters of the elegy can manifest their phantom much faster and can re-manifest a destroyed one at no extra cost and at full vitality, making sure their story ends only on the terms of the elegist.

This is a fun archetype, able to temporarily manifest a whole phantom companion whenever you wish and let it vanish just as easily is quite good even if they risk running out of rounds. The fact you straight up don’t get any raging song performances at all does mean that you basically have to build these character entirely differently than you would other skalds, focused on spells that work well with having a flanking partner with the unique abilities of a despair phantom, buffing yourself and the spirit, debuffing foes, and so on.

You might have noticed that the elegist focuses on sad stories and summons a despair phantom with them. To me, that’s just begging for a homebrew of alternate versions of this archetype that summon forth phantoms with different emotional foci instead! Furious songs of righteous indignation for anger phantoms, Stories of true love invoking the power of dedication, and so on.

Krodvic Dirgecaller has been telling the final story of Bladan the Mighty for years after the heroes death, but a certain account from one of Bladan’s allies has unsettled him. According to the retainer, the linnorm that devoured Bladan whole was slain by a powerful necromantic spell from his wizard ally. Krodvic now worries that such dark energies might have bled over into the dragon’s stomach, and that there might, in the dark places of the world be a shadow of the might warrior that needs to be laid to rest, even something as small and pathetic as one of the undigested undead.

Once, the Tombwatcher clan of gargoyles was like any other: stealthy predators taking advantage of their stony camouflage to strike down the unsuspecting. But when an elegist met with them while they had settled in near a graveyard, the skald’s tales of heroism and honor sparked a reverence in them they had not known before, and now several members of the clan can call upon the memories of the dead to aid in righteous defense.

Graveknights are undead warriors granted unlife by a cursed suit of armor. Each graveknight is born in a moment of failure, a mighty warrior failing to defend even their own life. Their feelings in that final moment of failure inform the energy of their ruinous weapons, such as the electricity of surprise or the chill of disappointment. -Graveknight, Pathfinder 2e Monster Core, published March 2024

The core of the Graveknight is that they are an undead who is cursed by the armor they are wearing. The thing that stands out most to me with this one is that it is very pointedly a template applied on top of something else. As a D&D 3.5e player, I missed templates, so I was delighted to find this.

As usual with my builds, it doesn't matter what race you start out with, because the devil's in the details with the progression.

Before you get going, pick out an artifact or unique armor piece and get it as quickly as possible. This is your cursed armor. Once you put it on, you don't get to take it off unless forced to by the game. For all intents and purposes, that's your skin now. The armor skill you go for - Heavy or Light - depends entirely on that.

Next, pick out either acid, cold, electricity, or fire. This is inspired by the final emotion your Graveknight felt before their death. This will be what enchantment they use on their weapons and their Destruction (or Restoration) element of choice. Acid = absorb, drain, or poison (in Restoration); cold = frost; electricity = shock; fire = fire.

You might want to consider actually perking Enchanting so you can apply the appropriate damage types to whatever other weapons you find or make; likewise, since Graveknights can summon phantom mounts, you might want to go get Arvak out of the Soul Cairn or find a similarly spooky horse.

Okay, so you've got the circumstances of your Graveknight's death and undeath curse figured out, and you're ready to start. You know what this means: it's time to haul ass to a vampire lair and get bitten! From this point forward, the goals are simple: get your cursed armor, get your appropriately-enchanted weapons, and do what you want.

Your Graveknight is an undead warrior. They should act like it. Are they a soldier from the Great War who has finally risen again? Are they a Stormcloak or Imperial soldier who isn't done yet? Are they a member of some other army who wound up in Skyrim on accident? All of these questions and more, I leave to you.

"Jasper all of these undead builds are getting concerning-" SHHHHH-

Anyway, yes, the second creature that appealed to me from the Monster Core book was none other than the Graveknight! Love a cursed undead bastard. Nothing like looting armor only to find out that it cursed you.

(Divider by @saradika-graphics)

Here's a picture of a Graveknight courtesy of the Archives of Nephthys website for Pathfinder 2e!

i’ve re-written the pathfinder campaign “giantslayer” to be a direct sequel to the other campaign “carrion crown”, and i added a couple of important NPCs! I made a little sheet so that my players ( @softcrabs , @korcarimilds, @angrymamabear, @wingsontheside , and @skarphedinn ) could see some of their “allies!” 

(art by Boris Balanov on Artstation)

Heavy armor occupies something of a curious place in rpgs. A lot of assumptions go into it’s statistical ramifications that don’t really have bearing in the real world. Yes, there are stories of jousting or warring knights that get stuck unable to stand after being knocked over, but those stories fail to take into account that said knights are often exhausted at the time from fighting a protracted battle, and that, in fact, normally they can get around just fine with only some level of loss of articulation.

While most games don’t try to push the whole “belly-up turtle” thing, they still tend to lean towards characters being bad at everything except fighting, though the penalties to skills have become less extreme.

One such penalty, however, existed primarily for balance, and that was arcane spell failure, the idea that the fine motor skills needed for gestures were difficult to nearly impossible in armor, but really only exists so that wizards and sorcerers (and pretty much no other spellcasting classes) can’t have the bifecta of being hard to kill while also being able to unleash devastation upon the battlefield with their spells.

However, while this remained mostly true in first edition Pathfinder, the game has always been about breaking down those old barriers of can and can’t, allowing for more creative concepts. The big one for arcane casters back in the day was the arcane armor training feat line, reducing the penalties for wearing armor for a would-be tanky mage.

In Second Edition though, arcane spell failure isn’t a thing, and the only thing stopping a wizard from wearing armor is a few feats. Luckily, however, there is a way around that.

The sentinel represents masters of armor, be they warriors that were trained to be living bulwarks that no foe can get past, let alone injure, or mages of many other classes that desire the protection of durable steel.

Definitely drawing inspiration from the various armor-specializing archetypes and other options in First edition, these defenders might be formally trained, or they might have just set about to master defense because they dislike the idea of being stabbed over and over. Either way, their strategy is to rely on durable equipment to absorb enemy blows so they can work their literal or figurative magic in relative peace.

The base dedication for this archetype grants proficiencies with heavier and heavier types of armor than what the class is used to, and also lets that armor usage grow in mastery as the character does with their normal proficiencies.

Whether it be added padding or just practice, some of these warriors learn to sleep in their armor without being sore the next day.

Naturally, those that delve deep into this archetype train with their armor enough to be considered specialized, with the benefits of doing so.

A sentinel is quite happy to let enemy attacks bounce off them, and with a well-timed application of strength, they can send their foes stumbling away as well with a mighty backhand, elbow, or simply hitting back against the incoming weapon so hard that momentum drags them away.

Some armor acts as a bulwark, allowing wearers to shield their body against harmful blasts with good reflexes. However, for some sentinels, this even extends to effects that are not directly harmful but still need good reflexes to avoid.

It’s worth noting that in the original version of this archetype, the sentinel also borrows two feats from the champion class, though they are not present in the remastered version. I figured it was worth including them though. One allows them to sacrifice the integrity of their armor to absorb an incoming blow, while the other builds on that to let the armor be an ablative sacrifice against explosive attacks.

This archetype is relatively simple, but it does have useful tools for anyone that wants to improve their defenses by wearing armor. Obviously classes that are expected to wear heavy armor get the most out of it, since they’re already quite tanky, but any class build can become more tanky by taking it, defying set roles.

Like I said before, this archetype can be both the hardened trained warrior that would rather sacrifice a little mobility to be untouchable, or it can be someone that has been hit too many times and has had enough of that. Consider what other concepts you can play with there though, like a power suit armor inventor that makes a nearly invincible defense to prove they could, or the swashbuckler that believes they look really, really good in armor, and won’t let a little thing like it’s weight get in the way.

The dread lord is said to have an entire legion of graveknights at his command. While this is an exaggeration, there is some truth to him having many heavily-armored deathless soldiers, including the Hungry Iron Legion, consisting mostly of ghasts bolted into heavy armor.

Bound and determined to serve in the King’s elite guard, Bertram the Shoony applies again and again every year, but is laughed and mocked by most applicants for being too small and weak, but this does not deter him. Every year, he gets a little better, mastering wearing the heavy armor expected of his role.

(art by Kalfy on DeviantArt)

Yesterday we looked at those who swear oaths in order to gain power, but sometimes accepting a pact means taking on a great burden first and foremost. If you’re lucky the vow comes with some neat powers or privileges, but for the most part, it’s all about the duty that one accepts.

Such is the case with today’s entry, one that’s gonna take some setup to understand.

In the real world, the saumen kar, or Tornit or Tuniit, are sometimes compared to the legends of sasquatch as seen through the lens of Inuit culture, though online resources are admittedly rather limited, so that may be entirely wrong.

In Pathfinder, however, the saumen kar are a horned, yeti-like people with glowing blue runic brands covering their bodies, shining through their fur, who typically live in isolation but occasionally interact with the peoples of the Crown of the World.

Not much is known about the Saumen Kar, even to themselves, for it seems that most of their own history has been lost, with not even the purpose of the runes on their bodies being remembered beyond the passive and active elemental benefits.

It wasn’t until the Monsters of Myth book in Second Edition did we get the reveal of what little these people of the snow remember. I recommend reading the full version in the book, but the cliffnotes version is that the saumen kar discovered the source of the black blood of Orv deep belowground, and in a bid to seal this great evil away, they made a deal with their god, erasing nearly all knowledge of their culture and identity (including their worship of said deity) in order to bind a seal around the great evil and the blood-corrupted undead and whisper-corrupted mortals (including several of their own) beneath the earth.

The runes and spells of the binding are spread about on the skin of every living saumen kar. The exact amount of writing on each on fluctuates with the deaths and births of their people.

There’s just one problem: The saumen kar are dying out. Not only do they lack a stable population for reproduction (many haven’t seen another of their king in ages), but over time the nature of the magical burden they carry has worn down the life expectancy of their species. What once stood for several millenia now reach elderly age after only a few centuries.

Nobody knows exactly what will happen when the last saumen kar dies. Maybe that final sacrifice will complete the seal and lock the evil away for eternity, or maybe they’ll break free. Either way, some saumen kar are not willing to let the world find out. To those among other ancestries they trust, they sometimes offer a chance to share their burden, adding willing beings from outside their species to the binding to help keep the world safe.

Which is where today’s archetype comes into play, representing those that have chosen to accept the responsibility, gaining some of the secrets of saumen kar magic in the exchange. So without further ado, let’s begin!

The base dedication of the archetype requires initiation by a saumen kar. After which, other saumen kar can sense the bond and what it means. Meanwhile, as a base benefit, the initiate gains the ability to blend in with falling snow, hiding their presence.

The saumen kar once could infuse magic into ice to make weapons and items that never melt. What’s more, they are infused with a primal power similar to cold iron, making them quite effective against certain foes.

The pact sworn by their ancestors was meant of the saumen kar alone, and as such, many who accept it find their bodies changing. One such transformation grants a strong sense of smell, stealthy instincts, and mighty horns of the icy primates.

Eventually, many find the icy runes of their patron appearing on their skin. These ward the initiate against evil, let them sense the presence of undead. Meanwhile, they also chill ice-crafted weapons and their horns, dealing additional harm to foes.

Just as many saumen kar trap their foes in icy domes, so can some of these initiates, entrapping foes to be dealt with later.

Finally, there is a point of no return where mortals become truly bound to the pact, becoming very saumen kar-like as their bodies grow. With it, their bodies become even more resistant to cold, and their runes finally provide protection from fire as well. Finally, they gain the ability to reflexively discorporate into icy wind and snow, avoiding attacks and punishing those they engulf with chilling frost before returning to their corporeal form.

This archetype is extremely thematic, so much so that it’s not going to see use outside of a campaign that takes place at least partially in the arctic. That being said, it grants some fun utility such as crafting magic items from ice, as well as melee options for passive extra damage and attacks, as well as escaping harm at the zenith of their power. Pretty much any class can make use of this power, but it seems to do best with natural attack builds.

Now, like yesterday’s entry, this archetype is begging for homebrew. After all, there are a lot of mystical forces and the like that one could take a binding oath to serve and protect, even at great personal cost, so this archetype is a handy template for just that!

Though massive for a shoony and always cold to the touch, Billbram has been a loyal caretaker of his people’s lore for ages. He was not always so, however, but returned from adventuring to the far north with the blessings of the “wise one” that he speaks little of. Even so, the process blessed him with a very long life as a fixture of the community, but even one such as he cannot live forever.

Rimed by frost and bearing a legacy of curses and duty, two foes are set on a collision course. One a disgraced warrior turned graveknight seeking purpose in a power hidden in the farthest north, while the other is blessed by the icy-blue runes that mark his role in guarding that power. When they finally meet, the ice will tremble with their battle, and many forces watch the outcome.