D&D 5E Player wants to be a Death Knight but will use official rules: Build Help

[Jaiken]

One of my players is a huge fan of the Death Knight class from World of Warcraft and was wondering if they could play it in Dungeons and Dragons. We agreed only use official material.

Would Oathbreaker Paladin to level 5 with heavy armor and martial weapons be good enough? Also, would Undying Warlock give the magic needed and fit thematically?

 

[Necropolitan]

An Oathbreaker Paladin/Hexblade Warlock multiclass build seems like it could work.

 

[J-H]

For those of us who haven't played WOW, can you give a brief description of what the fantasy of a Death Knight entails?

I assume it's some sort of heavy armor undead, but beyond that I'm not sure. Usually a Death Knight is an undead paladin equivalent, isn't it?

 

[Jaiken]

For those of us who haven't played WOW, can you give a brief description of what the fantasy of a Death Knight entails?

I assume it's some sort of heavy armor undead, but beyond that I'm not sure. Usually a Death Knight is an undead paladin equivalent, isn't it?

Here is a class description

To protect themselves and their fellows from death in battle, death knights gird themselves in heavy armor and parry attacks with their blades.


Melee Damage
Death knight runeblades are empowered with dark magic; they can expend the power of their runes for vicious attacks.

This screams Paladin Smite to me.

Runeforging
Death knights have a personal connection with their blades, and can forge runes into them in order to increase their power.

I believe the runes could be Warlock Invocations.

 

[CandyLaser]

A reflavored Rune Knight fighter might work.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

Runeforging
Death knights have a personal connection with their blades, and can forge runes into them in order to increase their power.

I believe the runes could be Warlock Invocations.

Don't play WoW, but is it possible they could also be paladin spells or smites? Straight paladin might also be a fine way to go.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Don't play WoW, but is it possible they could also be paladin spells or smites? Straight paladin might also be a fine way to go.

Yes. Runes are just a way they cast some of their powers. I don’t think the exact mechanics need to be replicated.

Also the death knights are undead, so I think in D&D one could choose revenant as species.

 

[Jaiken]

Don't play WoW, but is it possible they could also be paladin spells or smites? Straight paladin might also be a fine way to go.

The issue is the Death Knight uses Magic, but not as much as the Paladin gets.

 

[J-H]

Paladin still has less magic than a Hexblade. I'd just go straight Paladin with some flavor of undead (Reborn or homebrew, easy enough to do).

 

[DEFCON 1]

If your player uses the Paladin spellcasting to only use the Smite spells (however many they select), then it cuts down on the amount of "magic" the 'Death Knight' uses.

I would say an Oathbreaker Paladin or even just an Oath of Vengeance Paladin would fit the bill. And if you really wanted to be clever / nice and more fit the Death Knight of WoW aesthetic... the Paladin 1st level spell Thunderous Smite does extra damage on an attack and can push the target 10 feet away and knock them prone on a failed Strength saving throw. To really fit the Death Knight iconic ability 'Death Grip' (the WoW class feature that yanks enemies and pulls them towards the Death Knight)... you can just reword the Thunderous Smite spell to allow the Paladin to push OR pull the target 10 feet and knock them prone. This can give the player one of the more iconic DK abilities in the game to really drive the theming home of pulling their enemies towards themselves. And pulling a target 10 feet isn't unbalancing at all, since even the Druid can pull a target 10 feet towards them using a Cantrip of all things (Thorn Whip).