Dark Knight (Fighter Archetype)

Righteousness and glory are not the only sources of power available to those who would call themselves knights. Although not as widely known as the many orders of Paladins - and certainly not as widely celebrated - there exist a number of orders of dark knights, who tap into the dark power of the Negative Plane to fuel a number of magical abilities.

Shockingly, not all - or even most - of these orders are in service to evil masters. Some are merely mercenary groups who have carved out a niche for themselves by embracing these abilities; even some good and noble kingdoms maintain a number of dark knights, handpicked from their best and most strong-willed men, to enable them to master the powers of darkness without going mad... or worse.

The Dark Knight is a Fighter martial archetype that expends hit dice (the kind used to recover HP after short rests) to power their class abilities, sacrificing their own life force to fuel the link. They have some very powerful abilities, and can be practically self-sustaining starting at mid-levels... or, if not carefully managed (or if the situation calls for it), they can just burn out in a tremendous blaze of glory.