once again thinking about this sick fucking idea i had for using in a fantasy ttrpg at some point
so you've got a lich BBEG, right. and they're not just going about shit haphazardly, they've planned out their villainous plot centuries in advance, including... countermeasures for any meddlesome heroes trying to stop them.
Countermeasures in the form of specialized soldiers, undead knights infused with power from various sources. Death knights.
Let me set the scene.
The party has, in the last week, killed a very powerful monster. It was a very hard fight, the thing seemed to shrug off their most powerful attacks until they improvised a way around its defense.
As they explore a dungeon that previously wasn't causing any problems, they find the place deserted. Almost as if its former residents that "attacked" nearby towns weren't coming to raid, but were... fleeing from something. In the next room, they hear something moving. Metal straining, flesh flexing and bones creaking.
Opening the door, they find themselves face to face with a towering humanoid creature. Covered head to toe in metal, the few gaps in its armor reveal necrotic flesh that the armor appears... fused to, almost. Like the armor's what's holding it together. The wizard senses some strange magic mixed in with the necromancy keeping this thing animate, something they're not familiar with.
Bolted to the creature's helmet is a shining "01" in brass numbering. The eye-holes beneath glow with malice as they approach it.
As they go to strike, they find it impervious... in the same way that monster they barely managed to defeat was...