Knightly Orders in 4E - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Knightly Orders in 4E

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Darth_Caffeineus
Apr 30, 2008 8:14:16 I want to get people thoughts on how Knights of Solmania and Neraka could be created using the 4E rules. Both the Nerekans and Solmanics are respected and/or feared throughout Krynn for their individual and collective prowess in battle and their game abilities should reflect their unique abilities.

One way would be to make Knight of the Sword a paragon path and Knight of the Rose and epic destiny, but I personally don't like that. There lots of Knights of the Rose on Krynn and hardly any (maybe none) are epic level.

Another way might be to have knight order specific feats.

For a Solamnic Knight

Squire feats you could take starting at level 1
Knight of the Crown feats available at level 3
Knight of the sword feats available at 5
Knight of the Rose feats available at 7

Or combine the two examples by having a Crown and Sword be feats and Rose be a paragon path

Those are my thoughts what are yours?
#2
The_Jester
Apr 30, 2008 11:36:26 They're organizations. Knights aren't really different game-wise than other fighters. They have armour and swords that look different but they don't fight or act differently.

I would do knightly feats though, but divorced from the actual orders. The same feats can be used for Solamnia as well as Neraka and even the Legion of Steel.

The first feat should likely be related to honour (a new version of Honour Bound perhaps) and related feats offering knightly bonuses.

Paragon paths would be good for champions of the knighthood. There should be variants for paladins, fighters, rangers, warlords, etc. All should have equal chances of being great knights.
#3
Darth_Caffeineus
Apr 30, 2008 16:46:46 In the 1st edition Dragonlance Adventures book, Knight of Solamania was a class. In 3rd edition the 3 Knightly Orders are prestige classes. I don't remember how it was handled in 2nd edition.

I think there should be some game mechanic difference between a Knight of an Order and an unaffiliated fighter for example. The knights are better trained, equipped, and more disciplined than most.

I reflected this in my 3.5 games by giving characters that belong to a Knight Order bonus feats. This was balanced out by unaligned characters not having to adhere to a strict code of conduct and not being subject to the dictates of their superiors in the order.

In the FR 4E book there will be a new class sword mage

If a 4E dragonlance game book is released I would love to see a Knight class that would have its class features depend upon which order you belonged to.

Other classes could by multi-classing (and role playing of course) also belong to the Knight Orders at get access to their powers or exploits or whatever they would be called.
#4
boarstorm
Apr 30, 2008 17:23:38 Knight of the Crown: Fighter
Knight of the Sword: Paladin or Fighter w/ cleric multi
Knight of the Rose: Fighter w/ warlord multi

Knight of the Lily: Fighter
Knight of the Skull: Paladin or Fighter w/ cleric multi
Knight of the Thorn: Fighter w/ wizard multi (or, perhaps, reversed)
#5
glimeral_dup
Apr 30, 2008 18:21:53 I worked up some sample Knightly orders for my homebrew campaign a while back... Given the new multi-class rules, I would create them to be the following:

Knight of Solamnia
Tier: Heroic
Requirement: Fighter, Paladin, or Warlord; Good alignment
Benefit: Diplomacy; Knights Stance.
Special: This feat cannot be qualified for by having the appropriate multiclass feat (eg. Student of the Sword).

Knights Stance Knight of Solamnia Feature.
Encounter Martial, Stance
Minor Action Close Burst 1
Target: One Opponent
Effect: Mark one opponent within 5. Against the marked target, you deal +2 damage, and all adjacent allies recieve a +2 bonus to AC and Reflex Defenses. If your target is marked by another ability, you can renew your mark as a minor action.

Paragon Paths
Knight of the Sword
Requirement: Paladin, Knight of Solamnia Feat.
Knight Clerist
Requirement: Cleric, Knight of Solamnia*
Knight of the Rose
Requirement: Warlord, Knight of Solamnia Feat.

*This path can only be taken by paladins with the "Initiate of the Faith" feat.

This should give you some ideas to work with for the KoN and LoS.
#6
edwin_su
May 10, 2008 17:35:14 dragon lance :
knight base class ( defender martial )

knight of solamnia
would be knights with dual class feats in:
none for knight of the crown
paladin for knight of the sword
warlord for Knight of the rose

knight of naraka
would be knights with dual class feats in:
rogue for knight of the lily
priest for knight of the skull
wizard for knight of the torn

there would be a paragon path for each type of knight
to qualify for these paths you must count as the needed classes
for example:
to take the knight of the sword paragon path you must both count as a knight and as a paladin
#7
cam_banks
May 11, 2008 9:07:28 I don't think there's anything a knight class could bring to the party that the warlord, fighter, and paladin don't have.

Cheers,
Cam
#8
mhacdebhandia
May 11, 2008 22:19:46
In the 1st edition Dragonlance Adventures book, Knight of Solamania was a class. In 3rd edition the 3 Knightly Orders are prestige classes. I don't remember how it was handled in 2nd edition.

In Second Edition, there were separate classes for the Knights of the Crown, Knights of the Sword, and Knights of the Rose.

A PC had to attain a certain minimum level as a Knight of the Crown before he could become a Knight of the Sword, and likewise a certain minimum level as a Knight of the Sword to become a Knight of the Rose. The Knight of the Sword and Knight of the Rose classes either started at a higher numeric level or only had a limited number of levels - so if you had to be a 7th-level Knight of the Crown to become a Knight of the Sword, the latter class would only have 13 levels or so. Whatever.

You could, however, simply advance to maximum level as either a Knight of the Crown or a Knight of the Sword - you didn't have to switch at all, and I dimly recall that the masters of each order were those who reached high level without switching up to the next rank. In other words, the commander of the Knights of the Crown wouldn't have ever become a Knight of the Sword, and likewise the commander of the Knights of the Sword (the High Clerist?) would have no levels as a Knight of the Rose.

Personally, with the example of the justiciar, I would imagine that the Knights of Solamnia would best be treated as paragon paths. As Cam says, between the fighter, the paladin, and the warlord, you don't really need a separate knight class.

Perhaps there could even be a separate paragon path for each order. Fighter might lead to Knight of the Crown, paladin to Knight of the Sword, and warlord to Knight of the Rose. Obviously with multiclassing feats it would be easy for any of these classes to take the paragon path associated with one of the others, or perhaps all of them would be available to any appropriate defender or leader.
#9
Dragonhelm
May 12, 2008 15:25:41
Perhaps there could even be a separate paragon path for each order. Fighter might lead to Knight of the Crown, paladin to Knight of the Sword, and warlord to Knight of the Rose. Obviously with multiclassing feats it would be easy for any of these classes to take the paragon path associated with one of the others, or perhaps all of them would be available to any appropriate defender or leader.

Paladin Sword Knights could take the cleric MC feat to represent the role of the Clerist as well.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Darth_Caffeineus Apr 30, 2008 8:14:16	I want to get people thoughts on how Knights of Solmania and Neraka could be created using the 4E rules. Both the Nerekans and Solmanics are respected and/or feared throughout Krynn for their individual and collective prowess in battle and their game abilities should reflect their unique abilities. One way would be to make Knight of the Sword a paragon path and Knight of the Rose and epic destiny, but I personally don't like that. There lots of Knights of the Rose on Krynn and hardly any (maybe none) are epic level. Another way might be to have knight order specific feats. For a Solamnic Knight Squire feats you could take starting at level 1 Knight of the Crown feats available at level 3 Knight of the sword feats available at 5 Knight of the Rose feats available at 7 Or combine the two examples by having a Crown and Sword be feats and Rose be a paragon path Those are my thoughts what are yours?
#2 The_Jester Apr 30, 2008 11:36:26	They're organizations. Knights aren't really different game-wise than other fighters. They have armour and swords that look different but they don't fight or act differently. I would do knightly feats though, but divorced from the actual orders. The same feats can be used for Solamnia as well as Neraka and even the Legion of Steel. The first feat should likely be related to honour (a new version of Honour Bound perhaps) and related feats offering knightly bonuses. Paragon paths would be good for champions of the knighthood. There should be variants for paladins, fighters, rangers, warlords, etc. All should have equal chances of being great knights.
#3 Darth_Caffeineus Apr 30, 2008 16:46:46	In the 1st edition Dragonlance Adventures book, Knight of Solamania was a class. In 3rd edition the 3 Knightly Orders are prestige classes. I don't remember how it was handled in 2nd edition. I think there should be some game mechanic difference between a Knight of an Order and an unaffiliated fighter for example. The knights are better trained, equipped, and more disciplined than most. I reflected this in my 3.5 games by giving characters that belong to a Knight Order bonus feats. This was balanced out by unaligned characters not having to adhere to a strict code of conduct and not being subject to the dictates of their superiors in the order. In the FR 4E book there will be a new class sword mage If a 4E dragonlance game book is released I would love to see a Knight class that would have its class features depend upon which order you belonged to. Other classes could by multi-classing (and role playing of course) also belong to the Knight Orders at get access to their powers or exploits or whatever they would be called.
#4 boarstorm Apr 30, 2008 17:23:38	Knight of the Crown: Fighter Knight of the Sword: Paladin or Fighter w/ cleric multi Knight of the Rose: Fighter w/ warlord multi Knight of the Lily: Fighter Knight of the Skull: Paladin or Fighter w/ cleric multi Knight of the Thorn: Fighter w/ wizard multi (or, perhaps, reversed)
#5 glimeral_dup Apr 30, 2008 18:21:53	I worked up some sample Knightly orders for my homebrew campaign a while back... Given the new multi-class rules, I would create them to be the following: Knight of Solamnia Tier: Heroic Requirement: Fighter, Paladin, or Warlord; Good alignment Benefit: Diplomacy; Knights Stance. Special: This feat cannot be qualified for by having the appropriate multiclass feat (eg. Student of the Sword). Knights Stance Knight of Solamnia Feature. Encounter Martial, Stance Minor Action Close Burst 1 Target: One Opponent Effect: Mark one opponent within 5. Against the marked target, you deal +2 damage, and all adjacent allies recieve a +2 bonus to AC and Reflex Defenses. If your target is marked by another ability, you can renew your mark as a minor action. Paragon Paths Knight of the Sword Requirement: Paladin, Knight of Solamnia Feat. Knight Clerist Requirement: Cleric, Knight of Solamnia* Knight of the Rose Requirement: Warlord, Knight of Solamnia Feat. *This path can only be taken by paladins with the "Initiate of the Faith" feat. This should give you some ideas to work with for the KoN and LoS.
#6 edwin_su May 10, 2008 17:35:14	dragon lance : knight base class ( defender martial ) knight of solamnia would be knights with dual class feats in: none for knight of the crown paladin for knight of the sword warlord for Knight of the rose knight of naraka would be knights with dual class feats in: rogue for knight of the lily priest for knight of the skull wizard for knight of the torn there would be a paragon path for each type of knight to qualify for these paths you must count as the needed classes for example: to take the knight of the sword paragon path you must both count as a knight and as a paladin
#7 cam_banks May 11, 2008 9:07:28	I don't think there's anything a knight class could bring to the party that the warlord, fighter, and paladin don't have. Cheers, Cam
#8 mhacdebhandia May 11, 2008 22:19:46	In the 1st edition Dragonlance Adventures book, Knight of Solamania was a class. In 3rd edition the 3 Knightly Orders are prestige classes. I don't remember how it was handled in 2nd edition. In Second Edition, there were separate classes for the Knights of the Crown, Knights of the Sword, and Knights of the Rose. A PC had to attain a certain minimum level as a Knight of the Crown before he could become a Knight of the Sword, and likewise a certain minimum level as a Knight of the Sword to become a Knight of the Rose. The Knight of the Sword and Knight of the Rose classes either started at a higher numeric level or only had a limited number of levels - so if you had to be a 7th-level Knight of the Crown to become a Knight of the Sword, the latter class would only have 13 levels or so. Whatever. You could, however, simply advance to maximum level as either a Knight of the Crown or a Knight of the Sword - you didn't have to switch at all, and I dimly recall that the masters of each order were those who reached high level without switching up to the next rank. In other words, the commander of the Knights of the Crown wouldn't have ever become a Knight of the Sword, and likewise the commander of the Knights of the Sword (the High Clerist?) would have no levels as a Knight of the Rose. Personally, with the example of the justiciar, I would imagine that the Knights of Solamnia would best be treated as paragon paths. As Cam says, between the fighter, the paladin, and the warlord, you don't really need a separate knight class. Perhaps there could even be a separate paragon path for each order. Fighter might lead to Knight of the Crown, paladin to Knight of the Sword, and warlord to Knight of the Rose. Obviously with multiclassing feats it would be easy for any of these classes to take the paragon path associated with one of the others, or perhaps all of them would be available to any appropriate defender or leader.
#9 Dragonhelm May 12, 2008 15:25:41	Perhaps there could even be a separate paragon path for each order. Fighter might lead to Knight of the Crown, paladin to Knight of the Sword, and warlord to Knight of the Rose. Obviously with multiclassing feats it would be easy for any of these classes to take the paragon path associated with one of the others, or perhaps all of them would be available to any appropriate defender or leader. Paladin Sword Knights could take the cleric MC feat to represent the role of the Clerist as well.