New Class - The Knight-errant

Ishmayl

First Post
The Knight-errant

knight-errant.jpg



When a world lies in darkness, very few beacons of light remain to guide the souls of the righteous and the paths of the weary. Occasionally a hero will arise on Aune, only to be thrown down and trampled under by the legions of Vaal, or the Shadowfell to the west. Some warriors of virtue, however, are able to fight back, whether with followers and friends, or alone, with only his courage at his back. Whether they are free crusaders who take it upon themselves to save the world, or guardians of a princes and dukes on the Heartlands, sent on quests to do his bidding, the knight-errant is one warrior who will not fight from the shadows.

Adventures:
Knights-errant take their quests very seriously. Whether it is a mission to slay a Shadowlord, surrounded by an army of orcs in a stronghold, or a mission to escort a family into hiding, the knight-errant will find a way to do it.


Characteristics:
A knight-errant’s primary and only goal is to defeat evil and protect the innocent. He must stand strong in the face of unprecedented odds, and must never let fear overcome him or those around him. Though he must defeat evil first and foremost, he will always go an extra distance to protect his comrades.

Alignment:
Knights-errant must be good. Whether they are lawful good guardians of kings, the neutral good guardians of the innocent, or the chaotic good guardians of all that would be suppressed, they are always good.

Religion:
Knights-errant are often religious in a way that is unremembered on Aune. Though they do not worship Aurus directly, they do have a faith. They believe, one and all, that the Light can overcome the Shadow. Knights-errant often do not expect miracles, but still spend a few moments of solitude each day, basking in the radiance of the rising or fleeting sun.

Background:
Knights-errant come from all walks of life. The aristocrat who sees the future of Aune falling to dusk, the warrior who must defend his liegemen and friends against the Shadow to the west, or the commoner who is tired of the tyrannical dukes who do nothing as monsters overrun the land.
They usually begin training as adolescents, and study for years under knights or fellow knights-errant, practicing in secret, until they are strong enough to accept their duty. All knights-errant, regardless of background, recognize in each other an eternal bond that transcends culture, race, and religion. Any two knights-errant, no matter their immediate goal, consider themselves comrades.
When they have proved their worthiness as a knight-errant (usually some sort of ritual unique to the various cultures they live in), they are knighted by their lord in a public ceremony. There is usually celebration and feasting after the knighting.

Races:
Any race can become a knight-errant. Humans from all walks of life become knights-errant, and Dara, Auran, and Balen, with their huge senses of honor and loyalty, all often become knights-errant. Nathyen, with their roguish nature, and Siolla, with their scholarly past, aren’t very common as knights-errant, but the occasional fox head or feathers are seen below the mantle of the class. Krylan tend to be too barbaric in nature for the class, but seeing as they have a society dependent on protection, sometimes they walk the path of the knight-errant.

Other Classes:
Knights-errant will always team up with other classes in the defense of good and the destruction of evil They obviously work well with enforcers, as each see each other as part of the same being. Soldiers of a goodly sort will usually find their ways into the good graces of knights-errant, as well as greenlords and magi’i. Rogues must sometimes go the extra distance to prove their worthiness, and maguses’ ulterior motives often clash with the knight-errant’s but even they may be a comrade to the warrior.

Role:
More often than not, the knight-errant is the leader of the party. He is the chief melee combatant, but also makes excellent support as well.


GAME RULE INFORMATION
The knight-errant (KNE) has the following game rules.

Abilities:
Strength is the most important ability for the knight-errant, as well as Constitution, since combat and protection are their key concerns. Intelligence is important for several skills.


Alignment:
Any good

Hit Die:
d12

Class Skills:
Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Int), Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Survival (Con)

Skill Points at 1st Level:
(4 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level:
4 + Int modifier

Weapon and Armor Proficiency:
Knights-errant are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor (heavy, medium, and light), and with shields.

Preferred Weapon:
At first level, a knight-errant gains the bonus feat of Weapon Focus, as per the PHB.

Quick Recovery:
The knight-errant heals faster than other people. He recovers hit points at a rate of ½ his knight-errant level per hour.

This ability is a supernatural ability and cannot be canceled by magic-dispelling effects

Protect:
At second level, the knight-errant gains the ability to protect his comrades if they are wounded or in trouble during battle. By using the ability protect, a knight-errant may "loan" a portion of his armor class to an ally that is within 10 feet. By declaring what he is doing at the start of the round, the knight-errant can give 1 point of his AC to an ally in combat. At 3rd level, he can give up to 2 points, and the points increase by 1 for every 2 levels thereafter, when at level 20, the knight-errant can give up to 10 points of his AC. Any points loaned to another character are lost by the knight-errant for the duration of the battle. The ability lasts until the knight-errant decides to end the ability. He can use this ability any number times of day as he pleases.

This ability is a supernatural ability and cannot be canceled by magic-dispelling effects.

Aura of Courage:
At 3rd level, a knight-errant is immune to fear, and all allies within 10 feet of him gain a +4 morale bonus to saves against fear effects. This ability only functions when the knight-errant is conscious.

Sacrificial Healing:
The knight-errant heals another creature’s wounds, transferring some of its damage to himself. At 4th level, when the knight-errant gains the ability, he can heal as much as 1d10 points of damage. This increases by d10 for every 4 levels, to a maximum of 4d10 at level 16. The target regains a number of hit points equal to the dice result, and the knight-errant loses hit points equal to half of that amount. (This loss can bring the knight-errant to 0 or fewer hit points.) Powers and abilities he may have such as damage reduction and regeneration do not lessen or change this damage, since he is taking the target’s pain into himself in a sacrificial manner. The damage transferred by this power has no type, so even if the knight-errant has immunity to the type of damage the target originally took, the sacrifice occurs normally and deals hit point damage to him.

Alternatively, the knight-errant can use this power to absorb one poison or one disease afflicting the target creature into himself. When he absorbs a poison or disease, he does not take any of the damage previously dealt to the target by the affliction, but does assume the burden of making the secondary and/or continuing Fortitude saves to combat the affliction.

Martyrdom:
Starting at level 5, the knight-errant gains the ability to help his allies overcome the trauma of battle. By declaring his action of using martyrdom at the start of the round, the knight-errant can elect to receive half of the damage that his ally is taking during combat. When comrade is attacked, he will only take half of the rolled damage (rounded down), and the rest of the damage will go to the knight-errant. He can do this for an ally up to 25 feet away at 5th level, and the range increases by 25 feet per five levels, to a maximum of 100 feet at level 20. He can use this ability unlimited times a day.

This ability is a supernatural ability and cannot be canceled by magic-dispelling effects.

Improved Critical:
At 7th level, the critical range of the knight-errant’s preferred weapon is doubled, as per the improved critical feat.

Counter:
At 9th level, a knight-errant can counter an attack made against him. He must declare that he will be countering after the attack is made, but before hit or damage are rolled. If the damage done to him is greater than his remaining hit points, he still makes a counter attack, but falls after the attack is made. He can move up to five feet to counter attack. At 13th level, he can do this twice a day, and thrice a day at 17th level.

Shield of Faith:
Beginning at 10th level, the knight-errant projects an aura of defense around himself. He gains a 2/- damage reduction, and at 20th level, it increases to 5/-.

Bonded:
At level 11, the knight-errant may create a permanent, spiritual bond between himself and a target. That person becomes "bonded" to the knight-errant in a way that very few understand. The bonding ceremony is done with both members present, and they must both have known each other for at least 30 days (1 month). Bonds can be broken by either member, but only with both members present. There are a few special properties of the bond. At level 11, only one person may be bonded to the knight-errant at once; at level 19, a second recipient may be added so that two different people are bonded to the knight-errant at the same time.
Empathy: The knight-errant and the bonded recipient have a deep and personal connection. They each have a sense of the direction, distance (very roughly), and emotional and physical state of the other. Each knows when the other is awake, asleep, unharmed, wounded, disabled, staggered, unconscious, dying, nauseated, panicked, stunned, poisoned, diseased, confused, or the like. Awareness of the other's state dims over greater distances but can be sensed over an unlimited distance with a little bit of concentration. For one to sense the other, the person must first make a Sense Motive check, modified by the distance between the two. The check starts at a DC 5, and increases by 1 for every 100 miles distant. The greater difference between the actual roll and the DC, the more information that is known.
Energy: The knight-errant and bonded recipient share, to a limited extent, their life energy. Either can loan hit points to the other. For example, if the bonded recipient becomes severely wounded but is still faced with several attacking creatures, the knight-errant could lend him some of his hit points to keep him alive. The lender does not become injured as a result of such a loan, but his hit point total falls, since the loss of hit points represents a reduction in life energy. For example, a knight-errant with 42 hit points who loans 10 hit points to his bonded recipient temporarily has his hit point total reduced to 32.
The total amount of hit points that can be lent is equal to 1/2 (rounded down) the lender's total hit points + his level. Thus, a level 5 knight errant with
33 hit points can lend up to 21 hit points to the bonded recipient (<33/2 = 16> + 5 = 21). Refer to the table below for DC’s for the Bonded ability.

Bonded Statistics:
bonded.jpg


levels.jpg


Reasons for Editing:
Updated the Charts
Updated the Abilities
Made it prettier
 
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First off: it's very good-looking. I think it might be a tad weak, especially as many of the abilities require a loss of HP or AC. I'd suggest you take a look at the Knight class of Hong's D&D Page for a comparison. Hong's is well-balanced, IMO, but closer to a regular fighter.

http://www.zipworld.com.au/~hong/dnd/

Also, I've got to say that I don't really think that the taking others' wounds/giving others HP and AC thing is really an archtypical "knight" thing.
 

My previous post's tone seems too harsh. Sorry about that. My point: feel free to post stuff that's not "perfectly" formatted. Plain text is a fine media.

My feedback on the class itself: as written, it's trying to be both a support character and a main tank. These roles are not always exclusive -- a Cleric can do both, depending on his spell choices. Still, it should be a choice on the shoulders of the PC.

The specific abilities are stepping on the toes of several other classes -- Barbarian-like DR, Fighter-like Bonus Feats, Kensai-like focus on a single weapon type, Cleric-like "shield other" ability, etc.

Anyway, the upshot is: IMHO the abilities don't synergize well with each other, the class doesn't have enough focus, and many of the better abilities could be the provence of small, focused Prestige Classes or Feats in their own right. (Protect, for example -- great idea for a Feat. Base the AC bonus off of your BaB, and make it a pre-req for a better Devoted Defender PrC.)

Sorry I can't be more positive. I like the ideas, I just don't think they all need to be in one class.

-- N
 


Thanks for the responses, guys and gals. I appreciate you guys taking a look at my class.

Nifft,

nifft said:
My previous post's tone seems too harsh. Sorry about that. My point: feel free to post stuff that's not "perfectly" formatted. Plain text is a fine media.
I realize this :), but I also realize, after posting plain text on the WotC message boards awhile back, that having fancy text at least makes it a little easier to read; reading plain text straight down a page gets a little tedious, especially when you have 4 pages worth.

Nifft said:
My feedback on the class itself: as written, it's trying to be both a support character and a main tank. These roles are not always exclusive -- a Cleric can do both, depending on his spell choices. Still, it should be a choice on the shoulders of the PC.


The specific abilities are stepping on the toes of several other classes -- Barbarian-like DR, Fighter-like Bonus Feats, Kensai-like focus on a single weapon type, Cleric-like "shield other" ability, etc.

Nifft, I see what you're saying both about the class being too divided in support or tank, and also about "stepping on the toes of several other classes," however, I have several original classes in my campaign, and only a few standard classes (barbarian and rogue are basically all that come from the PHB). And the abilities given to the knight-errant don't step on the toes of the classes actually in my campaign :) As far as being tank/support all in one, that's pretty accurate. I don't have clerics, but instead of a class called magi'i; they're better support than standard clerics, but much worse tanks, so in my homebrew, the knight-errant is all you get to fill that role.

Nifft said:
Anyway, the upshot is: IMHO the abilities don't synergize well with each other, the class doesn't have enough focus,

I'm not sure I get why you don't think they synergize well... the purpose of the class is basically the defense of others, and all those abilities lend themselves to protection.

Nifft said:
Sorry I can't be more positive. I like the ideas, I just don't think they all need to be in one class.

No prob, I put it up here for criticism - both positive and negative.
 
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John Q. Mayhem said:
First off: it's very good-looking. I think it might be a tad weak, especially as many of the abilities require a loss of HP or AC. I'd suggest you take a look at the Knight class of Hong's D&D Page for a comparison. Hong's is well-balanced, IMO, but closer to a regular fighter.

http://www.zipworld.com.au/~hong/dnd/

Also, I've got to say that I don't really think that the taking others' wounds/giving others HP and AC thing is really an archtypical "knight" thing.

John,
I checked ou Hong's Knight, and it's just not what i"m looking for. Since my homebrew setting doesn't have paladins, doesn't have *standard* clerics, and doesn't have *standard* fighters, the knight-errant has to fill a certain niche that Hong's Knight would never be able to fill. He has to protect, defend, and fight all at once (like a paladin or beefed up cleric).

As far as the various abilities go that share damage and energy, you're right, that's not archtypical as far as knights go, especially not when pertaining to history, but the knight-errant isn't meant to be *just* a warrior for his liege; he's meant to be a defender of both the liege, the commoner, and somewhat of a crusader as well.

Pertaining to the first part of your statement, what kinds of things do you personally think could be done to improve their strength? I've been leaning towards a "mount" (as per the Paladin), but am not sure I want to do that.
 
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I'm nowhere near a mechanics guru, but I'd say that you should maybe up the HD to d12, and give them a medium or good Will save. Having not seen one played, I really couldn't say for sure. They give up 9 fighter-feats for DR, Protect, Counter-Attack, Martyrdom, and their Bonding ability. IMO, the DR 5/- is worth 5 feats, Counter-Attack 1, Protect and Martyrdom 1 or 2, and Bonding none. Aura of Courage is worth more than a feat, so I'll say that and Protect/Martyr is 3. That leaves it looking fine, but then Martyrdom and Protect both weaken the knight himself; a Will boost and/or an HD boost seem like a good idea to me.

Instead of the mystical paladin mount, why not give them Wild Cohort as a bonus feat? http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a
Of course, that's only if you want the knight-errant to always be a mounted knight.
 

John Q. Mayhem said:
Instead of the mystical paladin mount, why not give them Wild Cohort as a bonus feat? http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a
Of course, that's only if you want the knight-errant to always be a mounted knight.

I'm not too sure about the d12 hit die. I've play-tested him a few times and the d10 seems to be strong enough... d12 may over-power him a bit.

For the mount, I don't want him to be *always* mounted, but I would have no problem if he could *choose* to be mounted. The wild cohort, unfortunately wouldn't fit into the campaign very well with the knight-errant, but it may work very well with the greenlord (which I have not posted yet).

I'll get my buddy to try him out at d12 and see what happens.
 

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