Boring Subclasses and the Knight of the Realm

The champion sucks. No, really. It does. It’s defined as an archetype that “focuses on the development of raw physical power honed to deadly perfection.” What does that mean? Nothing. “Me big, me smash” is all I hear. It’s a receptacle for Improved Critical and Additional Fighting Style. If someone were to look at a champion in the Realms, or Eberron, or near-any campaign world, they would never remark “Oh, man! She’s a Champion! That’s awesome!” Because “champion” is a meaningless title on a flavorless archetype specifically designed so players can imprint their own character concept onto it.

Champion, by Arankin

And that’s okay, to a degree, but I don’t think it should be the design goal of a subclass in 5e. Because subclasses represent a choice for a character. And, personally, I would prefer a choice that means more in the context of a campaign than just “hitty guy, hitty guy with specific hitty attacks, and magic hitty guy.”

Don’t get me wrong. I understand why the Player’s Handbook subclasses all, for the most part, totally suck. They have to be generic. Because if they’re too specific, then you’re selling a campaign setting with the core rulebook, which is the antithesis of a D&D core rulebook. It’s supposed to be generic enough to inspire you to create your own world. And if the Fighter archetypes were Purple Dragon Knight, Steel Legionnaire and Warforged Juggernaut, then people wouldn’t know what to do with them outside of their respective campaign settings. Just a little more inspiration in your class design, is all I’m saying. Commander, Dervish, and Duskblade. Doesn’t that sound more evocative than Champion, Battlemaster, and Eldritch Knight?

But why am I talking about this? Why am I bitching about friggin’ fighter subclasses?

Well, I’m writing a new campaign, right now. Part of that, for me, is creating a new setting into which I can drop my players. And creating a setting is more to me than NPCs and towns. It’s religions, and races, and classes. It’s every aspect of the game. It’s about creating a rich, living world where players want to get lost.

And a big part of THAT is the creation of subclasses that fit into the world. Almost all subclasses in this upcoming campaign are going to be homebrewed. The reasoning behind this is that, as mentioned above, I want to give the players something onto which they can attach themselves. In addition, I want to make a definitive line in the sand between players and common NPCs. There’s no “soldier” martial archetype because PCs aren’t just soldiers. They are commanders, special agents, assassins and swordmasters. It’s a bit of an objectivist view of D&D, where the cream rises to the top and some people are more special than others, but I feel that the very nature of D&D is already a bit Randian. Like superheroes.

But I’ve rambled on enough, and that’s not why you visited this page. You came for a new class archetype. Thus, consider this the first entry in my series on my upcoming campaign: The Beacon in the Black.

I present the Knight of the Realm.

Knight of the Realm

PDF Link: Knight of the Realm
The Knight of the Realm is a Martial Archetype for the Fighter class.

The Knights of the Realm are an order of warriors that has risen up on the Trinity Coast. They are highly skilled in the ways of combat and leadership, and hold themselves to a high moral standard. To become a Knight of the Realm, you must prove yourself worthy (usually by accomplishing a task of great valor) to another knight, who may then, at their own discretion, appoint you a member of their order and train you in their knightly ways.

Knighthood on the Trinity Coast is not a mark of nobility, but rather of one’s quality of character. Despite the fact that any Knight of the Realm may appoint anyone else as a member of their order, they use great discretion and very few who desire the title actually qualify for it. Those who train in their ways but are not accepted into the order (whether they were deemed unworthy or have simply never gotten the chance to prove themselves) are often called Hedge Knights. These warriors often cleave to the knight’s code even closer than actual Knights of the Realm, as they wish to prove themselves and one day become a knight in full.

Knight, by RedPeggy

Knight's Code. You are a knight of the realm, and must uphold a code of honor and chivalry in all things. Knighthood is not just a title bestowed upon you, but a mark of your quality as a person. The stories that arise from your deeds are just as important to you as the deeds themselves. For good or evil, you must uphold a code of fairness and skill over deception and guile.

• Your alignment must always remain lawful.
• You never gain advantage on an attack roll when attacking from a hidden position.
• You never attack a foe during a surprise round. Instead, you allow your foe to ready himself before attacking.
• You never deal lethal damage against a helpless foe. You can strike such a foe, but only with attacks that deal nonlethal damage.

If you violate any part of this code, you lose one use of your knight's challenge ability. You cannot regain uses lost this way until you complete a long rest. If your knight's challenge ability is not available when you violate the code (for example, if you have exhausted your uses for the day), you suffer disadvantage on attack rolls and saves for the rest of that day. Your betrayal of your code of conduct undermines the honor and fairness that you represent.

You are personally bound to your code as a knight, but recognize that others are not. While a knight may chastise team-mates for using duplicitous methods, you must never force others to follow your code. Some are simply not fit to be knights of the realm.

Banner. All knights of the realm have a banner which they carry with them, usually hung upon a spear or lance, or emblazoned upon a shield. This banner is usually connected to their homeland, home town, or family crest to represent their origins and how far they have come. At 3^rd level, you may raise your banner and call upon your allies as an action. All allies who can see and hear you clearly gain a +1 bonus on damage rolls for up to 10 minutes, so long as they can see you (spells that have multiple points of damage (such as magic missile or scorching ray add this bonus to a single damage roll). Should you fall unconscious during these 10 minutes, however, all creatures benefitting from your call to arms must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 15) or suffer disadvantage on attack rolls until they complete a short or long rest.

Knight's Challenge. At 3^rd level, as a knight, you may issue challenges to your foes, calling upon them to face you or forcing them to flee. You may issue a challenge up to two times. You regain all Knight’s Challenge uses when you complete a short or long rest. If an enemy you have challenged drops you to 0 hit points you immediately lose the benefit of your challenge, and you are shamed and dishonored, and cannot gain the benefits of a Knight's Challenge again until you have completed a long rest.

In order to be challenged, an enemy must have at least 5 intelligence and must be able to understand a language. Additional requirements are provided in the challenge descriptions.

Saving throws required by a Knight's Challenge are equal to: 

8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier.

You can only use one of your Knight's Challenges at a time, and may end a challenge as a bonus action.

Fighting Challenge. At 3^rd level, you can choose a single enemy you can see and challenge it to single combat as a bonus action. The enemy must have a challenge rating of at least your level – 2.  You gain advantage on weapon attack rolls and re-roll a result of 1 on a weapon damage die against that foe for the duration of the challenge. You lose these benefits until the end of your next turn if an ally makes an attack against this foe.

The target of the challenge must make a Wisdom saving throw. If they fail, then they suffer disadvantage on all attack rolls against creatures other than you for the duration of the challenge.

A Fighting Challenge ends if you fall unconscious, or the challenged creature drops to 0 hit points or flees the combat (and you do not pursue).

Daunting Challenge. At 7^th level, you can call out your foes and force them to flee from your presence. As an action, you may issue a challenge to all foes within 30 feet of you, forcing them to make a Wisdom saving throw. If they fail, they become frightened. To be affected, a creature must have a CR equal to or less than your level – 2. This challenge ends after 1 minute, or if you fall unconscious.

Bond of Loyalty. At 7^th level, when you or an ally who can see or hear you fails an Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma saving throw, they can immediately make the saving throw again with advantage. You cannot use this ability again until you complete a short or long rest.

Leadership. At 10^th level, you may use your reaction to expend one use of your Action Surge in order to grant one ally who can see and hear you an additional action on their turn.

Superior Knight’s Challenge. At 15^th level, you can use a Knight’s challenge up to 3 times.

Impetuous Endurance. At 15^th level, when you fail a saving throw, you may instead succeed. You must complete a long rest before you can use this ability again.

Loyal Beyond Death. At 18^th level, when you drop to 0 hit points, you can expend your Second Wind to choose to remain conscious and active for 1 minute thereafter, even if you would have died instantly from massive damage. You still must make death saving throws during that time, and still have 0 hit points and are affected by damage normally (you receive 1 death saving throw failure if you are damaged by an opponent's attack, 2 if that attack is a critical hit.). If you die during this time, you remain conscious and active, and do not die until the minute is up.

If your hit points are restored during this time, they are restored normally, even if you have already failed three death saving throws or would have died through massive damage.

Design Notes

It's not hard to tell that this class is primarily inspired by the Knight class from 3.5 (Player's Handbook 2 for those interested). I hope I got far enough away, though, with some of the mechanics to make the Knight of the Realm feel distinct. 

I’m worried that this class might be a bit too combat-focused. While many of its abilities (Bond of Loyalty, Leadership, Impetuous Endurance) don’t directly affect combat, they are obviously going to be used quite often within combat, and are definitely a benefit. Compare this to the champion’s Remarkable Athlete feature, or the battlemaster’s Know Your Enemy. Sure, they both have combat applications, but are intended for use in the other pillars of the game. Bond of Loyalty doesn’t. I’m thinking that it’s probably going to be the first thing to change as I playtest the class.

That said, the fact that several of the subclass’s abilities focus on its allies, rather than itself, really sets it apart from other subclasses in terms of its utility. This is a subclass that is designed to function with a team, and gets a benefit out of giving its allies a time to shine, rather than itself. Yet, at the same time Knight’s Challenge and Loyal Beyond Death are very explicitly focused on the knight themselves. I see a lot of knights using Daunting and Fighting challenge as forms of battlefield control, keeping weaker enemies at bay and stronger ones engaged while the party deals with the fodder. It’s an intriguing playstyle, and I can’t wait to see it in action.