Deconstructed: Knight of the Realm

WE HAVE ROMANCE novels from the Middle Ages to thank for the idea of knights in shining armor rescuing damsels in distress. The image of a knight upon a white steed who adheres to a chivalric code is easy to conjure for many purveyors of fantasy TTRPGs. Sure, nowadays we might call them Lawful Stupid; but they still hold a place in our minds.

While the picture in the core rule book imparts the image of a brave knight from one of the aforementioned romance novels, the stat block doesn’t make the same distinction. This Knight of the Realm could easily be one whose moral compass is bent toward conquest or one who is more focused toward nature’s blessing.

The Knight of the Realm gives you a lot of leeway in how to present them due to their simple features. The only mystery here is their steed. Their stat block is the only one in the book that puts rules around mounted combat and might be something your table finds fun or useful to interrogate further.

The Knight of the Realm has an average difficulty and relatively high thresholds for the tier. Their HP and Stress are fairly average, but because of their Chevalier  and Heavily Armored passives (more on those later), they are slightly more well protected than the stat block initially gives them credit for. They have a great attack bonus and do solid damage when attacking.

To figure out how one might employ the Knight, one must appreciate these are nobles. They understand history and high society and are relatively adroit due to their upbringing. They expect to be followed because of their position. That means they are capable at court and on the battlefield. During combat, they should be mounted. While mounted, they move quickly, RUNNING DOWN their opponents.

Using this description as a guidepost, we know that the Knight has a steed so we can assume then that when they show up in the scene they are mounted. This is important for two of its features, but presents a decision point for those who might expect more crunch in your TTRPG. Does the mount have its own stat block? Does it need one? Are the PCs able to attack the mount if you don’t have one? What would its Difficulty be? Does your session zero address harm to animals in case the Juggernaut Brawler Mongo wants to punch it in the face? Obviously the narrative takes precedence in most of these cases, but it doesn’t hurt to consider your answers to these questions beforehand.

While the Knight is mounted, they have a higher Difficulty which plays into their defenses. It takes a Severe blow to bring them off their mount and with their Heavily Armored feature, this might help some. Three physical damage with relatively high Severe thresholds should keep them on their faithful steed, but a critical success or tag team will likely unseat them. Falling from their mount just makes a bad situation worse, but with the right allies by the Knight’s side, this may not ever come to pass.

Offensively, the Knight has a single-target charge that moves them across the battlefield and does not require Stress or Fear. Given their low HP, however, this move isn’t one I see them doing often. Being away from their allies and beyond the front line is not somewhere you want your Leader to be. Given their Tactics experience, you can assume they would only use this on stray PCs that have separated themselves from the group.

Their final feature, For the Realm!, spotlights several Adversaries for half damage. It is a typical Leader feature. Stress cost for extra spotlights are usually at half damage. Fear costs do full damage. They are generally more effective when they have allies, so you will want to plan your encounters accordingly. I would suggest looking at the synergies between the Knight and the Elite Soldier. For what is a Knight without his faithful Squire?

Daggerheart Deconstructed is written by ENNIE Award-winning writer Chris Davidson, author of RightKnight's Guide to Making Custom Adversaries, one of the authors of Incredible Creatures, and Additional Writer for the Daggerheart Core Rule Book.