Purple Dragon Knight Retooled as Banneret in D&D's Heroes of Faerun Book

The much-maligned Purple Dragon Knight Fighter subclass is being retooled towards its original support origins in the upcoming Heroes of Faerun book. Coming out of GenCon, an image of a premade character sheet of a Banneret is making its way around the Internet. The classic support-based Fighter subclass appears to have replaced the Purple Dragon Knight subclass, which received a ton of criticism for not resembling the Purple Dragon Knight's traditional lore.

The Banneret's abilities includes a Level 3 "Knightly Envoy" ability that allows it to cast Comprehend Language as a ritual and gain proficiency in either Intimidation, Insight, Performance, or Persuasion (this appears unchanged from the Purple Dragon Knight UA), plus a Group Recovery ability that allows those within 30 feet of the Banneret to regain 1d4 Hit Points plus the Banneret's Fighter Level when the Banneret uses its Second Wind ability. Scrapped is the Purple Dragon companion that the UA version of the subclass had, which grew in power as the Purple Dragon Knight leveled up.

The Banneret was the generic name for the Purple Dragon Knight in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. The Banneret/Purple Dragon Knight was originally more of a support class that could provide the benefits of its abilities to its allies instead of or in addition to benefitting from them directly. For instance, a Banneret's Action Surge could be used to allow a nearby ally to make an attack, and Indomitable could allow an ally to reroll a failed saving throw in addition to the Banneret.

 

[Charlaquin]

I suspect that one reason people reacted so badly towards it is that the UA didn't provide any context, so it came across like a retcon (e.g. "They're called the Purple Dragon Knights because they ride purple dragons.")

Hopefully, the entry on the Purple Dragon Knight faction will explain that, while they got their name from an ancient black dragon whose scales were more violet than black, in 14XX DR they made a deal with some amethyst dragons and since then they've expanded across the Realms and are renowned as being knights who ride amethyst dragons, etc etc.

I don’t see any reason to assume they would do otherwise.

If that's the case, then fine. But if it is a total retcon -- e.g. they're called Purple Dragon Knights because they've always ridden purple dragons -- then I won't be a happy camper.

Yeah, and I think that would be perfectly reasonable of you.

 

[Weiley31]

"Hey, Amethyst Dragons. We're the Purple Dragon Knights. Y'all are purple dragons. Wanna team up? It'll be so cool!"

Except the Dragons in the area are not Amethyst Dragons and what do the Dragons get out of it. They would have no interest in said arms race.

Perhaps a deal was brokered between Cormyr with a Flight of Amethyst Dragons and Purple Dragon Knight representatives. While the Hippogrph Calvary has proven itself successful in the past and still used to this day, recent developments in the Realms have shown a troubling trend. Between the rise of the Absolute cult followers, the reported sightings of Gith razing towns with flying Red Dragons, and the rumors of a crashed Nautiloid, the Purple Dragons Knight realized they need to keep up with an ever changing battlefield that could potentially threaten Cormyr's future. The addition of Draconic allies will provide one of many edges for said future conflicts. The incident at the Well of Dragons, in Tyranny of Dragons, and what happened to Elturel, in Decent into Avernus, reinforced this belief and were two of the main factors in such delegations/talks.

As for the Amethyst Dragons, well the search for the fragments of Sardior, the Ruby Dragon, has been long and audorous. The alliance with Cormyr not only allows useful allies when needed, but more eyes on the ground in the Realms could help ease the burden of such a difficult task. Other Gem Dragons/followers of Sardior are not so sure of it will make a difference and have not offered their services.

 

[mellored]

I'm not familiar with any intelligence based fighter subclasses that aren't also spell-casters.

Psi Warrior, Arcane Archer, and Eldritch Knight are all Int.

 

[Remathilis]

Well, bad news, it looks like the purple dragon knights are going to be riding amethyst dragons anyway. The subclass we’re getting in the book is just not going to be ties specifically to the purple dragon knights.

Exactly. They didn't do a UA on the lore of Cormyr's knighthood. That part was already in the Adventure book. The art was ordered. They didn't get rid of that. What they did was offer a new dragonrider subclass named after the worst subclass in 5e, and the fandom told them: "no, we want the crap one from the SCAG, except give it a more generic name."

 

[Remathilis]

In short, there will still be Cormyr knights riding amethyst dragons, except you don't get to play one. Enjoy your second wind burat heal.

 

[pukunui]

Exactly. They didn't do a UA on the lore of Cormyr's knighthood. That part was already in the Adventure book. The art was ordered. They didn't get rid of that. What they did was offer a new dragonrider subclass named after the worst subclass in 5e, and the fandom told them: "no, we want the crap one from the SCAG, except give it a more generic name."

“We don’t want this seemingly retconned version of the Purple Dragon Knight” =/= “We want the old one renamed”.

Going back to the previous iteration and dropping the PDK moniker feels a little like an overreaction on WotC’s part. They could have made people happy by keeping the subclass as written but changing the name to “Dragon Rider” or something.

In short, their will still be Cormyr knights riding amethyst dragons, except you don't get to play one. Enjoy your second wind burat heal.

Maybe riding an adult amethyst dragon will be a perk for having a high renown with the PDK faction. That’s how I’d like to see it work.

 

[I'm A Banana]

What I’m against is the idea that because it has changed (and again, it seems like it has changed, the purple dragon knights are Amethyst dragon riders now, we just aren’t getting a subclass about it), it is inherently disrespectful of canon

My position on the subclass's thematic design is that a "battlefield commander" style fighter is the heroic fantasy of a Purple Dragon Knight, and that if you're going to make a set of mechanics with the label "Purple Dragon Knight," it should fulfill that heroic fantasy. If it was a chainsaw-wielding barbarian or a mounted archer or a wilderness rogue or some kind of warlock (with a pact with the lost Sixth Chromatic Dragon!) or whatever, it would fail at being a Purple Dragon Knight.

My position on the lore is basically this:

I mean knights originally named Purple Dragon Knights because they killed a purple dragon starting to ride purple dragons is objectively stupid even by Forgotten Realms standards. It sounds exactly like a writer got confused about why they were called that.

It's giving "the audience of Midwestern Moms won't like that joke about the President, so we better replace it with the funny dancing pony." That's a pre-judgement, though. Highly speculative educated guess on the stupidity there.

This refusal to accept anything new in old settings is what that still active “the conservatism of D&D fans is exhausting” thread is about. Stodgy grognards too dedicated to these settings as they were decades ago, and throwing a fit every time moves are made towards allowing the settings to evolve from that point.

If you have a old lazy cat named Thomas that means nothing to me and I steal your cat and replace it with an energetic young parrot named Thomas, and tell you that a parrot is objectively a better Thomas than your grubby old cat was (look he can even SAY his own name!), you asking for your cat back is not a sign of you being too stodgy and unwilling to change. It might be an excuse I use to shame you for asking for your cat back, and it might even be TRUE that you are a little stodgy and unwilling to change, but wanting your cat back isn't really about that. You're not scared of all change, you just liked what you had originally and don't think this new thing is much of a replacement. Not every change is a good one, and a proposed change needs to earn its place.

Wanting a PDK to be a battlefield commander isn't, at least in this case, some bid for the authority of nostalgia. It's based on appreciating what's already there, and wanting to see that grow.

 

[Remathilis]

“We don’t want this seemingly retconned version of the Purple Dragon Knight” =/= “We want the old one renamed”.

Going back to the previous iteration and dropping the PDK moniker feels a little like an overreaction on WotC’s part. They could have made people happy by keeping the subclass as written but changing the name to “Dragon Rider” or something..

Depends on what feedback WotC got on the survey. I wager, based on a lot of comments here and elsewhere, the two most common pieces of feedback they got was "Purple Dragon Knights shouldn't have dragon pets" and "PDK is too specific a concept for a subclass." (The latter being people who want to use it for non-Realms games). So WotC probably combined that feedback into "they want a knight sub, but with the Purple Dragon name and without the purple dragon." Hence they did their best to save the old class and use the more generic name."

This is the second time I've seen a perfectly good subclass idea die in UA to people who didn't understand the lore behind it (because the book wasn't out yet). The Izzet wizard for Ravnica being the other. I'm beginning to think WotC needs to put lore sidebars that give the game away because too many people react without acknowledging we are only seeing part of the picture.

 

[pukunui]

This is the second time I've seen a perfectly good subclass idea die in UA to people who didn't understand the lore behind it (because the book wasn't out yet). The Izzet wizard for Ravnica being the other. I'm beginning to think WotC needs to put lore sidebars that give the game away because too many people react without acknowledging we are only seeing part of the picture.

Yes, this. If the UA had said, "The Purple Dragon Knights originally got their name from a violet-scaled black dragon but have more recently partnered with amethyst dragons" it might have gone down better. I, for one, would have found that more palatable, and I'm not generally a fan of pet classes.

 

[Necropolitan]

From the same mindset that brought you Purple Dragon Knights who ride purple dragons:

Battle Smith: Artificers who gain abilities relating to fighting smiths.

Path of the Storm Herald: Barbarians who can predict the weather and tell people about it.

Path of the Totem Warrior: Barbarians who wield totem poles as weapons.

College of Spirits: Bards who drink alcohol.

Grave Domain: Clerics who are very somber and serious.

Circle of Stars: Druids dedicated to celebrities.

Arcane Archer: Fighters who fire Wizards from bows.

Way of the Open Hand: Monks who answer "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" by slapping people.

Oath of the Ancients: Paladins dedicated to protecting senior citizens.

Swarmkeeper: Rangers who aren't allowed to travel because the swarm needs to be kept in one spot. Those bees ain't budging.

Phantom: Rogues who wear masks and gain bonuses when inside opera houses.

Wild Magic: Sorcerers who gain their powers from a connection to nature.

Great Old One: Warlocks who have made pacts with an elderly celebrity.

School of Bladesinging: Wizards who sing to swords.