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.

 

[Tonguez]

I like the Banneret

If they want a dragonrider just bring back Drakewarden

 

[Zardnaar]

I like the Banneret

If they want a dragonrider just bring back Drakewarden

I liked drakewarden. Never say it used. No one else bought fizbans.

 

[Eubani]

My issue with the PDK being a mix of dragon rider and banneret aside from lore is that because there is so limited design space in a subclass that mixing both concepts into a single subclass dilutes both reducing the value of the subclass. It is far better to them as separate subclasses maintaining flavor, lore and viability.

 

[GarrettKP]

Yup PDK is a prestige class or background.

Not riding a dragon. Or a Amethyst dragon.

The purple dragon was a black one with a skin condition.

PDK is indeed a background in the new book, but the group does have a tie to Amethyst dragons now. In fact the final faction reward for renown is a dragon egg.

 

[doctorhook]

PDK is indeed a background in the new book, but the group does have a tie to Amethyst dragons now. In fact the final faction reward for renown is a dragon egg.

I maintain that that’s silly, if I’m being polite.

 

[Remathilis]

Time to pop my bottle of Schadenfreude Champagne*.

So there was a pact between an amethyst great wyrm and his kin and the kingdom of Cormyr to become a defense force for Faerun. The pact is only a decade old (so NOT a retcon) and has moved the PDKs into a global presence on the board. A complete expansion of the lore.

And for all the whinging and nerd rage about the subclass, we got the banneret, which is barely better than the 2014 version in the SCAG.

Congrats, you played yourself.

You could have had a freaking dragon pet. You instead got healing for your party 1/rest on you use of your second wind.

And the PDKs are still riding Purple dragons, just not you.

GG everyone. You were so convinced WotC was going to retcon the PDK origins that you trashed a good (but not great) dragon pet knight subclass to do it. You won the battle and lost the war.

* Technically it's only champagne if it comes from the schadenfreude region. Otherwise it's just sparkling disdain.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

@Remathilis you can still ride dragons, it just is not locked to one specific subclass and it can be a proper dragon instead of a weirdly pathetic one.

 

[GarrettKP]

@Remathilis you can still ride dragons, it just is not locked to one specific subclass and it can be a proper dragon instead of a weirdly pathetic one.

Good luck convincing most DMs to give a player a pet dragon outside of their Subclass.

 

[Skittle4242]

i guess if anything, it is a little weird that the dragon riding knights are riding specifically true neutral psychic dragons who are interested in the scholarly pursuit of planar knowledge, but it's fine

 

[bedir than]

i guess if anything, it is a little weird that the dragon riding knights are riding specifically true neutral psychic dragons who are interested in the scholarly pursuit of planar knowledge, but it's fine

From the book

The knights’ amethyst dragon partners have goals of their own. First and foremost, amethyst dragons seek out new experiences. Their curiosity prompts them to explore and collect knowledge not just on Toril, but throughout the multiverse. They have a special hatred of aberrations and lead their knights on quests to hunt and kill such creatures.