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.

 

[TwoSix]

I took the Krynn reference as a bit of a cheeky nod to the fact they know Dragonlance is the dragon knight setting and literally saying it inspired the idea, in fiction and out.

But D&D lore is Serious Business so people are going to be upset with a bit of an in-joke.

If people don’t like the Krynn thing, I definitely won’t mention how I’m crossing PDKs with Fourth Wing to get super sexy young knights with magical powers.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Shade is kinda back. Its refounded, not flying and settled by survivors of Shades fall.

That’s a perfectly good trouble magnet right there.

 

[Necropolitan]

So early access for the FR book is out.

Banneret is a completely new subclass, no Dragons.

The Purple Dragon Knights and Amethyst Dragons are mentioned in the secotion on Cormyr, but it is very short and not emphasized. Basically a decade ago someone there went out seeking an alliance with Amethyst Dragons and made such an alliance, so it is not counter to the lore and it is easily ignored.

There is also a Purple Dragon Squire background and a Purple Dragon Rook Origin feat but neither of them mention Dragons at all and have nothing to do with Dragons mechanically.

Overall I am happy with it (so far)

Good.

Even if the change wasn't canceled it's good to see WOTC listened to the fans and made minimal changes.

It's still silly to have the Purple Dragon Knights be an international group and they seem redundant since the other factions cover most of what they stand for.

 

[mearls]

For folks who don't like the new lore, it's a small part of the book. Outside of the PDK entry, it's not (from what I have read so far) a foundational piece of the setting.

I think it does a good job of trying something new without complete rewiring the setting. I think the writers were aware of how reaction might go - the relatively light touch is easy enough to walk back in the future.

FWIW, I do agree that the Krynn reference is strange and distracts from the overall story. I think it would have been stronger if the backstory was rooted in Faerun. OTOH, that also helps keep the change insulated from the rest of the setting.

 

[Zardnaar]

For folks who don't like the new lore, it's a small part of the book. Outside of the PDK entry, it's not (from what I have read so far) a foundational piece of the setting.

I think it does a good job of trying something new without complete rewiring the setting. I think the writers were aware of how reaction might go - the relatively light touch is easy enough to walk back in the future.

FWIW, I do agree that the Krynn reference is strange and distracts from the overall story. I think it would have been stronger if the backstory was rooted in Faerun. OTOH, that also helps keep the change insulated from the rest of the setting.

I respect the various threads tying things togather.

The Netheril/shade thing tgats been going since around 1996 to now.

Having it return in 4E was cool. Amaunator returning cool. Nuking everything else not so much.

Its not foundational but I liked the old PDK lore not the Amethyst Dragon tie in. Riding black dragons doesn't make much sense so military order is possibly best bet.

You also cant really balance dragon riding mechanically in class design. At best you get a vaguely dragon themed horse.

 

[Yaarel]

You also cant really balance dragon riding mechanically in class design. At best you get a vaguely dragon themed horse.

To balance a dragon rider, obviously this is in a higher level campaign, when flying is normal.

I would treat the dragon as a full player character, and balance combat encounters accordingly. The player is playing two characters, both the dragon and the rider. A young dragon would be Large, which might be large enough to carry someone while flying. Maybe the dragon is a Draconic Sorcerer if a spellcaster, or go Barbarian to beef up hit points. Otherwise, it is a normal character, whose flight needs to be accounted for, and its breath weapon. I would refer to the monster statblock for inspiration, but not rely on it, because monster stats are irrelevant for player character sheets.

 

[Zardnaar]

To balance a dragon rider, obviously this is in a higher level campaign, when flying is normal.

I would treat the dragon as a full player character, and balance combat encounters accordingly. The player is playing two characters, both the dragon and the rider. A young dragon would be Large, which might be large enough to carry someone while flying. Maybe the dragon is a Draconic Sorcerer if a spellcaster, or go Barbarian to beef up hit points. Otherwise, it is a normal character, whose flight needs to be accounted for, and its breath weapon. I would refer to the monster statblock for inspiration, but not rely on it, because monster stats are irrelevant for player character sheets.

I think dragon riding rules are fine.
Pet dragon not so much. Drakewarden gets a weak one of suppose.