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.

 

[Horwath]

Not sure if universal subclasses were as viable as we think (I know ToTV has uniform progression, do they allow swapping subclasses?) but I will agree the biggest loss was not making subclass progression better. So many classes effectively don't have subclasses because of how late they go on line (rogue, sorcerer) or have too few to count (bard).

Maybe 6e will rebalance classes and fix that.

maybe not all subclasses would work good for all classes, some might require Spellcasting feature.
Like a Healer subclass.


but a mount subclass? that should be workable for any character concept.

1st level(optional), tiny companion that can do some minor damage(1d4+mod) at cost of your Bonus action, with maybe 10HP
3rd level: small companion, d6 damage, 20HP
6th level: medium mount that can be mounted, d8 damage(maybe some rider), 35HP
10th level: large mount that can be mounted while flying, 2d6 damage, 55HP
14th level: large mount that can do some special (magical)thing compared to 4th or 5th level spell. 2d6 damage-two attacks. 75HP

AC scaling from 14-18
proficiency in 4 skills,(Athletics, acrobatics, stealth,perception) expertise in 2. proficiency in all saves. evasion.
Bonus action: Dash, Disengage, Help, Hide

 

[Remathilis]

maybe not all subclasses would work good for all classes, some might require Spellcasting feature.
Like a Healer subclass.


but a mount subclass? that should be workable for any character concept.

1st level(optional), tiny companion that can do some minor damage(1d4+mod) at cost of your Bonus action, with maybe 10HP
3rd level: small companion, d6 damage, 20HP
6th level: medium mount that can be mounted, d8 damage(maybe some rider), 35HP
10th level: large mount that can be mounted while flying, 2d6 damage, 55HP
14th level: large mount that can do some special (magical)thing compared to 4th or 5th level spell. 2d6 damage-two attacks. 75HP

AC scaling from 14-18
proficiency in 4 skills,(Athletics, acrobatics, stealth,perception) expertise in 2. proficiency in all saves. evasion.
Bonus action: Dash, Disengage, Help, Hide

I wasn't asking theory, I was asking if anyone has done that yet. Outside of the Styrixhaven UA that failed. Is there a 5e offshoot with swappable subclasses?

 

[Tonguez]

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 could see two players working together as Dragon and Rider with some kind of Bond feat allowing them to coordinate better but generally dont like the idea of players running 2 PCs unless everyone is doing it.

I could see the playing the Dragon with a dumb rider, but thats an entirely different setting.

Until then Drakewarden will do

 

[Yaarel]

I could see two players working together as Dragon and Rider with some kind of Bond feat allowing them to coordinate better but generally dont like the idea of players running 2 PCs unless everyone is doing it.

I could see the playing the Dragon with a dumb rider, but thats an entirely different setting.

Until then Drakewarden will do

If one player wants to play a Dragon and the other its rider, that can be fun.

In any case, playing a Dragon is no problem. The Wyrmling is Medium size, and ages magically when becoming more powerful (while leveling!). The Ancient Dragons are Epic tier, and the most powerful of all.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

I could see two players working together as Dragon and Rider with some kind of Bond feat allowing them to coordinate better but generally dont like the idea of players running 2 PCs unless everyone is doing it.

I could see the playing the Dragon with a dumb rider, but thats an entirely different setting.

Until then Drakewarden will do

Bring back Council of Wyrms you'll cowards!

 

[TwoSix]

I wasn't asking theory, I was asking if anyone has done that yet. Outside of the Styrixhaven UA that failed. Is there a 5e offshoot with swappable subclasses?

Sadly not a space I’ve seen explored in any third party stuff.

 

[Remathilis]

Sadly not a space I’ve seen explored in any third party stuff.

I feel that's more intentional than it first appears.

 

[GarrettKP]

It should be noted, the Purple Dragon Knight faction stuff makes it very clear that if you’re a PDK, you’re partnered with a Dragon. Membership even gives you an exotic saddle.

The background is titled Squire. So seems clear that if you are trying to play a PDK, you’re playing a squire that is trying to find a dragon partner, because to be knighted in the order you have to be accepted by a dragon partner. They even have dragon quest options for you to go on to earn that partnership.

 

[Amphytrion]

Pets are a tragedy of the commons for players. My experience as a constant DM is that every player wishes he could have a cool pet or summon an army of them, but simultaneously loathes waiting for the others to manage them on their turns.

I did not respond to any surveys (ever) but I’m glad they went in the direction they did with it. I wish it were something new, rather than a reprint, but that’s another discussion and not the Banneret’s fault.

I’m not sure how the story makes much sense either. If someone has the books and can dive into this from the Amethyst Dragon’s perspective, that’d be appreciated. What are their ulterior motives? Is there any guidance for adventures playing into their agenda? Etc.

 

[Parmandur]

It should be noted, the Purple Dragon Knight faction stuff makes it very clear that if you’re a PDK, you’re partnered with a Dragon. Membership even gives you an exotic saddle.

The background is titled Squire. So seems clear that if you are trying to play a PDK, you’re playing a squire that is trying to find a dragon partner, because to be knighted in the order you have to be accepted by a dragon partner. They even have dragon quest options for you to go on to earn that partnership.

I kind of prefer it as a story-based, DM buy-in like magic items or allies than as hardcoded features.