Household Knight
A Household Knight is a knight who wears the livery of their household rather than their own, and does not have their own sigil. They hold an authority somewhere above a Captain of a Military Unit but below other knights.
While it is possible for a Household Knight to rise to the position of a 'full' knight, it is by no means normal, and a Household Knight swears to a House with no expectation of promotion or position, choosing to put aside a degree of independence in exchange for appointment to a constant role. In this way they differ from Hedge Knights, who occupy a similar space in terms of authority and social standing, but choose to prioritise their independence and seek to earn recognition and to be taken on in an actual role in a household.
Household Knights usually form a bodyguard to the Lord or Lady of a House on the battlefield, or represent their influence if the liege does not take the field themselves.
The rise in popularity of Household Knights in the early 440s can be attributed to two factors - seeking to emulate The Kingsguard of Tyon I Cray, and the renown earned by ser Dominic Winthrop's Foot Knights, deployed to devastating effect against House Darklyn of Darklyn Point during The Royal Coalition vs House Darklyn.
Some consider the rise of Household Knights to be usurping the role of Sworn Swords, especially for more martially inclined Lords, who have trended toward forgoing a Sworn Sword out of pride for their own prowess.
While it is possible for a Household Knight to rise to the position of a 'full' knight, it is by no means normal, and a Household Knight swears to a House with no expectation of promotion or position, choosing to put aside a degree of independence in exchange for appointment to a constant role. In this way they differ from Hedge Knights, who occupy a similar space in terms of authority and social standing, but choose to prioritise their independence and seek to earn recognition and to be taken on in an actual role in a household.
Household Knights usually form a bodyguard to the Lord or Lady of a House on the battlefield, or represent their influence if the liege does not take the field themselves.
The rise in popularity of Household Knights in the early 440s can be attributed to two factors - seeking to emulate The Kingsguard of Tyon I Cray, and the renown earned by ser Dominic Winthrop's Foot Knights, deployed to devastating effect against House Darklyn of Darklyn Point during The Royal Coalition vs House Darklyn.
Some consider the rise of Household Knights to be usurping the role of Sworn Swords, especially for more martially inclined Lords, who have trended toward forgoing a Sworn Sword out of pride for their own prowess.
Household Knights in Military Units
Once a household has attracted twelve (or more) Household Knights to its cause it can form them into a devastating Military Unit using the Marshal's Raise Military Unit action, with the following additional restrictions and options:- A unit of Household Knights must be either in Heavy Armour (at the usual cost), or in Plate Armour (for an increase of +3 to the Start Cost).
- A unit of Household Knights cannot be equipped with Bows or Crossbows.
- A unit of Household Knights must be led by a Captain, who must be a named Knight, not a Household Knight. This can be the House's Marshal, but cannot be the Lord or Lady who leads the House.
- The Captain of a unit of Household Knights may carry their Household Banner. If this already exists, there is no cost. If it does not already exist this increases the Start cost by +2 and requires a dd Production:Cloth or a dddd Trade:Any check to create.
- A unit of Household Knights must be created at Regular experience level.
- A unit of Household Knights may take the Martial Superiority ability below at an increase of +2 Months to its creation time.
Martial SuperiorityMartial Superiority: (This unit gains +dd on Attacks against units not made up of or led by a Knight. This unit will not voluntarily engage a Levy unit.)
- A unit of Household Knights that is Mounted and in Plate may take Barding. This has no additional cost (it is factored into the Cavalry price increase), but increases the difficulty of the Production:Metal check to dddd, and cannot be substituted by a Trade:Any check.
Household Knights and Vassals
A Duchal Title holder has an obligation to ensure their vassals are able to field sufficient quantity and quality of troops. While for standard Men-at-Arms this does not have much of an effect on them, with Household Knights there are only so many elligible knights in the country. For this reason, a Duchal House cannot form a second unit of Household Knights until they have ensured that each of their Vassals has one. They can send Household Knights from their own number to their Vassals to make up numbers, and their Vassal will automatically form a unit of Household Knights once they have at least twelve. A Vassal will also attract their own Household Knights. For each Triumph they roll during Income Generation they will acquire one Household Knight. Whenever a Duchy hosts a Tourney, each Vassal in that Duchy will attract up to one Household Knight for every two of their knights who ride in that Tourney.
Length of Term
Lifetime
Related Locations
When a lowborn squire completes their training under a member of a Player House, it is possible to 'force them below the abstraction layer', removing them from being a full character in order to gain an additional Household Knight, however it is likely that other characters will react poorly to this, and it will impact the attractiveness of serving as a squire to that Character/House in the future.
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