Knights

The Chivalric Warriors

Primary Attribute: ............................Strength (STR)

Secondary Attribute: .................Constitution (CON)

Automatic qualification for entry into the exclusive military-political class known as Knighthood is limited to characters from noble and chivalric backgrounds. Historically, nobles alone trained from childhood in the chivalric martial arts. Anyone of noble background therefore begins with significant, you might even say overwhelming, advantages.

A noble character desiring to become a feudal lord must elect for Knighthood. The feudal lord was a military as well as a political leader. He was expected to personally command his troops in battle. Any noble heir to lands and titles must become a knight if he expects his followers to respect him and follow him steadfastly

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Junior offspring of titled nobility may choose another vocation. However, if they inherit the family lands and titles, they will have to be knighted if they wish to exercise their authority and prerogatives to the fullest extent. This means acquiring Knightly fighting skills later in their careers.

A commoner PC might win Knighthood during the course of a role-playing campaign, but he may not start his career as a candidate for knighthood. A commoner must win knighthood 'the hard way'. His logical route for advancement to chivalric rank requires that he become a mounted Retainer if at all possible and the sooner the better. Only in this way can he most readily acquire the all-important Knightly skills without the benefit of early training and growing up in a chivalric household. He must win renown in battle. His 'worthiness' must be recognised by a feudal lord willing to confer knighthood upon him as a reward for valour and loyalty.

All of this is very unlikely and for good reason. The very idea of chivalry assumes the innate superiority of the noble-born over the commoner. In the feudal scheme of things, to be a Knight is to have the unquestioned right to command social inferiors. Being a commoner is to have the unquestioned duty to obey social superiors.

Democratic equality is non-existent in feudal society and Knighthood means belonging to a small, highly privileged group very jealous of its powers, prerogatives and exclusivity. Were it otherwise, what value lies in being a Knight? If you have a commoner for a character and want Knighthood for him, the only way to attain that lofty goal is to prove his right by hard service and valiant deeds! In fact, he will most likely will have to demonstrate considerably superior prowess to that of most Knights in order to get himself noticed.

Knight's Primary Skills	Secondary Skills
Animal Riding1	Any Other Combat Skills
Mounted Combat1	First Aid
Any 3 Combat skills & Competencies marked (K)2	Any Background skills
Conditioning
Endurance
Stamina
Battlefield Tactics3
Leadership
Any Noble Skills
Initial Number of Combat Skills	7 (includes 3 selected as Mastery)

1Animal Riding and Mounted Combat constitute the essential skills for any Knight and must be selected for Mastery before any other skills.

2The next three skills selected for Mastery must be Combat skills characteristic of Knighthood.

3A character of noble background and with INT 14+ and WIS 14+ will learn Battlefield Tactics at +20 PSF% and need not select it for Mastery. This is a part of his fundamental training as a membership of the feudal leadership class and because his intellectual capabilities alone enable him to master the skill.