A decade long, I honed a single sword,
Its steel-cold blade is yet to test its song.
Today I hold it out to you, my lord,
and ask: "Who seeks deliverance from a wrong?"
A class for FIRMAMENT.
The Hedge-Knights orders were founded by the Five Knights, the most eminent heroes of the Chivalric Age, in the early days of the Sun King’s reign.
Only the eldest Knights yet remember the days when their orders roamed the land in glory, and had noble chapters in every city.
Some cruel whim of the Sun King has outlawed them, to sleep now in hedges, and scrabble in the dirt for glory.
Knights are trained in mentor-successor chains - as you create a Hedge-Knight, give at least a little thought to their (probably dead) mentor.
+1 to Hit and +1 HRTS per Template
Starting Items: Plate (16 AC, 3 Slots), any Weapon of your choice, a cloak showing one or both colours of your Order, 3 Rations (1 slot), two pieces of Knightly Kit.
Suggested Skills: 1) Rhetoric 2) Poetry 3) Singing 4) Wrestling 5) History 6) Navigation
A - Questant, Challenge, Rise//Fall
B - +1 Attack per Round
C - Spirit-Squire
D - Surpassing Skill
+
Δ – Successor
Questant
You are a member of an order of Knights, and have the features of said order.
Each order of knights has developed arcane secrets in imitation of their founder’s most famed deeds.
Roll 1d6 for one of your Order’s Deeds, and a further 1d6 whenever you Level Up. If you roll a duplicate, move up or down the list until you hit one which is not a duplicate.
You do Deeds, which work a bit like Spells, with Chivalry Dice, which work like Magic Dice, except they do not return to your pool when expended.
Deeds can only be done with CD, but CD can be added to other kinds of Spells (Astrologer or Scribe) like MD.
You have no CD to start, but gain 1 CD when you undertake a Quest for a non-Knight NPC and succeed, or when you contribute to your Order’s Great Quest.
Whenever you successfully complete a Quest, mark down the circumstances on your sheet.
Whenever you roll doubles, triples or quadruples on CD, you gain a Worthy Foe! The Spirits, who do so love to see Knights embattled and embittered, whisper your name to a terrible enemy somewhere in the world, and then whisper their name to yours.
Doubles, a fellow mortal.
Triples, some kind of monster.
Quadruples, something genuinely terrible and prodigious, like an elder Conclave or a Giant.
Record your Worthy Foe’s name.
Most in the Two Worlds understand that, should they kill a Knight when asked, they’ll be rewarded amply.
So it goes in the World Below. Can’t have shit in Exile.
Challenge
As a Knight, the challenges you offer carry social and even magical weight.
When you demand that someone oppose you in a challenge of wits, strength, or violence, they must either accept, or suffer consequence.
For ordinary humans, the consequence of rejecting the challenge is no more than some social embarrassment, but for more supernatural creatures, they can lose powers and privileges, be flung into paroxysms of agony, or even, die.
You can Challenge a given creature once, and can only Challenge them again if circumstances change significantly.
If a creature doesn’t understand you, you can’t Challenge it.
Rise//Fall
This is a Flip Template:
It Starts at Rise, and, should you suffer a great failure, flips to Fall.
When you gain a great success in Fall, it returns to Rise.
The nature of your Rise and Fall is dependent on your Order.
Spirit-Squire
You have gained the allegiance of one of the spirits which is allied to your order.
Their allegiance is such that they will assume a physical body for a time, with the same number of HD as you, and travel as your squire. Whatever courtly name they held as a Spirit is forgotten for the moment, and they will go by their personal name.
A Solar Spirit, from the All-Beholding Sun, takes the form of a shining Squire - glowing like a torch, but generally incapable of stealth.
A Lunar Spirit, from the Dreaming Moon, takes the form of a shifting Squire - unable to maintain constant form, but also quite impossible to bind or trap.
A Sidereal Spirit, of the Myriad Stars, takes the form of a sturdy Squire - incapable of haste, but incredibly resilient.
An Unlit Spirit, of the Hungry Void, takes the form of a silent Squire - unable to speak, but also capable of moving almost undetectably.
If your Squire is slain, they are sent back to the Firmament, and can be called back down by expending one of your CD.
Surpassing Skill
As an action in combat, you may simply narrate how you kill, disarm or otherwise overcome a mundane opponent - no dice needed. This ability means you win duels against mundane opponents automatically.
“Mundane opponent” means someone who isn’t:
Themselves possessed of Surpassing Skill.
Immune to Swords.
A giant or a lich or something.
Δ – Successor
Find a worthy fool to train as a Knight, and then train them - i.e., bring them on adventures, impart some life lessons, and so on.
Your Successor becomes a 1st Level Knight, and, should you die and they manage to bury you, they can inherit half of your XP.
Deeds of Old
Incidentally, to gain new Deeds, you must locate physical representations of the mighty achievements of your predecessors, or otherwise gain contact with the long gone past. The magic you use is Heraldry - Emulate the Old Heroes to Surpass Them, and so on.
Knightly Orders
Knight of Coins
Order’s Founder: Vassari the Kind, the Mercenary Knight. An incorrigible drunk, cheat, thief, liar, and charlatan, who was nonetheless a hero with a heart of solid gold. She survived the Knights’ Rebellion, at the cost of an eye, and retreated to Lost Kelkora. She lived another hundred years, but fell in battle against a great terror called the Built-From-Silver, at the Fall called Vassari’s Folly.
Symbol of Your Order: Fox Rampant.
Associated Colour: Gold or White.
Great Quest: Seek Great Treasures - you gain 1CD every time you gain a significant amount of money or a rare treasure.
Rise: Strong alcohol heals you for 1d6 HP, in exchange for a point of drunkenness (which increases your fumble range by 1).
Fall: You consume double rations, and your body heat is intensified to the point that you breathe clouds of steam and cannot be frozen to death.
Deeds (1d6):
Treasure Sense
The tales say Vassari could smell gold, hear silver and taste gems in the air.
Learn [dice] of the following facts about the most valuable item in the locality:
The item’s name.
What, if anything, guards it.
The rough direction towards it.
Anyone else seeking it.
The last person to own it, if anyone.
You can focus on different levels of “the locality”, such as the room you’re in, the building you’re in, etc.
Carouse
The Knightly Matters dedicate two entire chapters to The Great Carousing of Hanchensay, when Vassari got the populace of that city quite so drunk, that she ended one war and began another.
Charm up to [sum] people you share alcohol or another intoxicant with. They remember you afterwards in a fond, bloke-at-the-public-house sort of way, and are inclined to be friendly to you, unless you disabuse them of this notion.
Speak With Anyone
The Knightly Matters inform us that Vassari might’ve pursued a career as a troubadour or a translator, had she not taken up the blade and the crossbow.
For [dice] days, you can understand all speech, and all who speak can understand your speech.
Daylight Robbery
When the other Knights found themselves devoid of funds, they lived through appropriately Chivalric poverty, in hedges, and the like. Vassari, meanwhile, robbed the local magistrates and then propped herself up somewhere with wine.
You charm a target into giving you [sum * dice] of their money, or [dice] items from their inventory, and then into forgetting they gave you it. Creatures with the same or more HD than you may save. Other people who witness this won’t forget. You can’t convince people to give up things they would be heartbroken to lose.
Vicious Mockery
The tirade of invective she levelled at the Duke of Zulian is said to have raised welts on his face, tangled his beard hairs and split his toenails.
You insult a target that can understand you, dealing [dice + highest] nonlethal damage, forcing them to roll Morale if in combat. If they’re reduced to 0HP by this damage, they go catatonic or break out in tears. A creature you viciously mock will never forget you.
Improbable Survival
You’d hardly believe how many of the stories involving Vassari have her shaking off fates that would leave a normal person dead as a doornail. Her fall from the Tower of Vultures, her duel with the Potentate, not to mention her escape from the Sun King himself…
The next time you would die, you have a [dice]-in-6 of not doing that, instead. Once the effect triggers, it ends. You may add dice to an active Improbable Survival.
Knight of Flames
Order’s Founder: Sunblind Amphiteir, the Fallen Knight. They say he was “Sunblind with Devotion” - the Solar Chantry have interpreted this as him signing the Charter of the Eye. They, of course, use it as a propaganda piece. However devoted he was, it did not stop him from taking part in the Rebellion - He died on the Sun King’s blade at the foot of the Throne Illuminate.
Symbol of Your Order: Phoenix Rising.
Associated Colour: Orange or Red.
Great Quest: Destroy Great Evils - You gain 1CD every time you destroy a significant foe, or end a similar threat.
Rise: Whenever you deal damage, you deal 2 more, in a flash of light.
Fall: Fires you light can only be extinguished creatures with the same or more HD as you.
Deeds (1d6)
Wreathe in Flame
It is said that, in moments of anger, Amphiteir’s very hairs were replaced by tongues of fire.
Target creature or object is wreathed in glorious flames for [sum] minutes, dealing 1d6+[dice] burn damage to any enemy of yours that touches the flames. If you add this to a weapon you are using, it deals the extra damage on each attack.
Silks and Incense
Amphiteir gained a reputation as something of a romantic, a poet, a charmer - someone whose mere company was a gift.
For the next [dice] days, everyone who meets you perceives you as noble, refined, well-spoken and likeable, if you want them to. This effect doesn’t extend to your companions.
Turn Away Blades
Amphiteir duelled the Six Clerinell Brothers over six days, and was never once scratched. The brothers Exiled themselves in frustration on the seventh day.
For [sum] rounds, you are immune to attacks from mundane weapons, including guns - you are wreathed in faint and golden light, which flashes brightly when you are attacked, striking back blades and bullets alike.
Sense Evil
No foe could hide from the keen hearing or the piercing eyes of Amphiteir. At least, before his blinding.
You have a pool of [sum] points. You can expend a point to enter a state of supreme focus for a minute, in which you can see invisible beings, see the true forms of shapeshifters, and see spirits even if they are hiding from you. Having your senses impeded in some way (bright flash, immensely loud noise) drains 1d4 points from the pool.
Lay on Hands
It is said Amphiteir was born among a family of healers. He never forgot the good methods of his mother and his father, even as he decided that to defeat evil, one must use a sword.
You have a pool of [sum] points. You may expend these to heal a creature you are touching, 1 point for 1 HP.
Clarion Call
The sound of the great horn Amphiteir carried became a synonym for glory, great deeds, and onrushing victory. In their last days, those that fought with him would weep when his successors sounded it from the hill above Vel Rata.
You unleash a triumphant call to arms. For the next [sum] rounds, you and your allies deal [dice] extra damage on attacks. While Clarion Call is in effect, Morale rolls gain a [+dice] bonus, and enemy ones a [-dice] malus.
Knight of the Winds
Order’s Founder: Saeraath of Dramyth, the Tamer of the Winds. She was a liberator and explorer who is said to have bound all the “wind demons” of the World Below, turning them into mere breezes to push the ships of the Serian Sea, and the windmills of the Torni Plains. She rebelled with the other knights, and lost her hand in a duel with the Sun King. She was arrested, and became the first Exile, descending alive
Symbol of Your Order: Winged Snake.
Associated Colour: Green or Blue.
Great Quest: Bring Freedom to All - When you set someone or something free, gain 1CD.
Rise: When you fall, you fall very slowly, protecting you from damage.
Fall: You are followed by an irritable Wind Demon, meaning you’re accompanied constantly by a capricious and irritable personal windstorm.
Deeds (1d6)
Catch All Arrows
Saeraath caught the hundred arrows of the Army of the Potentate in her hair and her scarves.
The next [sum] ranged attacks made against you fail automatically, as the winds whip to cast down bullets, arrows and works of witchery alike.
Run With the Wind
Saeraath ran, on foot, quicker than the terrible Gibbous Beast. She led it all around the great vastness of the Atiyong Plain, until it tired and drowned in a river.
The wind catches behind you, and imbues you with its celerity. For [sum] minutes, you move [dice+2] times faster than normal, and can jump [dice] times higher than normal. You also have a [dice+highest] bonus to Initiative and saves that require speed.
Wind Demon
The Knightly Matters are suspiciously quiet on the exact method which Saeraath used to tame the winds.
You call down a blustering wind demon, which is intangible, unseeable, and barely grasps language. It owes you [dice] favours. It can do anything a powerful breeze can, and can report (poorly) on faraway places.
Wanderer
Saeraath had a habit of turning up all over the place unannounced, and an even greater habit of making friends wherever she went.
For [dice] days, whenever you’re in a strange place, people accept you as if you’re meant to be there.
Keen Raptor
Saeraath had a falcon called Quisit, a bird that was reportedly crowned the King of All Terrestrial Birds by the Sun King himself. The title was later stripped in an act of petty vengeance, when Quisit rebelled with the Knight.
You summon a thin shade of the noble countenance of Quisit Bird-King. A beautiful green-gold bird of prey, as fast as the wind and just as keen. It has [dice]HD, and attacks with a +[dice] bonus to damage and hit (1d8 Damage). It also has incredible eyesight. You can later add CD to a currently summoned Keen Raptor, although it can never have more HD than your [level].
Reckless Strike
The people of Aikamo, in Magnos, relate the tale of a beastly bird called the Strix, which kidnapped people who walked the woods alone and stared into the windows of sleeping innocents - Saeraath struck it in flight with a glorious leaping attack, but her squires had to rescue her from the bottom of the Sea of Vir afterward.
You make a single attack in a glorious flying leap, with a [+dice] to hit and a [+sum] to damage. It’s reckless because it’s a massive wind-assisted leap at whatever you’re hitting - if you miss you’ll fire past the target. You can leap-strike things up to [dice * 10ft] in the air.
Knight of the Tower
Order’s Founder: Viradon of the False Tower. The Scribe-Knight, a fool of terrible hubris who sought access to the secrets of reality. To this end, he built a Tower in imitation of Sar Arum, which stood above his homeland. He began the Knight’s Rebellion with his fellows, was defeated, and fled to his False Tower, where “Hubris Struck Him Dead.”
Symbol of Your Order: Tower, Struck by Lightning.
Associated Colour: Indigo or White.
Great Quest: Understand the Ancient Secrets - Whenever you unearth a secret about the world, the past, or the spirits, you gain 1CD.
Rise: The first time in a day you roll a CD, you can choose the number which is rolled.
Fall: You automatically activate scrolls, machines and magical contraptions you touch.
Deeds (1d6)
Simulacrum
The stories say that Viradon’s brother, Cetellus, was not his brother at all, but a false-man created by the Scribe-Knight’s strange and occult Scripture.
With an hour’s careful work on a still target, you produce a copy of them, with [dice + highest] HP, their voice and appearance, and no class levels. For the purposes of metaphysical detection, the simulacrum counts as the target. You can roll CD to heal a Simulacrum you are touching for [sum].
Missile
Viradon supposedly had a magic dart which would kill whoever he wished. The Dart Above Hand is a common code-sign among this Order.
You extend your hand and fling [dice] shining darts, each of which deal [dice * 2] damage. They cannot miss.
Speak With Birds
Viradon oft claimed they had little of worth to say, yet every sparrow and heron was said to be his spy.
For the next [dice] days, you can speak with birds.
Stave of Protection
Viradon crafted Scriptures unseen before, or after, and employed them to guard those close to him, or those that he deemed the world could not do without. Even now, so long after he has left this world, the sight of his stave will give an assailant pause.
Mark a target that isn’t you with a glowing protective rune. They have [+dice] AC. You may have one Stave of Protection active at once. You may later add CD to an active Stave of Protection, although it can never convey more AC than your [level].
Considerer’s Mark
Viradon was obsessed with knowledge, especially knowledge of what his enemies were doing. He employed networks of couriers, spies and scholars, and despite this, still found that he knew too little.
Expend a CD. You mark a person, object or room of your choice with a faintly glowing rune. When a marked person is in danger, you know about it. When a marked object is moved from where you marked it, you know about it. When someone who you consider an enemy enters a marked room, you know about it.
Tower
Viradon struck up a habit of having small towers raised whenever he stayed somewhere for more than a month. They still dot the World Above.
You raise a tower of [dice] floors in a cloud of fog and dust. It lasts until you next raise a tower.
Knight of Masks
Order’s Founder: The Nameless Knight. The first of the knights, who appears as the mentor of the others in their tales. All that is known of them is that they were the eldest, the one who began the Mentor-Successor chains which constitute all orders, and that they wielded a magic bow referred to as the Bow of Defiance.
As for the fifth pupil of the Nameless, the first Knight of Masks, even less is known.
Symbol of Your Order: Three Eyes, in Triangle.
Associated Colour: Black or Red.
Quest: Find Potential - Whenever you guide something to a greater or truer form, you gain 1CD.
Rise: Your name cannot be written down unless you wish it, and if you wish someone to forget your face and your voice, they do.
Fall: Your name and deeds are impossible to recall, and your face is a haze. Friends will recall that the hazy and nameless shape is a friend, but that is all. If you return to Rise, all memory of you is restored.
Deeds (1d6)
Black Bow
They say that the Spirits fletched the arrows of the Nameless Knight in the blackness of the Void.
You summon a medium bow made of darkness, and [sum] arrows of the same. The bow remains until you have fired all of the arrows. The arrows deal +[dice] damage, and can harm spirits. If both you and the target are in darkness, then the arrows also hit AC10 (i.e., ignore armour).
Disguise
At the height of their Knightly fame, it is said that agents of evil and lawlessness would scar their necks with unique patterns - for anyone could be the Nameless Knight in disguise.
For [sum] days, you take the characteristics of someone else, fooling [highest] senses of your choice.
Terrify
The Nameless Knight frightened the Warlord Yling so badly that the man’s hair turned white, and his skin went corpse-grey.
[sum]HD worth of creatures recoil from you in terror, fleeing by any means avaliable.
Grim Steed
They say that the horse of the Nameless Knight, Baligant, was the greatest charger to ever put hoof to the soil of the World Above. It was a monstrous horse.
You conjure a thin shade of the horrible glory of Baligant, Who Hooved the Pancreas of All Traitors. A huge, nasty horse, with a too-long tongue and… fangs? It has [dice] HD, moves [dice] times faster than a normal horse, and remains until slain. You can later add CD to a currently summoned Grim Steed, although it can never have more HD than your [level].
Hide
The Red Fox Army hunted the Nameless Knight through the lightless depths of the Uncana Forest for six weeks. All that was ever recovered of those hundred soldiers were their foxtail plumes.
You’re unable to be found by [highest] senses of your choice for [sum] hours. Unlike other versions of Hide, attacking doesn’t end this effect.
Bloody Murder
The Nameless Knight was not known for lectures, for offering second chances, or for dancing around problems.
You deal [sum] damage to anyone of your choice within arm’s reach, no save.
Knightly Kit:
Digging Bar. Useful for digging, of course, and as an improvised medium weapon.
Oilskin Tent. Keeps the weather out. Your cloak is your blanket.
Heater Shield. Old-fashioned, but still useful on occasion. Bears a personal symbol and the colours of your order. +1 AC, fills one slot.
Knightsdoor Key. Once opened the doors to your order’s citadels and chapter-houses. Now opens nothing, unless your order happens to have opened a chapter-house in the World Below (Unlikely).
Misericorde. A light, thin dagger. Designed for mercy-killing armoured opponents, but there’s nothing stopping you from normal-killing things with it.
30ft of Red Silk Rope, coiled neatly. Sometime in the past the Knights agreed the use of hemp rope was uncouth. Standards have become lax since.
Bow of Yew. Solid and silent. Quicker than a gun, if weaker. Medium ranged weapon. Comes with 20 arrows.
Arquebus, a heavy rifle, which hits AC10. Makes a bloody loud boom when fired. The orders used to consider these uncouth, when they had the luxury of doing so.
Book of Etched Plates, depicting scenes from the Knightly Matters. The plate which features the Rebellion of the Knights is well thumbed.
Fauchard. A heavy blade on a stick. Traditional weapon of Saral Sar.
Mandolin or Zither, both of which the minstrels of the moon doth play.
Banner. Displays the symbol and colours of your Order. Takes up two slots. Has a spiked end for planting in the ground.
Box of Rare Tea. Anyone who appreciates tea will appreciate its rarity.
A Human Skull. You tell everyone a tale of your fallen mentor, and the vengeance you plan to wreak. Is it true?
Close Helm. Lowering the visor provides 1 AC, but restricts vision.
Pepperbox. A kind of crude, manual light revolver. Fires four shots before reloading. if you roll a 1, or fire three shots in short succession, the whole thing detonates.
Ancient Iron Sword. Handed down by your mentor, and was from their mentor to them. Might have belonged to the founder of your order. Light, damaged by age, and not particularly sharp.
Sacred Steel Tankard. A real waste of a limited resource. A completely indestructible mug.
Beehive. Buzzing away in a wooden box. Can be flung, but why would you? The bees are your friends, and make you honey. They will never sting you, for some reason or another.
A Curio! Roll 1d6:
The Lack of a Helm. Provides +1AC as a helm, but reveals the face, does not obscure vision, and doesn’t fill a slot. You have to take it off to eat, which involves making the relevant hand-motions even though there’s nothing there. Putting it back on involves similar pantomime.
Blackened book of vile Skull Scripture, impossible to destroy. If read backwards, it’s a holy text about the Hundred Charters. Or, is it a holy text that’s a vile book if read backwards? Not that you can read it either way.
LAST WINTER VOYAGE, a medium dao made of tarnished white silver. Painfully cold to the touch. Deals double damage to fiery creatures, and extinguishes flames it is stabbed into.
A vial of Purest Water. A vibrant, pelagic blue, so clear as to bring the taste of salt to the mouth, and to hitch the breath in remembered memories of childhood swimming. Can be poured on anything cursed to uncurse it, on any inscription to break it, or as an antidote against any poison.
A Lead Amulet shaped like a teardrop. The first time you would fall to your death, you instead disappear into thin air. Where do you go? That’s a great question.
A Scrap of Pearlescent Silk, which is grey when still, but flutters through impossible colours in motion. This is a scrap of favour, which shows a Moon Spirit has agreed to be your godmother. She is capricious, and hateful of most everything, but will offer advice when you look up to the Moon. She may even appear in your darkest hour.
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