Love and War
The Sourcebook of Knights & Chivalry
First Impressions
This is a sturdy hardback. The Scott Reeves cover is an excellent homage to the Medieval style. The parchment look of many paragraphs, tables, and borders created an overabundance of the color gray, but the text itself is in an attractive, readable font. The writing is casual yet concise and serious. I feel the author treats the material, both the game mechanics and the examination of the milieu, with affection and respect.
Overview
The book begins with a discussion of who is a knight, followed by suggestions for character types in a chivalric campaign, including suggestions for troupe-style roleplaying. The next four chapters each cover one knightly virtue in detail. Chapter Six is a discussion of the perceptions of knights, including a mechanical system for honor. Chapter Seven is a collection of variations on chivalric themes.
Valor
Valor is the knightly virtue of facing an opponent in honorable combat. Knights are expected to observe rules of fair play and courtesy, even in the deadliest feuds, as an expression of their willingness to kill or die. In short, it is not victory but unflinching courage that makes a knight.
D&D is often associated with cutthroat tactics and malleable morality. Except for paladins, few expect chivalry from D&D characters. The chapter on Valor may be the hardest to approach. However, chivalry has a venerable history within D&D. The Mystara and Krynn lines, especially, have a strong relationship with the romances of Camelot and Charlesmagne. How do you got about encouraging, even rewarding, valorous behavior in D&D?
This book takes a simple and effective tactic: offer abilities that are only useful if the characters behave in the appropriate fashion. Love and War sidesteps issues of codes of behavior, alignment, and GM-player communication by offering abilities that have primarily objective criteria for using them. A knight built with these classes and feats doesn't have to worry about "losing his powers" because his powers only function in the manner he said he would intend to use them in the first place.
As with each of the chapters of virtue, Valor begins with a description of a new Prestige Class, The Valorous Knight. The class serves not only as an example, but as a multi-purpose, useful generic prestige class adaptable to a variety of roles. It has no alignment requirement. It requires Iron Will and Might of Courage (one of the feats of valor from this chapter) and offers a variety of abilities useful to a valorous knight. For instance, Coward's Confusion grants damage resistance against "cowardly" attacks such as ranged attacks, sneak attacks, and even attacks by vastly more powerful opponents. This does open the door to hypocrisy, but then, this is not the Non-Hypocritical Knight. The description is followed by sample orders of knighthood that might offer that prestige class. The Dragonbane Knights are a chaotic order of monster-slayers while the Order of Sir Palastrin seeks out underdogs to champion.
One minor aspect of this book I dislike about this book is the approach to prestige class membership. To take levels in The Valorous Knight requires membership in a valorous order of chivalry, while the orders of chivalry require levels of The Valorous Knight. The author suggests the way to approach this is to have the character accept membership as they advance in level, simultaneously joining the order and taking their first level. Apart from the slight logical problem with that approach, it ignores a simpler solution. In this one respect, the book peculierly adheres to a game mechanical approach to what should be a storytelling event. Why not simply drop the prestige class requirements for the orders, and assume members will take levels, or not, as they see fit? It seems entirely plausible to me that the orders are filled with any number of fighters, warriors, aristocrats, rangers, and paladins that fit the part. It also opens up the possiblity for characters who are "bad fits" to join and subsequently be expelled or even turn into enemies. It really doesn't make sense for membership to hinge on something the NPCs really couldn't even perceive; a character's class levels.
The feats of valor are quite good... useful, but not overwhelmingly attractive to players who aren't interested in chivalry. A non-chivalrous rogue might find Counterstrike interesting (which grants you a +1 to hit an opponent who has wounded you), but is more likely to take something of benefit to someone who'd rather not be hit in the first place. Many of these feats play up a knight's nearly superhuman might when motivated by valor. None are particularly munchkin-friendly. For instance, using Dying Blow requires you to be struck down at 0 hit points or fewer, which is already a less than optimum position to be in.
Items of Valor includes a couple of weapon qualities of interest to valorous knights, some potions, and an artifact.
A method is suggesting for using Intimidate to issue valorous challenges.
Human Knighthood is discussed in this chapter, since human knights most often uphold valor above all others. The Order of the Slipper are a group of knights who serve a beautiful sorceress-queen. They will un-hesitantly challenge anyone who repeats the (probably true) rumor about their other knightly duties. The problem of valor and spellcasting is addressed in one fashion by the Order of the Hawthorne, a group of elvish arcane knights with a seeming death-wish. The Arcane Knight prestige class is then presented, a martial prestige class for spellcasters who intend to go toe to toe with their enemies in valorous combat. Feats of arcane valor help turn specllasters into a match for more versatile melee opponents such as fighters. For instance, Spell of Opportunity allows you to cast a spell, once a round, as an attack of opportunity. Touch Spell allows dishonorable, ranged spells to be converted to touch-range, valorous spells. Spells of Arcane Valor are handy spells for fighter-magician type characters. I think, despite the good intentions and thoughtful design, that arcane knights are probably a very prolematic character type.
Rules for Tournaments are presented. The chapter concludes with Character Concepts related to chivalry, and finally a discussion of Valorous Adventures, including how to handle lone, brave knights in traditional, group-oriented roleplaying. It also discusses Valor in relation to other virtues, such as what happens if a knight's highest virtue is Valor and his second highest is Loyalty.
Whew. There's a lot of stuff in this chapter, and the others are similarly dense and full of neat ideas.
Loyalty
This chapter follows a similar format to Valor. Loyalty can mean loyalty to a lord's commands, or his interests, or a careful balance of both. The Loyal Knight prestige class has abilities that help him understand and carry out his lord's wishes. The Knights of the Fountain are a loyal order of knights whose aim is to restore the king's lands, which have been conquered by goblinoids. The Order of Nausshaben are a group of free-spirited knights who conflict constantly with the king's more rigid advisors, but have proven their ultimate loyalty time and again, even refusing to disband when ordered by their king, lest he require their services again. Feats of loyalty include both combat-oriented feats, like Bodyguard and Defend Other, and feats related to obediance and command, like Faithful and Vavasour. Again, a number of loyalty-oriented magic items appear. This chapter discusses Dwarven Knighthood, which places loyalty above all. The Granite Wall is an order of dwarven knights committed to obediance to their mountain king.
This chapter discusses Knights Without Feudalism. Just as arcane magic presents a problem for chivalrous magicians, oaths of loyaly can be difficult to portray in non-feudal societies. For instance, in a tribal system, a knight would be expected to serve the tribe, rather than a specific leader, which is quite a different form of loyalty than a knight kneeling before his king. Suggestions are included for knights in oligarchies, tribes, democracies, and even anarchies (the suggstion in that case is that in an anarchy, you can at best pursue a variant of chivalry without loyalty, or else you must pledge your support someone who intends to end the anarchy).
Loyalty discusses knight characters as members of war parties and how other PCs may be integrated into military adventures. There is an interesting section on using Sense Motive to discern whether a given command is actually the wish of one's lord. The author describes a number of Character Concepts related to loyalty, nobility, and the care and feeding of feudal lords. Most important is choosing the nature of your lord. One of my favorites is the Daredevil Lord, a lord who is himself an adventurer and has to be constantly rescued from his own chivalric leanings. A discussion follows of various ways to serve your lord, from feudal vassal to personal bodyguard to courtier to swordsman. Like Valor, this chapter examines what it means to be Loyal above all else, while still observing the other virtues. Loyal Adventures talk about duty and gaming, and provides suggestions for GMs who must deal with characters with strict loyalties. Unlike the equivalent section in Valor, this advice is widely applicable to many different game worlds and situations, but just as observant and helpful.
Piety
This chapter vastly expands the possibilties for religiously motivated knights beyond paladins and fighting clerics. The Pious Knight is a warrior dedicated to upholding the precepts of his deity or deities. A Pious Knight chooses two domains, like a cleric, representing the focus of his piety. As he advances, he gains special abilities related to the domain, arranged in a tier of three abilities. For instance, a pious knight with the Animal and Earth domains has a choice between Wild Empathy (as a ranger) and stonecunning (as a dwarf). At the 10th level, the knight has five domain abilities, which means he can complete one tier and take two levels of the other. The basic weakness of the Pious Knight class is that it does not mesh well with the cleric class, since it does not grant spellcasting. While I appreciate the effort to distinguish between clerics, paladins, and pious knights of Heironeous, I also recognize that sometimes you will want to create a character who blends those characteristics, which is difficult to do in this context. Nonetheless, the Pious Knight is pretty cool, since you can create a pious knight of Pelor who can cast protection from evil and turns undead, in keeping with the deity's domains. I have a stern complaint about this class: it requires 3 ranks of Knowledge (religion) to enter, yet does not grant Knowledge (religion) as a class skill. I have verified this is not an oversight, as one of the orders described in this chapters mentions that its pious knights gain Knowledge (religion) as a class skill. That's a cardinal sin of prestige class design. If a skill is important enough to be required for entry, it must be a class skill. From a mechanical standpoint, it seems punishing to make a 7th level figher spend 6 of his 20 skill ranks, nearly a third, on a skill he won't be allowed to advance once he makes the class (which is a 2 skill point a level class anyway). A dwarf of average intelligence would not even be able to qualify with a single level of cleric, buying those ranks with his cleric skill points.
Pandril's Knights are knights of nature and the wild places, rovers armed with quarterstaves who work alongside druids. Note that a fighter/druid would have trouble getting the skill ranks to qualify. Asron's Knights worship the sun goddess, who presides over matters of chivalry. The Chivalry domain incorporates several martial spells, along with some new spells related to chivalric doings. Feats of piety require more adjudication than feats of valor, but are still fairly straightforward. Holy Warrior, for instance, grants +2 to hit enemies of your god. There are some handy magic items, including relics and reliquaries. This chapter treats the knighthood traditions of gnomes, who regard piety as the most important knightly virtue. There is also a discussion of paladins as knights. First, the author discusses the issue of paladins and love (since paladins are generally supposed to be chaste, or at least sensible). Then the author discusses un-knightly paladins. While paladins are obviously pious, they need not pursue the chivalric calling of love in their roles as paladins, need not obey earthly lords or their edicts, and do not necessarily battle evil in a valorous fashion. I found the point well worth making. While paladins are devoted to order and good, they need not additionally burden themselves with highly romantic notions, though they are free to do so in expressing their calling. A discussion of clerical knights follows. Essentially, the point is made that clerics must place Piety first among the virtues in most cases, and most often express Loyalty through the structure of their church, though a cleric can obviously serve a mundane lord as well. The latter idea suggests the possibility of a Man For All Seasons type scenario in which a clerical knight falls out with his lord over a theological difference, while remaining utterly obedient to the extent permitted by his devotion.
Character Concepts discusses divine influence and interactions with the priesthood in a chivalric context. Again, Piety is discussed in relation to the other virtues. A knight who ranks Valor second is likely a crusader or some kind. A knight who places Loyalty second may be a conflicted believer, or may be his lord's conscience. The text suggests that a knight who places Love second is especially worshipful, but in my mind, it seems more likely he is likely in service to a deity of love, marriage, family, or chivalry. Pious Adventures can involve quests, duty, or holy war.
Love
Love is the fourth virtue outlined by this presentation of chivalry. Love in this context is not an ordinary love, but a chaste, idealistic devotion. Indeed, some knights seem to thrive on the difficulties of wooing their beloved. It is important to note that this kind of love often has an adulterous undertone, and an amorous knight must somehow express his passion while refraining from destroying his beloved. The beloved is traditionally a revered lady, but could also be some other unattainable person, such as a priestess, his leige's daughter, or even an enemy. The Amorous Knight prestige class is one of my favorite rules presentation's in this book. The Lover's Message ability is a classic; essentially, the knight can address a message to his beloved, and once the message is sent underway, it will swiftly arrive, however long the odds. I had a chuckle at the quintessentially D&D-esque "This ability only works if the knight and his beloved are on the same plane of existence" that caps the description. Iphegenia's Devoted is an order to devoted to finding a halfling woman kidnapped over two centuries ago; the order continues, spurred on by assurances from high level Amorous Knights that their beloved yet lives. This order beautifully illustrates the chivalric ideal of love, as most of her knights, who speak fervently of her beauty and virtue, have never even seen or met her. Also, it reminds me of some disturbing incidents in Grunts! involving halfling love, but that's another topic entirely. The Haunters of Temples are a group of knights who all proclaim love for priestesses. To avoid conflicts with piety, they typically choose priestesses of deities opposed to their own, providing the sort of practical impossibility upon which chivalric love thrives.
There are only three feats of Love. The banal Courtly Lover provides a a bonus to Diplomacy and Perform and opens up the Amorous Knight prestige class. Deep Commitment offers a bonus to Bluff and Diplomacy when talking about a dear subject, particularly your beloved (this is handy, since you will probably spend some time either denying or disguising an affair with her). Passionate Speech allows you to take 20 on a single Bluff or Diplomacy check a day. And no prerequisite... yikes. Funnily enough, this is the one feat in the entire book that gave me pause. Shouldn't it at least require Deep Commitment, to prevent it from falling into the hands of wastrels? The magic items in this section include the singularly bizarre Amorous Wand, which turns the bearer into a class A-horndog and romantic, but through some magical quirk, permits him to grant his true love anything he possesses.
Elven Knights, of course, epitomize Love and its courtly rituals. Elven knights aren't particularly known for their valor or sense of fair play, and many are not even primarily warriors. The Order of the Nightengale was founded by an elvish queen wishing to deflect an inconvenient number of devoted champions, and commanded her knights to choose other ladies of her court to honor, and by doing so, receive an invitation to join her entourage as a knight. Only a few made the predictable choice to declare their love for the unwilling queen herself.
This chapter suggests uses for Diplomacy and Bluff in the sphere of Courtly Charm, and addresses Perform (poetry) specifically in the matter of composing impressive love poetry for one's beloved. This meaty chapter also gives rules for using Diplomacy checks to win a beloved's love or "favors," providing suitable modifiers to overcome the typically astronomical penalties for doing so. I enjoyed just reading a chart which listed increased for difficulties for such things as "beloved finds knight unattractive," "beloved already has an accepted knight," "beloved is a knight herself," and "beloved and knight worship hostile deities." Everything about this entry makes me want to create a NG half-elven knight character who is powerfully devoted to winning the love of a drow priestess and spends much of his time either contemplating her beauty or plotting against her. Finally, the Battle of Wits discusses Diplomacy as a sort of combat skill. There are even Feats of Wit to assist in such duels, and Spells of Wit that can swiftly undermine a rival's reputation. Again, elven knights aren't known especially for valor.
Character Concepts cover the all-important choice of the beloved, ranging from a baroness of an outlying land to an unassailable courtier to an enemy or a sworn priestess. Suggestions are even made that in a world like D&D, knights might choose a dead beloved and strive to have her resurrected. The next decision is your beloved's attitude, which can range from enthusiastic to malicious. Finally, you must choose your knight's attitude. Some knights write poetry, others express their love "by killing monsters and taking their stuff," some are actively courting (this poses a problem if he must somehow first turn her into a widow and then win her heart), and some choose to love from very afar, perfecting himself through chivalric deeds in the hope of one day laying his devotion before her. The discussion of Love and other virtues dovetails nicely with this section. A knight who chooses Valor as his number two virtue is likely the kind to send the heads of dragons FedEx, along with a nice bouquet. Choosing Loyalty as a secondary virtue can be explosive, depending on the choice of beloved. What if your lord views your designs on his daughter as presumptuous? What if your love affair with his wife is moving dangerously close to consummation? Choosing Piety second makes for some interesting self-conflicts, as the knight recognizes his duty to his deity but consistently puts his mortal beloved first. Amorous Adventures cover such things as going on adventures to acquire gifts or glory, performing missions inspired by amorous devotion, and courtly maneuvering. While love is a tricky roleplaying subject, the artificial, distant nature of chivalric love in many ways makes it an ideal fashion to express sexuality and devotion in a gaming context. Game Mastering Love discusses such factors as embarassment, and the tendency of love stories to spotlight one character at the expense of others.
Perceptions
Honor is vital to the concept of knighthood. This chapter suggests ways of devising a code of honor and important observances for the character. It discusses atoning for dishonorable acts. Feats of honor is really just one feat of honor, Honorable Knight, that grants you a +1 morale bonus to attack, damage, and skill checks as long as you preserve your honor in certain very strict ways. The penalty for dishonor is a -2 penalty instead of a +1 bonus. In this way, knights can gain a merchanical benefit from observing such precepts as never attacking a woman, never drawing a weapon except for battle or training, or never diguising your identity.
Renown is a mechanical measure of honor, based on accumulating descriptive phrases. It's not strictly related to chivalry. What I admire about the system is that it is both useful and simple, rather than complex and serving little purpose except to keep score. For instance, if a 5th level character has a reputation as a "valiant knight who slays ogres and bandits," there is a chance, based on his level, that someone will recognize him as such.
This chapter examines halfling knights, who above all else, value the legacy of good deeds and the stories that surround them. The Order of the Sun, in addition to performing great deeds, recount the chivalric adventures of their fellows.
This chapter also discusses lineage, social obligations, and lastly, the founding of an order of chivalry. The assumption is that an order of chivalry will revolve around an associated prestige class, so first the prestige class is designed (typically a ten level class with full BAB and d10s for hit dice). After determining the requirements, the PC is allowed to found the order by achieving double the bare minimum level to qualify. For instance, if the class required a BAB of +7 and a 3 ranks of Knowledge (geography), 7th level would be the earliest anyone could qualify, so your knight would have to be 14th level to found the order. As soon as the PC begins the class, he takes a 10 percent penalty on his experience points until he has taken all levels in the class, and additionally, no on one may have more levels than he. That seems to, at some level, punish a player who's already made a substantial commitment. On the other hand, ten percent really isn't that much, and founding an order of knighthood sounds like a treat. It does raise some questions about what happens to the order if the founder dies before making level 10... if he only makes it to level 4 in the class, is the order stuck with a 4 level class until someone is able to re-found it? The sample order is based on the defense of a relatively young kingdom, and upholds its knights as lords as well as warriors.
Variations
This chapter examines several variations on chivalric character. Without Valor discusses knight-like characters who do not adhere to rules of fair play and challenge. Courtiers might reject unnecessary warfare entirely. Conversely, dedicated soldiers or loyal magicians might simply feel no inclination to fight fair. Without Loyalty discusses the masterless knight. Some knights are situationally without loyalty to a lord, while others may reject loyalty as incompatible with their other ideals (such as all-encompassing love or piety). Without Piety discusses the problems of a lack of religion in a fantasy world. Typically, the character would have to believe that the gods he knows are unworthy of his chivalry, or else that mortals should not depend on the gods for their ultimate destiny. Without Love discusses knight-like characters with no romantic beloved. This could represent a focused warrior, such as a samurai-like character, or a character who finds the chivalric ideal unwholesome (he might be happily married, or be a pious paladin with no time for distractions).
Varieties of Virtue discusses alternate forms of the virtues. Daredevils express their Valor not just in battle, but in mortal danger in all forms. Rogues might pursue this form of Valor. Guardians view Loyalty as the necessity of looking after the interests (or duties) of the lord, irrespective of the lord's commands. Godseekers express their Piety by pursuing the creation or resurrection of a deity, rather than serving a living one. Some knights express their love in Lover Pairs, an ideal that replaces the active versus passive relationship of knights to their ladies with a mutual devotion based on the cultivation of the other as a knight. The relationship is typically homosexual. I do not know whether the decision to overlook gender differentiation in homosexuals (such as butch-femme) was deliberate or casual, but then again, perhaps such relationships are so similar enough to traditional chivalry that mention would be redundant, whereas Lover Pairs present something new to consider. The Lover Pair prestige class is based on sharing perceptions and strength.
Evil Knights pursue twisted reflections of the virtues. Dark Valor focuses on the domination of others. Like true valor, warriors of dark valor seek worthy challengers, but unlike them, crush those weaker than themselves as they please to do so. Dark Loyalty is a devotion to tyranny, a nearly selfless surrender to some vision of the world and the undertaking, at any cost, of his master's aims. Dark Piety is similar to regular piety, but reflects a devotion to destructive, evil deities. Dark Love focuses on attaining the love of another, then using that love to ruin the "beloved." I found this short section so interesting it seemed far, far too brief.
Conclusions
This is a truly above average book, a work of thoroughness, insight, and compactness. I can make very few criticisms. There is really hardly anything that could have been added without adding length. At most, I can say the book is clearly the work of a single voice, and that the material could certainly be expanded by others inspired by David Chart's ideas. I would have liked to see a prestige class or two dedicated to squires and ladies. Something akin to Sancho Panza or the cinematic Arwen would make great inspirations for characters.
I highly recommend this book as a complement to Chris Aylott's Dynasties and Demagogues, which concerns lords, kings, and courtiers. I also strongly recommend it for any Dragonlance campaign which involves the Somanic Knights or the Knights of Neraka/Takhisias. It would not be necessary to discard the prestige classes provided for those characters in order to make use of this book. Besides the discussion of the chivalric ideal, one or two of the feats presented in this book would go a long way toward making a chivalric character distinct from an ordinary fighter. This book also reminded me of the excellent Penhaligon Trilogy, set in Mystara, which focuses on characters I think could best be described as Honorable Knights.
Many d20 campaigns focus on unusual societies and situations, such that I feel the feudal aspects of the game's roots are often neglected. Being a knight means more than putting on a a team jersey. Introducing the elements from this book into a Forgotten Realms campaign could do much to liven a milieu that is often considered mined out. Even a wild, extraplanar game could gain a lot by introducing a group of Azer warriors serving a powerful lord, challenging outsiders to single combat. The addition of rules for verbal interplay and composition mean that it is now possible to handily assign Challenge Ratings to common knightly challenges that do not involve slaying. The feats and classes allow characters to at least receive some gain for challenging mighty foes, swearing vengeance against evil, and standing in the presence of one's beloved for inspiration.
Many people start playing D&D with the notion of slaying dragons and saving maidens. Now, at last, we have a guidebook.
Review Summary