Classic Knight

[Bhurano]

Hi there,

in our current campaign I came up with a Drake Reaper. The concept got shot down by a friendly reminder that this would cause some problems. So I decided to drop my magical characters and go Lancer, the first non-magical char in years. Another buddy is already going Soldier and I am more intrigued by the classical picture of a Knight - especially since reading A Song of Ice and Fire... no noble knights there, just cutthroat politics and a bunch of hardasses.

As starting goodies we got: Level 1 Characters, 100 Reputation and an unholy amount of 200 gold pieces.

Are there things with regards to the mount to consider or feats that are an must have from the get go?
Since I found no rules for horse barding I assume that just a armor is bought, and fitted for the size of the mount?

As always any advice would be helpful. Thanks.

[paddyfool]

Ah, classic Knight.

Suitable Specialities to consider would include Fighter (armour basics feat fits the knight in shining armour); Warden (fits a knight errant very well; also the terrain feat will help your mount); Lord (noble knight with an entourage at his beck and call); Guardian (fits a knightly defender of others around him) and, of course, Cavalier.  But considering Song of Ice and Fire... you may also want to look at Mercenary (AC).

Various flavours of Human (Crusading, Stern, etc.) would fit the classic knight well, depending on what viewpoint you want him to have.  As for feats... I'd suggest the Lionheart feats and Mounted Combat from the AC as well worth a look.

[pawsplay]

If you want to fight mounted, it's hard to go wrong with Charging Basics. As far as Specialty goes, I'd go with Aristocrat, Fencer, or Fighter. Fighter is obvious, but the Aristocrat can buy Renown on the cheap and benefits from a Panache boost and Charming. Fencer would be a variant on the Fighter idea, leveraging the initiative bonus, gaining a good proficiency and trick, and getting a nice stance from Fencing Basics (which is compatible with just about any weapon, not just fencing). Cavalier is good, too, but I'm not completely sold on Favored Gear (mount).

[tfwfh]

Are there things with regards to the mount to consider or feats that are an must have from the get go?
Since I found no rules for horse barding I assume that just a armor is bought, and fitted for the size of the mount?

Barding: armor for your horse, or pretty much any mount, is going to require the beast upgrade, and be sized appropriately.

Things to know for your mount: Mounted combat is not the simplest thing, and you should get familiar with how things are done.  In particular, you and your mount are treated like a single character for most purposes.  You use the highest of your DR and resistances, but the lower of your defense and saves.  It's all on page 215 in case you haven't looked it over yet.

[Jake]

Things to know for your mount: Mounted combat is not the simplest thing, and you should get familiar with how things are done.  In particular, you and your mount are treated like a single character for most purposes.  You use the highest of your DR and resistances, but the lower of your defense and saves.  It's all on page 215 in case you haven't looked it over yet.

The NPC stat sheets come 2 to a page when you print them out. It might be worth your time to use the second one to combine your mount and character together into a single character sheet.

Combat Rider is a great feat, especially when you mix in barding and the Armor feat chain. If you go Cavalier consider talking your DM into swapping it for favored gear, but the double AD roll from that is nice tool.

[Antilles]

Barding: armor for your horse, or pretty much any mount, is going to require the beast upgrade, and be sized appropriately.

I'm not entirely certain barding requires the Beast upgrade. I am under the impression that upgrade is for creating a piece of armor that a beast-type character can put on and take off on its own, rather than having others do it for them. Honestly, 500% increase for some horse armor sounds a bit ridiculous to me.

[ArawnNox]

Barding: armor for your horse, or pretty much any mount, is going to require the beast upgrade, and be sized appropriately.

I'm not entirely certain barding requires the Beast upgrade. I am under the impression that upgrade is for creating a piece of armor that a beast-type character can put on and take off on its own, rather than having others do it for them. Honestly, 500% increase for some horse armor sounds a bit ridiculous to me.

Besides, if you REALLY wanna get technical, a horse isn't a "Beast" its an "Animal".

[tfwfh]

I'm not entirely certain barding requires the Beast upgrade. I am under the impression that upgrade is for creating a piece of armor that a beast-type character can put on and take off on its own, rather than having others do it for them. Honestly, 500% increase for some horse armor sounds a bit ridiculous to me.

That may be, he should run it by his GM.  It's not likely to be an issue though, as only one of the pair needs to be wearing armor.  If the horse does wind up in armor and the GM says it does need the beast upgrade, the cost could easily be justified by the extremely low demand (and hence even lower supply) and the fact that armor smiths are accustomed to gouging the aristocracy on that particular item.

[Morgenstern]

I'm not entirely certain barding requires the Beast upgrade.

Why would it? There is a barding upgrade for armor right there on page 174, and its the first entry in the table on page 175. Did it disappear in the second printing?

*after some more research* Ok, yeah barding IS there in that footnote. So its just the sizing cost (if the mount is Large). The beast upgrade is NOT required for horses OR drakes, so long as the Drake is willing to have armor that it needs help to don. On the whole that seems quite equitable.

[Antilles]

Yeah, Barding's no longer a Craftmanship upgrade, but rather a note underneath table 4.17. And since first printing barding didn't modify cost that pretty much cinches it, you just need to pay for the size change.

Edit: My interpretation is that the Beast upgrade is for armor for beast characters, i.e. drakes. It specifically mentions may be donned by a creature, and I don't see a horse putting on some horse armor himself anytime soon.

[Morgenstern]

Yeah, Barding's no longer a Craftmanship upgrade, but rather a note underneath table 4.17. And since first printing barding didn't modify cost that pretty much cinches it, you just need to pay for the size change.

There we go! Thanks for pointing that out.

Edit: My interpretation is that the Beast upgrade is for armor for beast characters, i.e. drakes. It specifically mentions may be donned by a creature, and I don't see a horse putting on some horse armor himself anytime soon.

It appears the difference between barding and beast upgrade is the ability to self-don without hands. The barding entry says it can be used to represent armor for beasts, so presumably the difference is a drake with barding would need help getting it on and off, while the drake with beast armor can do it himself.

[Bhurano]

Thanks for all the help guys.

Reading through all this and going through the book again, I decided to pick up a Personal Lieutenant (a Squire) and Animal Partner (his own Wardog). I intend to use both to buff my offense a little bit or at least watch my back. With that Backup in mind I will try to pick up Combat Riding ASAP, just not on first level because we are going to descend into a dungeon. After that Charging seems nice or Spear Basics.

Seeing that we are quite formidable on the combat side I also decided to go Lancer/Courtier (maybe 6/14) with the Aristocrat speciality, to get some more options. The Noble Renown reduction and the Panache made the deal perfect.

I am damn happy that barding does not require the beast upgrade. I get the feeling that 2000 silver given by our GM will be damn easy used up with all the minions under the command of my char.

Thanks again for the support.

EDIT: I read over the barding entry and looked instead for an upgrade.

[Antilles]

Don't forget you don't buy stuff for your personal lieutenant with silver, but rather as a part of his XP cost. So aside from supplies (food and such) they won't cost you a single silver.

[Mister Andersen]

Don't forget you don't buy stuff for your personal lieutenant with silver, but rather as a part of his XP cost. So aside from supplies (food and such) they won't cost you a single silver.

Um, no actually. You /can/ expend part of their total XP cost in that fashion, but it quickly becomes self-defeating. As the party's coffers increase, it's usually better just to spend normal money outfitting personal NPCs

[paddyfool]

Of course, a lot depends on the availability of silver to your group, your character's prudence, etc.

And, of course, stuff you buy your personal lieutenant (whether in cash or XP) could include a pony, so that he can keep up with you.