Knights

Knights are just, chivalrous, and honorable warriors. Most of what makes a knight a knight falls in the realm of roleplaying. After all, from a martial perspective, knights are simply warriors with a preference for swords, shields, horses, and lances.

While it would be entirely possible to roleplay a knight using just rules in the Simplicity Core Rulebook, the optional rules below let you add an additional layer of fun to playing a knightly character.

Specifically, the following rules are for roleplaying a tournament in which knights compete in contests of sword, bow, and lance. While miniatures would undoubtedly enhance such an experience, they are not needed for play.

Characters participating in a tournament of knights must possess the Knighthood ability. Since this ability has no impact on normal combat in the Simplicity Fantasy Roleplaying Game, you can add it to your character for free with your GM’s approval.

The Knighthood Ability

Requirements: Weapon Devotee, GM Approval
Description: You have been knighted and have sworn fealty to Lord, Baron, or King. As a result, you proudly bear your liege’s coat of arms upon your dressings and fly his standard afield. If desired, you can retain a smaller personal sigil or pennant and fly it below your liege’s standard.

As a knight, you live to a certain code of conduct. This code includes the following.

Duty to your countrymen: This encompasses virtues such as mercy, courage, valor, fairness, protection of the weak and the poor, and service to your liege. This also brings with it the idea of being willing to give one’s life for another; whether you would be giving your life for a poor man or your sworn lord.

Duty to your god(s): This means being faithful to your god(s), protecting the innocent, being faithful to your church, being the champion of good against evil, being generous, and obeying your god(s) above all others.

Duty to women: This is probably the most familiar aspect of chivalry. This area contains what is often called courtly love, the idea that the knight is to serve a Lady, and after her, all other ladies. Most especially in this category is a general gentleness and graciousness to all women.

Your training allows you to participate in tournaments of horse and weapon by pledging coin or arms. These competitions are non-lethal in nature and a stark contrast to actual wartime combat. Because of this, the knightly skills below are only for use in tournaments and are not be used as part of the combat system presented in the Simplicity Core Rulebook.

Kights are expected to act with honor and dignity at all times. If you witness a fellow knight behaving in an unseemly manner or failing to uphold the knight's code of conduct, you can bring his behavior to light by sharing it with your knightly brothers. However, doing so can be risky.

Questioning a Knight's Behavior

When you call another knight's behavior into question, all of the knights gathered must weigh in on the incident. Each knight votes in secret whether he believes the offense is dishonorable or not. If more than half of the knights gathered agree, the accused knight suffers a -1 penalty to his Renown and Chivarly skill totals for the remainder of the tournament. However, if the accused knight's behavior is deemed acceptable, his accuser suffers the penalty instead, as he gains a reputation for attempting to create a scandal to better his own position. 

Knightly Skills

Below is a brief description of each knight's special skills. When you reach an even level, you acquire two knightly skill points. You increase your knightly skills by adding points to them, but you cannot assign more than one point at a time to any given skill.

Knightly Skill Checks
Unlike attribute checks in the Simplicity Fantasy Roleplaying Game, you make Knightly skill checks by rolling a d12 and adding your skill rank plus any appropriate modifiers. Some knightly skill checks, such as Chivalry, are against a fixed result, while others, like Lancework, are opposed by a roll from your opponent.

Chivalry

Courage, justice, mercy, generosity, faith, valor, hope, diligence, strength, integrity, humility, and determination are some of the traits that make up a knight’s chivalry. These are also the traits others most often pay attention to, and gaining someone's favor is a great source of courage and confidence for a knight competing in a tournament.

FAVOR TABLE
Chivalry Check* Rerolls
2-5 1
6-10 2
11-15 3
16+ 4

Chivalry helps you win someone’s favor. Before the beginning of each tournament, knights enjoy an evening of feasting. At this feast, you use your chivalry (your GM will call for a Chivalry skill check along with your roleplaying) to impress a person of interest. If successful, you receive their favor in return. If the individual declines, your embarrassment precludes you from seeing the favor of another.

Favors grant you the ability to reroll a number of failed Horsemanship, Lancework, or Shieldwork skill checks while competing in a tournament (see the Favor Table above for specifics). You can only reroll a failed check once, and you can only receive a single favor per tournament.

In addition, each tournament has a Person of Honor (typically a ruler or a person of noble birth). As with a favor, you use your chivalry to impress the Person of Honor, hoping to gain their blessing.

On the morning of the joust, the Person of Honor bestows their blessing upon the knight they deem the most chivalrous. A Person of Honor’s blessing is a boon unlike any other, and it grants a knight a +1 bonus to all Horsemanship, Lancework, and Shieldwork skill checks during the entire joust.

Horsemanship

The Horsemanship skill determines how well you ride, or more importantly, how well you stay upon your mount. See The Joust under Tournament Mechanics for additional information.

Shieldwork

The Shieldwork skill represents your ability to turn aside a lance using your shield. Lances that strike your shield and shatter give your opponent a tally toward possible victory. See The Joust under Tournament Mechanics for additional information.

Lancework

While archery and melee contests often round out a tourney, most spectators come for the jousting. This raw display of combat is the lifeblood of a tournament. The Lancework skill determines how adept you are at shattering a lance upon a shield or unhorsing an opponent. See The Joust under Tournament Mechanics for additional information.

Renown

All peasants and most nobility hold a deep respect for those of the knightly orders. Your Renown skill can be added to a Spirit check for the purposes of diplomacy, mediation, and in other situations where your GM approves. More importantly, your Renown skill helps determine how much fear you foster in other knights when jousting in a tournament. See The Joust under Tournament Mechanics for additional information.