Heldannic Knights, stats for 5e
by Stefan BeateFor some reason, I was thinking about how to represent the Heldannic Knights in 5e, stat-wise.
The original source is the Voyage of the Princess Ark, part 4, Dragon #156, April 1990, p.100.
Standard knights are Cleric Level 2 in plate armor, able to wield swords and lances. They typically have memorized protection from evil, granting them +1 on saves and their enemies -1 to attacks for two hours.
The officers are Cleric Level 5 in field armor (I only found field armor as horse barding in the master set, but it is obviously AC 2), the typical spells are prot/evil, cure light wounds, blight (reverse bless) and hold person.
The spell selection is geared towards combat, not healing. One odd thing: the use of shields is not noted, even though it would work well with swords and lances.
Basically, the usage of the cleric class to represent a religious order of knights is pretty much the basic idea behind the cleric class, modeled after the real-world crusader knights, of course.
The biggest difference between BECMI and 5e npcs is that the npcs are built with slightly different rules than the Pcs. For the most part, the npcs are somewhat simplified compared to Pcs.
Equipment: there is a discrepancy in equipment costs and effects. The BECMI plate armor costs 60, the chain mail 40 (iow, armor bonus times 10 in gp). As I didn´t find the field plate for BECMI, I guess it would cost about 100 gp, leaving the above relation.
With 5e, if you go for the same bonus values, you would look at the chain mail (AC 16, 75 gp), and splint mail (AC 17, 200 gp). Now, I won´t delve into "fantasy economics", as this would be pointless. But giving every knight am AC 18 plate mail for 1500 gp would drive the knights to ruin, and would make the "rank and file" overly strong. Incidentally, the heavy armors would lower the knights speed, unless everyone had a strength of 13, or even 15, which would be in keeping with BECMI speed reduction.
I would recommend equipping the rank and file with chain mail armor, and the leaders with better armor. Giving them the strength to use the armor without penalty would add to their melee attacks, which might be ok for a knights order, with supposed combat training. Incidentally, chain mail and great or pot helmets typical for the Heldannic Knights do give a look close to what a real-world religious knight would have looked like.
Shield: The shield in 5e gives a +2 AC bonus for just 10 gp, so using one is a no-brainer. Actually, I wonder why shields were left out from the original stat block. This would make the knights a truly formidable force, and help explain their successes.
Armor and weapon proficiency: according to 5e, regular clerics are neither proficient in heavy armor nor with martial. This rule should be either ignored or remedied for the knights (see below).
Spellcasting:
A BECMI Cleric 2 has but one spell, a C 5 has two first- and two second level. The spell selection is noted above, geared towards combat.
5e spellcasters are more versatile at low levels, and have more spells at their disposal. Even a 1st level cleric has three cantrips and two 1st level spell slots. One more spell might not make that much of a difference, but the cantrips can be a game changer.
Conversions:
Simple:
take the "acolyte" and "priest" stat blocks from the MM, add armor and weapons, done.
Pro: easy conversion, can even be done on the fly.
Con: spells not geared towards combat, combat stats might be off, priest might be too powerful.
A bit of work:
Start with the templates mentioned above. The acolyte needs a STR 13, giving him an melee attack mod of +3, and maybe a CON of 12, to give him two more hp, for a total of 11. Chain Mail for a base AC of 16. For some reason, the acolyte stat block gives three first-level spell slots instead of two – maybe give him only two. Three spells memorized.
The priest should get 4th level spellcasting ability, not 5th, and I´d recommend changing INT and STR, and upping STR to 15, giving him +4 melee, and the ability to wear splint mail AC 17 without penalty. Not sure about divine eminence – I guess it is a fitting ability for a knight, but it is quite powerful. Seven spells memorized.
Spellcasting:
A general thought is that the knights seem to be more offensive combat-oriented in their spell choice. Maybe using healing on oneself is even frowned upon for the normal knights, casting doubt on their battle prowess if they prepare healing magic in the first place.
For cantrips, if used for the knights, I would recommend Resistance, Sacred Flame and Spare the dying. These spells are combat-oriented, the other PH cantrips less so. (I did not check other sources). You could argue that sacred flame is not fully in line with the weapon-oriented combat style, however. Spare the Dying would be ok, as it is not a healing spell per se, but just helps a knight survive if she falls in battle.
1st level spells: Protection from evil and good is significantly changed from the BECMI version, and only useful within very limited circumstances. Shield of faith gives an AC bonus, and is probably a good substitute. Cure wounds or healing word might seem obvious, but maybe the knights are too proud to use these in combat. Sanctuary might be a good idea, allowing closing in to an enemy using missile weapons.
The officer might have bless or bane, to keep it in line with the original tactics, and cure wounds.
2nd level: Hold Person is set, and as bless/bane is 1st level, the officer might just cast it with a 2nd-level slot. Prayer of Healing is of obvious use.
Domain: generally, NPCs don´t get domains. But in this case, I would give them domain powers of the war domain, at least partially. This grants them proficiency with heavy armor and martial weapons. The extra attack from War Priest for 1st level priests is fitting, I´d say, but needs some bookkeeping. The guided strike feature with one use per rest would be ok for a leader as well.
Skills: Religion is obvious, and Animal Handling is essential for a knight. Intimidation seems fitting for a leader there.
CR: an acolyte has a CR 1/4. With the changes made, a CR of 1/2 might be called for. The priests CR 2 seems still ok.
So, my version of the Heldannic knight and officer would be as follows:
Heldannic Knight
medium human, LN or LE
AC 16 (chain mail; 18 with Shield of Faith)
Hit Points 11 (2d8+2)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 13 (+1) DEX 10 CON 12 (+1) INT 10 WIS 14 (+2) CHA 11
Skills Religion +2, Animal Handling +4
Senses: Passive Perception 12
Languages: Common (Thyatian)
Challenge: 1/4 (maybe 1/2)
Spellcasting: the Heldannic Knight is a 1st level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 12, +4 to hit with spell attacks). The Heldannic Knight has following cleric spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): Resistance, Sacred Flame, Spare the dying
1st level (2 slots): protection from evil and good, Sanctuary, Shield of Faith
Actions.
Sword. Melee weapon attack: +3 to hit, reach 5ft, one target. Hit: 1d8+1 slashing damage, or 1d10+1 if used two-handed.
Lance. Melee weapon attack: +3 to hit, reach 10ft, one target. Hit: 1d12+1 piercing damage. Note: two-handed if used not mounted, disadvantage on attacks within 5 ft.
Warpriest: (2 uses, Recharges after a Long Rest). As a bonus action, the knight can make a second attack if using the attack action.
Heldannic Knight Officer
medium human, LN or LE
AC 17 (splint mail; 19 with Shield of Faith)
Hit Points 27 (5d8+5)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 15 (+2) DEX 10 CON 12 (+1) INT 10 WIS 16 (+3) CHA 13 (+1)
Skills Religion +2, Animal Handling +5, Intimidation +3
Senses: Passive Perception 13
Languages: Common (Thyatian)
Challenge: 2
Spellcasting: the Heldannic Knight Officer is a 4th level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). The Heldannic Knight has following cleric spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): Resistance, Sacred Flame, Spare the dying, Guidance
1st level (4 slots): protection from evil and good, Sanctuary, Shield of Faith, Bane, cure wounds
2nd level (3 slots): Hold Person, prayer of healing
Actions.
Sword. Melee weapon attack: +3 to hit, reach 5ft, one target. Hit: 1d8+1 slashing damage, or 1d10+1 if used two-handed.
Lance. Melee weapon attack: +3 to hit, reach 10ft, one target. Hit: 1d12+1 piercing damage. Note: two-handed if used not mounted, disadvantage on attacks within 5 ft.
Warpriest: (three uses, Recharges after a Long Rest). As a bonus action, the knight can make a second attack if using the attack action.
Guided Strike (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). The priest grants a+ 10 bonus to an attack roll made by itself or another creature within 30 feet of it. The priest can make this choice after the roll is made but before it hits or misses.