Knights of Solamnia - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Knights of Solamnia

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
banshee
Jul 14, 2003 20:21:17 Pardon me for my ignorance....I cut my teeth on Dragonlance, and ran campaigns and played in it for years and years until I finally moved on to Forgotten Realms and eventually other things (Dark Sun, Planescape, Birthright).

One thing that really frustrated me is that the game world was so static. I mean, it was never updated, aside from Otherlands and Time of the Dragon, which were both excellent. However, I finally turned away when that SAGA system came out. So I'm thrilled to see Sovereign Stone putting out the setting, brought up to 3rd Ed.

Now I haven't kept as up to date on the novels, but I read the three Jean Rabe ones, and the War of Souls trilogy.

Has something happened that I'm not aware of?

The last I knew, the Solamnic Knights had the Crown Knights, who were the first order, the Knights of the Sword, who were kind of like Knights Templar or Paladins, and then the Knights of the Rose, who were the leaders.

Then there were the Knights of Takhisis. The Lily Knights (fighters), the Skull Knights (priests), and the Thorn Knights (horribly powerful mages).

But I've read that in 3E Dragonlance, this has been changed. Apparently Knights of the Sword are a cleric prestige class now? And Knights of the Rose are mages?

And then the Knights of the Skull are Mystics-style prestige class and Knights of the Thorn are now Cleric-style prestige class?

How'd this happen? Did I miss something in one of the novels? The Thorns used to be wizards and are now clerics. And the Rose are wizards? The Knights of Solamnia abhorred wizards.....and now their leaders are wizards?

Am I wrong in what I've heard? Or has something changed in one of the novels, that I wasn't aware of? Or is it just that this was done as an adaptation for 3E to make it more game-friendly, even if it was less true to the books?

I'm not complaining. I'm very excited to see the new books. But this is something I'm definitely interested in finding out about.

Thanks,

Banshee
#2
zombiegleemax
Jul 14, 2003 20:52:36
Originally posted by Banshee
The last I knew, the Solamnic Knights had the Crown Knights, who were the first order, the Knights of the Sword, who were kind of like Knights Templar or Paladins, and then the Knights of the Rose, who were the leaders.

Then there were the Knights of Takhisis. The Lily Knights (fighters), the Skull Knights (priests), and the Thorn Knights (horribly powerful mages).

But I've read that in 3E Dragonlance, this has been changed. Apparently Knights of the Sword are a cleric prestige class now? And Knights of the Rose are mages?

And then the Knights of the Skull are Mystics-style prestige class and Knights of the Thorn are now Cleric-style prestige class?

How'd this happen? Did I miss something in one of the novels? The Thorns used to be wizards and are now clerics. And the Rose are wizards? The Knights of Solamnia abhorred wizards.....and now their leaders are wizards?

Thanks,

Banshee

*blinkityblinkblinks!* Unless something has drastically changed from my copy of the DLCS and what we wrote, that's all backwards and twisted o.o;

Knights of the Sword and Knights of the Rose (the Prestige Classes) require divine spellcasting ability and offer +1 effective spellcasting level, feeding into one another.

Knights of the Thorn are still "Gray Robes" and involved with arcane magic, while Knights of the Skull are divine magic (whether clerical or mystical, depending upon the 'era' of play).

Christopher
#3
shugi
Jul 14, 2003 20:59:09
Originally posted by Banshee
But I've read that in 3E Dragonlance, this has been changed. Apparently Knights of the Sword are a cleric prestige class now? And Knights of the Rose are mages?

And then the Knights of the Skull are Mystics-style prestige class and Knights of the Thorn are now Cleric-style prestige class?

How'd this happen? Did I miss something in one of the novels? The Thorns used to be wizards and are now clerics. And the Rose are wizards? The Knights of Solamnia abhorred wizards.....and now their leaders are wizards?

Don't believe everything you read. Shortly after the departure of the gods, Skull Knights turned to mysticism and Thorn Knights turned to sorcery. Knights of Takhisis/Neraka haven't really changed - Lilies are the core fighters, Skulls are the fighting mystic/clerics, and Thorns are the fighting sorcerers/wizards.

The Sword and Rose Knight prestige classes both grant divine spellcasting, so they're both like fighter/priests. Sword Knights are the "vanilla" fighting-priests and Rose Knights are the true elite - with clerical power and tactical abilities. Personally, the Sword Knight looks bland compared to the other two Orders, but that's just my opinion.
#4
banshee
Jul 14, 2003 21:11:05 I think it was on the EN World message boards....maybe it was a typo, or someone unfamiliar with the world, or just that they accidentally switched them.

Thank you though...you alleviated my fear

So many good worlds to play in right now though...hard to decide what the next campaign will be.

Planescape's what I'm running right now, 3E converted.

Then there's L5R, Swashbuckling Adventures, Dragonlance, Wheel of Time, Midnight (simply awesome), and Iron Kingdoms.

Sigh....for the good old days where real life didn't intrude

Banshee
#5
Dragonhelm
Jul 14, 2003 21:47:59 Banshee - The misinformation you got was from the EN World boards, IIRC. The Knights of Krynn do hold their traditional roles, although those roles are looked at slightly differently with the magic of the 5th age.
#6
cam_banks
Jul 14, 2003 22:39:35 I'm fairly certain the scooper who listed out all of those rules samples from the DLCS had confused the Sword with the Skull Knights and Rose with the Thorn Knights. Hence, cleric and wizard rather than what they're supposed to be, which are cleric-like.

Cheers,
Cam
#7
daedavias_dup
Jul 15, 2003 0:48:33 How many levels are each of the prestige classes? Making the Knights each ten levels seems illogical to me, five levels sounds right to me.
#8
shugi
Jul 15, 2003 13:47:49 Knights of Solamnia and Knights of Neraka have 10-level prestige classes per Order (Crown/Sword/Rose/Lily/Skull/Thorn). I liked the 5-level PrCs myself, but the rationale (for the 10-lvl) is that KoS can dedicate themselves to a particular Order, and gain abilities that knights of different Orders couldn't possess. It's sound reasoning.

I've been tempted to re-do my KoS PrCs - if so, I'd probably use a higher format myself (10-level, or maybe something like 8-level).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 banshee Jul 14, 2003 20:21:17	Pardon me for my ignorance....I cut my teeth on Dragonlance, and ran campaigns and played in it for years and years until I finally moved on to Forgotten Realms and eventually other things (Dark Sun, Planescape, Birthright). One thing that really frustrated me is that the game world was so static. I mean, it was never updated, aside from Otherlands and Time of the Dragon, which were both excellent. However, I finally turned away when that SAGA system came out. So I'm thrilled to see Sovereign Stone putting out the setting, brought up to 3rd Ed. Now I haven't kept as up to date on the novels, but I read the three Jean Rabe ones, and the War of Souls trilogy. Has something happened that I'm not aware of? The last I knew, the Solamnic Knights had the Crown Knights, who were the first order, the Knights of the Sword, who were kind of like Knights Templar or Paladins, and then the Knights of the Rose, who were the leaders. Then there were the Knights of Takhisis. The Lily Knights (fighters), the Skull Knights (priests), and the Thorn Knights (horribly powerful mages). But I've read that in 3E Dragonlance, this has been changed. Apparently Knights of the Sword are a cleric prestige class now? And Knights of the Rose are mages? And then the Knights of the Skull are Mystics-style prestige class and Knights of the Thorn are now Cleric-style prestige class? How'd this happen? Did I miss something in one of the novels? The Thorns used to be wizards and are now clerics. And the Rose are wizards? The Knights of Solamnia abhorred wizards.....and now their leaders are wizards? Am I wrong in what I've heard? Or has something changed in one of the novels, that I wasn't aware of? Or is it just that this was done as an adaptation for 3E to make it more game-friendly, even if it was less true to the books? I'm not complaining. I'm very excited to see the new books. But this is something I'm definitely interested in finding out about. Thanks, Banshee
#2 zombiegleemax Jul 14, 2003 20:52:36	Originally posted by Banshee The last I knew, the Solamnic Knights had the Crown Knights, who were the first order, the Knights of the Sword, who were kind of like Knights Templar or Paladins, and then the Knights of the Rose, who were the leaders. Then there were the Knights of Takhisis. The Lily Knights (fighters), the Skull Knights (priests), and the Thorn Knights (horribly powerful mages). But I've read that in 3E Dragonlance, this has been changed. Apparently Knights of the Sword are a cleric prestige class now? And Knights of the Rose are mages? And then the Knights of the Skull are Mystics-style prestige class and Knights of the Thorn are now Cleric-style prestige class? How'd this happen? Did I miss something in one of the novels? The Thorns used to be wizards and are now clerics. And the Rose are wizards? The Knights of Solamnia abhorred wizards.....and now their leaders are wizards? Thanks, Banshee blinkityblinkblinks! Unless something has drastically changed from my copy of the DLCS and what we wrote, that's all backwards and twisted o.o; Knights of the Sword and Knights of the Rose (the Prestige Classes) require divine spellcasting ability and offer +1 effective spellcasting level, feeding into one another. Knights of the Thorn are still "Gray Robes" and involved with arcane magic, while Knights of the Skull are divine magic (whether clerical or mystical, depending upon the 'era' of play). Christopher
#3 shugi Jul 14, 2003 20:59:09	Originally posted by Banshee But I've read that in 3E Dragonlance, this has been changed. Apparently Knights of the Sword are a cleric prestige class now? And Knights of the Rose are mages? And then the Knights of the Skull are Mystics-style prestige class and Knights of the Thorn are now Cleric-style prestige class? How'd this happen? Did I miss something in one of the novels? The Thorns used to be wizards and are now clerics. And the Rose are wizards? The Knights of Solamnia abhorred wizards.....and now their leaders are wizards? Don't believe everything you read. Shortly after the departure of the gods, Skull Knights turned to mysticism and Thorn Knights turned to sorcery. Knights of Takhisis/Neraka haven't really changed - Lilies are the core fighters, Skulls are the fighting mystic/clerics, and Thorns are the fighting sorcerers/wizards. The Sword and Rose Knight prestige classes both grant divine spellcasting, so they're both like fighter/priests. Sword Knights are the "vanilla" fighting-priests and Rose Knights are the true elite - with clerical power and tactical abilities. Personally, the Sword Knight looks bland compared to the other two Orders, but that's just my opinion.
#4 banshee Jul 14, 2003 21:11:05	I think it was on the EN World message boards....maybe it was a typo, or someone unfamiliar with the world, or just that they accidentally switched them. Thank you though...you alleviated my fear So many good worlds to play in right now though...hard to decide what the next campaign will be. Planescape's what I'm running right now, 3E converted. Then there's L5R, Swashbuckling Adventures, Dragonlance, Wheel of Time, Midnight (simply awesome), and Iron Kingdoms. Sigh....for the good old days where real life didn't intrude Banshee
#5 Dragonhelm Jul 14, 2003 21:47:59	Banshee - The misinformation you got was from the EN World boards, IIRC. The Knights of Krynn do hold their traditional roles, although those roles are looked at slightly differently with the magic of the 5th age.
#6 cam_banks Jul 14, 2003 22:39:35	I'm fairly certain the scooper who listed out all of those rules samples from the DLCS had confused the Sword with the Skull Knights and Rose with the Thorn Knights. Hence, cleric and wizard rather than what they're supposed to be, which are cleric-like. Cheers, Cam
#7 daedavias_dup Jul 15, 2003 0:48:33	How many levels are each of the prestige classes? Making the Knights each ten levels seems illogical to me, five levels sounds right to me.
#8 shugi Jul 15, 2003 13:47:49	Knights of Solamnia and Knights of Neraka have 10-level prestige classes per Order (Crown/Sword/Rose/Lily/Skull/Thorn). I liked the 5-level PrCs myself, but the rationale (for the 10-lvl) is that KoS can dedicate themselves to a particular Order, and gain abilities that knights of different Orders couldn't possess. It's sound reasoning. I've been tempted to re-do my KoS PrCs - if so, I'd probably use a higher format myself (10-level, or maybe something like 8-level).