Need help creating a knight character that's actually fun to play

[cyan mountain]

TLDR: Need help brainstorming fun character concepts for a Knight of Solamnia.

I have a Dragonlance campaign coming up and had told our DM I'd play a Knight of Solamnia since he had put a LOT of work into researching and developing his version. The thing is, I can't seem to come up with any character ideas that would actually be fun to play... After trying to put together a character for it, I've found that the whole "noble knight" concept is incredibly dull as are any personalities I can think of that would fit that role, especially since alignment is a thing to consider. I have another character that would fit nicely into the setting, but I only want to use him if I can't figure out a fun knight first.

I play a lot of non-serious characters, the only one I do have is still up to no good (a pirate). Even more so on oneshots.

[terse cargo]

Well, I’ll ask you this. What to you constitutes honor in this form of knighthood?

Does it have to be chivalry? Does it have to be “in shining armor, flamboyant speech, etc.”

Or is it the deeds that define the knight?

[cyan mountain]

A lot of examples I've been given are very much so the typical knight in shining armor types. For those that aren't familiar with the setting, there's a whole code and everything

[magic gorge]

Noble and knight, like trader or peasant, are status in society, not character traits. I think you could stamp pretty much any alignment on it. It'll be harder to justify a chaotic knight, since they supposedly take vows, but you could say that they have broken their vows (after all, Knight of Solamnia is a background, something your PC was before and might not be anymore)

[terse cargo]

Is the code in comportment or merely actions?

[magic gorge]

An example of a knight vow from medieval Europe would be "protect the woman and children". It's a code of conduct, if you follow it you're necessarily lawful.

[terse cargo]

(Comportment is things like dress and how they interact with society)

[cyan mountain]

I guess both? Wether one is honorable or not is likely going to have a huge impact in the game, and their 'code', which I have yet to fully read, dictates a lot of that

[terse cargo]

Even so, there is a lot of flexibility in “noble knight” that can still be interesting. It’s just that yes, if you’re going to be a knight, you will have to be a “serious” character.

[magic gorge]

You could also make an evil knight. Maybe to uphold their vows they do not hesitate to do despicable things. They could torture and threaten to kill the family of an enemy of Solamnia to protect their country.

[terse cargo]

Remember that knight might be lawful, but it doesn’t have to be lawful STUPID.

[cyan mountain]

I've considered playing a sort of mercenary who by some shenanigans or something, ended up becoming a knight of solamnia, and kind of refers to this code to keep himself out of trouble, and takes any wiggle room he can find. Kind of like shrugging and saying "them's the rules"

[magic gorge]

You could make a knight that is not "serious". For example, if your knight is the descendant of another knight, knighthood has been imposed to him. Maybe he doesn't want anything to do with it and his dream is to travel the world to tell tales of incredible events. There you have the basis for a potentially CG / CN bard

[cyan mountain]

true

[terse cargo]

Both of these last two are interesting enough ideas to run with

A character idea doesn’t have to be extraordinarily grand

[cyan mountain]

Ik, I'm not trying to be the main character or anything

A couple of my characters have been strictly comedic relief

[magic gorge]

That's an interesting idea. In this case, the mercenary could be true neutral, following the law because it allows him to stay a knight, which is beneficial to him, and doing "good" for pretty much the same reasons. He could also but NE, not hesitating to kill if that's the easiest way to accomplish his task

[terse cargo]

I’m thinking of someone who swore the oath of knighthood but found that it limited what their good judgment allowed them to do. (For example, enemies that clearly would go on to do far worse if not killed now but the law says they must be captured and handed over to authorities, as an example)

Or, discovering evidence of a crime but due to the requirements of knighthood or what else have you, they’re forced to leave the investigation to others after reporting it, instead of investigating immediately, which results in the criminal getting away

The ideals of knighthood still stand, but the practicality of the oath is almost constraining rather than a benefit.

(I haven’t read the material so I don’t know if this specifically works, but that kind of basis is my idea)

[magic gorge]

Yeah, that'd be a valid reason for them to "bend" the oath of knighthood from time to time

[cyan mountain]

"Oh no! he got away!" and then "just happening" to run into said criminal later, who had been roughed up quite a bit... because "self-defense" or something lol

A coincidence, I'm sure

[magic gorge]

You could also go for a different kind of LE knight that's more evil and who uses laws and his status to take everything he wants, without breaking his vows (or his interpretation of his vows)

[terse cargo]

Ehh… we don’t need 21st century politics in Dragonlance 😆

[magic gorge]

I don't know anything about the campaign, but I'm pretty sure the DM would like having a PC like that

[terse cargo]

How would that character really mesh with anything but an asshole party though?

[magic gorge]

The only difficulty with evil characters is finding a reason for them to stick with their party

[terse cargo]

Well, you can do good things as an evil character, your motivations might just be different

But it’s the methods that some use that can cause strain within a party

[magic gorge]

LE characters are ready to do anything that can benefit them, be it saving children or disemboweling them. Give a big reward for the quest, and the LE will make sure it's done, and done well.

[magic gorge]

I think that is mostly a problem if there's a lawful stupid pc in the party

[terse cargo]

Well, chaotic stupid too

[cyan mountain]

The players in my party usually get pretty chaotic, specifically one whos pretty good at derailing the party in hillarious ways. Another concern is leaving room for that so that my character doesn't have to be the one to rain on their parade, since I like the shenanigans

[terse cargo]

Well, it might be one where the player in-character needs to learn how to work around the oath so that shenanigans could still fall within the bounds of it?

[magic gorge]

Considering this and the fact that you like playing goofy characters, I strongly recommend the "my parents forced me to become a knight be I want to do something else" idea

[magic gorge]

^

[cyan mountain]

Like "no, don't do that... but if it was done like this..."

[magic gorge]

A bard was just an idea, it can really be anything

You will still have the knight background, you just won't be one anymore. That can make for interesting interactions with the Solamnia Kingdom / Empire

Maybe some people will loathe you for breaking your oath, maybe others will think you're brave / stupid for giving up your privileges...

[terse cargo]

Right. Modify the shenanigan so it doesn’t disgrace you, technically

Without having to put a whole stop to the think

[magic gorge]

It's not murdering families if it's purifying the heretics

[terse cargo]

Cunning is not something that knights are expected to have

[cyan mountain]

lol

[terse cargo]

But it doesn’t mean you can’t be that.

[magic gorge]

Once again, your pc doesn't need to be a knight, he needs to have been a knight. Is being one something you want / that is necessary for what you want to do with your dm?

[cyan mountain]

"We're not retreating... we're attacking in another direction" lol

[terse cargo]

Advancing backwards - Tristana, League of Legends

[magic gorge]

That's called "strategic repositioning" xD

[cyan mountain]

I was thinking along the lines of "he is a knight", because with our DM its not just a background, he's building a whole class of sorts and has gotten really into it

[magic gorge]

Oh, okay

Does the knight class has a vow mechanic, like the paladin?

If so, you won't be able to be chaotic unless there's an oathbreaker subclass, that removes a lot of "goofy" options

[cyan mountain]

I'm not sure, the Order of the Sword really lines up with paladins, but theres also Order of the Crown, as well as Rose... I'm not sure if he's going with the OG way of advancement where every knight starts as a Knight of the Sword and goes from there, or if that even requires a paladin type of oath

they do have a patron god: Paladine

I'll be bouncing these ideas off my DM as well btw

[magic gorge]

If someone sticks to the order, it's safe to assume they'll be lawful. Or neutral at least

[cyan mountain]

I assume some form of lawful

[magic gorge]

I think your mercenary idea is the one with which you'll have the most freedom

You could also make a NE pc. It'd be similar to the mercenary, sticking to knightood for the advantages it brings. The "evil" side could either be him being a bit too "zealous" or the opposite, him slacking off and not hesitating to let his comrades die if that makes his life easier.

Hmm... forget the 2nd option, that probably wouldn't work well for a PC that has to cooperate with a party

The slightly sadistic one could work though, he'd probably be the last one to stop your group from making the game chaotic

[vast vale]

As someone who plays martial, especially knights religiously (well a bit over the top but do love martials a lot) I must say like any other troupe there are thousands of different archetypes which many including me enjoy but if they wud be fun for your playstyle and taste is the question.

I would present few examples of archetypes and if they suit your taste have at thee or may inspire some wild azz build i dont know😅 .

Evil-ish chars:

1.A former executioner knight who used to be city executioner as is family profession , a deadbeat mean fellow but recently had to execute a someone they knew (could be friend family lover or just someone they used to look at everyday and smile or greet as a stranger in same world kind of connection) and now they left their job and are trying to redefine/find their life's purpose as someone who took so many for someone else. (class: fighter samurai ,order domain paladin )

2.The Spoilt noble: You are the 3rd son of a minor noble house, born with a golden spoon but not the first priority heck not even the second. As a 3rd son you must earn your family some valor or live your life as a glorified pencil pusher but the thing is you are spoilt and hate work

So you must earn valor as a knight but Earn your way, the easy way. by stealing and gambling it out of others (rogue or battle master) commander or sneaky knight who tries to never get hurt himself but must claim as if it was he who earned party the victory. Remember its a scumy charater but dont be mean to party. rather let them be your inner circle meaning they know you for who you are but need their help to stop others from finding out for hillarious funny momments

For good nature but goofy characters characters-

1. The Kid who sees reality- knights are soo cool! you were grew up watching their brawls in the tournaments, see their welcome home marches from the streets and caught glimpses of them dancing with lady of the courts in royal fests from a tree.

It's the life you want! you will kill your enemies and save your allies! And.....wait I have to execute these men who surrendered? What do you mean to protect the nobles we are inside the castles the citzens outside are dying??? (oath of crown or glory with god as helm or any fighter or rogue etc)

The long lived guardians - Underwater worshipers of the sunken gods or the elven enclave rangers or the Forever Gaurds of the realm etc magical order with a long lived race and you as their latest member. You are low leveled cause tho the order is old you were only waiting for the toruble in name as it started to become myth but its here now and your order must face it now

Any bladesinger or warlock or paladin etc would do with any gnome or elf or dawrf race etc

[tranquil sigil]

To begin with, we don't necessarily know what constitutes "fun" for you

Some people have fun with lawful characters

some like evil characters

some like characters with levity

others like serious characters

some like edgelords

some like leeroy jenkins characters

[cyan mountain]

Levity and Leeroy Jenkins characters, it's just hard to work that into the Dragonlance setting as a Knight of Solamnia

[tranquil sigil]

You can combine some aspects of Leeroy Jenkins into Dragonlance. Dauntless aggression, hit-first-ask-later characters seem plausible.