Prerequisite: 4th Level, Squire of Solamnia Feat
You are a Knight of Solamnia aligned with the Order of the Sword, a group devoted to heroism and courage. Bravery steels your spirit, granting you these benefits:
Ability Score Increase Increase your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
Demoralizing Strike. Once per turn, when you hit a creature with a weapon attack roll, you can attempt to frighten that target. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + the ability modifier of the score increased by this feat). On a failed save, the target is frightened of you until the end of your next turn. On a successful save, the target has disadvantage on the next attack roll it makes before the end of its next turn. You can use this benefit a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Knight of the Sword
Review by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold
Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen brings with it nine new feats to play with specifically in the Dragonlance setting. Each feat has a prerequisite either requiring an earlier feat to be taken from the book, or that you’re playing in a Dragonlance Campaign, all of which end up functionally requiring the character be in the world of Dragonlance. Let's be honest, though: these feats are just as mechanically applicable at every table, even those outside of Dragonlance, and the vast majority of tables can find them to be solid additions to character sheets should you shrug off the lore and focus just on the mechanics they bring to the table. None of them require some Dragonlance specific gimmick or rule to function; if you’re DMing for somebody who likes these new feats, but aren’t playing in Dragonlance, I’d encourage you to let them give it a go should they meet whatever other prerequisites the feats ask for.
Knight of the Sword has the Squire of Solamnia feat prerequisite, and needs you to be at least 4th level to take it. It offers you a +1 to your Int, Wis, or Cha score, and a new attack option: Demoralizing Strike. If you can turn one of those three ability scores from an odd number to an even one and care about it a lot, that alone can justify taking this. Demoralizing Strike, however, also is a pretty great tool to have access to that might make some builds consider it regardless of their ability scores.
Demoralizing Strike gives you a once per turn empowerment to a weapon attack; when you hit something, you can force it to make a Wis save (DC 8+ PB + the increased ability score mod) or be frightened of you until the end of your next turn. Even if it passes, though, it gets disadvantage on the next attack roll it makes before the end of its next turn. This will always do something, and that’s something martial characters aren’t typically used to. Having a guaranteed defensive tool to hinder creatures can be very impactful, especially against enemies with lethal attacks.
Where I think Demoralizing Strike shines brightest is in large spaces with ranged attacks. By frightening an advancing enemy, you can deny them any movement towards the group, stalling it out a turn. This can deny any number of attacks entirely, and make a huge shift in a fight's dynamics. Chaining this on the same creature on sequential turns gives you a real reason to consider switching targets in between attacks; it offers a lot of interesting decisions that can give you a tactical edge in any fight. That isn’t a choice many martial characters tend to make. Most of the time you start hitting one thing and stop when it's dead; having a reason to spread your damage with a reasonable payoff can feel rewarding. I’m a big fan.
While the ability score improvement it offers is probably the worst of the three Knight options that build off of Squire for paladins and fighters, Demoralizing Strike is a fantastic addition to a few character archetypes, specifically ranged ones. If you’re into playing more tactician based characters and want a better toolkit for engaging monsters in a variety of ways, Knight of the Sword offers that, and may have a home on your character sheet. In particular, I can see a ranged eldritch knight build that adores this kind of thing.
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