Chivalric Feats
Tally-ho! It’s Knight Week here at Necromancers of the Northwest, and that means that today’s feats are all about knights, or, to be more precise, about chivalry, the code of conduct by which all knights are supposed to strive. There have been many different definitions of chivalry throughout the years, but the following feats are designed to evoke some of the common themes that we associate with chivalrous knights from tales like those of King Arthur and the Round Table or The Song of Roland.
Defender of Maidens (Chivalry)
You are an astute defender of the honor and sanctity of women.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on saving throws made to resist charm effects.
Requirement: In order to maintain the benefits of this feat, you must do your best to avoid combat with women (this only applies to female creatures of the humanoid type). If combat with such a creature cannot be avoided, you must fight using nonlethal techniques.
Defender of the Faith (Chivalry)
You make it your personal responsibility to safeguard the servants of your deity.
Prerequisites: Must worship a specific deity.
Benefit: You gain a +1 morale bonus to AC against creatures that have at least one alignment element opposite that of your deity (good is the opposite of evil, and chaotic is the opposite of lawful). This bonus increases to +3 if both of the creature’s alignment elements are the opposite of your deity’s (for example, if your deity was lawful good, you would get a +1 bonus for creatures that were lawful evil, neutral evil, chaotic good, or chaotic neutral, and would gain a +3 bonus for creatures that were chaotic evil).
Requirement: In order to maintain the benefits of this feat, you must take steps to defend members of your faith, especially agents of your deity (like clerics, priests, and so on) from harm. If you become aware of harm coming (or potentially coming) to such a creature, you must do what you can to stop it.
Defender of the Meek (Chivalry)
You are sworn to uphold and protect the weak from those who would prey upon them.
Prerequisite: Character level 3rd.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made against creatures whose CR is equal to or greater than your character level + 2. Additionally, you gain a +2 competence bonus to AC against the attacks of such creatures, and gain a +2 competence bonus on saving throws made to resist the spells and abilities of such creatures.
Requirement: In order to maintain the benefits of this feat, you must do your best to avoid combat with those who are substantially weaker than yourself (more than 2 CRs below your character level). If combat with such a creature cannot be avoided, you must fight using nonlethal techniques.
Religious Obedience (Chivalry)
Your faith in the purity of the church and your chosen deity, and willingness to accept their teachings and directions, shields you from the magic of your faith’s foes.
Prerequisite: Must worship a specific deity.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on saving throws made to resist arcane spells. This bonus stacks with those granted by Great Fortitude, Lightning Reflexes, and Iron Will.
Requirement: In order to maintain the benefits of this feat, you must do a reasonable job of upholding the tenets of your deity’s faith, and must obey all commands issued to you by legitimate agents of your deity. Finally, you must willingly fail all saving throws allowed to resist the spells and spell-like abilities of legitimate agents of your deity. Legitimate agents of your deity must present themselves as such in order for this requirement to apply.
Word of Honor (Chivalry)
Your word is your bond, and everyone knows it.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on Diplomacy checks. This bonus stacks with all other bonuses to your Diplomacy checks. Additionally, whenever you use Diplomacy to ask a creature to fulfill a request, you can promise them that you will repay them at a later date by performing a request of similar import for them. If you do, you gain a +5 bonus on the Diplomacy check, in addition to the +2 bonus above.
Requirement: In order to maintain the benefits of this feat, you must never tell a lie or deliberately mislead others. Additionally, if you ever refuse to fulfill your promise to perform a service at a later date, for any reason, as long as the requested service is of a similar magnitude to the one you received, you lose the benefits of this feat.