RED KNAVE

Knight of Hearts • Royal Executioner • Duelist

                                                                                                              “The Queen gives the order. The Knave gives the answer.”

Introduction

The Red Knaves were not knights in the traditional sense.

They were the blade behind the throne.

Serving the Red Queen of Salazen, Knaves were trained in dueling, intimidation, interrogation, and royal enforcement. Their loyalty was expected to be absolute. A Knave did not question an order. A Knave carried it out.

You were one of them.

Whether you still wear the red is another question.

Ability Scores:

Ability Score Increase

Ability Score Increase: Increase your Strength, Dexterity, or Charisma score by 2, and increase a different one of these scores by 1.

Your training as a Red Knave taught you to be physically capable, quick on your feet, and commanding in the presence of others.

Feat:

Royal Executioner

Your training beneath the Red Court has made you particularly dangerous when facing an opponent directly.

You gain the following benefits:

• Increase your Strength, Dexterity, or Charisma score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• When you make a melee weapon attack against a creature that has not yet taken a turn in the current combat, you have advantage on the attack roll.
• When you reduce a hostile creature to 0 hit points with a melee weapon attack, you can move up to half your speed without provoking opportunity attacks from that creature.

Skill Proficiencies:

Skill Proficiencies

Skill Proficiencies: Acrobatics, Intimidation

Skill Proficiencies Description

Your training as a Red Knave taught you to move quickly during combat and project an intimidating presence.

Acrobatics reflects your training in dueling, evasive maneuvers, and fighting with speed and precision.

Intimidation reflects your experience enforcing royal orders, interrogating suspects, and making certain that people understood exactly what happened when they refused the Queen.

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Tool Proficiencies:

Tool Proficiencies

Choose one of the following:

• Thieves' tools
• One gaming set of your choice

Tool Proficiencies Description

Knaves were expected to operate both inside and outside the royal court. Some learned the delicate work of locks and infiltration, while others became familiar with the games and gambling culture of Salazen's courts and taverns.

Languages:

Languages

Choose one of the following:

• Infernal
• Common

Languages Description

Years spent among Salazen's court, soldiers, criminals, and foreign dignitaries exposed you to languages commonly encountered throughout the Red Kingdom.

Equipment:

Equipment

You start with the following equipment:

• A rapier
• A dagger
• A Red Knave insignia
• A dark red cloak
• Thieves' tools
• A deck of marked playing cards
• 15 gp

Alternatively, you may take the starting wealth determined by your DM.

Spell List

Spell List

This background does not grant an extended spell list.

Spell Level	Spells

Suggested Characteristics

Suggested Characteristics

The life of a Red Knave leaves marks that do not disappear simply because the uniform does.

Your characteristics may reflect your loyalty to the Red Queen, your struggle to escape your former life, your pride in your training, or the things you were forced to do while serving the Crown.

Personality Traits

d8	Personality Trait
1	I smile during fights.
2	I speak politely while threatening people.
3	I always notice weapons before faces.
4	I love a good dramatic entrance.
5	I never turn down a duel.
6	I have impeccable table manners.
7	I make jokes when things become dangerous.
8	I still instinctively obey royal commands.

Ideals

d6	Ideal
1	Loyalty. A knight should never abandon their sovereign.
2	Freedom. No one should control another person's blade.
3	Strength. The strong survive Underland.
4	Redemption. What you did does not have to define what you become.
5	Truth. Blind obedience creates monsters.
6	Honor. Even a blade serving a cruel crown can choose how it is wielded.

Bonds

d6	Bond
1	I owe my life to the Red Queen.
2	I betrayed someone to follow an order.
3	I secretly helped someone escape execution.
4	My former commander wants me dead.
5	I possess a royal warrant that was never fulfilled.
6	Someone I once spared still remembers what I did for them.

Flaws

d6	Flaw
1	I have difficulty disobeying authority.
2	I enjoy intimidating people.
3	I treat arguments like duels.
4	I am addicted to danger.
5	I have done terrible things for people I trusted.
6	Part of me still longs for the certainty of being given an order.

Contacts

Contacts Description

Your former life among the Red Court gave you connections throughout Salazen and beyond.

Your contacts may include former soldiers, palace servants, executioners, criminals, duelists, interrogators, courtiers, or other former members of the Queen's forces.

Your relationships with these contacts may range from loyal friendship to mutual distrust.

Contact Table

d6	Contact
1	A former Red Court soldier who still believes the Queen will return.
2	A palace servant who secretly despised the Red Queen.
3	A former Knave who believes you betrayed the Court.
4	A duelist who trained alongside you.
5	A criminal who once supplied information to the Red Court.
6	Someone you were ordered to execute, who somehow survived.