Ansalon is home to many knightly orders, including the noble and storied Knights of Solamnia, the mischievous and fearless Kender Knights of Balif, and the dreaded and disciplined Knights of Takhisis. These orders command respect through pageantry, heraldry, and sworn oaths to their causes, whether noble or wicked. Yet not all warriors who bear the title of knight enjoy the privileges of land, wealth, or the protection of a liege lord.

Hedge knights earn their reputations the hard way, often without formal recognition. They are named for their tendency to sleep in the wilderness under trees and hedges rather than in fine keeps. These fighters are wanderers, soldiers for hire, and veterans of countless skirmishes. They ride from battle to battle and from tournament to tournament, taking work as bodyguards, champions, and mercenaries. Many seek coin simply to survive, while others hope to prove themselves worthy of joining one of Ansalon’s great orders.

Although they may lack the prestige of a Solamnic title or the fearsome armor of a Knight of Takhisis, hedge knights possess a different kind of honor that comes from survival, adaptability, and grit. They fight with the precision of a tournament veteran, the cunning of a sellsword, and the weathered resilience forged on muddy fields and bloodstained lists. To face a hedge knight in single combat is to face an opponent who has learned, often the hard way, to endure any hardship, seize any opportunity, and win by whatever means are necessary.

Level 3: Hard-Won Seasoning

You have training in both formal combat and unconventional tactics.

You gain proficiency in the Deception skill and one additional skill of your choice from the following: Insight, Intimidation, Perception, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, or Survival.

When you make a Charisma (Deception) check to pass as a member of a different social class, to pretend at greater or lesser fighting skill than you actually possess, or to feign injury or unconsciousness, you add double your proficiency bonus to the check.

Insight

You gain proficiency in Insight.

Intimidation

You gain proficiency in Intimidation.

Perception

You gain proficiency in Perception.

Sleight of Hand

You gain proficiency in Sleight of Hand.

Stealth

You gain proficiency in Stealth.

Survival

You gain proficiency in Survival.

Level 3: Jouster’s Mark

You can focus all your skill and attention on a single opponent, forcing them to deal with you and no one else.

 As a Bonus Action, choose one creature you can see within 30 feet. The target is marked by you until the end of your next turn. This effect ends early if you are Incapacitated or you die.

 While within 5 feet of you, a creature marked by you has disadvantage on any attack roll that doesn’t target you, and they have disadvantage on Opportunity Attacks.

In addition, once per turn when you hit a marked creature with a weapon attack, you can roll a damage die and add it to the attack’s damage. The die you roll depends on your proficiency bonus, as shown in the Jouster’s Mark Damage table.

Jouster’s Mark Damage

Proficiency Bonus	Extra Damage Die
+2	1d4
+3	1d6
+4	1d8
+5	1d10
+6	1d12

 

 

Level 7: Tourney Veteran

Years of competing in tourneys and riding in battle have honed your skills.

Mounting or dismounting a creature costs you only 5 feet of movement instead of half your speed.

You have an uncanny sense for contests: you always know the current gambling odds for any tournament, arena combat, or any other public competition or event happening within 30 miles of any location you’ve visited in the past 24 hours.

Lastly, when you fail an ability check and use your Tactical Mind feature to attempt to boost it to a success, you can roll twice and take the better result.

Level 10: Battlefield Opportunist

Your long study of battlefield tactics allows you to strike true whenever your opponent leaves an opening.

You have advantage on any attack roll you make using your reaction.

Level 15: Siege Warfare

You know how to both endure and break the strongest fortifications.

If you have any cover from an attack and it still hits you, you have resistance to the damage from that attack.  You may benefit from this feature only once per turn.

In addition, you deal double damage to objects and structures.

Level 18: Sellsword's Valor

Your hard-won confidence shields you and those around you from fear and manipulation.  You can shrug off the manipulations of an Archfey or stand steadfast against a fearsome Greatwyrm.

You are immune to the Charmed and Frightened conditions. In addition, when a creature you can see within 60 feet starts its turn while Charmed or Frightened, you can use your reaction to immediately end that condition on it.