The new UA Purple Dragon Knight is a Drakewarden whos Drake companion is somehow an amethyst weapon. The original Purple Dragon Knight is a commander, a banneret, a leader, an honorous knight of Cormyr.
The Purple Dragon was a Black Dragon with purple tinted scales, not a regal, peaceful and True Neutral Amethyst Dragon. They wont enter battle, they wont even fight as they arent concerned with law and chaos or good and evil.
At least name it "Amethyst Knight" or sth like that.
I hate to break it to you, but you are neither the first nor the last person to make this observation. This latest UA has driven the Realmslore experts out of the woodwork, and I expect there will be lots of “yellow” and “red” feedback once the survey opens.
I feel like there's an easy compromise here. Call them Amethyst knights like you suggested and have them be a select unit within the Purple Dragon Knights who gained their new specialization after a war wizard discovered a clutch of dragon eggs that they then used as mounts. Easy as that.
Actually they should be dropped from the UA and FR books completely. Mechanically its really too similar to the drakewarden but if you have to have something like this it should be coming out not in a FR book but as the Knights of Solamnia (sp?) in the next Dragonlance Book - it would be a nice fit there.
I agree, the idea is there but its so specific and difficult to play at all just like the battlerager barbarian...Id love to see it in an adventure or expansion book like SCAG. Maybe a SoFS-AG?
The flavor text might be changed to be more in keeping with the established lore, but at the end of the day, if WotC moves forward with the text as-is, it would not be the UA PDK that is inaccurate, but the then out-of-date books that preceded it. Canon revisions happen all the time in fiction.
Mind you, I still want them to write GOOD canon lore. That's a given
But this?
This is a nothingburger unless you run a Greenwood, Salvatore, Hickman, Weiss, Baker & Friends lore-centric RAW table. Which isn't a bad thing in the slightest, but the niche-ness of such should be recognized.
The PDK needed a buff. This is a good buff.
& this opens up Gem Dragons for a future return, possibly in the FR books. Which means 2024 Gem Dragonborn.
Aren’t purple dragons a mix between red and blue dragons? They were included in some issue of Dragon Magazine if I remember correctly, and have plasma breath.
They were, but Purple Dragons were only statted out in 2nd and 3rd Edition. Amethyst Dragons are also purple in color, which is what these drakes represent.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
They were, but Purple Dragons were only statted out in 2nd and 3rd Edition. Amethyst Dragons are also purple in color, which is what these drakes represent.
I’m still wondering where the love for alternate/rare chromatic dragons like yellow, purple, etc… and ferrous dragons like iron & cobalt dragons are. Hopefully some sort of update will be made to them but if not I or someone else might as well update them to 5E
The weird thign for me is that Purple Dragon was another name for a Deep Dragon (link to wiki here: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Deep_dragon). They were evil so that might make for a good twist to the purple dragon knights if you wanted a story where they've been corrupted into serving an evil dragon whose assumed the role of some regal human noble type.
I don’t think anyone has a major problem with the PDK as a PC subclass. It works well as a dragon riding fighter subclass. The complaint I (and others) have is with the name and lore as a Faerunian subclass. If this were coming out in a Grayhawk book titled as a a solamnian dragon rider I would be all for it ( and I think most others would as well) . The problem is that the subclass doesn’t fit the existing lore (cannon or not) for what a PDK is (or was). Originally it was a prestige class you took at higher levels once you had proved your worth to Cormyr. That made since with the lore as that was what the PDKs were - experienced and loyal warriors that that the king of Cormyr sent out as investigators or commanders for specific problems. They weren’t some guy riding around on a purplish drake of some sort anywhere n Faerun. The big problem is that we only have subclasses that come online at L3 (using the 2024 rules) and that’s a bit low for the PDK (L5 works much better). Sadly 5e has nothing like prestige classes.
They were, but Purple Dragons were only statted out in 2nd and 3rd Edition. Amethyst Dragons are also purple in color, which is what these drakes represent.
I’m still wondering where the love for alternate/rare chromatic dragons like yellow, purple, etc… and ferrous dragons like iron & cobalt dragons are. Hopefully some sort of update will be made to them but if not I or someone else might as well update them to 5E
Given the rate that WotC is updating old stuff... I'd guess in another decade or two.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
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The new UA Purple Dragon Knight is a Drakewarden whos Drake companion is somehow an amethyst weapon.
The original Purple Dragon Knight is a commander, a banneret, a leader, an honorous knight of Cormyr.
The Purple Dragon was a Black Dragon with purple tinted scales, not a regal, peaceful and True Neutral Amethyst Dragon. They wont enter battle, they wont even fight as they arent concerned with law and chaos or good and evil.
At least name it "Amethyst Knight" or sth like that.
I hate to break it to you, but you are neither the first nor the last person to make this observation. This latest UA has driven the Realmslore experts out of the woodwork, and I expect there will be lots of “yellow” and “red” feedback once the survey opens.
I feel like there's an easy compromise here. Call them Amethyst knights like you suggested and have them be a select unit within the Purple Dragon Knights who gained their new specialization after a war wizard discovered a clutch of dragon eggs that they then used as mounts. Easy as that.
I too buy & read a ton of novels just so I can play the game. /s
Does OP only/allow play Lawful Good non-Oathbreaker Paladins in FR games? If not, they've broken Greenwood & Savlatore lore.
Actually they should be dropped from the UA and FR books completely. Mechanically its really too similar to the drakewarden but if you have to have something like this it should be coming out not in a FR book but as the Knights of Solamnia (sp?) in the next Dragonlance Book - it would be a nice fit there.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
I agree, the idea is there but its so specific and difficult to play at all just like the battlerager barbarian...Id love to see it in an adventure or expansion book like SCAG. Maybe a SoFS-AG?
what? im not restricting anyone here from playing whatever they want its just lore-butchering thats all im saying
100% agree. The purple dragon knight is not a knight with a purple dragon, this is completely stupid.
The flavor text might be changed to be more in keeping with the established lore, but at the end of the day, if WotC moves forward with the text as-is, it would not be the UA PDK that is inaccurate, but the then out-of-date books that preceded it. Canon revisions happen all the time in fiction.
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Yeah, like the here:
https://www.enworld.org/threads/wotc-novels-non-5e-lore-are-officially-not-canon.681553/
essentially, while we can use anything pre 5e as canon in our games it’s all water under the bridge for WOtC. They feel free to ignore all of if they want/need to as it’s all no longer canon to them.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Mind you, I still want them to write GOOD canon lore. That's a given
But this?
This is a nothingburger unless you run a Greenwood, Salvatore, Hickman, Weiss, Baker & Friends lore-centric RAW table. Which isn't a bad thing in the slightest, but the niche-ness of such should be recognized.
The PDK needed a buff. This is a good buff.
& this opens up Gem Dragons for a future return, possibly in the FR books. Which means 2024 Gem Dragonborn.
Aren’t purple dragons a mix between red and blue dragons? They were included in some issue of Dragon Magazine if I remember correctly, and have plasma breath.
They were, but Purple Dragons were only statted out in 2nd and 3rd Edition. Amethyst Dragons are also purple in color, which is what these drakes represent.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I’m still wondering where the love for alternate/rare chromatic dragons like yellow, purple, etc… and ferrous dragons like iron & cobalt dragons are. Hopefully some sort of update will be made to them but if not I or someone else might as well update them to 5E
The weird thign for me is that Purple Dragon was another name for a Deep Dragon (link to wiki here: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Deep_dragon). They were evil so that might make for a good twist to the purple dragon knights if you wanted a story where they've been corrupted into serving an evil dragon whose assumed the role of some regal human noble type.
I don’t think anyone has a major problem with the PDK as a PC subclass. It works well as a dragon riding fighter subclass. The complaint I (and others) have is with the name and lore as a Faerunian subclass. If this were coming out in a Grayhawk book titled as a a solamnian dragon rider I would be all for it ( and I think most others would as well) . The problem is that the subclass doesn’t fit the existing lore (cannon or not) for what a PDK is (or was). Originally it was a prestige class you took at higher levels once you had proved your worth to Cormyr. That made since with the lore as that was what the PDKs were - experienced and loyal warriors that that the king of Cormyr sent out as investigators or commanders for specific problems. They weren’t some guy riding around on a purplish drake of some sort anywhere n Faerun. The big problem is that we only have subclasses that come online at L3 (using the 2024 rules) and that’s a bit low for the PDK (L5 works much better). Sadly 5e has nothing like prestige classes.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Given the rate that WotC is updating old stuff... I'd guess in another decade or two.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.