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Warhammer Quest: The Knight Panther

by T. Jordan "Greywolf" Peacock

25 June 95

The following is a home-made profession for Warhammer Quest created by myself, to provide a "knightly" Warrior character. This is of course not official by any means, and I have not had the opportunity to fully playtest it through all possible situations, though it has seen enough action to convince me that this is as "balanced" as any of the other Warrior types.

To summarize the Knight Panther, he is a basic warrior type with no special abilities per se initially, though he is fully equipped with some impressive armor, giving him a Toughness of 8. His special skills at higher levels further his role as protector, focusing more on defense than offense in general.

The Knights Panther is one of the oldest and most respected of the Knightly Orders of the Empire, tracing its origins back to the times of the Crusades against Araby. Knights Panther are easily identified by the exotic furs draped about their shining armor, and the panther motif emblazoned upon their shields.

While the Knights Panther are best known for their service in the armies of the Empire, riding barded warhorses into battle against invading armies of Chaos, they are not content to grow restful between wars. Knights Panther often go out on solitary quests, even venturing into dark dungeons to put an end to various hideous monsters that lurk therein.

This Warrior is one such questing Knight Panther who has seen fit to join forces with fellow heroes. Knights Panther are particularly upright and noble, steadfastly following the code of chivalry. They give no quarter to the forces of evil and ask for none in return, but never fail to champion the helpless and downtrodden.

Equipment: None.

Weapon: Sword, causing 1D6+4 wounds.

Armour: Heavy Armour, giving +3 Toughness, -1 Movement; Shield, giving +1 Toughness; Helm, giving +1 Toughness.

Pinning: Breaks from pinning on a roll of 6+.

Special Rules: The Knight Panther has no special abilities, as his primary benefit is from his superior armour. The Knight Panther will not utilize missile weapons, with the exception of thrown weapons. He may not abandon comrades.

Advanced Rules

Skills

The Knight Panther has the following skills available to him as he goes up his Battle-Levels. To determine which specific skill he learns when given the opportunity roll 2D6.

1. Don't be daft.

2. Inspire Fear:
   As you stride into the chamber, the beady eyes of the Goblins show fear as they recognize the crest which identifies you as a Champion of the Order of Knights Panther.

   A roll must be made for any group of opposing monsters (except for the Undead) as if the Warrior caused Fear. A single roll is made for each type of monster present, adding their Fear rating to the roll, if any. Terror-causing monsters or those otherwise immune to fear or psychology are immune. The Warrior's Fear rating is equal to his Battle Level. If a monster group fails this roll, they are affected by Fear as described on page 81 of the Roleplay book. Their to-hit rolls against the Knight are at -1. For monster spellcasters, if spell targets are randomly determined, the Knight will not be considered a possible target. For those affecting the whole group, the Knight player has the option of forcing the spell result to be re-rolled once per turn.

3. Quest:
   As you draw your sword, you recognize the foul Minotaur as the object of your chosen quest. At all costs, you must be the one to end its miserable existence.

   Once per dungeon, as a group of Monsters are placed you may declare that one of these Monsters is the object of your special quest. As long as that Monster still lives, your Warrior gets +1 on all of his to hit rolls. He will always attack the "quest" Monster if possible (breaking from pinning when he can, etc.) and getting double the Gold Value if he succeeds in killing it himself.

4. Protect:

   Seeing that your wounded comrade would surely be killed by the incoming blow, you bravely intervene, using your body as a human shield.

   Once per turn, your Warrior may take damage from a single successful attack that would have hit another Warrior adjacent to him. This may be declared before or after the damage is actually rolled, and may be used to defend against "Gang Up" attacks as if they comprised a single attack.

5. Parry:

   With a practiced manoeuvre, you hook your sword around your enemy's weapon and twist it down and to one side.

   This skill allows your Warrior to parry an incoming blow. When your Warrior is attacked in hand-to-hand combat, roll 1D6. On a score of 6, he turns the blow, and it does no damage.

6. Disarm:

   You outfox your opponent, sending the monster's blade flying.

   Your Warrior is counted as having +1 to his Battle-Level when attempting to Disarm an opponent as described on page 161 of the Roleplay Book.

7. Stalwart:

   As you face the hideous monster before you, you calm yourself, confident that you are prepared to meet victory or death in a heroic manner, whichever may come.

   Your Warrior gains +2 on all rolls to avoid Fear or Terror.

8. Delay

   The odds are too slim, so you bravely hold off the teeming hordes while your allies beat a hasty retreat.

   Once per turn, your Warrior may allow another Warrior adjacent to him to be able to break free without having to make a Pinning test. However, your Warrior must give up 1 Attack while using this skill, and may not making any Pinning rolls on his own.

9. Hero of the People:

   You are recognized as a hero, and the townsfolk immediately throw an impromptu party in your honor.

   Your Warrior need not pay Living Expenses while in Settlements, and once per visit to a Settlement, he may make any one purchase at half cost (round up) as the people show their gratitude for such a glorious hero.

10. Warhorse:

    As you emerge from the dungeon, you find your faithful steed awaiting you.

    Your Warrior obtains a faithful Warhorse which will not be stolen during a stay at a Settlement. You may add +2 to any combat rolls for Hazards (rather than the normal +1 for a Warhorse) as your Warrior is well trained in the use of a lance.

11. Mighty Blow:

    Putting all your strength behind your blow, you bring your weapon crashing down on your opponent's body.

    Your Warrior may forgo extra Attacks in order to inflict more damage on a single blow. Once per turn, you may declare use of this skill before rolling the to hit dice. For each Attack your Warrior gives up, he may add an extra 1D6 Wounds on one of his remaining Attacks.

12. Sheild Wall:

    You barely manage to turn the blow as it slams toward you, glancing it off your shield with a flick of your wrist.

    This skill allows your Warrior to catch the impact of a single blow on his shield, deflecting all the damage that may have been caused. If your Warrior does not have a shield, he may not use the Shield Wall skill. This skill may be used once per dungeon.

Additional Rules

When or if your Warrior should visit the Alehouse, roll 2D6 to determine the results of that visit.

The armor that your Warrior starts with are specially fashioned, and not mere equipment to be traded or sold away. The Knight Panther may never sell this equipment- It simply ends up stored away somewhere in a place of honor should he acquire other armor or weaponry along the way.

Representing Your Warrior

Unfortunately, at this writing there is no official Citadel miniature to represent a Knight Panther on foot. There are a number of options, however, for the player who desires to play a Knight Panther, or a member of one of the other Knightly orders.

The most expensive option would be to obtain a model of one of the Knights Panther and convert it to a standing model. A slightly less expensive option might be to obtain one of the Reiksguard models and to convert it to represent a Knight Panther by using some epoxy putty, milliput or other modelling compound to make a "panther skin" draped over his shoulders, and perhaps to use one of the embossed Empire shields that shows a panther's head on it.

My personal tactic was to kitbash a Knight Panther by building the body and furs from epoxy putty, but to use some plastic and metal pieces (a shield, an extra Space Marine arm/shoulder-pad, a helm from a Battle Masters knight, and a right sword-arm from some unidentified model) to construct my own.

Of course, one might look to off-brand miniatures to find some other knightly type, or settle for just playing a member of the Reiksguard Knights or some other order who has gone off adventuring.

Roleplaying Tips

I originally wrote up this character in order to present a Warrior type who might be more appropriate for playing a more noble, heroic sort of character. Of course, how he is role-playing ultimately depends upon the player, but I would strongly recommend that players who are not capable of following the code of chivalry without grumbling should not be given this part, lest it become a joke. In light of the high incidence of Warrior death in Warhammer Quest in my experience, this is the sort of character who could face it bravely, confident that a heroic death is a good death- though he is not quite so suicidal as the Slayer.

A Knight shouldn't be the sort to go rummaging through corpses (and especially not the sort to be pilfering fallen comrades' bodies, if your GM allows that sort of thing). He would also be highly unlikely to fight unarmed foes (with the exception of mere beasts such as Giant Rats, Giant Bats or Giant Spiders, of course). The Warriors are supposed to be heroes to some degree, but the Knight should be even more so -- He should have a high sense of honor.

This does not necessarily mean that the Knight need be a total "goodie-two- shoes". There is plenty of room for diversity of personality. Perhaps the Knight is truly pious and respectful. Perhaps he is more interested in the glory of attempting to save the innocent than actually caring whether he succeeds in bringing them out in one piece or not. Perhaps he is a bit snooty and pompous, looking down upon his fellow Warriors. He might even have some sort of dark secret in his past, or a rival that may show up at an unexpected time to challenge him. By no means does this need to be a cardboard cut-out of a character!

Disclaimers and such

Warhammer Quest is a trademark of Games Workshop, and its use here does not constitute a legal challenge to that status. This article may be considered copyrighted by T. Jordan "Greywolf" Peacock (me =) ), though it may be freely distributed so long as no alterations are made and no fees are charged for its use.

I have an illustrated statistic card in the same format as the cards that come with the set that I've made up in PageMaker 5.0 format. If there is any interest, I may see if Britt Klein might think it worthwhile to have some of these PM5 files uploaded to the wais.com ftp site. Sorry, but I can't be expected to send out photocopies to everyone who asks, as the postage does add up after a while.

If you'd like to contact me for whatever reason, you can write to me at:

Jordan Peacock,

1610 Parker,

Cedar Falls,

IA 50613

Happy Questing!

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