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 KNIGHT PANTHER -*-
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.
-*- KNIGHT PANTHER STATISTICS -*-
Wounds: 1D6+7
Move: 4(3)
Weapon Skill: 3
Ballistic Skill: 5+
Strength: 4
Toughness: 3(8)
Initiative: 3
Attacks: 1
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
possible exception of thrown weapons. He may not abandon comrades.
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
TO HIT FOE 2 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 6
-*- KNIGHT PANTHER ADVANCED PROFILES -*-
Note: I have used the to-hit charts from the rulebook, rather than patterning
this after the to-hit charts for levels 5 and up on the other Advanced Profile
cards. Tim Huck (tyranid@aol.com) confirmed that where the statistic cards and
rulebook disagree, the rulebook takes precedence.
Battle Level 2 Wounds: 2D6+7 Wpn./Bal. Skill: 3/5+
Strength/Dice: 4/1 Toughness: 3(8)
Initiative: 3 Attacks: 1
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Luck: 1
TO HIT 2 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 Will: 2
SKILLS: 1 Pinning: 6+
Battle Level 3 Wounds: 2D6+7 Wpn./Bal. Skill: 4/4+
Strength/Dice: 4/1 Toughness: 3(8)
Initiative: 3 Attacks: 1
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Luck: 2
TO HIT 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 Will: 3
SKILLS: 1 Pinning: 6+
Battle Level 4 Wounds: 3D6+7 Wpn./Bal. Skill: 4/4+
Strength/Dice: 4/1 Toughness: 4(9)
Initiative: 4 Attacks: 2
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Luck: 2
TO HIT 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 Will: 3
SKILLS: 2 Pinning: 6+
Battle Level 5 Wounds: 3D6+7 Wpn./Bal. Skill: 5/4+
Strength/Dice: 4/2 Toughness: 4(9)
Initiative: 4 Attacks: 3
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Luck: 2
TO HIT 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 Will: 4
SKILLS: 2 Pinning: 5+
Battle Level 6 Wounds: 4D6+7 Wpn./Bal. Skill: 5/3+
Strength/Dice: 4/2 Toughness: 4(9)
Initiative: 5 Attacks: 3
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Luck: 3
TO HIT 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 Will: 4
SKILLS: 3 Pinning: 5+
Battle Level 7 Wounds: 4D6+7 Wpn./Bal. Skill: 5/3+
Strength/Dice: 4/2 Toughness: 4(9)
Initiative: 5 Attacks: 3
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Luck: 3
TO HIT 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 Will: 4
SKILLS: 4 Pinning: 5+
Battle Level 8 Wounds: 5D6+7 Wpn./Bal. Skill: 6/3+
Strength/Dice: 4/2 Toughness: 4(9)
Initiative: 5 Attacks: 4
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Luck: 3
TO HIT 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 Will: 4
SKILLS: 4 Pinning: 5+
Battle Level 9 Wounds: 5D6+7 Wpn./Bal. Skill: 6/2+
Strength/Dice: 4/3 Toughness: 4(9)
Initiative: 6 Attacks: 4
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Luck: 3
TO HIT 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 Will: 4
SKILLS: 4 Pinning: 5+
Battle Level 10 Wounds: 6D6+7 Wpn./Bal. Skill: 6/2+
Strength/Dice: 4/3 Toughness: 4(9)
Initiative: 6 Attacks: 4
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Luck: 4
TO HIT 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 Will: 4
SKILLS: 5 Pinning: 5+
-*- KNIGHT PANTHER'S 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.
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 SHIELD 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.
-*- ROLE-PLAYING 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! -*-