We continue our look at the Knight of Giri character theme in this second part of two parts. You can read the first part here if you missed it!

Optional Powers

Level 2 Utility Power
The honor of a knight of giri comes not just from within, but also from his or her desire to show respect for his or her ancestors. In return for honoring your ancestors, sometimes they come to your aid.

Ancestral Blessing      Knight of Giri Utility 2
You feel the touch of your ancestors, and they heal your wounds.
Daily • Healing, Martial
Standard        Personal
Effect: You regain hit points as if you had spent a healing surge. If you are still bloodied, you also gain 5 temporary hit points.
Level 11: 10 temporary hit points.
Level 21: 15 temporary hit points.

Level 6 Utility Power
For a lone swordwielder, many enemies are always a danger, but a combination of enemies that engage in melee and from range is more likely to be deadly. Having survived such encounters, you have mastered the art of deflecting attacks from distant foes.

Shielding Steel         Knight of Giri Utility 6
Without a thought, you spin your blade and cut down a foe’s shot.
Encounter • Martial, Weapon
Immediate Interrupt           Personal
Trigger: You are hit by a ranged attack.
Effect: You make a melee basic attack roll. If the result of your attack roll exceeds the result of the attack roll that hit you, the triggering attack misses.

Level 10 Utility Power
When faced with an impossible task, the greatest virtue one can have is courage. You can channel your courage into the strength you need to overcome the trials of combat.
Strength of Courage           Knight of Giri Utility 10
Calling on your courage, you shake of the effects of battle.
Encounter • Martial
Free Action   Personal
Trigger: You start your turn subject to a dazed, slowed, or immobilized condition.
Effect: That condition does not affect you until the end of your turn.
Special: When your turn ends, if the condition would have ended then it is removed. If the condition has a save ends duration, you can make a saving throw to end the condition as normal.

Optional Rules
If your campaign is using the Unearthed Arcana rules for Honor from Dragon 404 (Wizards of the Coast), you can adjust this theme to account for those rules. The static values of “5/10/15” in strength of honor and ancestral blessing should be replaced with “equal to your honor points.” At level 11, increase that to “5 + your honor points,” and at level 21 increase it to “10 + your honor points.”

About the Author
School teacher by day, gamer by night, John has been playing and running Dungeons & Dragons and other RPGs since the early 80s, with occasional forays into war games and card games. His focus game at the moment is D&D 4th Edition, which he is playing via the DDI Virtual Table after having moved away from his regular groups.

Giri is a code built on tenets of courage, duty, courtesy, and sincerity of action, developed hundreds of years ago in a remote part of the world. Since then the ideas have spread slowly until knights who follow the code can be found in the service of nobles across the world or training under older masters.

Due to their honor, knights of giri are often entrusted by the nobles they serve to act as their agents in matters of justice through the noble’s lands, thus putting them on the path to adventure. Others start on a life of adventure because they feel they did not uphold their code and seek to redeem their honor in their own eyes. Some leave a lord in protest while others are sent away because they failed in some way. Often the most dangerous knight of giri is one whose lord has died and now has started on a quest to avenge the deceased lord!

Prerequisite: You must have proficiency with rapier, longsword, or bastard sword. Although not all knights of giri use such blades as their primary weapons, they are always proficient with them and most use them as their weapon of choice.

Starting Feature

Whether taught by a master or learned from bitter experience, you have turned belief in your own honor into a force that your enemies must contend with as your blows crash through their defenses.

Benefit: You gain the strength of honor power.

Strength of Honor   Knight of Giri Feature
Driven by your conviction in your honor, your blade is an unstoppable force.
Encounter • Martial, Weapon
Free Action   Personal
Trigger: You hit an enemy with a weapon attack.
Effect: Your attack ignores the enemy’s resistances. If the enemy has no resistances, you deal 5 extra damage.
Level 11: You deal 10 extra damage.
Level 21: You deal 15 extra damage.

Level 5 Feature

Through your actions, you have become known for your courage and sincerity. When you give your word to do something, it is rare that you do not accomplish it.

Benefit: You gain a +2 power bonus to Endurance and Diplomacy checks.

Level 10 Feature

You no longer fear death, because it is more important that you achieve your goal or die trying. Fear of failure is stronger than any fear you might have had of death.

Benefit: You gain a +1 power bonus to death saving throws, and you need to fail four death saving throws before you die.

About the Author
School teacher by day, gamer by night, John has been playing and running Dungeons & Dragons and other RPGs since the early 80s, with occasional forays into war games and card games. His focus game at the moment is D&D 4th Edition, which he is playing via the DDI Virtual Table after having moved away from his regular groups.