Best of the 3.5e licenced content: Dragonlance & Ravenloft

[redking]

This thread is for the best of the 3.5e products produced under licence by publishers other than WotC, specifically Dragonlance & Ravenloft. Not including Kingdoms of Kalamar in this thread, which should be dealt with separately as this is the special case of a non-D&D setting becoming so due to the outcome of a lawsuit.

Here are the collectors guide's from EnWord: Dragonlance (https://www.enworld.org/threads/dragonlance-collectors-guide.332810/) and Ravenloft (https://www.enworld.org/threads/ravenloft-collectors-guide.332800/).

I will let people go first before offering some thoughts.

[Elves]

Not including Kingdoms of Kalamar in this thread, which should be dealt with separately as this is the special case of a non-D&D setting becoming so due to the outcome of a lawsuit.
Only guy who rules lawyered so hard that his homebrew became canon. GOAT.

[Saintheart]

Only guy who rules lawyered so hard that his homebrew became canon. GOAT.

I know this was meant in jest, and I know this is taking the thread immediately off topic, but:

There was no rules lawyering involved, just plain, flat-out lawyering and presumably good negotiating. And that in turn because the nominal 'Kenzer' of Kenzer & Co. actually was an intellectual property lawyer, i.e. he knew damn well how copyright and patents worked.

And - as should happen with most idiotic disputes of a legal nature - this was a negotiated outcome that suited WOTC as much as anyone else. That mainly being because WOTC (allegedly, since a court never made a judgment on the issue) was caught with its pants down infringing a copyright owner's rights of republication.

Kenzer was the owner of the copyright to The Knights of the Dinner Table comic strip that had run in Dragon Magazine for years. (In passing - the writer of the comic strip was closely associated with Kenzer and in fact became one of their designers.) When WOTC republished the strip on the Dragon Magazine Compendium CDs, it (allegedly) breached Kenzer's copyright, and so Kenzer sued them.

The matter was settled out of court on two significant terms:
(1) Kenzer was given a licence to use earlier rulesets from D&D (and so the Hackmaster RPG was born), and
(2) Kenzer was given the right to put 'official D&D' on their 3rd edition books for a fixed period, from 2001-2007. These are the Kingdoms of Kalamar sourcebooks that bear the D&D seal even though not written by WOTC.

Kalamar didn't come out of nowhere, though. As a setting it actually predates third edition (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kingdoms_of_Kalamar). Kenzer did third party publishing before it was cool; there were a small line of books published which were compatible with 2nd edition AD&D, which were positively reviewed in Dragon on publication (1996). So it had a fanbase. And - possibly because Kenzer himself wasn't seen as a soft target - it wasn't litigated against by TSR, which was notable given the company's infamous reputation for bringing lawfare against people who (innocently or otherwise) could be portrayed as stealing its IP (including Gary Gygax himself).

It was also a good way to settle it for WOTC (at least from my perspective, an outsider 20 years down the line): they got to roll a loyal fanbase into third edition, they avoided paying a lot of money to lawyers over a dispute that amounted to a fight over a comic book, and they got to wring a few more cents out of a ruleset they were already ditching (i.e. the second edition rulesets that were used to build Hackmaster.) And they also got a splatbook setting which would need WOTC's products to run, said setting coming to the fanbase with a reputation (at least) for being grounded and "realistic," written by RPG veterans. This was a win-win.

EDIT: As far as notable stuff from Dragonlance is concerned, there are two that come up now and then:

Reserves of Strength: (Dragonlance CS, p. 86) - i.e. technically this is WOTC-legal since WOTC did write the Campaign Setting, just not all the rest of the third edition Dragonlance stuff. Reserves of Strength is a feat that basically says "stun yourself for 3 rounds, increase the CL of your spells even past the normal limits of the spell's maximum, e.g. Fireball can go past 10d6 damage maximum." Ab/using Master Spellthief, Circle Magic, etc. is strong, but generally I always found this one pretty flavourful and interesting. Also, be a Warforged.

Academic Priest: (Legend of the Twins) - for bonus divine spells and maximum divine spell level, your casting stat is INT. Nice for Archivists and Knowledge Devotion types.

[remetagross]

Wow Saintheart, this was a fascinating insight into the intricacies of that particular situation. Thank you.

Back to the topic: I can't for the life of me find it back, but I could swear there was in one of these three settings a Mystic class of some sort which could take some Cleric domains with alternate granted powers. And one of these, maybe the Sun domain, granted Turn Undead. Which means if cross-setting source is allowed, you can nab Turn Undead with a single feat, Planar touchstone. Which I find pretty darn awesome from a charop viewpoint.

[Tzardok]

The Mystic is a spontaneous spellcaster from Dragonlance. It gets one domain of their choice, and if they choose Sun they get turn undead instead of greater turn undead as they don't get the normal version normally, yes.

[redking]

Knight of the Thorn (Dragonlance Campaign Setting, p. 66)

The Knight of the Thorn (https://dragonlance.fandom.com/wiki/Knights_of_the_Thorn) is an interesting class. It is designed in mind for an arcane caster with 2 or 3 levels of fighter. This class has medium BAB, and some ability to cast spells while armored. What is most interesting about this prestige class is that it explicitly turns your character into a specialist diviner, even if you are a spontaneous caster, like a sorcerer. Not only that, Knights of the Thorn need not have any forbidden schools. Spellcasting is 10/10.

The fluff could be an obstacle (obviously, its Dragonlance), but the KotT works well refluffed as a militant order of mages.

[remetagross]

Thanks, Tzardok!

[Akal Saris]

Wow, I used to have those Dragon Compendium CDs! They provided endless hours of entertainment back in high school pouring through decades of D&D content. Who knew they led to such an interesting outcome with KoK?

Adding to redking's comment, Knight of the Thorn is a great PrC - I had a PC in a DL game that I ran who really enjoyed playing one. I believe his build was:

Battle Sorcerer 7/Dragonslayer 1/Knight of the Thorn 6/Abjurant Champion 5/Spellsword 1. BAB +16 and full sorcerer caster advancement (the game went to level 20).

[Elves]

Dragonlance Campaign Setting is 1st party btw. It's all the later DL books that are licensed (ie 2nd party).

[redking]

Legends of the Twins

https://i.imgur.com/C6wrbHI_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium

First, a detailed review by Libertas on ENWorld. (https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/lets-read-dragonlance-legends-of-the-twins-sourcebook.855836/)

My thoughts: Legends of the Twins is fantasy time travel done right. You can craft "what if" scenarios for any setting using the ideas contained within these pages.

On page 97 there is "the Purified" template. These are magically brainwashed servants of Kingpriest that get some nifty abilities such as fast healing 5, ability adjustments of STR +4 DEX +2, magic circle against evil, etc, but are emotionless. The Purified can easily be adapted to any setting where you need merciless oppressors that cannot be swayed by negotiation or appeals to mercy.

There are a number of divination spells related to time that are interesting too, such as Past-seeing, which allows looking into the past and gaining information. Another spell, River's Watch, allows for the detection of anyone not in their proper time, such as time travelers.

For what it's worth, it is this supplement from whence the feats Academic Priest and Dynamic Priest comes, seen as a fix for MAD divine classes.

[Curbludgeon]

I'm hoping to skim some Ravenloft books today, but here are a few things I noticed in Dragonlance. I'm sure there are several monsters, spells, items, and materials worth checking out, as well.

The 2nd level of the Master class (War of the Lance) with the Professional focus, if taken at 4th character level, can be used to get a cohort whose level is pegged to a Profession skill.

The feat Intimidating Charge (Knightly Orders of Ansalon) allows a demoralize attempt at the end of a mounted charge. When combined with the Imperious Command feat and Never Outnumbered skill trick this might be a easy plug in for an ubercharger build.

Another feat from Knightly Orders, potentially useful when taken by mounts, is Mighty Steed. It lets the mount count as one size larger in terms of size of rider and carrying capacity.

Races of Ansalon has a couple of interesting things. The existence of Half Dwarves, Half Goblins, and Half Gnomes (the single minded variant, since the Jack of all Trades one is hamstrung) has to be useful for a character taking advantage of having a human heritage. While Irda have a +2 LA (-2Con, +2Int/Cha, shapechange to small/medium/large humanoid/monstrous humanoid/giant), they have a wizard 1 substitution level which is worth considering. In exchange for a familiar they may prepare spells per day as if they were 1 level higher. When combined with LA buyback, and potentially the feat Changer Adept (7th level, adds animal, magical beast, ooze and plant among other bonuses) such a character could be sitting rather pretty.

[redking]

Races of Ansalon has a couple of interesting things. The existence of Half Dwarves, Half Goblins, and Half Gnomes (the single minded variant, since the Jack of all Trades one is hamstrung) has to be useful for a character taking advantage of having a human heritage. While Irda have a +2 LA (-2Con, +2Int/Cha, shapechange to small/medium/large humanoid/monstrous humanoid/giant), they have a wizard 1 substitution level which is worth considering. In exchange for a familiar they may prepare spells per day as if they were 1 level higher. When combined with LA buyback, and potentially the feat Changer Adept (7th level, adds animal, magical beast, ooze and plant among other bonuses) such a character could be sitting rather pretty.

The Irda Wizard substitution level is an odd duck.


Benefits: For the purposes of spells per day, your effective arcane caster level is increased by one. Thus, at 1st level, you may prepare the same number of spells per day as a 2nd level wizard. This ability has no effect on level dependent effects, such as duration, damage, and other variables, all of which function at your normal caster level.

In addition, whenever you gain a wizard level that also gives you access to a new spell level, you gain an additional automatic spell for your spellbook (to a total of three). Remember to include your bonus to effective caster level for spells per day when determining at which level you acquire this bonus spell (i.e. 2nd-level wizard, 4th-level wizard, 6th-level wizard, etc.)

Note: In some ways, this ability partially mitigates the Irda’s level adjustment offset. If you take levels in a prestige class that adds to spellcaster level, such as archmage or Wizard of High Sorcery, you continue to gain spells per day as one level higher than your caster level. However, you do not gain additional automatic spells in your spellbook as you would had you advanced a level in the wizard class.

Many DMs and players would say that if you only have a caster level of 2, but thanks to this substitution you get spells like a 3rd level character (thus, 2nd level spells), you wouldn't be able to cast any 2nd level spells because your caster level is 2 but second level wizard spells require a caster level of 3. I am not sure if the writers of this feature didn't want the Irda to be "too powerful" or what. I would just give them the +1 caster level as well.

The Kyrie race have Mystic as their favoured class, and a cool substitution level that lets them combine the Ranger with Mysticism called Mystic Synergy. In effect, these characters lose spellcasting for Ranger, but add half of their Ranger levels to determine their Mystic spellcasting, such as caster level, spells per day, etc. There is no reason this could not be adapted to other settings and races.

[Bullet06320]

the redhead feat from ravenloft campaign guide, it lets you get 1 1st or 2 oth level druid spells you can cast 1/day

ive used that to get summon fey from KoK, to summon a pixie, 10% of pixies get Irresistible Dance, it shuts down almost anything at low levels, that worked exactly once, with books flying my direction, lol, after that DM said i had to roll the 10% to see if i got one with Irresistible Dance

Ravenloft Legacy of Blood, Create Device which lets you make magic items that are tech based

[redking]

Ravenloft Legacy of Blood, Create Device which lets you make magic items that are tech based

I wrote about that feat over at the fraternity.


Legacy of the Blood has the Create Device feat, which conveniently (and quite elegantly) uses science to create effects similar to magic. So you have have Create Device (brew potion) to produce scientific potions of remove disease or haste, which can be fluffed as antibiotics and amphetamines respectively. Its elegant because the basic system of magical items is retained, obviating the need for an entirely new (and probably unbalancing) system.

I would probably allow castings of dispel magic to act as dispel science if the caster knows that they are dealing with science. Otherwise, having science as (Ex) has some strange implications that is probably better sidestepped altogether.

Create Device definitely ranks up there as one of the cooler feats that I've seen.

[Curbludgeon]

Champions of Darkness has a couple of feats which leapt out.
Extra Domain can be taken at 7th level on for a divine caster with 18+wisdom, can seemingly be taken repeatedly, and should it be for the cleric of a deity with few domains allows choice of anything not in conflict with the deity's nature of alignment once all available domains are selected.
Vampiric Regeneration makes a character's Dread Companion (familiar, mount, et al) emit an enervating aura (save or take 1 dmg/target/round) should the character or companion take damage, and damage caused by the aura gets transferred to the pair. This link works at the range of 1 mile, which allows for nonsense like surrounding the companion with whatever the smallest thing with Fast Healing 1 is.

Dark Tales & Disturbing Legends has the feat Brew Greater Potion, which allows for up to 9th level effects for +50% the usual creation cost.

[remetagross]

Ah, I think it's in Dark Tales and Disturbing Legends that one finds the Voodan, a really cool base class based on Voodoo priesthood. The nice thing is that this class does not have a set list of spells, but uses a clever combination of Cleric and Druid spells, some offset by a spell level or two according to their descriptor. This means that class benefits from all non-core Cleric and Druid spells, contrary to a bunch of other caster classes the spell list of which never expands past their own sourcebook.

[Tzardok]

The Voodan also has access to Bard and Ranger spells and a single domain.

[redking]

Ah, I think it's in Dark Tales and Disturbing Legends that one finds the Voodan, a really cool base class based on Voodoo priesthood.

Voodan also have interesting turn/rebuke abilities. For one, they can choose whether they turn or rebuke when taking the voodan class - turning/rebuking is not connected to good or evil for them. In addition, they can rebuke different kinds of "spirits". At 1st level they choose one type of spirit, and at 6th level they can choose another kind of spirit to turn or rebuke. These "sprits" are chosen from the following types: animal, elemental, fey, outsiders, undead. Its not clear whether voodan turning/rebuking stacks with other classes that give turning/rebuking, but its possible that these other classes stack with voodan.

[Metastachydium]

The 2nd level of the Master class (War of the Lance) with the Professional focus, if taken at 4th character level, can be used to get a cohort whose level is pegged to a Profession skill.

I love Masters! I weeped bitter tears when I realised they are 3rd party. Professional is probably the strongest primary indeed, but I have a soft spot of sorts for Sage and its INT to hit knack (and Craftsman's "you can make uber-masterwork mundane weapons" is also fun, if not incredibly strong).

[redking]

I love Masters! I weeped bitter tears when I realised they are 3rd party.

3rd party, sure, but as a licensed product it has a certain amount of imprimatur.

The Dragonlance 3.5 material is quite balanced. I don't think there is much in there (except reserves of strength perhaps) that will cause a DM to throw the rulebook at you.

Masters are my go to for creating NPCs that are skilled professionals. They are what the Expert class NPCs should have been.

[Metastachydium]

3rd party, sure, but as a licensed product it has a certain amount of imprimatur.

I know. I've had DMs who didn't bat an eye at them, but still.


The Dragonlance 3.5 material is quite balanced. I don't think there is much in there (except reserves of strength perhaps) that will cause a DM to throw the rulebook at you.

What about kender?


Masters are my go to for creating NPCs that are skilled professionals. They are what the Expert class NPCs should have been.

Mildly playable? (On a more serious note, I mostly tend to agree, although I like the Expert's "pick any ten skills shtick". Noble's likewise a passable NPC class.)

[redking]

Mildly playable? (On a more serious note, I mostly tend to agree, although I like the Expert's "pick any ten skills shtick". Noble's likewise a passable NPC class.)

If you allow the Create Device feat from the Ravenloft setting, then the Master gets a bit more interesting. I'd only ever use the Noble class for an NPC, never a PC. The Master is workable as a PC, however.

An addition to this post to avoid the dreaded double posting. The Academy Sorcerer from Age of Mortals.

https://dragonlancenexus.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Academy-of-Sorcery1.jpg

An important part of Dragonlance fluff is that sorcerers are made, not born (unless it's a natural user of sorcery like a fey or true dragon). Therefore, unlike in most D&D settings, there was an academy in Ansalon for the study of sorcerery.

The academy sorcerer is a 10 level full casting prestige class. It gets some bonuses to DCs depending on the descriptor of type of spell that they select, called an "arcane thesis" (not to be confused with the feat of the same name), bonuses to skill checks and halved crafting time if they live in the academy (situational at best), and the main drawcard is 3 metamagic feats over those 10 levels (actually at 3, 6 and 9). This is a fine prestige class for sorcerers. Adaption to other settings requires minimal work.

[Fizban]

3rd party, sure, but as a licensed product it has a certain amount of imprimatur.

The Dragonlance 3.5 material is quite balanced. I don't think there is much in there (except reserves of strength perhaps) that will cause a DM to throw the rulebook at you.
A number of spells that are Just Better than those of the same level for one, possibly also the source of Summon Undead and thus all "I summon an Allip" arguments?. That one dragon-something template that increases sorcerer casting for another. Last I was checking them over I really didn't find anything more than a couple feats and PrCs that I felt were worth mentioning for a "little known setting/3rd party/file off the serial numbers" list.

[redking]

A number of spells that are Just Better than those of the same level for one, possibly also the source of Summon Undead and thus all "I summon an Allip" arguments?. That one dragon-something template that increases sorcerer casting for another. Last I was checking them over I really didn't find anything more than a couple feats and PrCs that I felt were worth mentioning for a "little known setting/3rd party/file off the serial numbers" list.

The Summon Undead spells from Age of Mortals are copied from 3E WotC material. It's been superceded by Summon Undead 1 - 5 in the Spell Compendium (if I recall correctly). Dragon Rider is a prestige class that Dragonlance must have because it's Dragonlance. It gives a buff to dragon HD and BAB, but not casting, feats or skill points. If you could be more specific, I could give more specific opinion.

Emotional Brew on page 70 of Age of Mortals allows the caster to create drinks tainted with emotions like fear, belligerence or friendship. There are plenty of applications for this.

[Fizban]

The Summon Undead spells from Age of Mortals are copied from 3E WotC material. It's been superceded by Summon Undead 1 - 5 in the Spell Compendium (if I recall correctly). Dragon Rider is a prestige class that Dragonlance must have because it's Dragonlance. It gives a buff to dragon HD and BAB, but not casting, feats or skill points. If you could be more specific, I could give more specific opinion.
I was not intending to post a laundry list of complaints in a thread meant for praise, just submitting that it's no more perfectly balanced than any other book.

But again, the spells are the best example: in DCS there's Dalamar's Lightning Lance (3d6+1d6/level, hopefully no more than once per target as you get two extra bolts over time, 4th), Earthen Shield (a better wall than 4th-5th level wall spells, at 3rd level, with a "must cast on dirt" limit that leaves it either useless or massively OP), Elemental Dart (up to 5d6+50, 2nd level)- and then Crackling Sphere, Electrical Storm, Shocking Spark, Spark Shield, and Storm Wall (all electric versions of fire spells that are blatantly more powerful because. . . reasons?). There are some nice spells sure, I like Disjoin so that the 9th level version isn't out of nowhere, Stone Shards is cool, Palin's Pyre is probably better than it looks, and Billam's Bifrost Bridge is miles better/more "balanced" than what's ended up in SpC as "Dark Way." But it's a few good spells and a bunch of high level plot spells, vs a larger number of Just Better spells. Add to that the Noble class, known even here for being so bad it's better as an NPC class. A spontaneous Cleric replacement that is only better than the Favored Soul by not being intentionally crippled, and still misses fundamental problems with trying to turn the Cleric into a limited spells-known character. Can't say I find the Knight PrCs that you have to enter in order to be a very good idea either. And of course the so-called Reserves of Strength.

That's about everything except the races. Irda sound cool but have a high LA, but since they can become Large that LA ought to be justified. I assume the Minotaur has an LA in an errata somewhere.


Emotional Brew on page 70 of Age of Mortals allows the caster to create drinks tainted with emotions like fear, belligerence or friendship. There are plenty of applications for this.
Emotional Brew is most notable as being the 3.0 Emotion spell, which was removed in 3.5- so did the writers intentionally try to bring it back, or just miss the memo? For a +1 increase to its original level, for buffing purposes, the spell goes from concentration to either 1 hour or 1 min/level, with the charges retainable for an unknown duration and usable by the same person multiple times. The only way this comes close to balancing out is that when the duration ends, you have to make a save or be sickened for a massive duration (but you can just drink more the first time so it takes longer to wear off), so its usefulness is reduced by the caster's power. For manipulating others, it is no better and often worse than other spells, aside from looking like booze so you can pre-cast it- except creatures know when they roll saves, so it's still not actually subtle. Two applications, one of which is a superior/self-sabotaging version of a spell removed for 3.5. I love multi-function spells (trying to fix and restore Emotion was on my list, didn't work out), but this is ridiculous.

From Age of Mortals, the Mariner is so bad I'd completely forgotten it existed and don't recall anyone ever mentioning it. Meanwhile the War Mage PrC is all casting power, even after you find out about the errata putting a daily limit on Battle Magic. Can't say I find a Long range 5th level save-or-die very appropriate. A Permanent charm might be okay, sticks harder than actual Dominate, but is also a serious shift to consider when usually the Permanent compulsions are rated at 9th level. Stonesight is just asking for trouble. Trace Magic is yet another divination that requires information there's no way the DM would have actually been tracking, a massive paradigm shift in a mere 2nd level spell.

So again, there may be some good stuff and some inoffensive stuff, but I don't see it as any more balanced than any other WotC book.

(As for Summon/Call (actually still summon) Undead, the only other source I know is Ghostwalk, and both books say 2003.)

[Bullet06320]

.

(As for Summon/Call (actually still summon) Undead, the only other source I know is Ghostwalk, and both books say 2003.)



summon undead line was first published in Magic of Faerûn in 2001

[Fizban]

summon undead line was first published in Magic of Faerûn in 2001
Thank you! That's two spells now I couldn't find the original versions of that turned out to be MoF. Guess I need to check it more often.

[redking]

This is the academic priest feat. Here's an issue if you are playing post War of Souls. Many sorcerers have an "epiphany", and embrace the wizardly ways of high sorcerery, donning the robes of the Orders of High Sorcery.


Academic Priest [General]
Your path to faith is more scholarly than those of other clerics.

Prerequisites: Intelligence 13+.

Benefit: For the purpose of determining bonus divine spells per day and maximum divine spell level, your primary spellcasting ability is Intelligence. If you have more than one divine spellcasting class, the bonus applies to only one of those classes. Your spell save DCs are not af f ected by this change.

Special: You may only take this feat as a 1st-level character. If you take this feat more than once it applies to a different divine spellcasting class each time. You may take this feat even if you have no divine spellcasting classes yet.

There is no equivalent of this feat for sorcerers that chose to convert to high sorcerery (meaning, swapping their sorcerer levels for wizard levels). Because most of these characters will likely have high Cha and lower Int, they likely won't be able to cast high level spells at all.

A possible homebrew suggestion could be something like this.

Magnetic Wizard [General]
Your path to high sorcery is based on force of will, not scholarly effort.

Prerequisites: Charisma 13+.

Benefit: For the purpose of determining bonus arcane spells per day and maximum arcane spell level, your primary spellcasting ability is Charisma. The bonus applies only to the wizard class. Your spell save DCs are not affected by this change.

Special: You must have had an epiphany and swapped all your sorcerer levels for wizard levels to take this feat. You renounce wild sorcery forevermore.

It's crazy that this kind of feat was not included in Age of Mortals.

[Curbludgeon]

I'm a little disappointed by the Solamnic order prestige classes, and their use in a cleric-forward build. There is a substantial feat tax (proficiency in 1 martial weapon/shield/heavy armor, Honorbound, Endurance, Diehard, Mounted Combat, Leadership) skill tax (32 ranks on a 3+Int ranks/level chassis), and involved in-setting requirements for, in comparison to a standard cleric, primarily story benefits. What I suppose is particularly galling is that I don't see a good build stub which gets 10 levels of KotR on a +18BAB/18CL or better base without pulling from sources external to Dragonlance.

Cleric of Kiri-Jolith 4/Knight of the Crown 1/X2/Knight of the Sword 3/Knight of the Rose 10

Prestige Paladin fits mechanically for X, but is a class mean to be subsumed by the Orders. Ordained Champion, if refluffed to DL deities, REALLY helps offset the feat requirements, particularly since Kiri-Jolith's domain choices (Good, Strength, War(longsword)) have benefits easily worth exchanging for feats. The Crusader alternate for cleric found in Dragon 311 makes the turning pool (already hamstrung for use against undead) applicable instead to a god's enemies, and more importantly grants a feat, while shuffling around which skills will require cross class ranks. Nothing else has jumped out as being mechanically useful, and the build is in the weird position of either focusing on combat feats or cutting its losses.

[redking]

I'm a little disappointed by the Solamnic order prestige classes, and their use in a cleric-forward build. There is a substantial feat tax (proficiency in 1 martial weapon/shield/heavy armor, Honorbound, Endurance, Diehard, Mounted Combat, Leadership) skill tax (32 ranks on a 3+Int ranks/level chassis), and involved in-setting requirements for, in comparison to a standard cleric, primarily story benefits. What I suppose is particularly galling is that I don't see a good build stub which gets 10 levels of KotR on a +18BAB/18CL or better base without pulling from sources external to Dragonlance.

The Knight of Solamnia prestige classes are infamous for this. Read this comprehensive essay about how ridiculously they were designed. (https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/7jt4nb/an_essay_on_my_favorite_prestige_class/)

The Knights of Solamnia work best as a PHB2 Affiliation, with perhaps a single PrC for all knights.