|
Does a cavalier's banner have to be an actual banner? Can it be something else that's distinctive or highly visible on the battlefield, like a tall and elaborate crest on their helmet or a carnyx battle horn? Or are cavaliers and battle heralds pretty much restricted to using lances/longspears in two hands or a shortspear with one hand they can mount the banner on or wearing a sashimono on their back?
It hasn't been defined in the case of the Cav, so it can notionally be any of the things you mention.
There are specific 'Banners' though, and those are mechanically detailed.
Magic items such as Pennons, Banner of the ancient kings, and even the Flag-bearer feat are very specific.
Flag bearer is a bit disappointing as you have to fly the flag with one hand to get an effect, no sashimonos allowed (total rip job), Banner of the Ancient Kings requires a two handed approach (ie Longspear).
| 8 people marked this as a favorite. |
When he transforms into the Hulk.
Banners can be basically anything.
If not a traditional flag or oriflamme, swords, shields, helmets, etc. can all be considered Banners.
Roland the Paladin's is Olivant, his Horn
King Arthur Pendragon's is Excalibur, one of his Swords
Achilles was his Bronze Breastplate
Captain America's is his Shield
Superman's is his Cape; alternatively, it's the S-Shield.
Monkey D. Luffy's is his Straw Hat
If Indiana Jones were a Cavalier, his Banner would either be his Whip or more likely his Fedora
A Cavalier's Banner can be basically whatever is THE most-iconic symbol of the character, not just a flag.
The only restriction is:
The banner must be at least Small or larger and must be carried or displayed by the cavalier or his mount to function.
A Banner cannot be something tiny like a key, or a small whistle or something.
It needs to be big enough that it can be seen in the midst of combat - a sword, breastplate, shield, cape, hat, etc.
Beyond that, it's up to your imagination.
The Dune Drifter has made some confusion, because it says "a dune drifter can choose to use his hat as his banner. If the drifter does not wear a hat, another iconic accessory—such as an eye-mask, bandana, or distinguishing coat—can instead serve as his banner."
However, the Dune Drifter is from a Campaign Setting Sourcebook, meaning it was written by an entirely-different team than the PRD (which is where the Cavalier comes from). This means that there can be some hiccups between the basic Pathfinder rules (PRD) and the dependent stuff for Golarion (other things).
Besides the caveat of an "eye mask", which is a reference to the Lone Ranger's domino-mask, and is a Tiny item, this ability is completely redundant to the original Cavalier's banner, as there never WAS a restriction on what the Banner can be - just how small the Banner can be.
I concur with chbgraphicarts. Pretty much anything can be, ignoring specific magic items and their requirements.
Think of knights with their heraldic symbols on their shields. Serves the same purpose as a banner.
I would mostly agree with the above, but say that for it to work it needs to be highly visible on the battlefield, so something that is not held up high most of the time or have extremely distinctive high contrast colors for high visibility would not work unless the wielder was flying (for which Superman's takes care of itself in both departments, and Captain America's outfit at least has the latter property); something like a sword doesn't have enough surface area and would tend to fail unless it was highly luminous. Most headgear wouldn't work for this purpose, but a Roman crested helmet or Alhazra's headgear would (so THAT'S why she wears that ridiculous outfit).
Most headgear wouldn't work for this purpose, but a Roman crested helmet or Alhazra's headgear would (so THAT'S why she wears that ridiculous outfit).
This is actually why most European armies during the Age of Imperialism had very flamboyant hats, based on your rank:
Due to the ever-growing presence of firearms on the battlefield (guns had been used since the 1300s in europe, but not until the mid-1500s did they become actually generally USEFUL), "fog of war" caused by black powder became a major problem.
Therefore, it became a common practice for Officers to have large, ornate hats based upon their rank, so that you could distinguish who was a General, a Colonel, a Lieutenant, a Brigadier, etc., with just a glance.