BoLS logo Today's Tabletop & RPG News
Advertisement

Let’s Play D&D With ‘The Eternals’ Black Knight

3 Minute Read
Nov 3 2021
Advertisement

Dane Whitman was in The Eternals, but when will we get the Black Knight? Until his next MCU moment, let’s play D&D with the Black Knight.

The release of Marvel’s The Eternals will introduce MCU fans to a whole new kind of superhuman and a new phase of Marvel movies. But we’re all wondering, when will Kit Harington’s character come into his own?

If you’re familiar with the comic version of Dane Whitman, you’ll recognize him as the Black Knight. He’s the latest hero to take the mantel of the Arthurian knight.

We’re hoping to see this step for his character in a future movie, but in the meantime, let’s take a look at the Black Knight and figure out how to add him to our next D&D campaign. Ancient knight with a magical sword? Yeah, he’ll fit right in.

Let’s Play D&D with the Black Knight

To be honest, as far as super heroes go, Black Knight is a little more hero and a little less super. He has greater than human strength, but nothing compared to the space gods and superhumans he hangs out with. But being a mostly-normal human is a big part of his character.

So he’s a human in D&D, too. Like most Marvel characters, he has a science background. But if I’m honest, I almost gave him the ‘fisher’ background for no other reason than the fact that he’s from Gloucester, MA… which is an bad joke for maybe twelve of us.

Advertisement

Based on his ‘knight of the round table’ theme, I thought Paladin would be the most apt class choice for him. His Oath of the Watcher abilities would align most with his comic book powers.

Unfortunately, these powers mostly come out to being fairly smart (I gave him a fairly high intelligence), having knightly fighting abilities and weaponry (his magic sword, lance, shield, etc.), and he can sometimes see through magic illusions. This I tried to mimic in his oath and with a few spells.

I think the outcome is a perfectly playable version of a kind-of obscure comic book character.

The Paladin’s pretty minimal collection of spells and focus on physical abilities while caring a lot about truth and justice fit Black Knight fairly well. In fact, the Knight schtick fits almost too well into Dungeons & Dragons.

Advertisement

He’s sort of a hero in the wrong time, and would almost fit better in a D&D medieval fantasy setting. That said, he did need some spells– and the usual Paladin smite wouldn’t fit him that well. Of course if you don’t agree, please smite it up.

Instead, I opted for spells to detect magic, heroism, and find steed… because he has a winged horse. And if your character has the opportunity to find a winged horse, I want you to take it.

Plus we already know exactly what Kit would look like as the Black Knight.

How would you make the Black Knight for D&D? Do you want to see more of The Eternals and the Black Knight in the future of the MCU? What movie, show, comic, or game should I make sheets from next? Let us know in the comments!

Happy Adventuring!

Avatar
Advertisement
  • Why the D&D Player Survey Takes Aim At Settings and Player Motivations