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17 Magic Gloves and Unorthodox Knights Review

"We Enhance Worlds."

That's the slogan of The Le Games and with their numerous .pdf products, they live up to this bold statement.

17 Magic Gloves is part of The Le Games' 17 series (other installments include 17 Magic Weapons, 17 Magic Hats & Helmets and 17 Magic Rings). This 17-page product, as the name implies, is a collection of several magic gloves that can be readily dropped into your Dungeons & Dragons campaign. (The name of the book is a bit misleading, however; 17 Magic Gloves actually includes 18 gloves!) After spending a page or two introducing the book and providing some ideas on how best to insert these new magic items into your ongoing game, author The Le, creator Jonathan Drain and editor Wayne Tonjes dive right into the bulk of the book.

Starting with the Gloves of Bitch Slapping.

My thoughts at this point are mixed. I don't like to mix my fantasy with modern day euphemisms, and, well, calling something the Gloves of Bitch Slapping does come off as sounding a bit silly, but in truth, I don't know what ELSE these gloves could be called. When the wearer of these gloves confirms a successful critical hit, the gloves give off a flash of red light, causing a random effect against the recipient of the unfortunate unarmed attack. The "weakest" of these effects is 2d6 damage (that is considered magical for purposes of damage reduction). The victim may also be dazzled, shaken, blinded or, worst on the scale, "whittled" (which calls for the recipient of the bitch slap to lose exactly half of his or her current hit points, as well as a bit of Constitution damage).

Other highlights in this collection of magic items include the Gloves of Blood Casting, which adds an additional 1d6 points of damage to any damaging spell the wearer casts at a cost of 3 hit points per 1d6 bonus damage; the Gloves of Phantom Strike, which grants the wears the attempt to make a single melee attack against opponents up to 20 feet away; and the Gloves of Tremor, which, in addition to providing the wearer a +1 armor bonus to his or her AC, also allows the wearer to slam his or her fists into the ground, sending a magical tremor into the ground and potentially knocking prone creatures within an area equaling 3d4x5 feet.

The Gloves of Spying also stood out. The user need only wear one of these two gloves to use the gloves' ability - animating the loose glove and sending it to explore and spy for the wearer up to 1000 feet away. The owner can use this animated glove to see and hear anything within the spying glove's surroundings.

The Gloves of Squishing are really beyond description. These thumbless gloves allow the wearer to bring a giant semi-transparent thumb into existence directly above an enemy. The thumb then . . . well . . . squishes that opponent.

The gloves all receive individual descriptions (and instructions for their creation), making them unique in appearance as well as effect. Another bonus of 17 Magic Gloves is that whenever a glove calls for a magical or conditional effect, a quick definition is provided so that player's and DM's don't have to keep flipping through their rule books to see what happens when the Gloves of Thunder Clap deafens a character.

The 17 series isn't the only regular series being produced by The Le Games. Their Unorthodox line presents a number of variant core classes (Unorthodox Monks and Unorthodox Paladins, for example), and a few not-so-core (Unorthodox Ranged Combatants and Unorthodox Modern Cheerleaders) variants that open up a number of new possibilities for players who might be a little tired of the mundane Player's Handbook classes.

In Unorthodox Knights (written by Sean Holland, James Spahn, Arthur Borko and editor The Le), six variant knight classes and one prestige class, are brought together in a 47-page .pdf. This isn't just a book of "crunch." Each class receives just over a page of background material, providing gamers with enough information to see just what makes these classes not just variants on the "standard" knight, but unique classes that stand on their own merits.

Of the six classes, three stand out.

- The Chevalier Amour. Approaching life as one big adventure, the chevalier amour taps into the dashing romance of knighthood, but not at the expense of excitement. With class features that stress finesse and style (Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat at 1st level, Two-Weapon Fighting at 2nd level, Evasion at 7th level, etc.), the chevalier amour would lend itself well to players looking to play a rogue less interested in backstabbing and more interested in getting away with spreading as much excitement and, yes, love, everywhere he goes (and getting away with it - another class feature is Greater Alibi, which allows the chevalier amour an immediate cover story, when needed, with appropriate Bluff modifiers).

- Knight of the Road. A wandering, nomadic character, the knight of the road lives by a specific code: never give up the open road; always take care of your horse; never grab another man's reigns; draw your blade only if you intend to take a life; another knight of the road is a brother, treat him as such even if you should be enemies; and never betray a sworn oath. Not quite devoted to an order, this class has more in common with rangers and fighters than other knights or even paladins. From the very beginning of play, a 1st level knight of the road gains unique abilities: Quick Draw as a bonus feat and, as a class feature, Sword Slinger (which is similar to the Sneak Ability in that if the knight of the road has initiative over a flat-footed opponent, he or she may draw his or her sword and deal an +1d6 bonus damage - the knight of the road only receives this bonus if he or she begins with his or her sword sheathed). As the character progresses, other abilities based on self-sufficiency (being able to discern direction as a supernatural ability or gaining Diehard as a bonus feat) become part of the character's repertoire. The knight of the road also gains a mount, and special rules are included to make this mount different from the paladin's typical mount.

- Lanternian Knight. These unorthodox knights adventure for spiritual gain. Constantly seeking redemption, characters of this class focus on being a beacon, or lantern, against the darkness. The lanternian knight is built around the ideal of fighting the evil of the world, and its class features (like Lantern's Light, which causes an object to glow like a torch; Oath of Duty, which provides these knights with a +1 bonus to skill checks and Saves when swearing to overcome obstacles in their path; Heaven's Strike, which provides the knight's weapon with a blessing in the form of an enhancement bonus against evil creatures; and Lantern's Miracle, which allows the lanternian knight to duplicate clerical spell effects) back this up.

The Blind Blade is the prestige class which allows for a unique "blind swordsman" approach. In fact, if the character ever regains his or her sight, most of the special abilities are lost.

Almost as a bonus feature, this sourcebook includes a section titled 'Baubles & Urus of Ancient Power.' These small gem-like stones are magic items that are designed to be used in conjunction with other items (weapons, clothing, etc.). Pricing for the baubles is missing, however, which could seem to me to limit the instant portability of these items in an existing campaign.

Both 17 Magic Gloves and Unorthodox Knights are affordably priced ($2.00 and $3.99, respectively). Only a few typos mar these otherwise well-put together products, and, overall, I would recommend them both for players and DMs.

17 Magic Gloves and Unorthodox Knights are both available at RPG Now.