Unorthodox Knights
Written by: Sean Holland, James Spahn, Arthur Borko, The Le
Edited by: The Le
Cover by: Santiago Ibona
Artwork: A variety of sources cited in the OGL.
Intro Comment: I received this product free. It was not given to me to review as a review copy, I was not a playtester on this product and I have no relationship with The Le Games. One day back in June as the school year was winding down and I was swamped with work I opened my email and found an unsolicited free product download for Unorthodox Knights. I figure if I’m sent a free book I should take the time to provide a throughout review.
Unorthodox Knights is a 49 page pdf that retails for $4.50 in pdf. This product was release on February 10, 2005 and is the first release of the 2005 year for The Le Games.
An Overview: The “Unorthodox” Line of Game Supplements is designed to present new interpretations on many of the classic archetypes of fantasy gaming. This product covers six new 20-level knight core classes, one prestige class and a dozen Baubles and Urus (minor artefacts).
Courtesy Note: The Le Games notes at the start of this product that “It is important to remember that not all d20 fantasy campaign worlds are made equally -- it is important to tweak these classes to best fit your world.” I think sometimes I sometimes forget that not all designers have the same view of balance or worldview that I may have in my campaign. When this product differs from how I view my world, I will clearly note it as a worldview difference.
Class 1: The Battle Knight (5 pages)
A knightly order focused solely on strength of arms. This group of human knights where trained and outfitted by dwarves that previously saved the kingdom. This core class works to give human fighters some of the benefits normally attributed to the dwarf race.
They are similar to the fighter core class in many respects except the class benefits and a d12 HD. Battle Knights have penalties to many of the social interaction skills, but they gain quite few combat benefits to make up for this deficiency. The gain exotic weapon proficiency and weapon focus early in their career, bonuses similar to the stability trait of the dwarfs, the ability to demoralize while charging, natural armour and the ability to move at their full run speed in heavy armour. Ultimately, the Battle Knight is really all about charging into battle and little else as most class benefit relate to charging. However with a Good BAB, Heavy Armour, Natural Armour and a d12 HD I’m sure he’ll hold the front line once he’s charged into position. Final Blow is great thematic move that allows a Battle Knight reduced to -10 or lower to stagger up to 5 ft. and make a melee attack with his highest attack bonus before falling dead. If the blow hits then it is confirmed as a critical hit automatically. It doesn’t really help the Knight but it may help his allies or turn the tide of the battle if he kills a key opponent with this attack.
The following text from the product seems to be in error:
Ex-Battle Knights: Ex-Battle Knights are rare, their focus and devotion do not usually allow them to follow other path. For each 5 levels in other classes, the Battle Knight’s “Knows only War” penalty is lessened by 1 point to a minimum of 0.
Since there is no ability called “Knows only War”, it is my belief this should refer to the ability called “War and War” instead.
(In my Game) I have a number of players who would instantly consider using this class and there is nothing in it that I would tweak.
Class 2: Chevalier Amour (6 pages)
The chevalier armour represent a secret society of devoted to the romantic arts, while acting as the role of the dashing hero. This masked hero (much in the vein of Zorro or the Scarlet Pimpernel) has a d8 HD, good BAB, good Ref saves, 6 + Int skill points and a skill list similar to that of the bard. The chevalier has a lot of class abilities most of which are thematic in nature and feel natural for a character type that is familiar from many films and books. Unfortunately, it seems to me that a few of class abilities have awkward mechanics in that they apply penalties to others instead of bonuses to the character.
One example is the mask special ability that states:
At 2nd level, she has mastered the use of the mask, anyone who has seen the Chevalier while wearing the mask suffers a penalty equal to 5 plus the Chevalier’s Cha bonus on any attempt to recognize the character without the mask and vice versa.
I’m not sure why the Mask ability simply doesn’t grant the Chevalier a +5 bonus to Disguise in his heroic identity. Another problem I had with this class was with the Luck ability which actually seems to be a good fortune ability because sometimes it is referred to as Luck and later as good fortune. Also other abilities are actually just additional uses of Luck/Good Fortune so it may have been better to just call it Good Fortune usuable 1/day and an additional time at Xth and Yth levels. I also find the description of what an Ex-Chevalier exactly loses if they become evil.
The abilities like Giftcraft (probably underpowered), Leave No Trace, Alibi, Quick Change, Charming Style, and Goodbye Kiss present opportunities for players to become that hero from film very easily and encourage reckless swashbuckling behaviour.
(In my game) Despite some things that feel weird about this class to me I can name at least two of my players who would use this class in a heartbeat and upon coming to consensus on a few of the abilities I would make this class available.
Class 3: Knight of the Frost (5 pages)
This organization was formed by a group of squires and men-at-arms who killed their paladin masters in their sleep and vowed allegiance to the forces of darkness that had harried them through the northlands. They are similar to fighter in many of the numerical benefits except they posses only a d8 HD and a greater amount of skill points and class skills. In reading the class I’m please to see the introduction of a Code of Conduct for this order. This class provides many benefits that you would come to expect such as features that make it easier to survive in the cold, ways to add cold effects to your weapons and a transmogrification into a being of pure winter. This class is not as stacked with abilities as some of the other unorthodox choices so it is much easier to accept the more powerful features need the end of this core class.
One serious weakness is a disadvantage called Fire Anxiety which at 1st level means any time Knight of the Frost is hit with a fire attack they take an additional 5d4 points of fire damage. Effectively this will allow a group of weakling mages with burning hands to wipe up huge numbers of low level Knights of the Frost. At higher levels when a Knight effectively has the [Cold] subtype they take no additional damage from fire. This all seems to be set up backward to me. Another is the lack of choice in the class abilities so one Knight of the Frost will be pretty much identical to the next. There are no rules for epic progression.
(In my game) At low levels KoF would need to make a Will DC (10 + 1/HD of fire damage) or be shaken for 1d6 rounds, at 7th level they take 1 ¼ damage from fire based attacks and at 15th they take 1 ½ damage from fire based attacks). That way Knights taken greater damage when they are more likely to survive it.
Class 4: Knight of the Road (8 pages)
This class is perhaps the weakest in its original introduction presenting a brief paragraph of introduction and code of conduct that while does introduce the class does not provide the same level of “realness” that others in this product have had because of their longer introduction and thorough history. The Knights of the Road have Good BAB, Reflex saves, d8 HD and 2 + Int skill points. Some of the class features in this product seem “strangely familiar” like Sword Slinger which looks to be a variant of Iaijutsu from the Oriental Adventures rules supplement from WOTC with the extra damage based upon your level and not a skill check. The Knight of the Road also gains a “bonded mount” that is in most ways identical to the paladins’ special mount, except the mount gains more abilities and at a non-standard progression rate. Many of the Traveller Points activated abilities seem like uses of Action Points as well. Nothing in this particular class “wowed” me.
One weakness is apparent in the Traveller’s strike special ability which adds +1d4 to a Called shot attack roll, except that there are no called shot rules in the SRD or in this document. There is little or no choice in the selection of class abilities leading on Knight of the Road to look very similar to another. There are no rules for epic progression.
(In my game) I would not use the Knight of the Road as it doesn’t feel to me to have a strong unifying concept.
Class 5: Knights of the Broken Tusk (6 pages)
This core class represents a warrior fraternity of orcs who have adopted some of the military discipline of the human empires. There are typical in many ways to a fighter with good BAB and Fortitude saves, d10 HD, weapon proficiencies, armour proficiencies and 2 + Int modifier for skills. It is at this point that the class really begins to diverge as the class abilities are much more focused than the bonus feat approach of the fighter class. The Knights of the Broken Tusk have a broader skill list than the typical fighter including Heal, Sense Motive and a couple Knowledge skills. Unlike many of the core classes found in the PHB there are no dead levels in the class progression of the Broken Tusk. Some of my favourite features of this class include: Deadly Smite (usable a limited times per day) that allows you to do maximum damage on a successful attack, it carries a -2 to hit penalties and cannot critical, Lore of Enemy which acts as a weakened version of the Ranger’s favoured enemy ability with a more orc-enemy focus to the enemy list, Break the Enemy grant you a bonus to mop up followers if you kill the leader and Rally which grants your followers bonuses if you kill your enemies leader.
Initially, I was concerned that there was too much given to the class when compared to other classes but since several off the abilities are more like ½ a class ability from somewhere else it should be pretty close to fair.
One weakness of this class is its rigidness, since Lore of the Enemy is the only class ability that allows any choice one Knight of the Broken Tusk will look a lot like any other member of this class. Another is that there are no rules for epic progression for these core classes, though arguably not everyone uses the Epic rules. From linear expansion
Scars of Battle (+1) at 23rd, 26th, 29th,…
Deadly Smite (+1 use) at 24th, 28th,…
Lore of Enemy (1 additional enemy) at 24th, 30th,…
And probably a bonus feat at 22nd, 25th, 28th, …
(In my game) I would probably drop Disciplined Mind and Resist Magic abilities because they don’t seem fit as strongly thematically with the class as the other abilities do. I would make it clear that only orcs and half-orcs could start in this character class, but others could take it at later levels if reasonable circumstances allowed.
Class 6: Lanternian Knights (5 pages)
The Lanternian Knight represent an order of heroes who have fallen from grace and are trying to redeem themselves and others. In some ways the concept really feels like it should be a PRC for ex-Paladins whose GMs will not allow a stupid atonement spell to be a quick fix. The Lanterns (as I’m going to call them) have a good BAB, good Fort save, good Ref save, d10 HD, a decent selection of skills and 2 + Int skill points. The Lantern’s abilities are a mixed bag of feats, extraordinary and supernatural abilities including the ability to cause things to shed light by touch, self-healing, increased damage against evil creatures, bonuses to help the Lantern achieve a selected goal, minor divine magic 1/day and several abilities that help their allies in the good fight.
(In my game) I would swap out his 5th level Heaven’s Smite ability (which is similar to what I’d do but has a limited duration) for Divine Tool: Upon reaching 5th level any weapon used by a Lantern is consider good for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Other than that I would leave the class as it is written.
Prestige Class: Blind Blade (4 pages)
This prestige class presents a path of advancement for a player who has become permanently blinded. This PRC is dedicated enhances the characters other senses to compensate for the lack of vision. The blind swordman is a familiar character type to my players and GMs and thus people familiar with the concept will come to this prestige class with perceived concepts of what it should have.
That’s where I am when I look at it because by the time I read this class I know I have read at least 3 other interpretations of this class. Nothing wowed me in the PRC. The PRC has blindsense at level 1 and at regular intervals its radius is increase until at level eight it is downgraded to blindsight. The character is gains uncanny dodge and improved uncanny dodge as well as bonuses to Listen which have limited benefit due to its range of blindsight and finally at 10th level it also gains limited tremorsense which I can’t see being any more advantage than its previous blindsight or blindsense.
A character that is blinded is best encourage to find magical healing to cure the blindness than to take this class.
Baubles and Urus: It is strange the section on Baubles and Urus, as far as I can tell, has absolutely nothing at all to do with Unorthodox Knights. That said, it is really kind of an intriguing concept. Basically a Bauble or Uru is an ancient magical gem or stone that will fuse with another object granting a new power to the individual who fused the items. Almost like socketting gems in Dark Cloud or Diablo II. There are six Baubles and six Urus presented in this work. These really are Unorthodox Items: there are no item creation rules for baubles or urus, there are no prices for purchasing baubles or urus, they do not detect as magical, their powers are not easily replicable with spells or psionic powers, and they are magical in their mystery in a way that the mechanical description of magical items in the SRD will never regain.
(In my game) I would have no qualms including Baubles and Urus in a hope to regard some uncertainty and magic in the game that have become too focused on numbers. I would adjust some of the benefits granted of course because I endlessly tweak things and I would use bardic lore to allow PCs to find out some of the history of these strange gems.
How’s the editing? As always, I would have to say the editing is probably better than that of this review. That said however I did notice a decent number of examples in the initial introduction stories that seemed to have incorrect spelling or grammar and difficult to read passages; mostly the sort of things that a spellchecker wouldn’t pick-up. This happened first in my reading of the Knights of the Frost. Most of the mechanics I read seemed clear and error free.
One error that means nothing for the average gamer but may present a problem to The Le Games is that the product does not contain the Mandatory Trademark notification on the front of back cover page that reads something like this:
Requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Third Edition, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This product utilizes updated material from the v.3.5 revision. Dungeons and Dragons and Wizards of the Coast are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the United States and other countries and are used with permission.
What version of the game is this product written for?
The thing is the product itself does not say, since several of the skills and feats in the book are their 3.5 version and its release date I would have to believe that this product is written for the 3.5 ruleset. That said in the Knight of the Road a couple of class abilities lack the (Ex), (Sp), or (Su) designations and the bonuses granted by traveller points are often +1d4 (similar to 3rd edition buff spells) and not a constant bonus as with more recent products (this being more of a design choice than an error). Many of the core classes seem to have race restrictions which is “technically” not correct in 3.5ed but it worked for the class and I have little problem in adding the one restriction here or there to have the concept work better.
What about Open Game Content?
All game text, excluding the introduction page and the terms Bauble and Urus, is considered open game content.
Are they Unorthodox?
Unorthodox – not conforming to the usual belief or doctrines.
I would have to say that the Battle Knight, Knight of Frost, Order of the Broken Tusk, Lanternian Knights and the section on Baubles and Urus were are clearly unorthodox takes on the concepts of Knights and Items of Power. The Chevaliar and Blind Blade did not present unorthodox takes on the Knight concept as they are both well known archetypes. I have no idea what the Knight of the Road was intended to be, it never made a clear impression on me one way or another. So I’m going to have to go with 62.5% unorthodox.
So where do I stand?
I enjoyed the concepts presented in this book and I would obviously seek to adapt the Battle Knight, Knight of Frost, Order of the Broken Tusk, Lanterns, Baubles and Urus into my home campaign. Some of the material I found unoriginal or lacking a common theme but that is always a possibility for any product of any size. Overall I would say the product felt average to me; mostly good concepts with average execution and polishing.
I would rate this product a 3/5. Since I feel there is more here that I could use than I won’t use, I will consider more of the unorthodox line for my gaming dollars.
