17 Paladin Spells is a pdf product from The Le Games, one of several products in the evolving The Le Games' 17 Series. 17 Paladin Spells actually features 18 new paladin spells, a good range of spells available for each spell level. 17 Paladin Spells is a 17 page pdf written by Tony DiGerolamo, with one page devoted to the introduction and table of contents, one page devoted to a description of a tome containing these religious writings, and three pages devoted to OGL declarations, leaving 12 pages to describe the spells in this pdf. 17 Paladin Spells normally retails on RPGNow for $2.50. I received this pdf for free as a review copy.
Initial Impressions:
As can be expected from The Le Games products by now, they all come with in several handy and different formats - onscreen, printable, and rich-text. The cover is also separate from the main documents, and is an appealing piece of artwork. The layout is simple, and the interior artwork mostly semi-suitable pieces of art grabbed from available sources. I did like one or two of the pieces, but I'd rather see less artwork that's relevant than 'space filler' artwork.
There are 18 paladin spells in this pdf - 5 level 1, 5 level 2, 4 level 3 and 4 level 4 spells. The spells are organised by spell level. As with some of the other The Le Games products I've looked at, game mechanical implementation is generally not the best, and its the ideas that are the most valuable part of these pdfs. 17 Paladin Spells is no different in this regard - there are some really nice spells, some good ideas, but almost all suffer from strange implementation of the game rules and the invention of clumsy mechanics to support them. Avenging Angel, Shared Sacrifice and Rapid Rescue are usable spells, for example, and I even liked the ideas behind Martyr to the Cause, a campaign shattering spell that can easily be used to kick off a new campaign along numerous DM generated ideas. But there are some others like Paladin Mind Trick that are neither interesting nor novel. But, on with more details on the spells.
The Details:
17 Paladin Spells present the Tome of the Crusader, a book that contains teachings related to the spells contained in this pdf. It's an interesting idea in that new divine teachings available in rare tomes of this nature allow paladins and potentially other divine spellcasters insight into their deity that would grant them the knowledge and insight to pray for these spells. While the Tome itself is not spectacular in implementation, the idea offers more verisimilitude to any DMs campaign and is definitely useful.
18 Spells are described in this pdf, some good and interesting, some very similar to existing spells, while others are rather uninspired. In places it was difficult to determine exactly how the spell was supposed to function, the mechanics very difficult to interpret into something that can easily be used. Blessed Favor, for example, grants the paladin a roll of '20' for any skill check he makes, but he's not allowed to use it for personal gain, only for a third party member of his church, must pray for an hour in the future and make a sacrifice to his deity after using the spell. For a first level spell all the additional text and restrictions are too cumbersome. Several other examples of this kind of mechanic exist among the 18 spells presented, whereas some are powerful, such as Sword of the Crusader allowing the paladin to destroy magical items with the sword if they fail a saving throw.
The various spells are summarized below:
Level 1:
Hide the Innocent: Allows you to hide innocents from the targets of this spell.
Righteous Strike: Overcomes damage reduction of all sorts on evil creatures.
Blessed Favor: Grants a roll of '20' on a skill check.
Shared Sacrifice: Takes damage as the paladin heals another's wounds.
Martyr's Shield: Absorb one successful strike against another creature per level, taking the damage instead of the recipient.
Level 2:
Rapid Rescue: Increases speed to save the paladin or other good or neutral creature.
Endless Endurance: While attempting to save a good or neutral creature, capable of resisting fatigue and other effects that force fortitude saves over time.
Create Holy Water: Creates a downpour of holy water.
Paladin Mind Trick: Influence the minds of the weak-willed, jedi style.
Sword Dance: Paladin's sword fights by itself.
Level 3:
Rally the Righteous: Paladin's allies gain various bonuses and are immune to fear.
Avenging Angel: Paladin gains combat effectiveness to avenge a fallen innocent or ally.
Sleep of the Wicked: Puts creatures to sleep.
Disarmament: Disarms opponents within range of the spell.
Level 4:
Light of Purity: Damages undead creatures in range, and vanquished vampires.
Martyr to the Cause: Grants paladin godly combat ability to combat deadly threats.
Sword of the Crusader: Powerful combat abilities placed on the paladin's sword.
Vow of Justice: Grants the paladin the ability to pursue miscreants who are unable to hide from the paladin's wrath.
As can be noted from the above list, there are some good ideas, but unfortunately the mechanics sometimes fall flat. There are some really useful spells in there that many DMs and players can use with some changes, but for the most part the spells would require some work. Many spells are niche spells, in that they often constrain the use of the spells to certain circumstances - a fallen ally, a level 20 paladin required, etc. or place numerous roleplaying constraints on the use of the spells. This can cause problems for DMs to adjudicate.
Conclusions:
17 Paladin Spell presents 18 paladin spells, and a religious text, the Tome of the Crusader. There are some good ideas here, but like other The Le Games pdfs, the mechanics are often weak. There are several editing errors scattered throughout the book, but its the mechanics that detract the most from an otherwise interesting collection of spells. DMs and players willing to work a little on the spells will find that the ideas behind them offer lots of opportunities for inspirational use and creative application. However, despite the good value for money, the pdf is unfortunately still of average quality, and therefore only gets a grading of three stars.
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