Crothian
First Post
Clash of Arms Cavalry
Mounted combat was always a powerful force in the medieval days. But it has been one of those almost forgotten archetypes in the fantasy game as mounts are either to easily killed or just too big to delve into dungeons and crypts. Those problems are not easily solved and seem more campaign oriented then anything else. But writers do on occasion come out with a new class or new options that allows one to place a cavalry character.
Clash of Arms Cavalry is a PDF by Charles Rice. He has his name on many different books and is slowly becoming well known I think. The publisher is Vigilance and the book is a PDF. The PDF is twelve pages long and has some good book marks. The book has some good clip art but the lay out could use some work. Some of the sections need a header to separate them as abilities from a couple of different sections seem to be visually on the same list. It can be a little confusing.
The book presents a new base class called the Cavalryman. It is a character that rides a horse into battle. The class can pick abilities from the Heavy Cavalry, Horse Archer, and Light Cavalry options. One can specialize in one of these areas or take abilities from all three and be a bit more versatile. Many of the abilities are feats that can only be used on horseback but the character need not worry about gaining the requirements for them. The abilities are useful but some need to be better explained. The Heavy Cavalry has a Power Charge ability that works much like Power Attack. It does not say if the two can be used together or not. One could potentially really stack up damage if they can be used in conjunction. There is a terrifying Charge ability that works with a fear effect a saving throw whose DC is charisma based. With more riders the DC increases but the text seems to indicate that the charisma bonus is no longer part of that and that does not make as much sense. It could be written a bit clearer.
Of course not all the new abilities are badly worded. The Light Cavalry has a cool Fog of War ability that allows it to confuse targets he flanks. Later in the book there are rules for different quality of horses and the cavalryman is able to tell the quality of horses he examines.
The book then presents some cavalry equipment and a bit of historical ways cavalry were used. Then the horse qualities are presented. This is a nice way to have higher and lower quality steeds and not have every horse be the same. Some are good breeds with bonuses to strength and dexterity while others are in bad shape with penalties. The better the horse the more expensive it is as well. And the horse can have randomly rolled qualities that can also make them a bit better or a little worse.
Clash of Arms Cavalry is a good book for someone looking for a Cavalry base class. It has a nice list of options and class abilities. One can make a better Cavalryman with the class then just a basic fighter but the class does not set itself apart from other cavalry classes that are out there.
Mounted combat was always a powerful force in the medieval days. But it has been one of those almost forgotten archetypes in the fantasy game as mounts are either to easily killed or just too big to delve into dungeons and crypts. Those problems are not easily solved and seem more campaign oriented then anything else. But writers do on occasion come out with a new class or new options that allows one to place a cavalry character.
Clash of Arms Cavalry is a PDF by Charles Rice. He has his name on many different books and is slowly becoming well known I think. The publisher is Vigilance and the book is a PDF. The PDF is twelve pages long and has some good book marks. The book has some good clip art but the lay out could use some work. Some of the sections need a header to separate them as abilities from a couple of different sections seem to be visually on the same list. It can be a little confusing.
The book presents a new base class called the Cavalryman. It is a character that rides a horse into battle. The class can pick abilities from the Heavy Cavalry, Horse Archer, and Light Cavalry options. One can specialize in one of these areas or take abilities from all three and be a bit more versatile. Many of the abilities are feats that can only be used on horseback but the character need not worry about gaining the requirements for them. The abilities are useful but some need to be better explained. The Heavy Cavalry has a Power Charge ability that works much like Power Attack. It does not say if the two can be used together or not. One could potentially really stack up damage if they can be used in conjunction. There is a terrifying Charge ability that works with a fear effect a saving throw whose DC is charisma based. With more riders the DC increases but the text seems to indicate that the charisma bonus is no longer part of that and that does not make as much sense. It could be written a bit clearer.
Of course not all the new abilities are badly worded. The Light Cavalry has a cool Fog of War ability that allows it to confuse targets he flanks. Later in the book there are rules for different quality of horses and the cavalryman is able to tell the quality of horses he examines.
The book then presents some cavalry equipment and a bit of historical ways cavalry were used. Then the horse qualities are presented. This is a nice way to have higher and lower quality steeds and not have every horse be the same. Some are good breeds with bonuses to strength and dexterity while others are in bad shape with penalties. The better the horse the more expensive it is as well. And the horse can have randomly rolled qualities that can also make them a bit better or a little worse.
Clash of Arms Cavalry is a good book for someone looking for a Cavalry base class. It has a nice list of options and class abilities. One can make a better Cavalryman with the class then just a basic fighter but the class does not set itself apart from other cavalry classes that are out there.
