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Message: <blockquote data-quote="John Cooper" data-source="post: 2011034" data-attributes="member: 24255">Power Classes V: KnightEdited by Daniel Bishop and Paul Tucker (no author listed)Mongoose Publishing product number MGP 110516 half-sized pages, $2.95The fifth offering in Mongoose's inexpensive booklet series providing new 20-level character classes, the Knight is basically a paladin without the divine powers, but it fits in pretty well with a standard adventuring party, filling the role that a fighter would normally fill.The cover is once again by Nathan Webb and Scott Clark, and it's one of Nathan's better painted works, showing a knight in heavy armor holding a shield and what looks to be a broken lance.  Nathan also provides the interior artwork: only 2 black-and-white pieces this time, no doubt due to space constraints, because Knights not only provides the normal character class stuff but there are also pages of new equipment (armor).  The mounted knight on page 4 is well done (I never was a fan of the gauntlet on the tip of a lance deal, but I've seen it before and can't fault Nathan for employing it here), as is the armored knight on page 11, although you don't usually see such a raggedy-edged chain underskirt used with plate mail and the spurs on the back of the knight's feet seem of different sizes.  All in all, though, this is some of Nathan's finest work to date on these "Power Class" books.The knight itself is pretty well thought-out (I suppose it's probably easier creating a nonmagical character class when you have actual historical data to build upon).  I do question the full freedom of alignment, though, considering that one of the knight's 1st-level abilities (restrictions, really) is "Code of Chivalry."  I don't expect all knights to have to be lawful good (or lawful anything, either, as there could well be evil knights), but at the very least I would have thought "any non-chaotic" would be perhaps a bit more realistic.  Rising through the levels, the knight gains bonus feats, additional riding skills and abilities, and the cool game mechanic of gaining additional "oomph" out of masterwork weapons, whether it be increased damage or the ability (at higher levels) to ignore damage reduction against specific armor types.One thing that really impressed me was the addition of the "Knight Starting Packages," like in the Player's Handbook - this was the first "Power Class" book to do so.  It's a great idea, too, as it makes it easier to whip up a knight PC (or NPC) on the fly.  One slight problem I noted, however, was that the "Gear" listed includes a light warhorse, yet the "Accoutrements" section (on page 5) mentions that knights start out with (among other things) a heavy warhorse.  Which is it?  Given the knight's insistence on only using the best, I'd have to assume that the heavy warhorse was the correct choice.At the end of the character class section there are seven new types of "extra-heavy" armor, which adds even more protection to the wearer but is so heavy it can only be worn for very short periods at a time (during a joust, traditionally).  Very cool concept (again, based on historical knights), nice implementation, but one question remaining: what happens when the knight is knocked off his horse?  I know in historical times many knights couldn't even get onto their horses by themselves (they were hoisted by a crane) and couldn't rise up off the ground if knocked over.  Does this apply here (it seems like it should), and if so are there any special rules to handle such an occurrence?  None are provided, but they would have made the book even better.In any case, I like the new armor, especially the armor "enhancements," embossed armor and etched armor.  I especially like the idea of having a holy symbol embossed or etched onto a suit of armor, although obviously that would be more useful to a cleric or paladin than it would be to a knight.  Which all goes to show you, I suppose, that you can often pick up cool ideas for other character classes even in a book not written for them.Proofreading and editing on Power Classes V: Knights was remarkably good.  Kudos to Daniel Bishop and Paul Tucker (editors) and William James (proofreader).  The biggest oversight I could see was that this book apparently didn't have an author - or at least none is credited anywhere in the book.  (Even the product information on the Mongoose website says it was written by "various.")  Weird.</blockquote>

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