|
Magical cloaks have long been a staple of fantasy literature. From the first time we read of the elven cloaks given to Tolkien?s Fellowship, all the way up to Harry Potter?s Invisibility Cloak, whenever a fantasy character wraps himself in a magical cloak, you just know something cool is about to happen. Magical Cloaks should be mysterious, enigmatic and most of all ? magical! In this respect, The Le Games has definitely delivered with their PDF ?17 Magical Cloaks?.
Part of The Le Games? ?17? line of PDF, this product delivers exactly what the cover advertises. 17 Magical cloaks ? no more, no less. I was pleasantly surprised to see that unlike many other companies, The Le Games has no problem listing every cloak to be found in the PDF right on their website. All seventeen are listed right in the ad copy. The PDF files are all fully bookmarked, and it seems The Le Games commitment to making user-friendly products doesn?t stop there. While many other PDF publishers include two versions of their files ? one for on screen reading, and another formatted for printing ? TLG goes one step further and includes an RTF file that can be easily copied from, edited or manipulated in whatever manner the buyer wishes. As a DM who likes having fully prepared and printed notes for my game, this is a big plus.
All told, there are seven files contained in the ZIP for 17 Magical Cloaks. In addition to the three variations mentioned above, there are a JPG of the cover artwork, a JPG advertising another TLG product, and a ?Shameless Advertisement: PDF for Tyche Games in Athens, GA. The final item is a ?Read Me? text file that explains what each of the other files is. I appreciate the number of files in this bundle.
Opening up the on screen PDF we find that the file begins with a brief two page overview of how to use these cloaks in you game. Including this is very handy. The power level of these cloaks varies wildly! A DM who casually introduces an item like the Cloak of Vampirism is in for a decidedly different experience than he?d get by introducing something like the Cloak of Goo. DM?s should look these cloaks over and get to know their abilities before randomly introducing them as treasure. TLG has made accommodations for this, and clearly encourages DM?s to compare the power of these cloaks to the power level of their game. Of course, should you wish to start adding these cloaks in immediately, a random treasure table is included as well. If your PC?s are the types who enjoy making their own magic items, there?s even a bit of advice for introducing the ?recipes? for these cloaks into an existing game.
That done, the authors dive right into some cloaks. There are some real gems here. The Cloak of Dragon Strike offers a minor AC bonus and some fire protection, but it also transforms into a Medium dragon to fight for its master. The Cloak of Razor Flight would be perfect for any X-Men readers who are fans of Archangel. There are a few oddballs here that will have players and DM?s alike scratching their heads wondering ?What the heck do I do with this thing?? The Cloak of Ugliness makes the wearer hideous and deformed, but it offsets this by allowing them to drain Charisma and use it for themselves. As the owner increases in level he can learn to drain more points, and even other attributes. Another one that left me wondering was the Cloak of Goo. This bizarre little creation can slough off portions of itself to create architecture. Bridges, walls, etc. can all be shaped from the goo shed by this cloak, which then regenerates its lost mass. Very strange ? these items are clearly not for every campaign, but their very quirkiness makes me want to find a way to add them into my game.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The Le Games delivers exactly what it promises in this product, namely 17 Magical Cloaks. The cloaks are extremely varied, and one or more of them should fit into almost any campaign. The files themselves are attractively laid out and easy to use without being overly flashy. The inclusion of an RTF version of the file is a big plus not only for those who want to copy and paste, but also for those who wish to print the data without any images.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I don?t begrudge the advertising files contained in the package, although if I downloaded this file via Dial Up, I might wish the advertisements had not been included, or at least been smaller, especially if I lived outside of Georgia.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
|
Log In 
