From the Candelkeep series comes the fantastic, episodic work of Candlekeep Mysteries. This short cavalcade of short adventures include much more than simple stories for any player to take on. No, they also include new traps, weapons, and most importantly, magical items. A pair of items include the Gloves of Soul Catching, a wondrous item worthy of much note and fame. Should you look for them (or include them) in your campaign? Our Gloves of Soul Catching guide will show you!
Gloves of Soul Catching 5E
The gloves do two things. First of all, they increase your Constitution score to 20 if it wasn’t already there. Nice and simple. Much more interestingly are the results of the attack rolls. These gloves can grant your unarmed strikes lifesteal (dealing a bit of Force Damage and healing that amount). Alternatively, they can give you advantage on a d20 check, provided that you landed a successful unarmed strike.
Worth the Slot?
First of all, if you want your Monk to have a good time, I would highly suggest asking your DM if these items can exist in any campaign. These are really cool magical items for unarmed builds, and can vastly improve damage potential in the late game. Unlike most items like this, they also have utility, since the advantage ability could theoretically work outside of combat… If you’re creative.
Are there any items that affect Constitution like this, but better? Well, the Amulet of Health only adjusts Constitution to 19, so that’s out of the picture. The Belt of Dwarvenkind can boost Constitution to 20, but only increases it by 2, so… Kind of not worthwhile, unless you really want that Darkvision!
All of the other gloves in the game are pure, unadulterated utility. Gloves of Missile Snaring are useless for Monks, though they might be worth considering for Unarmed builds that don’t have Deflect Missile. Gloves of Swimming and Climbing are fun, especially if your magic user doesn’t want to dedicate the time to give you those modes of travel. Living Gloves are a curse, which isn’t exactly amazing, but they do give Expertise in a specific skill or tool. That might be better on a non-Monk class.
In conclusion, if you want your Monk’s damage and survivability to improve in the late game, these gloves are really good. Being able to hit for an extra 2d10, and heal that much, is astounding. Whether or not these gloves can proc more than once per turn is up to the DM; even if they don’t proc more than once, that extra damage is just way too nice. Considering how relatively few magical items exist to help the Monk’s fists later on, it’s nice to see WotC and their partner studios helping them along.
Wrapping Up
Try to look for these stylish gloves for your next Monk or even Unarmed Fighter! They are very much worth your time once you reach that Legendary tier of magical item.
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