You know, better late to the party than not at all, I say. This issue is already a few weeks old, and a lot of people rushed to review it at that time, so let’s just say I didn’t want to get caught in the wrong end of the signal-to-noise ratio. Let’s assume that I’m actually forward thinking, and in giving this issue a good review at a later date I’m reminding the people that read all those reviews and wanted to read it, but then forgot because something else came up and distracted them, to go back and read it now. And, you know, it’s not like old fashioned magazines that appeared on the newsstand for a month or so and then vanished forever; you can still buy a print copy of most issues of KQ, and get all of them in PDF, probably for as long as they stay in business, which is hopefully going to be a long time. So really, is it really important to be time sensitive in reviewing magazines such as KQ any more, or is it really like reviewing any other sort of game product? A good product is a good product, and I’m contributing to the theoretical “long tail”.
This really is just going to be a series of rambling remarks, so hang on tight!
What I like about this issue: Wolfgang Baur’s editorial on villainy, for a start. Crazy people don’t think they’re crazy, they think they’re right. Nazis thought they were doing the right thing which was crazy, which makes them scary. Except, Wolfgang is far more eloquent than I am here, and makes more points than that.
Adversary abilities: This is a cool idea. If the villain survives an encounter with the player characters, he gains adversary abilities, which make him more competent and harder to foil. The more run-ins the bad guy survives, the tougher he gets. Great idea, well executed. I will be using this.
Cons and swindles for in-game use by gamemasters and players. Again, good stuff. Want to run some Leverage-style capers, here are some tips, with rules. Grifting tools? Excellent! I like it when game magazines and published adventures give me stuff to do other than kill things. I will be using this, especially since I’m running a noir-ish city-based game soon.
Midgard setting stuff… okay… wait, did that say “sentient diseases”? Well, allow me to jot THIS stuff down in my GM’s notebook. BWAHAHAH! Oh, yes, I can do evil things with this.
There’s an interview with Jeff Tidball, which may as well just be a dramatic reading of his resume while those of us who wish we had his career weep openly and try to be good sports and not get all jealous and petty.
Hey, an exclusive Pathfinder Society adventure! Neat! A good way for those of us who wish we had the time to join and participate in the Pathfinder Society to see what the adventures look like. Plus, you know, a Pathfinder adventure to run, or swipe from, or whatever. Appropriately enough, it’s full of kobolds!
Wow, more late to the party… I haven’t read or reviewed Dragon Age yet, and need to get around to it, but there’s some cool-looking stuff here. How to do chase scenes. How to do research scenes. Yes, please! Again, more to do than kill stuff.
15 foods with healthful qualities that do a little something extra with a healing surge… nice idea… wow, orcish pie… interesting ideas. May use this.
New societies and items for 4e monks… skipped it, no offense, I don’t currently play or run 4e and don’t do much with monks, this just hit those cracks and slipped right through.
Monte Cook writing on “The Value of the Monster”. Here’s the money shot for this issue. What makes a monster, and how can you best use them. Printing this article for my GM’s notebook for sure.
Letters column, nothing grabs me… skim, skim… moving on…
Rules for fireworks… good, stuff on accidental ignition and putting out magical fires, but not quite enough about accidentally blowing off a thumb. I want to know how to maim characters, the way characters who use poison can accidentally poison themselves.
The Black Goat, a tavern setting/mini-adventure, yes, yes, too short, more please. I will use this. Fits well in my planned noirish city campaign.
Stunts for Dragon Age… by the previously interviewed Jeff Tidball… skipping this until I read Dragon Age…
Ooh, an article on lackeys, hirelings and henchmen! Forgotten components of old school games with ideas on putting them back in new editions, with costs. Like. Useful ideas for getting the most out of these types of NPCs in any campaign. Double like.
Magical heads of power. More likely to end up in a Call of Cthulhu game of mine than Pathfinder or D&D, but good ideas.
6 plot-friendly alternatives to character death. Always a good topic. Keep the character and add roleplaying bits and plot hooks, that’s for me! Well done.
Book reviews… skipped, sorry.
Seven Secrets of the Seven Cities, for the Zobeck setting. I like Zobeck, I steal liberally from it and incorporate it into my own campaign. Useful and clever stuff.
Okay, this issue is about 90% material useful or interesting to me, 9% stuff that I think other people will find useful or interesting, and 1% filler. That makes it really, really good, considering there were runs of Dragon Magazine that went on for years where I’d be happy to get one really useful article per issue. I continue to enjoy KQ, just as a good read if I don’t get around to using any of the material within. Keep up the lovely work.
Discussion
No comments yet.