Kobold Quarterly #18

The thing about trying to remark on a magazine like Kobold Quarterly is that there’s just so much of it. Looking at the table of contents, there’s 22 articles in here, plus comics. Where to start? Let me begin with the cover, and I’ll hit the highlights and talk about the bits I liked best.

I want a post of this cover. That is all. It will hang above my desk and I will look at it when writing fantasy and preparing Pathfinder adventures.

Something I really like is that KQ and OpenDesign have adopted DragonAge. It’s a good fit. Sticking with just 4e and Pathfinder seemed limiting, but “anything goes” magazines that try to cover everything never work. It stays in the same general high fantasy playground, but adds the right amount of diversity. I know they’ve been doing this for a few issues now, but it’s really gelled here and feels “right”.

My favorite piece this month: There’s a choose-your-own-adventure style adventure. You play a halfling rogue. You don’t just make decisions and go on to the next number, you have to roll a d20 for success or failure of various actions and decisions. More, please. If this were to become a regular feature, I would not complain. If OpenDesign released a book full of these things, I would be very please.

Second favorite bit: “10 Reasons Why Your Characters Should Be in Jail”. Printed and placed in my GM’s notebook for my city-based campaign, thank you. Break your setting’s legal system down to the crimes the player characters are most likely to commit.

The Chatty GM, Philippe-Antoine Menard, has an article in here! “The Heroic Flaw” discusses how in certain types of campaigns, and to certain types of players, being heroic is a drawback. It outlines using that as a Trait in 4e, but the information can easily be adapted. Good insight, which can be used by GMs designing scenarios as well.

“The Exorcists” is a Pathfinder adventure for four 1st level characters. There’s a gold dragon possessed by a demon, which doesn’t sound like 1st-level fare. The hook is that the player characters start out dead, so this is intended either as a starter for a new campaign, or a way to come back from total party kill. As the text explains: “Instead of resurrecting four legendary heroes, the brothers resurrect four guys from accounting.” I really dig that there’s no way the player character can beat the enemy in combat. They have to think their way out of this one. It also introduced moral choices, as they can either search for a way to drive the demon out of the good dragon, or use evil artifacts to kill the dragon and thus eliminate the demon. Brilliant.

“Who Watches the Watch Fires” is a 4e adventure for five 4th level characters. Some mercenaries have taken a watch tower, so that an invasion force can move in. The player characters have to storm the tower, defeat the mercenaries, and light the fire that will warn others of the approaching army. It’s a really cool idea for an adventure, and I will at some point steal the plot.

There’s a ton more, of course, but these are my picks for the best bits. Go. Read. Enjoy.

Buy the Kobold Quarterly 18 PDF