[Remarks] Kobold Quarterly #19

We start with another cover that I’d like a poster of. Seriously, with the quality of cover art Open Design should sideline in the poster business.

The editorial talks about a price increase. It’s worth it. The quality of the magazine is a high as any other gaming magazine, ever (yes, I think KQ is the best gaming mag of all time), the utilize the best authors, the best artists, and the page count keeps increasing. If anyone gripes about the future price hike, well, fie on them.

There’s a new Pathfinder class, the White Necromancer. A non-evil necromancer, who studies the link between life and death. A neat idea, but one I’m struggling to get my head around. They heal, the rebuke evil undead… sounds like a cleric so far… but they can create good undead. What does that look like? And they cast necromantic spells without being tagged as evil. I really want to play with this idea some more, perhaps as a healer-function NPC in my Skullport campaign, where a looks evil/actually good character fits right in with the moral ambiguity of the game. Why undead, though? I can’t help but think of the late TV show Pushing Daisies, with temporary resurrection. Maybe even reincarnation, or similar powers. Good undead? There’s a lot of potential here, but it hurts my brain.

Bottled Hubris: New Discoveries for Alchemists gets me fired up because I’m playing a Pathfinder alchemist right now and loving the class. There are things that enhance plants and animals, things that affect metalwork, and of course, more bomb variants. New archetypes include the Calligrapher, who plays about with ink and paper (more NPC possibilities here, for scribes and spies), the Evolutionist, who get an animal companion and gets to go all “Doctor Moreau” and use mutagens on them rather than himself, and specialists who work with plants, metal, or “aliens”. This really increases the versatility of the class, allowing for more ways to make your alchemist PC and my alchemist PC very different.

Magic Shops: What’s in Store again reads my mind by presenting an article on  a topic I’ve been struggling with in my own campaign. Economies of magic are a pain; how much will I get for this (can anyone in this tiny village really afford to buy this artifact the player characters want to sell?), can I buy this specific thing (why has no one else bought or, more to the point, stolen this great magic item from this shop?). It is, as the article puts is, a campaign convenience. There are a few tips on handling the business end, and four sample shops. It’s a good article and it helps, but I think the definitive article/sourcebook on handling buying and selling magic has yet to be written.

There’s a preview of the Dragon Empire Gazetteer for the official Pathfinder setting. We finally get some more Asian influence in the game. There’s an arch-devil from the region, to solidify the feel. It feels more Legend of the Five Rings (the original edition) than Oriental Adventures (the original edition), and that’s a good thing. Further proof that Paizo is in tune with what players want and develop that, rather than foisting ideas on people and seeing what sticks.

Archetypes of Death, subtitled For a More Badass Barbarian, Druid, Monk, or Summoner, gives four new archetypes for those classes suitable for campaign with heavy elements of the undead or necromancy. New class abilities to support these, as well. These characters are intended to be anti-heroes at best, evil at worst, and again, I’m looking at potential villain NPCs here. I’m always looking for “characters”, rather than “monsters”, to drive plots in my games, because I’m more of a sword and sorcery guy than a high fantasy guy. I eat this stuff up.

Courting Adventure has generic information on how royal courts are organized, with plot hooks. Good stuff, but nothing i haven’t seen before. bonus points for using N.C. Wyeth artwork!

Land of Horse and Bow: 6 Midgard Settings for AGE  and Scions of Terror I skipped over. I know, the Midgard stuff I can idea mine for my own campaign, but I still haven’t gotten around to reading Dragon Age or any of the associated material, so I kind of keep pushing anything AGE-related aside for a future binge.

Balance-Free Bonuses is a Monte Cook article on giving fantasy races special abilities that aren’t tied to mechanics so much as narrative. The idea is to make the races more distinct. Elves never get dirty, for example, and half-orcs can eat anything that’s not diseased or poisoned. It also goes into classes — clerics get discounts in areas whether their religion is popular, wizards can make their eyes glow. It’s all special effects. I love this stuff.

There’s an interview with Jason Morningstar, and if you don’t know who that is, you need to read the interview. If you do know who that is, you need to read the interview. I’ve been enjoying the KQ interviews of late. They need to start a talk show. I’m only half joking.

10 Ways to Turn Dull Traps into High Stakes Encounters is another article that gives simple tips that seem obvious, but if it were so them why haven’t I been doing it? I hate traps that are too deadly, too hard to avoid or disarm, and consider them kind of dull. I prefer Old School style traps, where you’re not so much rolling dice and making skill checks as asking questions and having a conversation/negotiation with the gamemaster. This is sort of a happy medium.

The Gordian Knot as an artifact… not so much the historical/mythical knot as a magic item sharing the name and some properties.

Aneela, Human Cleric is a Party of One solo adventure, and I’m really glad KQ is continuing these. A pre-generated character, no GM, grab a d20 and play! I haven’t read it, because I want to carve out an hour or so on a stressful day and play it.

Bark at the Moon introduces some werewolf themes for 4e characters. Powers for good-guy werewolf characters.

There are book reviews, which I enjoy, but this is the only thing that makes me blink in the face of the price increase; is this something that has to be in the magazine, or is this something that could be on the website as both a draw for hits and a possible revenue stream linked to a bookseller associate program?

Order of the Undying Sun is an order of knights and paladins in Zobeck. One page, a little short, a decent article but feels like filler. A weird place to end the issue.

Overall, another excellent, entertaining, and useful issue. Well done!

Buy your issue of KQ 19