Kobold Quarterly 13 PDF

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Ah, Spring! The time when a GM's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love... and PC-devouring Shoggoths. Issue #13 of Kobold Quarterly is a heart-shaped box of RPG goodies that includes a mix of delicious fluff and satisfying crunch:

  • Sex and Romance in RPGs
  • The Astonishing Ecology of the Shoggoth
  • A New Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Base Class: the Arquebusier of Alkenstar
  • Cultist Classes, Gambler's Magic, and More for 4th Edition
  • A Complete Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Mini-Adventure, plus the Shadow Bloodline
  • New Freeport Backgrounds for the Dragon Age RPG, by Chris Pramas!

All of this plus great features from Wolfgang Baur, Monte Cook, and other regular contributors. Pick up issue #13 and discover the ENnie-Award-winning RPG magazine that's won the hearts of gamers everywhere!

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Guns & Elder Gods, Destinies & Love, Gnomes & Shoggoths-- what's not to love?

5/5

Hellllooooo KQ#13-- let me say, you're all grown up sexy. This starts year four for Kobold Quarterly, and the cover is something gorgeous-- a pair of tastefully shaded dryads in a jade tone, surrounded by usual set of forest suspects. I found the phrase, "the Switzerland of the Edition Wars" especially apt, but I digress. For this review, I'm looking at the PDF issue, not the print.

After a trio of full page ads (which I liked, honestly. It gives the magazine more of an old Dragon feel), we get the Table of Contents. The article selection only gives a hint as to the editions of the material, so folks looking for those easy to identify icons with the titles are going to have to dig deeper into the magazine, because while they are handily at the upper left corner of each piece. Let me save you the math, though:

6 for Pathfinder
5 for 4E
1 for Dragon Age
1 system neutral article on the Zobeck Campaign setting of Open Design
2 Game Design
1 Editorial
1 Interview with Chris Pramas
1 Set of Fiction Book Reviews
A pair of new comics from Stan!

Which gives a fairly equal distribution of material-- though, to be fair, the KQ staff has always said they publish what they're provided. I'm holding out hope for an Ars Magica article.

Regardless of your side on the current detente, there is a truckload of good stuff in here. Two nice maps, a wad of items for 4E or Pathfinder and good advice on romance stories make for some very interesting material.

Although, it's fair to say that this helping might not be for everyone. Those who don't like guns in their sword and sorcery will find the arquebusier article a misfire. Those not looking for a horror tinge to their 4E high fantasy won't need a sanity check for Aeryn Rudel's Lovecraftian Gods. I found the shoggoth ecology great and full of options for foiling the player at your table who memorized everything down to table 14-3, wagon wheel options. In my opinion, though, the gem of the issue is the "Guide to Sex and Romantic Subplots in Fantasy Adventure Gaming." Mario Podeschi is no stranger to KQ, and if this article is any indication, we'll be seeing a lot more. He talks about hooks, shallow PCs and NPCs, episodic appearances, the sticky subject of intercourse even a primer on what to do when the table is divided on the matter of romance and PCs-- everything a GM could ask for when incorporating this aspect into a game.

Overall, I have to say that Kobold Quarterly continues to fulfill its destiny as the spiritual successor of Dragon. The art is great, the production is very professional and the editing is solid. They're also listening to feedback and incorporating what they can-- as evidenced by the article-edition icons. They even allow you to download your PDFs straight from the site if you've somehow misplaced your copy. If you haven't picked up an issue, this is a fantastic place to start.

Disclaimer: This PDF issue was provided for review purposes, though I am a subscriber and occasional contributer to KQ/Open Design.


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I'm curious. Does Kobold quarterly carry info on 3rd etition, 3.5 edition, Pathfinder, and 4 edition? Or does it only talk about one of the above.


Ross Simpson wrote:
I'm curious. Does Kobold quarterly carry info on 3rd etition, 3.5 edition, Pathfinder, and 4 edition? Or does it only talk about one of the above.

3.5, Pathfinder, and 4e.

Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

It depends what the community at large submits to Wolfgang for publication. It's generally, 3.5, Pathfinder, and 4e, and there are plenty of system neutral columns and support articles as well, such as Monte Cook's monthly commentary and a generic, high quality map.

You can get a free download of KQ#10 through Jan. 31, and there is new content added to the KQ homepage just about every day that exemplifies the type of stuff you'll find in the magazine itself.

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16

Reading it now!

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

Darkjoy wrote:
Reading it now!

Damn, forgot to check my mail and nothing in e-mail. Could use this today.

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16

Matthew Morris wrote:
Darkjoy wrote:
Reading it now!
Damn, forgot to check my mail and nothing in e-mail. Could use this today.

If you are a subscriber you can always download it from KQ.

Owner - House of Books and Games LLC

Darkjoy wrote:
Matthew Morris wrote:
Darkjoy wrote:
Reading it now!
Damn, forgot to check my mail and nothing in e-mail. Could use this today.
If you are a subscriber you can always download it from KQ.

Unless you're on auto-renew.

Then you can only download it for the first year - once the auto-renew renews your subscription, you're no longer able to download it from their site, even when it's first published, because their system can't cope with it - as far as it's concerned you're only a subscriber for the first year.

They're very helpful and will send you another copy if you've lost yours (that's what they tell me; I've never needed to do so), but just in case you should make sure to download your issues from the link in the email quickly before the link expires, and you should take extra care of your PDFs if you're on auto-renew.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

Darkjoy wrote:
Matthew Morris wrote:
Darkjoy wrote:
Reading it now!
Damn, forgot to check my mail and nothing in e-mail. Could use this today.
If you are a subscriber you can always download it from KQ.

Not at work I can't :P

Scarab Sages

I normally get an e-mail notice with a link to the download. Haven't got that yet.

Owner - House of Books and Games LLC

Wicht wrote:
I normally get an e-mail notice with a link to the download. Haven't got that yet.

Mine just showed up about 40 minutes ago.

The Exchange

I got an email notice and downloaded mine last night. Another great issue. Still wish the ratio of 4E vs. PF was slanted a bit more in the PF direction but I guess he can only print what he receives.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

And now I get it...

:P

Hopefully when things settle down here I'll work up something to submit for the PF side.

Scarab Sages

I ran to the bank and the store and then came home and it was in my inbox.

So, hurrah for that and a second hurrah for my third published KQ entry, "The Wreck of the Goodwife."

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

This issue marks my Kobold Quarterly magazine debut with my "Gnomish Flying Contraptions" article. Hope everyone enjoys.

Scarab Sages

Ryan. Costello wrote:
This issue marks my Kobold Quarterly magazine debut with my "Gnomish Flying Contraptions" article. Hope everyone enjoys.

Congragulations. I would have liked some Da Vinci style illustrations with it but recognize thats outside your control. :)

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16

I did the Scions of Shadow article.

Owner - House of Books and Games LLC

(feels left out and sits in the corner)

:)

The Exchange Kobold Press

Wicht wrote:
Congragulations. I would have liked some Da Vinci style illustrations with it but recognize thats outside your control. :)

I would have liked some of those illustrations as well, but the layout designer said there was no room. So even outside my control.

I love that the article expands on Pathfinder's Fly skill so neatly. Congrats on the first KQ article, Ryan!

Sovereign Court

How long until the PDF is available? You had me at "gnomish".

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

cappadocius wrote:
How long until the PDF is available? You had me at "gnomish".

The PDF is now available, and the print edition was just delivered to our warehouse, too!

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Wolfgang Baur wrote:
Wicht wrote:
Congragulations. I would have liked some Da Vinci style illustrations with it but recognize thats outside your control. :)

I would have liked some of those illustrations as well, but the layout designer said there was no room. So even outside my control.

I love that the article expands on Pathfinder's Fly skill so neatly. Congrats on the first KQ article, Ryan!

Thanks Wolfgang! Yeah, some art would have been great, but I'm not about to complain.

Sovereign Court

Vic Wertz wrote:
cappadocius wrote:
How long until the PDF is available? You had me at "gnomish".
The PDF is now available, and the print edition was just delivered to our warehouse, too!

Now that's service!


Does it still have the Tengu article I have read anywhere?

The Exchange Kobold Press

No tengu appear in this issue. Entirely possible they could appear in Summer.


Really intrigued by the Arquebusier, but a couple things in the article made me scratch my head.

1. Is Called Shot damage considered precision damage? Its an important distinction of someone is using a scattergun, for example.

2. I didn't think that a ranger's favored enemy was a precision based attack anymore. If it is, they can never use their ability against oozes, which are specifically called out as a favored enemy "type."

3. The separate listings for powder and bullets are a little confusing. The text seems to imply that when you buy a bullet, you buy enough powder to load the weapon and fire it, but then powder is listed separately.

I would have also probably liked to have had specific gun related reload feats instead of saying that crossbow feats work with guns. Its a bit confusing, because there is the crossbow mastery feat in the Pathfinder Campaign setting that would actually allow guns to be reloaded as free action. I just have a hard time wrapping my head around a musket firing four times even for a 20th level character.

I also would have rather stuck with the "standard" firearms from the Pathfinder Campaign setting to cut down on the sheer number of new rules to digest when presenting this class.


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
KnightErrantJR wrote:
I would have also probably liked to have had specific gun related reload feats instead of saying that crossbow feats work with guns.

As would I.

You'll notice that Rapid Reload feat reduces the reload time either from a move action to a free action (for a hand or light crossbow) or from a full-round action to a move action (for a heavy crossbow). However, the article says that all firearms require a standard action to reload...so what action type does Rapid Reload reduce that to?

Also, the article specifically calls out AFTER the class description that arquebusiers gain Exotic Weapon Proficiency (firearms) for free, rather than in the class listing or its table (it's also a bit odd to have an EWP that works for a group of weapons, rather than a single kind of weapon, but I can understand why it was done that way).

The Exchange Kobold Press

KnightErrantJR wrote:
3. The separate listings for powder and bullets are a little confusing. The text seems to imply that when you buy a bullet, you buy enough powder to load the weapon and fire it, but then powder is listed separately.

I'll leave questions 1 and 2 for the author to expand on. For #3, though, I can assure you that playtesters did ask for gunpowder as a separate item from bullets. Because sometimes, you just want a keg of gunpowder.


Yay for new stuff!

Switzerland...ha!

It's fun seeing all the familiar names popping up in this issue. Back to reading.


Ross Simpson wrote:
I'm curious. Does Kobold quarterly carry info on 3rd etition, 3.5 edition, Pathfinder, and 4 edition? Or does it only talk about one of the above.

They print what they're pitched and submitted... there's been a CoC article in a previous issue, there's a Dragon Age article in this issue. I have the feeling that as long as the author didn't step on proprietary toes and the material was written well, you could publish material for any game if you wanted.

-Ben.

Paizo Employee Director of Game Development

Mairkurion {tm} wrote:
It's fun seeing all the familiar names popping up in this issue. Back to reading.

While that's very cool, I'm really digging seeing the new faces.


Actually, in this instance I meant familiar from places other than KQ.
So much for clarity.
:)

Paizo Employee Director of Game Development

Well, in that case...totally!


Wolfgang Baur wrote:
No tengu appear in this issue. Entirely possible they could appear in Summer.

Schade! But thanks for the reply anyway.


Mairkurion {tm} wrote:
Switzerland...ha!

I LOL´d on that one too! Just great tongue-in-cheek humor.

Scarab Sages

Urizen wrote:
Ross Simpson wrote:
I'm curious. Does Kobold quarterly carry info on 3rd etition, 3.5 edition, Pathfinder, and 4 edition? Or does it only talk about one of the above.
3.5, Pathfinder, and 4e.

And that's why I no longer purchase KQ. I have no desire for 4E info.

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

While the 4ed content does not detract me from KQ, I'm curious what's the point of having 4ed player-oriented crunch in the magazine. Since it's not a part of DDI (most importantly, the Character Builder), chances of 4ed players using it a pretty much close to zero.


Aberzombie wrote:
Urizen wrote:
Ross Simpson wrote:
I'm curious. Does Kobold quarterly carry info on 3rd etition, 3.5 edition, Pathfinder, and 4 edition? Or does it only talk about one of the above.
3.5, Pathfinder, and 4e.
And that's why I no longer purchase KQ. I have no desire for 4E info.

Well, at 6 bucks, I can live with a few pages of useless stuff - even Dragon had pieces on non-D&D stuff way back, it was still a useful magazine. But to each his own, I guess.

Stefan

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

I don't mind the 4.x stuff. Heck I buy AU stuff and my AU books sit on my shelf collecting dust (well all my books collect dust right now, but still...)

As to 'why publish 4e'? Well for one people write for it and two, not every home game has to be DDI approved.

I'll likely read this at the hospital tonight.

Liberty's Edge

Aberzombie wrote:
Urizen wrote:
Ross Simpson wrote:
I'm curious. Does Kobold quarterly carry info on 3rd etition, 3.5 edition, Pathfinder, and 4 edition? Or does it only talk about one of the above.
3.5, Pathfinder, and 4e.
And that's why I no longer purchase KQ. I have no desire for 4E info.

I have to echo what others have said ...

While I too hate seeing 4E material in KQ, I understand why it is there. And, as has been pointed out, Dragon had non D&D content as well. Heck, there was a time when Dragon had Marvel Superheroes content! I don't think many people refused to buy Dragon because of it.

Plus, there is plenty of great Pathfinder content in each issue! I just ordered my print issue and can't wait to see the Shadow bloodlines and Shadow wizard school as well as the other Rathfinder content. Honestly, I think a better thing than simply not buying it is this: subscribe to the magazine and then, as a subscriber, express your wish to see more Pathfinder!

I can tell you I have a number of Pathfinder articles under consideration with KQ right now that I'm hoping see print in upcoming issues and I would HATE to know that Pathfinder fans will not see them because they decided not to buy the mag anymore!!!

Scarab Sages

I understand that you all enjoy the Pathfinder content and consider it enough that it overcomes the presence of other material. Personally, I get enough Pathfinder goodness from Paizo itself. If not buying something that contains material I'll never use means I can spend more money on actual Paizo products, then I'm a happy camper.

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

+1 to Aberzombie, KQ would be better off without material for tactical wargames. ;)

Scarab Sages

Some of the PFRPG material (and 3e material) is well worth it. Just to pull one completely semi-random sample out of the air, there was, for instance, an article in the last issue that had the stats for baby froghemoths. Where else are you going to get that? :D

Silver Crusade

Can't wait for my print copy!!!

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16

Marc Radle 81 wrote:
I just ordered my print issue and can't wait to see the Shadow bloodlines and Shadow wizard school.....

Let me know what you thought of it......


Thoughts on the Arquebusier of Alkenstar?

Owner - House of Books and Games LLC

And even though some of it is nominally labeled as 4e, a good chunk of that stuff isn't necessarily *only* 4e.

For example, the Alternate Objectives: Capture the Flag article, while on the surface a 4e article, really didn't have a lot that was 4e-specific ... the concepts could be applied to any of the D&D family.

The Exchange

While I too would prefer more PF specific content I have to agree with others in that many times something written for 4E still gives me ideas for my PF game. Oftentimes its a good creative idea regardless of edition and just takes a bit of tweaking to make usable in PF.

Wolfgang needs to print material for multiple systems in order to appeal to as broad a base of readers as possible. Who knows if there would be enough people buying it if it were purely PF content to cover printing costs and pay checks for content creators.

I'd much rather have a mag with 50% PF content than no mag.


Just wanted to say congrats to Wicht - I love the text for Wreck of the Goodwife. The capsizing of the competition is a lovely touch.

Fun magazine this month. Really enjoying getting through it.

Scarab Sages

JonathanRoberts wrote:

Just wanted to say congrats to Wicht - I love the text for Wreck of the Goodwife. The capsizing of the competition is a lovely touch.

Glad you enjoyed it.

Contributor

Yeah, Jonathan -the article looks great! Everyone should note that thing got pulled together in, what, less than a week? Kudos, my man...

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