Does anyone here read Kobold Quarterly?

[DoomedPaladin]

http://www.koboldquarterly.com/

It's parent publishing company, Open Design, creates roleplaying adventures and supplements for Pathfinder, 4th Ed D&D, and even Call of Cuthulu. All from the creative talents of it's message board community and proffesional authors like Ed Greenwood, Wolfgang Baur, Bill Collins and others. Projects are proposed and potential contributors purchase levels of Patronage to determine how much input they wish to have in a given project. Everyone has a say in how the book is developed, but Senior Patrons get to write it. I was a Senior Patron in the soon to be released Courts of the Shadow Fey and converted a race that appeared in an issue of Kobold Quarterly to 4th Ed for use in the adventure, it was thrilling!

Anyhow, the current run of projects are nearing completion so NEW projects are being proposed.

Frozen Empires: Glories of the North is a 80-page sourcebook detailing the icy northern realms – their geography, culture and magic. (For Pathfinder RPG)

Streets of Zobeck Adventure Anthology (For Pathfinder RPG) is another 80-page supplement and adventure anthology set in the seedy underbelly of Zobeck, the main city of Wolfgang Baur's future campaign setting.

The Lost City(For 4th Ed) is an sandbox-style adventure set in the classic ruins of a once-great city.

These projects need Patrons so that they can be greenlighted into development (this ensures that there is interest enough in the subject matter to sell the books afterward) and to help create them at all. There is not a single other place on the internet that has the creative ability or mad genius of the Giant in the Playground forums for all things RPG. Which is why I am posting this here, asking for your help, please consider becoming a Patron.

Here's the FAQ about Patronage:

http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/faq

Here are the current projects, their pitches, and what the different levels of Patronage provides to you:

http://www.koboldquarterly.com/KQSto...6feb166aad1411

If you have any questions, please ask here or on the KQ forums.

[DoomedPaladin]

Well according to the counter in the corner of the screen, this post has been viewed 104 times. Since I've not gotten a single reply I REALLY hope at least one of you joined me in one or more of the projects. It truly is a lot of fun.

See? I'm still here. Look at the join date under my Avatar. I've been lurking on these boards for awhile and I really mean what I've posted above. As awesome as the stuff you guys produce here is, it saddens me that it can be gone in the blink of an eye with a thread purge or server crash somewhere, or lost amongst all the other stuff here. Open Design is an opportunity for some of this creativity of yours to reach a broad audience, to be printed, bound, and sought after years from now like some of the classics we remember from when we were newbies.

[AvatarZero]

I read the first issue when it was new, but the random anti-french xenophobia in the second one put me off. That and the assassin base class. Something about having a class feature that, depending on the roll of a d20, either gives you money or kills you "off-screen" made me think "Wow, these people are idiots."

[Nohwl]

i think i have to check out the website just to find that assassin class and see how bad it is.

[Tyndmyr]

I want a link to this assassin class for the lulz.

I browsed it briefly, and saw titles like "Did You Know… Oozes Hate Butter?", saw brilliant deductions like "Trapsmiths don't seize power, they trap it!", and saw entire articles devoted to such endevours as converting brown mold to pathfinder.

For those who don't know...there is no conversion that needs to be done to use brown mold in pathfinder. If you're within 5 feet, you take 3d6 nonlethal cold damage. That's it.

Wow.

[DoomedPaladin]

I read the first issue when it was new, but the random anti-french xenophobia in the second one put me off. That and the assassin base class. Something about having a class feature that, depending on the roll of a d20, either gives you money or kills you "off-screen" made me think "Wow, these people are idiots."

Anti-French xenophobia? I don't know what you mean. As for critiques of the magazine, that WAS issue #2 and we're on #14 now. It's come a long way. For those of you who might be interested, here is what a few others had to say about issue #2:

http://paizo.com/store/magazines/kob.../v5748btpy806x

AvatarZero, you and Tyndmyr and anyone else are more than welcome to submit articles for both the print and online magazine. Be they silly or serious. Butter on oozes or new Totem-themed Barbarian Rage powers. Here's all you need to know about submissions for the magazine:

http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/submit

[LansXero]

It still sounds like a neat concept, though :D

[NowhereMan583]

Just out of curiosity, what systems does this magazine primarily focus on?

(Also, I'm sorry to nitpick, but spelling "professional" wrong really gives the wrong impression.)

[Hurlbut]

Just out of curiosity, what systems does this magazine primarily focus on?

(Also, I'm sorry to nitpick, but spelling "professional" wrong really gives the wrong impression.)

Pathfinder, 4.0

[AvatarZero]

Just out of curiosity, what systems does this magazine primarily focus on?

The cover of issue 13 touts itself as "the switzerland of edition wars" so I'm assuming that they cover Pathfinder and 4e.

Anti-French xenophobia? I don't know what you mean.

Random bit of xenophobia in the title of the Belphegor article for issue #2. Luckily I never throw anything away.

Princes of Hell
8 Belphegor, the Baron of Laziness and Invention
by Tim Connors
Why is Belphegor so very French? All is revealed.

The rest of the magazine doesn't mention France. I can't come up with any way that makes sense, except for pointless xenophobia. "hey look! This guy is lazy and evil, like the french!" (And it's dated xenophobia at that. Freedom Fries was 2003, the mag was released 2007.)

i think i have to check out the website just to find that assassin class and see how bad it is.

Things to not like about the assassin class: It's an EVIL class because it's members kill things for money, unlike all the other base classes who never kill things for money of course. It's basically the Rogue but with fewer skill points, slower sneak attack progression, identical BAB and weapon proficiencies, and more focused class features on a par with skill mastery (so, it's a Rogue with fewer options). The main concept picture is an uncredited screenshot from Assassin's Creed. Worse, the Assassin class wouldn't be very good at fending off multiple armored guards (which is what Altair is doing in the picture), what with the d6 HP, 3/4 BAB, and no special ability to sneak attack aware opponents.

And then there's the Contract class feature. Basically, you make a Gather Info check to go looking for work. The check takes 2d10 days, so this is pretty clearly designed to be something you do with your character off-screen, between sessions. You then roll d20+Class Level against DC 10+enemy CR and see how well your character did. The higher the CR, the more money you get (CR*100gp on success).

Here's the table:

Spoiler

Show

Table 3: Assassination Results
Check Result Outcome
Success by 10+: Target eliminated. Assassin gains +1 reputation for 1d6 months.
Success by 5+: Target eliminated. Assassin gains +1 reputation for 1d4 months.
Success: Target eliminated. Sloppy work.
Failure: Mission failed. Assassin can attempt again, but at a –2 penalty.
Failure by 5+: Mission botched. Assassin injured, reduced to 50% hit points. Assassin’s reputation suffers a –2 penalty for 1d4 months. May not try again against same target until reputation improves.
Failure by 10+: Mission utter failure. Assassin captured and imprisoned. Reputation suffers –4 penalty for 1d6 months. May not try again against same target until reputation improves.
Natural 1: Assassin slain.

Five points of reputation gets you a +1 on intimidate and Gather Info checks to find work, but that's not the issue. Natural 1: Assassin slain. This is design on par with the Item Familiar. Either you never encounter the disadvantage and simply have an advantage over your fellow party members, or you suffer the disadvantage and are totally screwed by it. Not only that, but while 100gp for a CR1 enemy might be worth risking your life, 2000gp for a CR20 enemy is hilariously badly done. Not only that, but no matter how good your Assassin is, he has that 1/20 chance of dying on every job he takes on. Not only THAT, but a level 10 assassin has a 1/20 chance of killing a level 20 target, who is (one would hope) someone important within the setting, off-screen with a single roll.

Of course, a good DM can come up with a workaround for bad rules. My workaround would probably be "just play a damn Rogue".

[Fhaolan]

{Scrubbed}

[AvatarZero]

{scrubbed}

[Fhaolan]

{Scrubbed}

[AvatarZero]

Just because I live in the States currently doesn't mean I'm *from* here. I'm from Barrow-in-Furness, and spent many of my 42 years in England (and France for that matter) so don't hand me attitude about 'my own country'. It's my own country too. It's just as petty and immature to get all upset over the fact that many English and French people disparage each other and have been doing so for a very long time.

Point taken. Sorry to cause offense.

Edit: Whoopsie. Typed the wrong age, sorry about that. Was going too fast and not paying enough attention.

I know the feeling.

[Fhaolan]

Point taken. Sorry to cause offense.

Sorry myself. It's fiscal year-end where I work; my nerves are shot, and I'm getting snarky about silly things. I need to go spend some time beating up orcs or something, but my regular gaming group members are all away being background extras on films that I couldn't do because I couldn't get time off.... *grrr* there I go again.

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff: Please drag this off of real world politics and keep it civil.

[Matthew]

I read issue #11, which I thought was pretty good. Being a D20/3e/4e publication it is a bit outside of my interest, but not bad by any stretch of the imagination.

[The Tygre]

Subscriber since #3. I highly, highly, recommend KQ. Heck, I look forward to it more than a new Pathfinder every month. If nothing else, it feels good to be able to hold a magazine again. I need to get my paws on Sunken Kingdoms, and I'm looking forward to the Red Eye of Azathoth. Really, I can't say this enough; this is a great little magazine with material for everyone. Try an issue or two for yourself, see if you like it.

[DoomedPaladin]

I read issue #11, which I thought was pretty good. Being a D20/3e/4e publication it is a bit outside of my interest, but not bad by any stretch of the imagination.

Kobold Quarterly is only limited in scope by it's contributers. If you would like to see articles in a different vein, then by all means, suggest it. Pitch a submission to Wolfgang. It might not be included in the print magazine, but there's always the online one. Get a group of your friends together that are interested in the same thing and send in some submissions. Provided they're good, some may be published leading others interested in the subject matter to lend their support and ideas. So you'll see more and more of what you like.

It's all about the four "C's" Community, Communication, Compassion, and Cooperation. Provided you have all four, any project you have will be great. Thats what GitP has, that's what the KQ people have.

Subscriber since #3. I highly, highly, recommend KQ. Heck, I look forward to it more than a new Pathfinder every month. If nothing else, it feels good to be able to hold a magazine again. I need to get my paws on Sunken Kingdoms, and I'm looking forward to the Red Eye of Azathoth. Really, I can't say this enough; this is a great little magazine with material for everyone. Try an issue or two for yourself, see if you like it.

Thanks for your support! I just got my copy of Sunken Kingdoms in the mail yesterday. I can hardly wait to read it.

Random bit of xenophobia in the title of the Belphegor article for issue #2. Luckily I never throw anything away.


The rest of the magazine doesn't mention France. I can't come up with any way that makes sense, except for pointless xenophobia. "hey look! This guy is lazy and evil, like the french!" (And it's dated xenophobia at that. Freedom Fries was 2003, the mag was released 2007.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belphegor

Third paragraph, second line.

I believe a it's reasonable assumption to make that maybe the line in the article was simply a poorly worded and misplaced referance to the demon's real-life history.

Of course, a good DM can come up with a workaround for bad rules. My workaround would probably be "just play a damn Rogue".

So there you are, if you don't like it, ignore it. If you want a better version, redo it. If you'd like to share we'd love to see it. If you'd like the world to see it, submit it. Try to focus on the good. All of your critiques are valid and that's why I'd like to see you and others like you become Patrons. Quality control is just as necessary as creative development and we can put both to good use.

[Matthew]

Kobold Quarterly is only limited in scope by it's contributers. If you would like to see articles in a different vein, then by all means, suggest it. Pitch a submission to Wolfgang. It might not be included in the print magazine, but there's always the online one. Get a group of your friends together that are interested in the same thing and send in some submissions. Provided they're good, some may be published leading others interested in the subject matter to lend their support and ideas. So you'll see more and more of what you like.

It's all about the four "C's" Community, Communication, Compassion, and Cooperation. Provided you have all four, any project you have will be great. That's what GitP has, that's what the KQ people have.

Well, it is also limited by its audience and the expectations it has as to content, but that is not too important, in that I am not looking to write for Kobold Quarterly, but read the ideas of others on subjects I am interested in. That said, I do take your point that the magazine is not expressly limited to D20/3e/4e, but it certainly would be disingenuous to suggest that it is not geared towards those editions and that material for them is what you can expect.

[HunterOfJello]

This thread is just a thinly veiled advertisement for recruiting donations for a commercial, for-profit organization isn't it?

[The Tygre]

This thread is just a thinly veiled advertisement for recruiting donations for a commercial, for-profit organization isn't it?

I have no idea what you're talking about, potential customer.

[AvatarZero]

I've spent a certain amount of time slamming the thing, so I'm not sure it's a very good ad. Of course, since two posters have already announced plans to read it to see how bad it is, I guess "there's no such thing as bad publicity".

[The Tygre]

Yeah, but you're judging it off the first two issues. The quality and scope have improved, good ser. Would it really be so damning to take a look at the latest stuff, at the very least?

[DoomedPaladin]

That said, I do take your point that the magazine is not expressly limited to D20/3e/4e, but it certainly would be disingenuous to suggest that it is not geared towards those editions and that material for them is what you can expect.

It is certainly not my intention to mislead people.

If anyone is on the fence about whether or not to pick up the magazine or join a project because of what system the content is geared towards, let me make it clear. This magazine was created to fill a void created in many gamer's lives by the absense of the Dragon and Dungeon print magazines. As such, it produces much of it's material for the game system those magazines focused on, as well as the new/updated versions of that system. As I've said above however, Kobold Quarterly does not limit itself only to that system or it's variations.

This thread is just a thinly veiled advertisement for recruiting donations for a commercial, for-profit organization isn't it?

While this thread IS about recruitment, it is NOT about donations or sales. Though both would no doubt be appreciated. This is entirely my attempt to bring two communities that I love together in the hopes that magic will happen. I'm NOT an employee of Open Design. I'm just a guy who bought a Patronage for a book idea that I thought sounded cool and had a hell of a good time working on it. So as far as this thread is concerned, it's just me trying to share the love and get people to give it a go for themselves.