Title: Kobold Quarterly: Your new Dragon
Tags: KQ DnD
Blog Entry: Oh Dragon, we lament your loss... But wait, did you know about Kobold Quarterly? Yes, there is a print magazine that still feeds your need for D&D material, and does it with style. <A href="http://www.koboldquarterly.com">KQ</A> just celebrated a first birthday and the issue gorgeously demonstrates that somethings get better with time. The cover art is quite pretty-- see if you can spot the easter egg hiding in the horde-- and the material inside has something for everyone. The topics include devil princesses, the ecology of the homonculus, giant monsters, tips on optimizing your monk and better using your action points, a pile of magical instruments, an article on improving your improvisation, new vermin, Skip Williams' rules column, book reviews, and an interview with the designers of 4E. The magazine itself is perfect bound, a big step up from the initial staple-bound issues, and there's something to be said for having a physical magazine to read wherever the fancy strikes me. Weighing in at 68 to 70-some pages, it's not quite at the same pagecount as Dragon yet, but KQ seems to grow with each issue, so that's promising. The articles are written by professionals, like Nicholas Logue of Pathfinder fame or editor Wolfgang Baur (he once edited a magazine known as _Dungeon_, maybe you read it?), and newcomers like Joshua Stevens-- though this is his second contribution after the article on the Gangs of Zobeck in KQ#4. Baur keeps the styles even and the material pertinent. There is an even balance between articles for the gamemaster and the player, but probably a little more for the GM. The art is solid and this is definitely no amateur effort. In particular, I've enjoyed the continuation of the ecology articles, having seen the Barghest, Cloaker, Derro, Homonculus, and Lich so far. The series on Princes of Hell does a good job of providing more epic powered foes and archvillians for a campaign that wants to play in the upper levels. Baur has written about new sorts of magic, new magic items, and new monsters-- he's filling a gap created with Dragon's disappearance and exacerbated by uncertainty 4E's launch has put in to the industry. KQ is giving you that shot of new material, and really, the downside right now is that he's only doing it on a quarterly basis. This is worth checking out. According to Wolfgang, KQ is being stocked by Alliance, so your FLGS should be able to order a copy-- I know I've seen one at my local shop, but I get mine in the mail, and it shows up in good shape. Yes, kobold's are scrappy, tough little mongrels, but even they need to eat. Feed the Kobold Overlord and pick up an issue. I can confidently say that I don't think you'll be disappointed. -Ben.
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