Here are my thoughts on the issue.
The formatting is nice, for both screen viewing and print. Text is clear and little space is wasted. Clean, colorful borders that don't interfere. All in all good layout.
On to the articles.
The largest of the articles, and the most rules heavy is the article on crafting magical instruments for bards. Its a welcome addition to the game, as there are numerous references to magical intruments in mythology, and fantasy literature. It also is made in such a way that these items are unique to the bard, and not something just any spellcaster can emulate. It is a well fleshed out system, one that could easily go alongside the original magical items section of the DMG.
Skinshifter. I had the opportunity to see this some time ago when Shawn (may I call you that?) showed it to the Hive. I enjoyed it then, and its nice to see it in a published format. I very much enjoyed the flavor text, which allows a player to take this to many different role playing aspects.
I very much enjoy the Haunted Forest Encounter tables. I'm not even a fan of encounter tables, but I think this one has some merit. I personally would not have arranged it by party level, but instead by time and area. Meaning, at night it gets really scary, and during the day its plain spooky. Certain groves might have terrible creatures, while others are merely odd. Regardless of my personal preferences, the tables are well done, and include some serious challenges.
Jarn the Wanderer is nice. Good to have random flshed out NPCs for parties to abuse then kill...Wait, is that only my group? This is one I think was missing something. I don't know what, exactly, but he did not really appeal to me.
The demagogue is another great PrC. The demagogue is a nice addition to the political campaign, focussing on broad use of skills rather than simply combat oriented abilities. This is a rare thing in d20, and something I wish I could see more of.
II have seen a couple of attempts at creating the traditional skald in 3e terms. This is one of the better. I especially like the evocative names for the class abilities, and the abilities themselves are approriate, and from first glance, balanced. best part is that there is quite a bit of flavor text, both introductory, and brief story to go alongside.
Again, a wonderful PrC. The demagogue is a nice addition to the political campaign, focussing on broad use of skills rather than simply combat oriented abilities. This is a rare thing in d20, and something I wish I could see more of.
Small confusion when I got to the comics. The first panel, with the villain posturing did not immediatly strike me as being part of the next sequence. Also the text in the word bubbles is a little unclear.
The knifer is a little bit more traditional a PrC, but nice in that finally someone besides an elf gets to dance with blades. The intro text gives this PrC enough style to make it interesting, and the abilities are not overcooked.
Living Nights Announcement: can't really review an announcement I should point out that the link is not clickable, which is something small, but maybe something to look into.
Reviews were nice. We have a print book, I normally would not have bought, and now know I probably will not. We also have a pdf doc right in keeping with the theme of the magazine. Reviewing pdfs is a good idea, in that its rare that anyone has a chance to flip through one legally. Also, not every reviewer on the various forums read pdf docs, or review them if they do.
The troubador is an excellent alt bard, not to do what the bard does better, but instead be the ultimate perfomrer, rather than a hodge podge of abilities. Good class.
the map of the bazzar is wonderful. I can't tell you how many times I have needed a list of shops, and could not come up with a thing. Now if only we had shopkeepers names....
Good issue. I think it is a wonderful start. It does seem a bit short, but it will grow.
