CAMPAIGN MAGAZINE: Thumbs up!

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

I just stumbled across issue #2 of Campaign Magazine (now published by Fast Forward Entertainment) lying on the floor of my local game store. Having heard of it online last year, I recognized it as being a d20 product and picked it up to take a look. #2 is billed as "The Scary Issue." It has two horror adventures (one Lovecraftian modern, one vampire fantasy), a bunch of monsters, fear effects, two PrCs, how to maximize your Power Attack at any level, and d20 reviews. All for $4.99.

The Cult Leader PrC was the main reason I bought the magazine; it fills a niche for the "Thulsa Dooms" of the world, LOL, granting increased followers, secret cabals, and forbidden knowledge at the expense of cutting clerical spellcasting progression in half. An interesting PrC; tips on using it in non-magic/non-fantasy versions are also given, which is a nice bonus.

The reviews were of old products (Sword & Fist, Defenders of the Faith, etc.), and that is really my only complaint with issue #2. I would drop the reviews from #3 if they can't be timely (which I doubt they can).

Anyway, for $5, Campaign Mag is a good value even if you get it for just a few crunchy bits, like I did. Campaign is a much better value than Gaming Frontiers and provides essentially the same content (d20 crunchy bits and adventures) for a fraction of the price.

Now that FFE has taken over publishing duties, they promise to put the mag out on a bimonthly basis. I'm looking forward to #3.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I have issue 1, but I've never seen 2 anywhere. Issue 1, however, was a very good value. Lots of nice crunchy bits, an interesting interview with Ryan Dancey, and a very interesting editorial by John Wick.

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

I don't think it's catching on... My game store only got 1 copy of #2 (as an experiment) and it ended up on the floor getting kicked around by Magic Card kiddies doing Cartman impressions.... I rescued it and thought it cool enough to fork over $5 for. I'm telling my game store owner to stock it in the future---at least to get 1 copy for me, anyway.

 

[Ranger REG]

How'd you like the "By The Number" column? I know that #2 featured Power Attack and how it can be used effectively. It comes with a handy chart and guidelines.

I have to confessed. If it wasn't for #2, I would not have picked up a d20 core rules product in softcover format, but I did bought Fading Sun d20.

Granted, the products they reviewed are old but it is good to review them all, for good or ill. Maybe they'll catch with the most recent release.

I hope they'll be distributed through mainstream bookstore chain (like Borders, Barnes & Noble, Waldenbook, etc.) alongside Dragon and Dungeon.

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

I bought Fading Suns d20 after reading about it here on EN (forum posts and reviews). The Fading Suns d20 article wasn't a review, it was a full-blown preview.

I liked the By the Numbers column, but everytime I tried to use Power Attack with it, the chart told me "don't do it." LOL, high AC foes and power attack don't mix, I guess.

I hope it catches on as well and sees wider distribution. It makes a nice companion piece to Dragon and Dungeon, especially as it offers non-WoTC insights into the game. Not bashing WoTC there, just think it's good to get some alternative ideas from "the little guys."

 

[GF Jeff]

Kaptain Kantrip said:

Campaign is a much better value than Gaming Frontiers and provides essentially the same content (d20 crunchy bits and adventures) for a fraction of the price.

I like Campaign Magazine, but I'm not sure what you mean by better "value". It's a fraction of the price because it's a fraction of the size, and it's in black and white, and GF barely has any advertising (Volume 2, at 160 pages, contained only 4 pages of ads). GF also provides "d20 crunchy bits and adventures" directly from established d20 publishers. Campaign Magazine is great at what it does, but our publishing strategies are entirely different, so a direct comparison isn't quite appropriate. Gaming Frontiers is $17.95 for a reason - take those reasons away and you're left with Campaign, or Dragon, and that isn't our goal.

Just a little confused,

Jeffrey S. Carter
Freelancer-At-Large
Assistant Editor, Gaming Frontiers
www.gamingfrontiers.com

 

[Ranger REG]

Is GF a monthly, bimonthly or quarterly magazine?

Admittedly, I have not bought the new GF magazine (but I did acquire the free copy of its smaller first issue), and that's because of the price. In fact, I would never spent more than $8 on a magazine issue. This coming from a guy who spent $8 on the monthly Star Trek: The Magazine because of its great visual arts (some are two-page posters with diagram and schematics) and technical briefing information.

What is the incentive of buying GF? If say you want to include a complete d20 game a la Polyhedron (but with more pages devoted to the game per issue, at least more than 64 pages) then that would be nice.

 

[trancejeremy]

If you want to make GF seem less of a magazine and more of a multi-topic sourcebook, lose the fluff - the reviews, the interviews, the cartoons, and fiction.

Otherwise, it's just going to be an extremely expensive magazine.

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

Clarification of my comparison...

Uh-oh! I don't want to get into that "GF bashing" mode again!
Hopefully, I can clarify my comparison without things degenerating, which is not my intent, and I apologize for any hard feelings that may be lingering from that previous GF thread I started awhile back...

I have only seen the second issue of both magazines.

I bought Campaign #2 because:
1) It offers some cool d20 crunchy bits and adventures
2) It is only $4.95 + tax, which means it's worth it even if I only use a few things from it
3) The issue was themed (all horror), drastically increasing the usefulness of the material (as well as having it all in one place)

I didn't buy GF #2 because:
1) It is $17.95 + tax
2) It has a couple cool crunchy bits but not enough to make up for the high cover price
3) It is not themed and covers many different games and companies I have little to no interest in

BREAKDOWN:
GF is beautiful; nice paper, full color, exclusive content, and has more pages and no ads, which is great, but my problem with GF is it is not giving me enough useful material for the cost.

Campaign is B&W on cheap paper with more ads (I wouldn't call their number excessive by any stretch), not all exclusive content and less pages (96), but Campaign gives me better value by providing the equivalent amount of cool crunchy bits for a fraction of GF's price. It also comes out 6 times a year instead of GF's four. I can also get four issues of Campaign for the cost of one issue of GF (after tax).

Anyway, here's the thing: What I want in a d20 magazine (or resource, or supplement or whatever you want to call GF) is not what GF provides: I don't care about full color, glossy paper or few ads (I actually like ads so I am aware of new products in the pipeline). All I want are some good crunchy bits and maybe an adventure I can use with minimal tweaking. In short, I'm buying d20 magazines (including Dragon) for the text content, not the bells and whistles.

If GF included a complete d20 minigame like Polyhedron, then that would go a LONG way towards increasing its value at the current cover price.

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

bump