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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Morrus" data-source="post: 2008633" data-attributes="member: 1">Gaming Frontiers... not exactly a magazine, not exactly a sourcebook.  I'm not entirely sure what it is.  It's a quarterly periodical of about 140 pages composed of articles from various d20 system publishers.  140 pages is about average in magazine terms (about the same as Dragon).  But the oddest thing is - it costs $17.95.  That's $17.95 for an average-sized magazine which comes out with one-third of the frequency of most other magazines.  Why would anyone want to buy something like that?  Well, let's take a look and figure out whether or not Gaming Frontiers is worth it.What you get: an introduction/editorial, a letters page, some submission guidelines, an interview, 15 or so articles from various publishers, 3 adventures, some cartoons, an art gallery, a reviews page and 3 pieces of fiction. The BadMost of the articles are reasonably solid and well thought out, although I question the utility of some of them.  The articles cover a wide variety of games and gaming styles, so there's certainly something for everyone; it is unlikely that nay given person will find a use for more than, say one-thrd of it, though.   Some of them are merely 'optional rules' or expansions to already published products by various companies and virtually useless on their own; this type of item should be available for free from the publisher.  Yes, WotC do this in Dragon - but they are expanding on a smaller base of products with a much higher likelihood that you will already own them.I question the wisdom of including various items of fiction - including one very long poem.  Although these will appeal to some people, I have learned from experience that those people are very much in the minority.  Perhaps the magazine would have been better served with just a single item of fiction and a couple more crunchy articles.The GoodSome of the articles are genuinely useful, and others which have no relevance to my game are an interesting read.  There's a great section from Goodman Games detailing a couple of classes for Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex, complemented well by another article detailing various dinosaurs.  A couple of Bastion Press' monsters are pretty good. The rules for a luck system are very good - not only do they present 'Karma Points', but they encourages roleplaying by including 'Tass Points' (luck gained from items which have no in game benefit for the character - for example, your cleric carrying round a copy of his holy book).  I may even use this in my game. There's a tavern ('The Falling Star') from Privateer' Press Iron Kingdoms setting which is easily used in your own campaign, along with a whole bunch of colourful NPCs.  Two of the three adventures, although short, are fairly good.  The reviews section is also good.The book itself is very pretty - well laid out, clear, just the right text size and amount of white space.  This is something that many publishers seem to have problems getting the hang of, but it's spot on here. It's a pleasure to read, and very easy on the eye. Overall...So, overall.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.  Better, in fact, than Dragon magazine.  However, it is fairly expensive.  If it were half the price, I'd give this a solid 4; as it is, I'm going to knock it down to a 3.</blockquote>

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