D&D General How would your perfect D&D magazine look like?

[M_Natas]

I was looking trough older dungeon Magazinen and was a little sad, that there is no real 5e Magazine (that I know off) today, that you can buy (Except the UK one which seems is only useful to get cheap dice and maybe for total beginners).

So if you could wish a new 5e Magazine into existence, how would it look like?

Mine would have a lot content:

• at least one small adventure
• a solo/cyoa adventure
• a short story
• an essay with advice for dungeon Master's
• an essay with advice for players
• player options
• rules options
• magic items
• interviews with content creators
• an advice column

I created a mockup of what my perfect Magazine could look like (contentwise, the design is very rough):

 

[DEFCON 1]

It'd be on a website.

 

[Corinnguard]

An e-zine similar to Level Up's Gate Pass Gazette could work for you. Each issue of the GPG contains about 4 articles that cover some of the content you mentioned. And then when you come up with a year's worth of your e-zine, you could Kickstart an annual that you could have as a PDF and/or as a physical copy.

 

[aco175]

I like the idea of a solo adventure. I think there is a larger need for that today, and it can be expanded easily enough. I would like useful campaign building articles such as NPCs in your town or prices for stocking your wizard tower. New monsters, spells, and magic were always a hit in the old magazines. Traps and puzzles never get enough attention. I know some hate them, but having a good sample of a few would help.

I would even pay more than the $.99

 

[dave2008]

There are options now: No More Dragon Magazine: The Next Best Thing!

 

[M_Natas]

There are options now: No More Dragon Magazine: The Next Best Thing!

Oh wow, thank you, for some reason I couldn't find that.

 

[MNblockhead]

Since you are referencing Dragon Magazine and posted this in the D&D General Thread, I'm focusing on a D&D-specific zine and not a more general TTRPG zine.

I actually liked Dragon+ but wished it was a bit more meaty. For me I would want:

1. Integrated with D&D Beyond.
2. A decent phone / tablet app (which for me would be integration in the DDB app)
3. History and lore articles, including republishing old articles with commentary.
4. New setting and lore material.
5. Short adventures (ideally DDB support)
6. Set piece encounters (with DDB support)
7. Great cover art
8. Designer and artist notes and interviews
9. Updates on recent and upcoming events, pod casts, live streams, conventions, etc.
10. Contests.
11. A good ongoing cartoon
12. Publish articles written by non-WotC staff and pay them for it. There are so many creative ideas in the old Dragon Magazines that were submitted by non-TSR staff.

 

[M_Natas]

Since you are referencing Dragon Magazine and posted this in the D&D General Thread, I'm focusing on a D&D-specific zine and not a more general TTRPG zine.

I actually liked Dragon+ but wished it was a bit more meaty. For me I would want:

1. Integrated with D&D Beyond.
2. A decent phone / tablet app (which for me would be integration in the DDB app)
3. History and lore articles, including republishing old articles with commentary.
4. New setting and lore material.
5. Short adventures (ideally DDB support)
6. Set piece encounters (with DDB support)
7. Great cover art
8. Designer and artist notes and interviews
9. Updates on recent and upcoming events, pod casts, live streams, conventions, etc.
10. Contests.
11. A good ongoing cartoon
12. Publish articles written by non-WotC staff and pay them for it. There are so many creative ideas in the old Dragon Magazines that were submitted by non-TSR staff.

I liked dragon+, too but before it was canceled it devolved into an advertisement magazine, which was a pity.

But the rest are great ideas, too.

I'm partial on the D&D Beyond integration, because ... I don't like monopolies, but at the moment such a magazine probably would have the best chances of success if it were on D&D Beyond.
And it would be for me an incentive to buy it on D&D Beyond (I usually buy only the physical books and only bought kn D&D Beyond exclusive).

The republishing of old articles would be nice and contests, especially with D&D Beyond integration, quite a nice idea.

 

[MNblockhead]

I liked dragon+, too but before it was canceled it devolved into an advertisement magazine, which was a pity.

But the rest are great ideas, too.

I'm partial on the D&D Beyond integration, because ... I don't like monopolies, but at the moment such a magazine probably would have the best chances of success if it were on D&D Beyond.
And it would be for me an incentive to buy it on D&D Beyond (I usually buy only the physical books and only bought kn D&D Beyond exclusive).

The republishing of old articles would be nice and contests, especially with D&D Beyond integration, quite a nice idea.

Yeah, I focused on DDB because it was a DnD-specific thread. Though, I suppose the OP is not limiting the ideal mag to be an official WotC zine.

If NOT an official WotC zine, what I would most want would be a major VTT company to have a zine, with each short adventure or encounter or new monster, etc. having fully prepped VTT assets. But I think it would be difficult to get the same quality of artwork and interviews, especially from WotC staff, if it was not a WotC publication.

For gaming specific material, whether published in a zine or individual materials on publisher websites and Drive Thru RPG, I'm just tired of PDFs. Since I started running my games online, a PDF just represents more work I have to do. So the game crunch is the least interesting part of a DnD zine to me, unless tied to DDB or a VTT.

 

[AnotherGuy]

There is so much content out right now, including magazines.
It is overwhelming (for me at least).
I cannot even manage the thread explosion on here.