GamingFrontiersRob
First Post
Aside from anyone who attended GAMA I may be the first to get a copy. Mine were shipped to me straight from the printer since we were offering the Journal in our subscription promotion.
Now, honestly, I haven't read a word of a single article but just from looking at the layout and the article titles I must say excellent job Russell (and Joseph and whoever else had their hands in it).
I know you guys are all dying to hear what's in there and hopefully I'm giving you a first peek. I'll just give you a straight rundown without (many) personal opinions:
Layout is NICE. Good font size (not so big that it feels like it's "filling up space" not too small to read). The border contains tabs that scroll down the page as you get into the next article. This makes finding articles very easy. Absolutely no white space whatsoever. Russell jammed this as much as he could. In fact he does something we wouldn't do: start an article on the same page as another ends. Page 49, Two of Blades begins on the right column as The adventurer's Guide to Surviving Anything ends on the left. Normally this would be a complaint about that sort of thing (I feel articles tend to get 'lost' or 'missed' with this kind of layout) but the border tabs let you know there's a new article. The first time glancing through I missed the start of the new article but then noticed the new tabulation and turned back a page and behold!
Art is solid with a couple of stand-out pieces. There is only one article where I feel the art is not up to print quality and only one of those pieces at that.
64 pages with a total of 6 pages of ads [one for GF subscriptions is in there
]
3 quarter page cartoons by V. Shane. Good for a chuckle.
Articles:
Freelancer stuff:
Drinking Rules (new feat - hard drinking - YEAH)
Disgusting little buggers - annoying low-level monsters with art by GF's newest buddy Fil Kearney. Fil has some stuff in GF4 and GF5 and our Monster PDF which will be out by the end of the month.Kezmarin - a monster from Andy Hopp's wanderersguild.com
Ambience Events - Gives you the sights, smells, sounds and tastes (?) of a dungeon
No Wood? No Metal? No Problem! - alternate materials for armor and weapons - Seaweed anyone?
Extended Alchemy - expanding on the alchemy skill
The Adventurer's Guide to Survivng Anything - player help for unusual situations
Two of Blades - Gypsy prestige classes
The Trader's Den - a drop-in used goods shop
Publisher stuff:
Green Ronin Publishing - Freeport adventure
Goodman Games - Cave elves for Bronco Rex
Bastion Press - Skyships and Airmen - I think this is an excerpt from Airships
Mystic Eye Games - Targ Ak'ala Beng - a goblin fortress near Bluffside with a cool map by Ed Bourelle/SkeletonKey Games (credits weren't printed with this article but I know his work - plus he signed it - he he)
Assuming that the quality of the content of the articles stands up I would say this is well worth the $5. With the publisher content in there along with the freelancer stuff the mag is so much like what you get from Gaming Frontiers how can I not like it? Very good job guys and keep up the good work!!
Robert J. Williams, President
United Playtest, Inc.
Now, honestly, I haven't read a word of a single article but just from looking at the layout and the article titles I must say excellent job Russell (and Joseph and whoever else had their hands in it).
I know you guys are all dying to hear what's in there and hopefully I'm giving you a first peek. I'll just give you a straight rundown without (many) personal opinions:
Layout is NICE. Good font size (not so big that it feels like it's "filling up space" not too small to read). The border contains tabs that scroll down the page as you get into the next article. This makes finding articles very easy. Absolutely no white space whatsoever. Russell jammed this as much as he could. In fact he does something we wouldn't do: start an article on the same page as another ends. Page 49, Two of Blades begins on the right column as The adventurer's Guide to Surviving Anything ends on the left. Normally this would be a complaint about that sort of thing (I feel articles tend to get 'lost' or 'missed' with this kind of layout) but the border tabs let you know there's a new article. The first time glancing through I missed the start of the new article but then noticed the new tabulation and turned back a page and behold!
Art is solid with a couple of stand-out pieces. There is only one article where I feel the art is not up to print quality and only one of those pieces at that.
64 pages with a total of 6 pages of ads [one for GF subscriptions is in there
]3 quarter page cartoons by V. Shane. Good for a chuckle.
Articles:
Freelancer stuff:
Drinking Rules (new feat - hard drinking - YEAH)
Disgusting little buggers - annoying low-level monsters with art by GF's newest buddy Fil Kearney. Fil has some stuff in GF4 and GF5 and our Monster PDF which will be out by the end of the month.Kezmarin - a monster from Andy Hopp's wanderersguild.com
Ambience Events - Gives you the sights, smells, sounds and tastes (?) of a dungeon
No Wood? No Metal? No Problem! - alternate materials for armor and weapons - Seaweed anyone?
Extended Alchemy - expanding on the alchemy skill
The Adventurer's Guide to Survivng Anything - player help for unusual situations
Two of Blades - Gypsy prestige classes
The Trader's Den - a drop-in used goods shop
Publisher stuff:
Green Ronin Publishing - Freeport adventure
Goodman Games - Cave elves for Bronco Rex
Bastion Press - Skyships and Airmen - I think this is an excerpt from Airships
Mystic Eye Games - Targ Ak'ala Beng - a goblin fortress near Bluffside with a cool map by Ed Bourelle/SkeletonKey Games (credits weren't printed with this article but I know his work - plus he signed it - he he)
Assuming that the quality of the content of the articles stands up I would say this is well worth the $5. With the publisher content in there along with the freelancer stuff the mag is so much like what you get from Gaming Frontiers how can I not like it? Very good job guys and keep up the good work!!
Robert J. Williams, President
United Playtest, Inc.
