Kobold Quarterly: Issue 1

[TerraDave]

Just got issue 1 of Kobold Quarterly: A tiny little journal of Kobolds and Dragons in my email.

Other subscribers, what do you think?

No reactions from me yet, but I do have the contents:

Editorial:
Small but Fierce

Ecology:
Ecology of the Derro by Wolfgang Baur. The laughing little dwarves are not your friends.

Charts and Graphs:
Underdark Monster Table

Princes of Hell:
Titivillus, the Scribe of Hell by Wolfgang Baur. More evil is wrought with the pen than with the sword.

Dungeon Design:
It’s Not (Always) the Gold by Wolfgang Baur.

Kobold Diplomacy:
An Interview with Erik Mona. A few words from the Paizo archmage.

The Kobold FAQ

Flashing Blades:
The Ups and Downs of Tripping Attacks. by Sigfried Trent

Cartoons:
10’ by 10’ Toon by Stan!
Bolt & Quiver by Stan!

Bestiary:
The Far Darrig by Scott Gable

Free City of Zobeck:
Steam & Sorcery by Wolfgang Baur

 

[Ryltar]

Thus far, I've only browsed the contents, but I like what I've seen . Especially the continuation of the Ecology articles is a very nice touch. Also, the Erik Mona interview is a gem.

My only (minor) gripe so far: I'd very much like to be able to download a high-resolution pdf, in order to print it out if I want to. The graphics and some of the fonts in the low-res version are somewhat blurry and pixelated. Now, I realize, that's much to ask - I guess that it'd be a problem to ensure only subscribers get access to that file.

 

[Glyfair]

Plus, the almost mandatory next issue blurb:

Belphegor, Baron of Hell
by Tim Hitchcock
The arch-devil of laziness and invention offers up his secrets.

Ecology of the Barghest
by Nicolas Logue
Is it a goblin or is it a worg? It’s both and it’s hungry.

Create Better Characters
by Sigfried Trent
How to set up your PC to be the life of the party, and other character-generation
tips and tricks.

Clockwork Magic
What makes Zobeck tick? We reveal a few finely-wrought details of this rare form
of magic.

Plus quite likely articles by Ed Greenwood and Keith Baker — if only they don’t
escape from our the mines! Seriously, if we knew which big-name submissions
would arrive at our ore smelter for the Fall issue, we’d tell you. But it’s a mystery.

 

[Nlogue]

I just read through my copy and it rocks out!!! I love the interview - great insight into a great D&D publishing mind! The Princes of Hell series is shaping up to be an incredible source of brand new iconic evil masterminds to spice up the oldie-but-goodie mix of demon lords and the more well known archdevils...love the scribe!!! The Ecology of the Derro was EXTENSIVE! And awesome! In fact I'm going back and reworking my Eco of the Barghest to include more and different fun stuff based on Wolf's model with his first in the series! Love the flavor text in the beginning of the article especially - crazy crazy derros! So far KQ is a home run, and you simply cannot beat the price. Well done Wolfgang!

Nick

 

[bento]

For those of us who passed on subscribing but would now like to take a look at it, could y'all post a link to Wolfgang's web site?

Thanks!

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

For those of us who passed on subscribing but would now like to take a look at it, could y'all post a link to Wolfgang's web site?

Thanks!

Ditto.

 

[Glyfair]

Of course.

Kobold Quarterly

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a link to buy individual issues yet, just the subscription. I'll check with Wolfgang on his Open Design site.

 

[Erekose13]

Got mine Haven't had time to read it yet, but looks really solid. I'm excited to read the Steam and Sorcery article as I was pushing for the Zobeck open design.

The back issues info in the small print say they will be available at either www.wolfgangbaur.com or paizo.com, but I just checked and they aren't there yet.

 

[RichGreen]

Got mine too! I've only read the excellent Erik Mona interview and the article on tripping so far but the zine looks good and was very reasonably priced. Highly recommended!

Cheers


Richard

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

The back issues info in the small print say they will be available at either www.wolfgangbaur.com or paizo.com, but I just checked and they aren't there yet.

Well, it's only been out about an hour and a half. They don't become back issues until they're, say, three days old...

 

[Shane_Leahy]

Just subscribed, hopefully will get a copy soon.

 

[rowport]

Hiya! I just noticed Wolfgang's brief mention in another thread about the paper subscriptions coming soon-- are those detials listed anywhere? When they are available, will that include back-issues also (I would guess yes, if they are Print on Demand mags)? I am definitely intrigued, but much prefer printed text! Any info is appreciated...

 

[Eridanis]

Woohoo! Something to read on the train ride home this evening!

 

[Erekose13]

Hiya! I just noticed Wolfgang's brief mention in another thread about the paper subscriptions coming soon-- are those detials listed anywhere? When they are available, will that include back-issues also (I would guess yes, if they are Print on Demand mags)? I am definitely intrigued, but much prefer printed text! Any info is appreciated...

Here is the ad copy:

Sure, we love our PDF, but paper copies of Kobold Quarterly are
also available as single issues or by subscription. Our scribes are standing by.

Back Issues
Each single issue is $6 plus shipping. Shipping is $3 for the US, $4 for Canada, and $6 for
Europe. Quantities are extremely limited, and when they are gone, that’s it.
Please send the required amount by PayPal or check and indicate which issue and
format you would like. If you want a single PDF back issue, please do not include shipping.

Paper + PDF Subscription
All subscribers to the paper edition automatically get the PDF version for free. One-year
subscriptions are $36 per year in the US, $40 in Canada, and $56 everywhere else. To
subscribe, send the required amount by PayPal or check to koboldquarterly@gmail.com, and
be sure to include your shipping address.

PDF-only
You save 33% off the cover price by subscribing to the PDF edition: just $16 per year!

 

[Monkey King]

Well, it's only been out about an hour and a half. They don't become back issues until they're, say, three days old...

Yep, there's that, and (despite my best efforts with the lash), my kobold scribes are all worn out from the launch.

You should see single issues for sale on Paizo.com and on wolfgangbaur.com in the next couple days, though.

The paper+PDF subscription pricing is actually in the fine print of the first issue: $36 for US, $40 for Canada, $56 everywhere else. I'll post a subscriptions page on wolfgangbaur.com very soon, probably tomorrow. If you'd like to be sure you get one of the paper copies (and I'm thinking I might have underordered), please simply PayPal it and mention its a paper+PDF sub in the notes field.

Going to collapse in a nice dark mine now.

 

[DiamondB]

I've got mine, but I haven't gotten around to reading it. I'll sit down and devour it this evening.

 

[Eridanis]

Just finished reading it. Excellent first issue - well worth the $4!

The Mona interview is probably my favorite part. It's long, and filled with great stuff like this excerpt below (which also gets me really psyched to purchase XtRCG next month). He's talking about Mordenkainen, but it also gives excellent insight into why Eric is such a well-regarded game designer and all-around cool guy.

As part of my effort to understand Greyhawk and what Gygax was trying to do with it before he was ousted, I read his novels. In Artifact of Evil there’s a section in the mindset of Mordenkainen. Mordenkainen is sitting there thinking about how Iuz is doing this, and the druids of the cabal of Heirophants are doing this, and they’re all racing him for the parts of this evil artifact. He’s thinking “Now why in the world would all of these other powers want to be going after the same thing that I’m going after?” And the chapter ends “Oh, it must be because they are jealous of me.” That basically solidified the picture for me: Mordenkainen is highly manipulative, highly intelligent, and he’s all about hubris. He thinks he understands how the universe works, and the concept of balance, and so he’s going to put his thumb on the scales. That conforms to his personal idea of how the universe works, but would it conform to everybody’s? It wouldn’t. He would be an antagonist more than a protagonist, which is good because the player characters are the protagonists.

 

[rowport]

Yep, there's that, and (despite my best efforts with the lash), my kobold scribes are all worn out from the launch.

You should see single issues for sale on Paizo.com and on wolfgangbaur.com in the next couple days, though.

The paper+PDF subscription pricing is actually in the fine print of the first issue: $36 for US, $40 for Canada, $56 everywhere else. I'll post a subscriptions page on wolfgangbaur.com very soon, probably tomorrow. If you'd like to be sure you get one of the paper copies (and I'm thinking I might have underordered), please simply PayPal it and mention its a paper+PDF sub in the notes field.

Going to collapse in a nice dark mine now.

DONE! Thanks for offering the paper copies, Wolfgang, for us technophobes who prefer to read that way!

 

[Glyfair]

Got mine too! I've only read the excellent Erik Mona interview...

Yes, we get an interesting glimpse at why a certain Greyhawk personality will be important to Expedition to Castle Greyhawk.

 

[Varianor Abroad]

I thought it was great and well worth the subscription price! At first, I opened it up and went, "Huh, nothing on kobolds, just derro." Then I read that article. It was good. Then I read the Princes of Hell. The ink devils are perfect for something down the road that I wanted. I hit the Mona interview and realized that I was looking at a cool, scrappy little mag.