Kobold Quarterly #22 - a mini-review

Up front, let me say I am a Pathfinder player, and a fan of Kobold Quarterly magazine, so I am inclined to be positive about KQ right off the bat.  That said, issue #22 (Summer 2012) is – in my opinion – a solid, workman-like issue but lacks any real stand out features this time around.

The write up of Barbatos, Archdevil of the Avernus, is good and creepy – creepier than any other game product I’ve read lately – and presents an interesting bad guy deity for your game, however to me it really never gives any nuts-n-bolts details to hang an adventure on.  Perhaps I’m being lazy, but something along the lines of “10 evil plots for evil cultists of Barbatos” would have been nice.  My other complaint for this article is that I really do not see a devil that wants to break down the laws of civilization, and tempt mortals to violate morals and taboos, as a Lawful being.

The issue also has an article on Dragonkin for 4E, a new Rogue archetype for Pathfinder, some converted monsters for Castles and Crusades, Firearms for Dragon AGE, some new spells, some new magic rings, an encounter area, a guide to part of Golarion, and some editorial features.

Most interesting to me was an article on the Escalation Die mechanic from the upcoming 13^th Age RPG, an essay from Monte Cook on why PCs are more interesting when they are created thru play instead of created at a target level (i.e. a character you have played from 1^st to 5^th level is more varied and quirky than one you generate at 5^th level), and an article on how NPCs will react to being interrogated.

In sum, a good issue, worth the price, but not a great issue.