is gaming in your blood?

2 Kobold Quarterly 8

There’s no hiding your true nature.

Or denying yourself a four-day (and yes, night) feeding frenzy of TCG,

RPG, electronic and board games. Gen Con Indy offers every

heart-pounding thrill you crave. Even a once-in-a-lifetime (however long!) opportunity to bid on exclusive treasures

from D&D legend Gary Gygax’s personal collection.*

Ready to Bite? Pre-register before June 19th

and save some bones.

*A portion of the proceeds to go to The Gygax Memorial Fund.

AUGUST 5-8, 2010 INDIANAPOLIS, IN

www.gencon.com

*A portion of the proceeds to go to The Gygax Memorial Fund.Gen Con, the Gen Con logo, and The Best Four Days in Gaming! are trademarks of Gen Con LLC.

All rights reserved. Used under authorization.

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ADVANCED GM TECHNIQUES, WORLD BUILDING TIPS

TOns of Npc stats & charts

PAIZO.COM/PATHFINDERPaizo Publishing, LLC, the Paizo golem logo, and Pathfinder are registered trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is a trademark of

Paizo Publishing, LLC. ©2010 Paizo Publishing, LLC.

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Available

JUNE 2010

Your Worldin Słyle!

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PATHFINDER RPG GAMEMASTERY GUIDE

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Editorial 4 ARoleplayingSnobReconsiders Letters 7 FromtheMines

Ecologies 10 TheEcologyoftheShoggoth byPhillipLarwood Teki lili! Teki lili! The shoggoth call to you. PC Classes 16 LovecraftianGods byAerynRudel New gods and divine powers for power-hungry 4th edition PCs. PC Classes 22 TheArquebusier byDavidMallon Deadly aim for a new Pathfinder RPG base class. Encounter Design 31 AlternateObjectives byMatthewHanson Change up the victory conditions with capture-the-flag.

Game Theories

34 TheThrilloftheUnknown byMonteCook Contest Winner

36 Spark,KingoftheMonsters byAdamDaigle PC Bloodlines

38 ScionsofShadow byMauricedeMare Better Gameplay 40 TheHeartofaHero byMarioPodeschi Treasure Vault 44 Gambler’sMagic byJohnFlemming Treasure Vault 46 DestinedWeapons byHankWoon Wondrous Items 49 GnomishFlyingContraptions byRyanCostello,Jr. Kobold Diplomacy 52 InterviewwithChrisPramas byJeremyL.C.Jones&ChristopherL.Dinkins Kobold Diplomacy 54 FreeportOptionsforDragonAge byChrisPramas Cartomancy 60 TheWreckoftheGoodwife byJonathanMcAnultywithBrandonHodge

On the CoverThe cover for Spring is the "Green Gods", in a rite of wild abandon. This is Malcolm McClinton's third appearance on our cover, which is some kind of record.

contents

Reviews

BookReviews 27byWilliamBanks,JannaSilverstein,andPierceWatters

Cartoons by Stan!

10'by10'Toon 19Bolt&Quiver 51The Free City

DaughtersofPerun 64byWolfgangBaur

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As a younger man, I used to think that tinker gnomes, spelljammers, and wild mages were just dumb. If it wasn’t about character and clever tactics and story,

if it was ludicrously over-the-top powergaming or post-apocalyptic shoddy-science survivor fantasies, I couldn’t take it seriously. I thought some gaming was just “not serious” or “not really hackworthy.”

Oh, I was a huge roleplaying snob.

But somewhere along the way, I expanded my horizons. For this, I have two people to thank: Steve Kurtz, who was my GM for a spelljamming campaign, and Lester Smith, the GDW and TSR designer who introduced me to the joys of White Wolf and indie RPGs. That spelljamming I was sure I'd hate? I loved that, and learned how to run a long story arc from it. All those indie games and angsty White Wolf settings? Well, I was shocked to learn that TSR designers played non-TSR gamers, but I realized it made sense. Those WW games were ultimately not my thing, but they made me at least willing to look around and adopt the best elements of games not published in Lake Geneva or Renton.

In both cases, they were cracks in the wall; almost all of my gaming was still d20 and fantasy-focussed. In the end, it took me years to learn that just because something wasn’t for me, that didn’t mean it wasn’t worthwhile. And just because something seems foolish at first glance, doesn’t mean I should dismiss it out of hand. I learned to withhold judgment and try things out before getting too negative about them.

That attitude brought some good games my way: Pendragon, Houses of the Blooded, and others that I might not have bought in my TSR fanboy days. I learned to see the strengths of any given system. I started to think about games professionally, in other words.

Yes, I was a huge roleplaying snob and sometimes I still am, but I keep it down to the occasional snotty remark. Far better to take pleasure in the huge range of games and gamers within our hobby, to celebrate Mouseguard, the Dragon Age RPG (see our article on page 54), My Life With Master, and so on than to rely on a single setting or mechanic. It’s what I call the "second system" in any given group. That is, the game that everyone likes well enough when you aren't playing the world's most popular RPG, your preferred change of pace. Heck, even WotC is re-releasing Gamma World, which fits that “second tier” category to a T.

It's worth branching out just as a change-up between campaigns of Dungeons & Kobolds. I’m learning to appreciate others, and who knows, maybe I’ll even run some oddball games soon. There’s no lack of options.

Sword-and-sorcery fantasy remains my first love. But games aren’t like marriages; there’s no need to be mono-gamist, and there’s a lot we can learn from branching out to a new system or a new genre once in a while. What about you? Have you always been loyal to a certain, single d20-based system, or have you tinkered with Jedi, vampires, or mice among the dice?

ARoleplayingSnobReconsiders

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preorder now at koboldquarterly.com

Sunken empireS is a treasure trove for GMs who want to run undersea adventures—or sink an inconvenient continent. Sunken empireS details human and merfolk settlements built in the ruins of an ancient civilization. Close by, these ruins plunge into the forbidden depths of the Underdeep where vicious sea creatures lurk and sunken palaces conceal vast wealth.Sunken empireS supports the official Pathfinder module From Shore To Sea, due from Paizo in May, with technology and lore for any civilization, lost or otherwise.It’s time to go beneath the surface.

Price $18.95 (print), $9.95 (PDF) Shipping April 2010

Open Design is a trademark of Open Design LLC.Pathfinder and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and are used under license. See paizo.com/pathfinderRPG for more information on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

EmpirESs u n k e n

How to Sink an Empire• : worldbuilding cataclysmsWeapons and technology of lost empires, from •lightning spears to mind paste.Spells and magic of the sea, including new domains•Combat with buoyancy and sinking•New creatures, including coral drakes, drowned •maidens, and goblin sharksNew monster templates to surprise your players•A full chapter of GM tools and adventure hooks•Introduction by the creator of the aboleths, •D&D designer David “Zeb” Cook.

Treasures and Terrors of The deep

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