Review of Open Gaming Monthly #2

Thanks to the courtesy of John Reyst, editor of the Open Gaming Monthly magazine, today I can offer you the review of the second issue of the magazine edited by Fat Goblin Games available right now from the shop of www.d20pfsrd.com.

 

In the review of the first issue I already talk about the structure of the magazine, which consists in 100 pages where's possible to find news and interviews and game rules and contents issued under the Open Gaming License (OGL) mostly for Pathfinder (but easily translated to other games with a little effort), therefore today I will talk a bit more about the contents of this second issue.

The interview is starred by Wolfgang Baur, North American game designer famous for his work in Dragon Magazine, TSR publisher, Wizards of the Coast and Pathfinder and current owner of Kobold Press.

 

 

This interview is an overview of his career from its beginnings to the present, with special emphasis on Kobold Press and Midgard, the campaign setting developed during 5 years that is the top product of the publisher.

 

 

The cover theme of this second issue is the sky, the stars, the space and beings comming from other places foreign to typical game worlds, the OGL content you will find is esentially related to this concepts, so inside you will find, among others, the following articles:

• An astrological system easily adaptable to any kind of fantasy game that allows to decide star influence over the characters.
• Game statistics for Swords & Wizardry (www.d20swsrd.com, Swords & Wizardry, Tales of the Frog God), for several Cthulhu Mythos creatures.
• The constructs knowns as Celestial Records, artificial humanoids tht can be used to study and catalog the universe.
• A list of several artifacts related to the skyes (including objects like the Sphere of Elements, tha allow to study the elemental planes of Air, Earth, Fire and Water).
• A preview of the supplement It Came from the Stars, that permits to introduce in the game various types of monsters and alien creatures.
• The Skirmisher, an example of spaceship for Pathfinder that uses magic instead of technology to run.
• A list of strange creatures that may come from other worlds or dimensions and be used as familiars.
• A legendary location, Red Bridge Falls, where a study of a misterious meteorite is being carried out...
• A new character class, the Arcane Astrologist.
• Statistics for the Grays (you know, the typical small aliens with a big head believed to be responsible for cattle mutilations).
• Several examples of cyborgs (organisms with a mix of machines and living beings) created by magic and technology.

 

To end this review I can say that Open Gaming Monthly can be, with a little luck, one of the industry leading magazines. To achieve this it will have to diversify its contents to encompass other games (as had already done with the article devoted to Swords & Wizardry) and include, for example, modules for playing.

This entry it's also available in the following languages:
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