I love print.  Good old tangible print.

What's (still or new) around in rpg print magazines?

I've heard of several:

* Fight On! - I just ordered a couple of these to check out based on recommendations.

* Knockspell - I get the impression Knockspell is narrower in focus than Fight On, or less gonzo or something?  Commentary invited.

* Oubliette - I think I DL'd a sample issue of this but wasn't impressed.  

* Kobold Quarterly - nice production, 4e/PF focused.

* Land of Nod - I like this guy's blog, but do I want his hexes?

* Loviatar - Appreciate the zine mindset, but the content in this one seems to be "whatever the author feels like writing about" - which is fine, but I'm looking for something that regularly gives me stuff I can use.

* Knights of the Dinner Table - still around far as I know, but gameable content is an afterthought (ie, it's a comic with some gaming stuff)

* DragonRoots - Skimmed the website, review would be nice.

* Crusader - for C&C.  This is only in pdf though, right?

* Polymancer - website falls apart after a few clicks, don't know much about it.

* Rifter - all things Palladium.

* Alarums & Excursions - still around, but the website makes me suppose the magazine is still typewritten and mimeographed or something.  Ugh.



  What else is out there?  Any hidden gems we need to know about?  Any genre, but I'm primarily interested in print, not pdf.  And while I'd personally be uninterested in something that was 100% 4e content, feel free to throw those names out there as well since it might be news to somebody else who's be keen on it.  Good impressions, bad impressions, whatever.  Throw 'em out there.

(Imperator/Pundit and anybody else from the right parts of the world - my spoken Spanish has deteriorated to crap, but I still read it pretty well, so Spanish-language mags are in, far as I'm concerned, if the content's strong enough to warrant the extra work; no Portuguese pls)

Knockspell is mainly for Swords & Wizardry, though I believe it started branching out. I've only got the first few issues.

Fight On! is very good, if you like old school D&D. Lots of adventures, new classes, etc.

Crusader was hit or miss when I read it. Lots of fluff/useless articles compared to other mags. Maybe it's improved in the last year.

Rifter is great if you like Palladium. I've been very happy with every issue I've bought.

I've been seeing a Hell of a lot of good fanzines out there, but the vast majority of them are PDFs.

I don't think your assessment of KODT is fair. I think they put a lot of effort into the gaming material. I've never really looked at Kobalt just because dragon was almost totally useless almost all of the time to me. KODT articles, while giving useless stat block, are actually full if real actual shit I can put in a game. There is like 20 pages of it, and it's monthly. Plus it has old school rpg forum letter in it.

I don't know. I just think it is under rated.

I like Fight On, Knockspell and the Rifter, but I am biased since I have written for all three. I wrote for KODT too, but I feel their gaming stuff is an afterthought which isn't fair since its a good magazine.

Knockspell is essentially a S&W house organ, but anything written for S&W is easily usable for any old school D&D game. Its a smaller mag than Fight On, but I enjoy both and have used stuff from both mags in my games.

Actually, I've gotten more use out of FO and KS than I got out of Dragon, and nearly as much use as I got out of Judges Guild stuff.

Has anyone gotten a recent issue of Alarums & Excursions? I thought that magazine vanished decades ago!

Quote from: Cranewings;502133I don't think your assessment of KODT is fair. I think they put a lot of effort into the gaming material. I've never really looked at Kobalt just because dragon was almost totally useless almost all of the time to me. KODT articles, while giving useless stat block, are actually full if real actual shit I can put in a game. There is like 20 pages of it, and it's monthly. Plus it has old school rpg forum letter in it.

I don't know. I just think it is under rated.

I have to agree. It may be in black and white but I love the gaming content of KODT. They cram in a lot of material in each issue.

Mongoose have a long-running mag don't they? Can't remember the name though.

Edit: Signs & Portents?

Quote from: One Horse Town;502174Mongoose have a long-running mag don't they? Can't remember the name though.

Edit: Signs & Portents?

yep but i thought S&P was online-only.  tons of content, though.  i've read it for the traveller and runequest stuff primarily

S&P is online only. It's also been on hiatus for a few months. Not sure if/when it will come back.

I buy the big compilations of Knockspell and Fight On! rather than individual issues, but that means I only have 1-3 for Knockspell and 1-4 for Fight On! Both are good value for money.

That's what I figured - I ordered the FO 1-4 compilation and the most recent issue.  Value for money is a big deal (noting that 'value' is not necessarily equal to 'page count', of course).

What the KODT fans are telling me is fair - I haven't read the damn thing in years and years.  Maybe I'll pick up a copy at the comic shop this week and see what's up.  I'm presuming it's still at a pretty low price point.

Quote from: VectorSigma;502597That's what I figured - I ordered the FO 1-4 compilation and the most recent issue.  Value for money is a big deal (noting that 'value' is not necessarily equal to 'page count', of course).

What the KODT fans are telling me is fair - I haven't read the damn thing in years and years.  Maybe I'll pick up a copy at the comic shop this week and see what's up.  I'm presuming it's still at a pretty low price point.

With KODT you kind of have to check between the cracks as well. The way it is laid out, real easy to gloss over stuff like reviews, advice, etc. There were entire columns I ignored for years because they never caught my eye till I started reading them.

Crusader is print and PDF.  I've been a subscriber for a long time.

I'm familiar with Fight On!, Knockspell, and Crusader.  I can't say I got much use out of Crusader, but both Fight On! and Knockspell are worthwhile.

(Full disclosure:  it's been several years since I even looked at an issue of Crusader, and both Knockspell and Fight On! have published some of my stuff.)