Issue #21
SPRING 2012

 
Subscribe Now

 
Update Your Address

 
Submit an Article

 
Become a Patron

 
Design Advice

 
Articles

 

 

Adopt a Service Member Today!

Sign up for
Kobold Courier Newsletters

SafeSubscribe

16 May 2012

"What a roleplaying magazine should be."
Ed Greenwood

Your Whispering Homunculus: Fifty Strange Timepieces

by Richard Pett

Your Whispering HomunculusMaster Pett’s Your Whispering Homunculus presents only the finest in British gaming. Indeed, you are not likely to find a more comprehensive assortment of miscellany anywhere.

(So much more than just another bloke in a dress.)

[previously]

“Grotsward, what time is it?”

“Six Threbs beyond Tulward, your corpulence.”

“Normal time, Grotsward.”

“But master, what exactly is ‘normal’ time?”

I can see the time has come for the teaching stick to be applied to your hide as a reminder of impertinence. Stick number eighteen today, I think. The one with points—fetch it.

Number eighteen, master, as you wish.

Sadly, we all need to know the time, and even for those who dwell below ground, knowing the correct time of day can be crucial to certain arcane matters and astronomical observations. More than just humanoid creatures need to have an idea of the passing hours, days, and seasons, although the more civilized races have made an art form of conforming to time.

Here is a selection of timepieces—some crude, some cunning, some weird—to slip into your adventures.

3 comments | Leave a Comment

Continue reading»»

Gen Con Indy 2012: Kobold Events

by Wade Rockett

Gen Con 2012 - No Game Left BehindThe Gen Con Indy 2012 Events Catalog is live, and there are kobolds all over the place! If you want to hang out with Wolfgang and the Kobold minions* at the con, add these to your wishlist:

Adventure: Midgard Adventures: Madman at the Bridge

  • System: Pathfinder
  • GM: Ben McFarland
  • Time: Thursday, 9:00 AM (4 hrs)

Adventure: Midgard Adventures: Old School Redux

2 comments | Leave a Comment

Continue reading»»

Howling Tower: Cosmic Horror/Cosmic Hero

by Steve Winter

I just returned from the annual H. P. Lovecraft film festival in Portland, one of my favorite events of the year. As always, that event got me thinking (more than usual) about how the “Cthulhu mythos” can be incorporated into a fantasy RPG campaign.

The elder gods run into trouble when they collide with heroic fantasy. Mighty warriors and wizards battle supernatural horror all day, every day. What makes Tsathoqqua and Shub-Niggurath any more frightening than a lich or a dragon?

Heroic FRPG adventures tend to be framed in terms of good versus evil. Villains strive to bring about some earthly manifestation of evil—greed, violence, hate, destruction. In Lovecraft’s brand of horror, evil and good are largely irrelevant. Boiled down to essential salts, this type of tale relies on four tenets.

The cosmos is huge, and humanity is small. Humans and demihumans are big fish only in their laughably small pond. On the grand scale of existence, our spot is near the bottom. There are creatures so far beyond us and our gods in age, understanding, and power that the ant/human analogy fails. We at least notice ants and find them interesting. The gulf separating us from the top of the scale leaves us more akin to dust than to ants.

6 comments | Leave a Comment

Continue reading»»

Creature Daily Sneak Peek: Clockwork Dead

by Creature Daily

This week, we have another sneak peek thanks to the folks over at Creature Daily! Enter the clockwork dead. It’s undead. And a construct. The combination might give your adventurers something to think about. If you want to see more of the offerings at Creature Daily, head on over to the Creature Daily site!

Clockwork Dead

This corpse moves erratically, and each step it takes is accompanied by spasms and twitching. Wearing what appears to be leather armor stitched into its skin, it has rotting flesh that is held together by a mixture of moving metal gears and strange tubes. The creature’s lower jaw has an amalgamation of grinding gears that drip a black fluid.

7 comments | Leave a Comment

Continue reading»»

Reminder: King of the Monsters 3: A New Menagerie

by Kobold Staff

King of the MonstersThose of you who want to show off your monster creation skills have three weeks in which to do so. The effort to crown the third King of the Monsters has begun, and you have until May 18, 2012, to send forth your best monster. To learn more about this contest, check out the contest rules!

No comments yet | Leave a Comment