Open Design Blog

It turns out that kobolds are bi-lingual. I don’t mean they have forked tongues (though they do), but rather that KoboldQuarterly.com has quietly and stealthily been posting some articles in translation. The translation work has been done by José Montero, and we can’t thank him enough. Here’s the four articles currently available, due to his [...]

So I’ve been reading the Pathfinder RPG for a while, and there are a few things about it I absolutely love. One of them was the fact that halflings get Abyssal as a default language. The little buggers have always seemed sort of suspicious to me, frankly. Not as dour as a dwarf, not as [...]

Apparently kobolds and Cordells get along, because we have a scoop from Mr. Cordell on the Web site about psionics in 4E, plus some discussion of how his game design has influenced his fiction.

Definitely worth a read; if you enjoy it, please digg, stumble, tweet, blog etc. Kobolds need link love for the big news!

If you’ve played Dungeons & Dragons at all in the last decade, you’ve probably run into Bruce R. Cordell’s work. And if you’ve used his gaming books or run his adventures, you’ve probably noticed that there seems to be some larger—some epic—arc connecting it all. If you’ve ever met him at a con or online, [...]

If you’ve played Dungeons & Dragons at all in the last decade, you’ve probably run into Bruce R. Cordell’s work. And if you’ve used his gaming books or run his adventures, you’ve probably noticed that there seems to be some larger—some epic—arc connecting it all. If you’ve ever met him at a con or online, [...]

What happens to your spells if the ability score that governs them is somehow reduced? Do you lose any spells? If your spellcasting ability is reduced to 0 or less do you lose all your spellcasting ability? Some of these questions are easy to answer, and some are trickier. Let’s start with the easy answers: No ability [...]

The 3E/OGL release of Halls of the Mountain King has gone to the patrons who supported this project; these patrons both contributed to and funded its creation. The resulting 175-page saga takes characters from 8th to 12th level as they fight a range of foes in the abandoned halls of a major dwarven holding: everything [...]

Ultimately, a traps’ function is one of protection. Many things deserve protection; it all depends on the perspective of the traps’ buyer. The altar and its various ceremonial and sacred items are cherished by clerics, and thus they often build the hand of god trap in their temples. Hand of God Trap “From the temples’ ceiling, statues [...]

Flying across the arid steppe is a monstrous draconic beast with bat-like wings, a scaled body and legs, and the head of a mangy wolf with a thick goat-like beard. Its scales are a uniform light brown, while its wolf head is dark brown with gleaming red eyes. The dragon-wolf flexes its vicious claws and [...]

WotC Designer Bruce Cordell talks to the Open Design crew about the Far Realms, and we talk about editing and adventures with Paizo's James Jacobs. Monte Cook and Skip Williams contribute their usual segments as well, rounding out some of industry trifecta.

In other words, the second installment of the Open Design Podcast is live and free for your listening pleasure!

Open Design 002: Halls of the Mountain King (OGL) Welcome to the Open Design Podcast, a discussion about game design and game mastery with hosts Wolfgang Baur, Ed Healy and Rone Barton. Regular Features: * ‘Ask the Kobold’ with Skip Williams (Pinning in Combat) * ‘Game Theories’ with Monte Cook (Do Overs) We took a trip to The Far Realm [...]

Wow, six months can go by pretty fast when you don't look up.

With the work of dozens of patrons, the final text has been designed and playtested. The cartographers and artists have turned over glorious work. Editor Mike McArtor has finished his review and improvement of the manuscript, and Steve Wark has completed the layout. This weekend, I went over the final proofs. There’s final tweaks and one round of changes to the galleys, and then this huge 170 page adventure will go out to the patrons by the end of June. That is, before Tuesday. The Gazetteer will follow shortly thereafter.

So Last Call is on for the 3E/OGL version of this adventure. If you want your copy, sign up today! This project will not be available in game stores or at koboldquarterly.com. It’s purely a limited edition for those who support it. And it’s an amazing deal for the money: a complete dwarven sourcebook with spells and setting and gear, plus an adventure that I can only describe as the best dwarven stronghold adventure since Moria.

Thank you all for making Halls of the Mountain King amazing, and thank you for your patience as it’s been put together!

The Kobold Diplomats have spoken: The augurs are good; the planets have aligned. Kobold Quarterly is ready to kick things up a notch. For the past two years, you, our readers, have stepped up to the plate for us time and time again. You were with us when we were black and white and barely 50 pages. [...]

Magic defeats magic. This simple rule explains why trapsmiths refrain from using it in their designs. If any wizard’s apprentice can detect the trap, what is the point of using it? For instance… Burning Hands Trap CR 3; magic device; proximity trigger (alarm); automatic reset; spell effect (burning hands, 5th-level wizard, 5d4 fire, DC 11 Reflex save [...]

The creature galloped across the outcrops and lurched before us. It was a great beast akin to some sort of huge ram or shire horse with a single great horn erupting from its head. It stood for a moment, as though considering its next move, and then, with a snort, it lowered its head and [...]