GYGAX magazine

[Blood axe]

Anybody get issue #2 ?? I didn't. Im starting to regret I subscribed.

[redwullf]

Anybody get issue #2 ?? I didn't. Im starting to regret I subscribed.

No, and the website hasn't been updated with issue two, which was supposed to be out almost a week ago (after a lengthy delay). My optimism for Gygax magazine has waned significantly. I'm glad I didn't buy a subscription (not rubbing your face in it, and I'm sorry if this becomes a problem for you...just expressing my gratitude that I was cautious and bought just the first edition on a "wait and see" basis).

[Blood axe]

No, I dont think you are rubbing it in. Im quickly getting tired of stuff like this. I want to support the hobby, but delays & outright thieves( Mike Nystul), wear on my patience.

[sniderman]

From their News section on their webpage---

7/31/13 - Layout is complete and sent to printers. Issues will be mailed to subscribers in August. Issue #2 will be available for purchase at Gen Con.

So it went to the printer a week ago. Gonna be at Gen Con in a week or so. So I'm guessing subscribers will see it in their mailboxes...ehhhh...in two more weeks probably.

EDIT--Found this posted to their Subscriptions page---

Issue 2 is shipping to subscribers on August 15th. Arrival times may vary.

[Blood axe]

Thank you!!

[redwullf]

I will post pictures of me eating my own hat if Issue 3 ships by October 30th. Mark my words.

[Blood axe]

I will post pictures of me eating my own hat if Issue 3 ships by October 30th. Mark my words.

Im thinking you will be going hungry.

[sniderman]

EN World had a preview of Issue 2 with the cover and the table of contents. Here's the article (scroll to the bottom of the page):

http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?1140-SHADOWS-OF-ESTEREN-Review-New-GF9-Store-For-OFFICIAL-D-D-Aids-plus-a-New-Take-on-13TH-AGE-Icons

And here's the cover:


And here's a copy-paste of the TOC:

9 Tactics in Samurai Battles - Tim Kask illustrated by Sergio Roma
Always have a path of retreat open, and kill the shooters

12 The evolution from wargaming to role-playing - Ernest Gary Gygax Jr.
illustrated by Ryan Browning
How players at Gary’s table spent their time between the dungeons

15 Hitchhiking in Doctor Who - Jay Libby illustrated by Peter Saga
Roll your dice in tribute to the hoopiest frood in the galaxy

18 Leomund’s Secure Shelter - Len Lakofka illustrated by Doug Kovacs
What happens when a character approaches death?

20 A forgotten grimoire and its curse - Jon Peterson illustrated by Sergio Roma
The search for the earliest version of D&D

22 From one geek to another - Jess Hartley illustrated by Tom Wham
Reviving the art of the introduction

24 Building a winning spellbook for Mage Wars - Bryan Pope
illustrated by Doug Kovacs
Aggressive advice for defeating your enemy

28 Heroes, kings, and champions - Ken St. Andre illustrated by Pierre Carlès
Ordinary characters in fantastic worlds

30 The old-school renaissance - Vincent Florio illustrated by Barrie James
A primer on gaming like a veteran of the White Box days

34 Weird vibrations - Jeffrey Talanian illustrated by Ryan Browning
Leave the familiar realms of fantasy for strange new lands

38 The inkubus - Gordon Dritschilo illustrated by Hanae Ko
A devious new monster for the Savage Worlds rule system

48 The hare and the hill giant - Shane Ivey illustrated by Jerry Boucher
A Dale-lands adventure for The One Ring

SPECIAL ATTRACTION
40 The Blighted Lands - Luke Gygaxillustrated by Stefan Pokorny
An introduction to the new campaign world of Okkorim

THE KOBOLD’S CAVERN
57 Super-science in fantasy games - Eric Hindley illustrated by Jeff Dee
Sci-fi tech from force fields to ray guns for your Pathfinder game

60 Dueling through the AGEs - Rodrigo Garcia Carmona illustrated by Doug Kovacs
Rules for demanding satisfaction on the field of honour

62 Lost wonders of Caelmarath - Brian Liberge
Seek out power in the spell-scarred wastelands of Midgard

COMICS
66 Full Frontal Nerdity - Aaron Williams
68 The Order of the Stick - Rich Burlew

OK, this looks like a lot of good, varied, interesting content. If they can get back on schedule, I'll officially be excited again.

[Goblinoid Games]

OK, this looks like a lot of good, varied, interesting content. If they can get back on schedule, I'll officially be excited again.

Honestly I'm a little luke warm on it myself. As I mentioned before I have a subscription, made a choice to support them for at least a year no matter what, so I'm riding it out for now. I guess I have a few reservations. One is that frankly I'm tired of reading about how to play "whitebox style." i.e. how to play old-school. We've been reading blog posts about that sort of thing for years now, so I don't much care for more of it in a magazine. I'm also tired of fetishizing the "really real originally real original version of D&D." I mean Christ, this unhealthy quest for the really real authentic experience was tired a few years ago, not sure I want to pay to keep reading it. On the plus side there is more game content in this issue, so maybe it will just take a while for the magazine to reach its stride. However, I'm not sure if the general lack of focus is going to work for me long term. There is not a single article in there as far as I can tell explicitly for old-school D&D or equivalent (maybe the new campaign world? Can't tell). Maybe I'm just getting old and crusty, but I want more crunch. I'm not so interested anymore in essays about play styles and such. I want stuff that I can take right to the table. For example, if Jeff Talanian's article is just as essay I have little use for it. If it contains some cool stuff stated up for old-school D&D then that has utility for me. I have no Interest in Savage Worlds or any of the other games they have articles in there for this time, which is fine, they can't appeal to everyone in every issue, I understand that. Just seems to me a magazine that tries so hard to look and feel like Dragon should have more D&D content, or at least more content geared for old-schoolers. Since the content is so all over the place I'm not sure it will appeal to Savage Worlds fans, etc. either, so I'm sort of left wondering who the audience is. I mean, let's say you are a fan of Savage Worlds or The One Ring, will you buy an issue if it has one article for that game in it? I dunno. For myself, it would have to sound like a pretty kick ass article. Maybe the problem isn't so much the content as it is that they try to do too much in a relatively short page count? I dunno. We'll see.

[Dyson Logos]

I used to buy Dragon religiously because it had an article for RPG x and y in it.

That said, I read it for exactly those articles - the crunch articles. The ones I could take to the table. So when I pulled out Traveller after a few years of not playing it, I knew I had a small article on Traveller Nobility, and a bigger one on making robot characters.

While I don't handle multiple systems in the Dodecahedron, that's the vibe I want. I want all the material in my magazine to be material that can come straight to the table. Because I already play "OSR" games, the last thing I want to read about is how I "should" play OSR games.