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Fight On! Issue 3

I am going to preface my review by saying that this issue was not as appealing to me as the first two. My main problem with it was that much of the content is specific to old Judges Guild stuff. It is well written and much of it I could still use in some ways, but I kind of feel like I am missing something when I read it. I realize that this magazine is aimed at the OSR and I am somewhat outside that target group. My review will be coming from that viewpoint. Frankly, I think that Knockspell and Fight On! are the two best gaming magazines out there right now, even if you are not in the OSR.

I no longer go through the issues article by article in my reviews, although I do read the magazines from cover to cover. I think you can get an idea of what the overall feel for these magazines is from my other reviews. I will just hit on the articles that really stood out for me.

The Wild North by Rob Conley. I point this one out because I enjoy Rob's work. I have both of his Points of Light books and read his blog. This is a well written hex key with some interesting entries. The problem is that it is an add on to the Wilderlands setting, and I don't know anything about it. You don't need to know anything about Wilderlands to appreciate the article, but I feel like a lot of it is lost without being able to put it in perspective.

Khas Fara by Jason Morningstar is a neat little adventure and breaks the usual dungeon crawl mold for these magazines. There isn't even an interior map and it is very character driven. This could be a fun one to just throw into a hex on my world map.

County of Haghill and Environs by James Mishler is another Wilderlands addition. This one works better for the uninitiated though. There are some cool NPCs, a neat fort and a kickass picture on pg 33. This one just feels more self contained than Rob's.

Tables for Fables is good in this issue it covers NPC parties met in a dungeon. I am fond of having my players come across rival/ally groups of adventurers.

Spawning Ground of the Crab Men is the next level in the Fight On! megadungeon, The Darkness Beneath. It is a neat level with two factions for the players to play off each other. There is also intrigue within one of the factions that can be exploited. The crab men are also really creepy.

The columns on Bob Bledsaw were cool since I knew nothing about him. I would have liked an "Introduction to the Wilderlands" piece though.

There are some demons for Empire of the Petal Throne. I know nothing about this setting and it is not really useful to me.

Gabor Lux is as productive as ever in this issue.

There is a level of Hell expansion to an old Judges Guild product. i don't really have a frame of reference to put it in.

The next two parts of the Wilderness Architect are cool, it is always interesting to see the ways that other GMs build their worlds.

I had no interest in the fiction. Sorry, I always skipped these in Dragon. It was a good story, just not what I am looking for in a gaming magazine.

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