Madness has struck the editors at KQ, and so the monster arena is opened! Yes, we're having a contest to crown the King of the Monsters.

To enter your monster design in the contest, take a look at the prizes and contest rules over at the Koboldquarterly.com site. Deadline is December 1.

Good luck!

An odd little dragon, the crimson drake, makes it's appearance on KQ.com today, with art by Hugo Solis AKA butterfrog. Take a bow, little dragon. After two weeks of 4E and 3E horrors, ghosts, and deadly mycolids, maybe it's time for a somewhat more traditional beast.

Mini-dragons: worthy foe or tasty snack?

Every new issue of Kobold Quarterly makes me happy in its own way, but the Fall Horror issue is always my secret favorite (shhh, don't tell the other issues!). And it's the same this year, with issue #11 in PDF and in print. There's PC monsters, and a 4th Edition Wish spell, and a new Pathfinder RPG base class, and an Ecology of the Vampire, and How to Torture PCs, and it's just like Christmas, really.

Oh, and this last week has been great for the KQ.com web site as well, with free material of all stripes and flavors:
1) an interview with Cthulhu impresario Kevin A. Ross,
2) a second interview with Goodman Games' Jeff LaSala,
3) the 4E doppleganger Paragon path for PCs, and today ...
4) the classic Rocks Fall! trap. Just to catch up.
5) released the madness that is the Imperial Gazetteer PDF upon an unsuspecting public.

A pretty good week, I'd say.

One of the KQ authors in issue #10 has taken Ed Greenwood's Ales of Ninkash concept and run with it.

See the results over at KQ.com, with a 4E take on the 7 Sacred Ales. Seems about right for the first full day of GenCon, and a toast to 4 great days of gaming.

A interesting twist on the standard tomb trap this week from the trapsmith Maurice de Mare, who presents a trapped corridor. Also, a fine discussion of patron projects with Steve Russell, who has grand ambitions for Rite Publishing.

Oh, and one more extra-fine and extra-funny review of KQ10, this one from Spirit of Eden. 4E Warlocks are just like Eminem, indeed.

Give them a look, no?

The Monday Monster this week is a giant by Richard Pett, one called the Suffering Man. No matter what edition you play, I think you'll find some bits of encounter business there to make this giant stand out.

The stats are OGL, but the giant is pure Pett horror.

The third Open Design Podcast is now available for your listening pleasure, absolutely free of charge. The show features discussions with John Wick of L5R and Wicked Fantasy fame, contributions from Skip Williams and Monte Cook, and some fine with Paizo and KQ authors Tim and Eileen Connors. The patron interview this time out is with the estimable danvoyce, the man responsible for writing the big finale for the Halls of the Mountain King (in two editions!).

On a somewhat tangential note, please consider voting in the ENnies today. KQ and Open Design are a small press but we have high hopes. The voting booth is open.

It's hard to say that I've got a favorite issue of KQ; they all have their charms, whether it be a perfect bit of art or a perfect turn of phrase.

But Kobold Quarterly 10 is my new crush. I love the gelatinous cube article. I love John Wick's totally awesome take on the Halflings. I love Richard Pett's hill giant ecology and Ed Greenwood's Dwarven Goddess of Beer.

It's available now, at KQ.com or from DriveThru RPG. Take a look won't you?

UPDATE: There's a discussion thread on ENWorld. Just sayin.

The week got away from me, but there was much good stuff on KoboldQuarterly.com in the last couple days. We started off with a new 4E dragon called the Kuldresha, continued with a squick-tastic trapped satchel, and then got the illustrious Mr. Steve Kenson to answer questions on how he got into the industry, how he designs for Mutants & Masterminds, and what makes villains great.

If you haven't seen them yet, why the heck not?

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!

KQ is taking questions for a roundtable of the top RPG designers. Submit your question here or in the thread at KQ.com.

You will be amazed at who is participating...

Richard Pett does a layered trap that will have your rogue gnashing his teeth in despair, and Ben McFarland delivers a deadly 4E monster in the Deathspittle Bombardier. Both worth a look.

KQ.com keeps delivering some goodness. I'm very happy with the ways the site is ticking along. What do you like? What would you want to see more/less of?

This week's Friday Funny is not as filthy as last week's, but it is a wonderful list of 100 ways to abuse a polymorph spell.

He looks so harmless, really, but don't let that fool you. Wesley Schneider loves the infernal and diabolical and tells us about the hellish plans that Paizo has for Pathfinder.

Plus, a great send-off to the Behind the Spells series, on koboldquarterly.com.

The newest Monday Monster is the second 4E critter in a row, the Whispering Lady. Seems like a good one, by KQ Associate Editor Neal Hebert.

Memorial Day holiday in the States seems to have been good for kobolds: there's a 4E Frostfang Yeti as the Monday Monster, plus the next installment from the Trapsmith, and the first installment of our Ed Greenwood interview.

All great stuff. Take a look!

Sean Reynolds talks about WoW, RPGs and painting minis (oh, and maybe lobsteak) in his interview at KoboldQuarterly.com.

Two great posts so far this week: the Monday Monster is the colossal Yrchen Bannog by Richard Pett, and today we launched the Trapspringer series by Maurice de Mare (you'll remember him from the popular "Traps of the Mind" article in KQ#8).

Both definitely worth a look!

Two new articles worth your time: Skip Williams addresses the complexity of gaze attacks in 3E, and Dario Nardi talks from the small-press-publisher perspective about his Pact Magic books, his design and publishing process, and his future plans.

All at KQ.com!

Another fine construct from David Schwartz this week in the Monday Monsters. I won't spoil the surprise here, but I think it just begs to be made part of your next BBEG's bag of tricks.