The heart of the tabletop roleplaying world is a place where everyone shares the stage: players, DMs, and designers alike. In that vein, I’m happy to announce that with this issue, I’m stepping back from writing quite so many articles as I did last issue. There’s a world of talent out there, and it’s time to share some of it here.

To start things off, the kings of shared worlds are here, Ed Greenwood and Jeff Grubb. Greenwood’s Realms are well known, of course, as are his novels and more recent Castlemourn. Grubb’s role in creating the Realms, Al-Qadim, Guild Wars, and many other worlds is likewise part of gaming history. This issue, he picks up on an idea from issue #1 and runs with it, explaining how to add noble levels to your PCs and social status to your campaign. It’s wonderful to welcome these talents to the kobold universe, and I hope to present their thoughts to you again in future.

Then there’s Nicolas Logue, who contributes this issue’s Ecology article. You may recognize him from his Eberron work and from his outstanding adventures for the late, lamented Paizo incarnation of Dungeon magazine. Fellow Paizo veterans Tim and Eileen Connors offer up a devil full of sloth. It’s not easy to make laziness compelling, but they’ve done it with style, compiling hooks and tactics usable in any campaign.

In addition, I am very pleased that Skip Williams, who co-designed 3rd Edition and who got his start in the industry with TSR in Lake Geneva, now graces these pages. He’s taking questions for our first regular column, “Ask the Kobold.” If you have ever wondered about weapon size, the various conditions of undeath, or the triggers for traps and the point of the Balance skill, give him a shout.

I’m pleased to present two polar opposites in character classes, or at least they were in 1st Edition: the paladin and the assassin. The Assassin core class is a preview from Green Ronin’s d20 Freeport Companion. Written by that dastardly evil ronin J. Robert Schwalb, this is a rock-solid take on the class of scum who kill for a living. Lest you mistake this for condemnation, I say that as a major fan of assassins. Schwalb clearly has high friends in low places.

At the opposite end of the alignment spectrum, the assassin’s nemesis is the worthy paladin. Relative newcomer John Ling shows us how paladins can trade in their mounts for new class abilities. I expect we’ll hear more from him in future issues.

Finally, there’s one piece from someone whose name may not be familiar (yet), the redoubtable Sigfried Trent from Open Design. He discusses how to make your next PC more memorable, and provides great tips for getting traction with a new character.

I hope you enjoy the wide range of voices this issue. I think you’ll notice I’ve bumped up the page count quite a bit to make room for that extra gaming content. Yes, we’re at 40 pages, and still very light on ads.

I hope to retain that higher page count next issue, but as always it depends on what articles arrive and whether the circulation numbers grow. If you enjoy Kobold Quarterly and are as pleased with the freelancers presented here as I am, please tell your friends — and broaden this shared world a little further.

Kobold-in-Chief