Is my copy of Ki Khanga a misprint?

Question

I've been very confused by Ki Khanga, and it occurs to me that maybe there are sections missing from my book.

If there's a section missing from the chapter on action resolution, that'd explain a lot of my confusion about the mechanics, and there's also references (eg, KK 37 "Names") to an index which isn't at the back of the book... but it's also not in the table of contents, which makes it less likely to be a simple missing-sections misprint. It's got all its page numbers, from 4 on the Table of Contents page to 181 on the Special Thanks. The page numbers match the ToC and I don't see any breaks or skips in the numbering.

There are other signs that maybe the printing didn't turn out as planned, though, like error symbols instead of card suit symbols in some of the lists (like on KK 19 "Skills") and inconsistent or missing formatting throughout the book.

Are these typical of Ki Khanga manuals, or is mine a misprint?

Answer 1

Ki Khanga appears to suffer from poor editing in general.

Between Google Books, Goodreads, and Amazon.com, there appear to be only two versions of Ki Khanga: a Basic Rules (ISBN 978-0996016759), released in May 2017 and consisting of 181 or 182 pages; and a Powered by OpenQuest d100 variant (ISBN 978-1096136057), released April 2019 and consisting of 385 or 386 pages, including a Kindle edition.

Based on OP's description of the page numbers running from 4 to 181, they have the Basic Rules set. This is supported by the book's entry at Goodreads, which has a user rating by someone with the same name as OP, and posted three days later, so it's probably them. Also, OP's question is dated 2018, which pre-dates the release of the OpenQuest version.

A review on Goodreads describes the Basic Rules being poorly laid out and unclear:

I had high hopes, but this is kind of a mess. Poorly laid out and edited, poorly designed as a game, and unclear in many places (in part because of the poor editing.) [...] Can't recommend except for the art, which is often very lovely. I wish as much care had been lavished on the text.

Other Ki Khanga products are described as having similar editing problems. The Ki Khanga fiction anthology, published in 2013 by the same publisher, reviewers note:

There are some technical issues (formatting glitches and misspellings), especially in the latter part, but it wasn't too distracting.

In this Kindle edition, there were also numerous typos. On one occasion, a character's name kept switching back and forth from one thing to another, and it did so often enough that I couldn't be sure which was correct and which was a typo. Overall, they were a minor, but noticeable distraction. They had best find a good editor before they send this thing off to print.

When I started the book, I didnt expect to give it this rating. It has grammatical errors and the formatting of the digital book is atrocious.

And an Amazon review of the fiction anthology:

Typos abound and the book has clearly not been passed under the nose of an editor worthy of the name.

And on the Amazon page for the OpenQuest version of the RPG:

This has everything you need to play the game. Lots of details, but it seems like it has all the right sections just not necessarily in the right order.

In addition to these reviews:

• The Ki Khanga books are published by MVmedia, a company described on Amazon as owned by one of the writers; in other words, a self-publishing imprint. This could explain the lack of editing standards which would be expected from an independent publishing company.
• The lack of correct card symbols and incorrect formatting which OP describes may also suggest that it was not well edited.
• OP describes that there are no missing page numbers, which makes it unlikely that their copy was simply misprinted with missing pages.
• I cannot find any descriptions online of any recall or reprint of the original Ki Khanga due do misprints.
• The existence of a 2019 revision changing Ki Khanga from an original card-based system to the OpenQuest ruleset is consistent with the idea that the original rules were poorly received. Additionally, while a digital copy of the OpenQuest version is available, as well as works by the same author and publisher from before 2013, the original Ki Khanga never received a digital re-release, again suggesting that it was shelved due to poor reception of its card-based rules system.
• The lack of an index, as described by the OP, may be due to the surprising difficulty of producing a good index, which I've heard more experienced RPG publishers describe as something that one usually hires a freelance index-writing expert to do.

In summary, it seems most likely that the confusing rules are an artefact of flawed rules, writing, and editing, rather than a misprint in one or more copies.