Critical Bits for the week ending 2009-12-19
- RT @ve4grm: @criticalhits Games are awesome! http://bit.ly/8QfU51 #
- Looking over the Debut of the Ardent from PHB3. Psionic Leader. #dnd #
- They use power points, just like the Psion. Charisma is primary stat, and they wield melee weapons. Described as being like Warlord. #dnd #
- The Ardent (Psionic Leader) Debut: http://bit.ly/7rZGuF (DDI sub required) #
- “'Where are our ki focuses?' shouted the blogs. " Yes, yes we did. So here's their answer to us. http://bit.ly/6GZmbu (DDI sub required) #
- Playing #dnd with pornstars (kinda NSFW) http://bit.ly/669lYa #
- RT @gregbilsland: #Dnd December rules update now available: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/updates #
- RT @oldbie: Hey, I wrote one of them thar blog article thingies. An interview with Dave Noonan of #dnd and #aion fame: http://bit.ly/8ZIV7v #
- RT @unclebear: [UncleBear.com]: First Glance: Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space http://unclebear.com/?p=4348 #
- RT @brucecordell: Want to play a #dnd character with a reputation for being sexy, bad, and a little treacherous? http://bit.ly/72YgjX (DDI) #
- Colossus of Laarn skill challenge- sounds familiar! http://bit.ly/8f6cKO (DDI sub required) #
- Hasbro suing Atari for alleged breach related to D&D brand http://bit.ly/7ZKS6k (notice the statement about protecting the brand) #
- Some Dark Sun tidbits from the chat: no divine power source, preserving is default (but there's an at-will defiling power to augment)… #
- Thri-kreen PC race with two strong, two weak arms, Dark Sun specific weapons will be in, and Dragon King epic destiny. http://bit.ly/8EJS6Q #
- That was very important too! RT @phaezen: @criticalhits not to mention the possibility of spelljammer making an appearance
# - One of the new Familiars in today's article: a tiny gelatinous cube! http://bit.ly/7jAtk1 (DDI sub required) #
- All stat cards for D&D Miniatures have been updated to the current rules http://wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/mi/20090430 #
- RT @JohnnFour: The ultimate D&D room. Great pics of a gamer's paradise. http://bit.ly/7PzC2e #
You're a Mean One, Mr. Gish
I have posted my entry into the Winter Holiday Encounter Contest, an adventure for 5 15th level PCs that takes them up the slopes of Mt. Crunchit to face a certain green-skinned thief and his trusted companion with a fake horn.
You can read the entry over at the Wizards Community Forums, along with some customized monsters and my first attempt at doing both a full, written-out encounter with a map to go with it.
Check it out, and have a Merry Crunchmas.
Critical Bits for the week ending 2009-12-12
- Chris Sims and Paizo CEO Lisa Stevens talk about the size of the gaming industry and so-called rival designers http://bit.ly/8UwZBP #
- iPhone as Helper Pixie (iPhone apps for RPGs) http://bit.ly/5vPitl #
- RT @Comixace: CHime in on DC's latest Big Two reboot — EARTH ONE http://bit.ly/8itzUD #
- I approve. http://bit.ly/4DNb2e #
- The magic items that WotC cannot publish http://bit.ly/4uNMZT #
- Free Tyr and the Mountains of Athas http://bit.ly/5CF7tD #
- RT @direflail: Minimalist drawings of videogame characters. http://bit.ly/6sj3rm #
- Open Game Table V2 is looking for nominations for exceptional RPG posts: http://is.gd/5ckRt We would appreciate nominations of our posts #
- RT @Wizards_DnD: Check out Peter Schaefer's cool idea for mixing potions in 4th Edition #dnd http://bit.ly/7kljPT #
- RT @cwgabriel: Early Christmas present for my D&D players: http://bit.ly/7fui5J #
- Review: "The Plane Below: Secrets of the Elemental Chaos", now with more pictures! http://bit.ly/7hjckP (repost with link) #
- There's so much to be offended about in Dragon Age, why zero in on homosexuality? http://trunc.it/3xiiz (via @revlazaro) #
- RT @WolfStar76: WotC wants YOU to create an encounter based on the Winter Holidays! Details: http://bit.ly/54Kpdy #
- RT @CzarAlex: New #4e #dnd encounter tracker is sharable by all players. FREE. Web based. iphone compatible. http://bit.ly/nIU5A #
- RT @jefftidball: FFG announces Horus Heresy, my mega-project of the last year, as designer and producer. [http://bit.ly/5c9o7z] #
- RT @fredhicks: Kenneth Hite's "Where The Deep Ones Are" as a $2 iTunes app — http://bit.ly/4tct3H #
Critical Bits for the week ending 2009-12-05
- Arete has officially launched! Be a Greek hero, earn divine favor and ascend to godhood! http://is.gd/56YyW (via @DMingNicholas) #
- Lightsaber Tech explained on Science Channel http://geektyrant.com/2009/11/the-science-channel-to-build-a-lightsaber/ (via @GeekTyrant) #
- Regrets: Those were the droids you were looking for. http://bit.ly/8I7927 #
- Open Game Table PDF 50% OFF – Twitter Exclusive! Use http://is.gd/548Ox to get discount! Offer Expires 11/30. (via @opengametable) #
- Today, Nov. 30, take 10% off all Malhavoc Press pdfs at DriveThruRPG and RPGNow. http://bit.ly/8SuHeR (via @MonteJCook) #
- All Open Design books 10% off at DriveThru/RPGNow today. Every single item, and every issue of KQ. http://bit.ly/8C0rp2 (via @monkeyking) #
- Give Dungeonaday.com memberships as gifts with a special promotion. http://is.gd/5896x (via @MonteJCook) More about D-A-D http://is.gd/589b5 #
- RT @ChristianLindke: ICv2 Defends Indefensible WFRP 3rd Review http://ff.im/-ceIwX #
- Familiar: a tool for running 4e D&D (Windows-only) http://sites.google.com/site/familiarrpg/ #
- Reading: "4e, Ashen Crown, Dungeon Crawls" http://is.gd/59436 Does 4e not work for dungeon crawls, only large setpiece fights? Is that bad? #
- Class Acts: Fighter is encouraging your Fighter to use a bunch of weapons (or wield a dynamic weapon) http://is.gd/594xG (Sub required) #
- Jousting Rules for 4e by @cwgabriel http://www.penny-arcade.com/4ejousting/ #
- Our best wishes to any of our friends who have been laid off from WotC, at this time of year, in this economic climate. #
- Welcome @Wizards_DnD to twitter, mentioned in the latest Ampersand article (DDI sub required) http://bit.ly/4wlbGs #
- . @fraize of @thinkgeek just talked about the #dnd 4e game he runs at the office on their live stream #
- WotC Layoffs confirmed http://bit.ly/5kUsXJ (via @Matt_James_FR) #
Critical Bits for the week ending 2009-11-28
- Awesome #rpg #art – Stained glass d20s http://bit.ly/5SDj0S via @joruffin (via @aijalyn) #
- A good question: what would Far Realm creatures do with 31 dead goblins? http://is.gd/51Yiy #
- Explore Airspur… you know you want to. (DDI Sub Required) http://is.gd/51Yjf #
- Taste the donut: FreeMarket RPG beta available http://is.gd/52267 (via @OgreCave) #
- Bruce Glassco, co-designer of Betrayal at House on the Hill, announces a new version for Q4 2010 – http://tr.im/FD7f (via @BoardgameNews) #
- Repost: New Critical Hit: Inq. of the Week: Video Game Playing, 2009: http://bit.ly/7arBCu #
- 2009 Golden Geek Winners http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/48818 #
- "D&D Minion" A web based #dnd Initiative/Condition Tracker App, requires Google login, http://dndminion.appspot.com/ (via @newbiedm) #
- CSI: D&D http://bit.ly/8yi3mO (via @wilw) #
- Gamers With Heart http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6705387.html #
- Confirmed for Black Friday: Old Navy giving Lego Rock Band with $20 clothing purchase http://bit.ly/6JOGwB (via @joystiq) #
- National Gaming Day a massive success http://is.gd/53qnO (via @boingboing) #
Critical Bits for the week ending 2009-11-21
- Another article highlighting google wave and gaming http://bit.ly/4gGRMv (via @kaeosdad) | Hey, I see @greywulf there! #
- New blog post: Inq. of the Week: Video Formats? http://bit.ly/4FdE9x #
- Excerpt from Plane Below: Reasoning with a Slaad http://is.gd/4WtTw Including random slaad reaction table, complete with head exploding #
- Degrees of success in skill challenges http://bit.ly/NTXvV #
- New artificer build, Warrior Forge Arfificer, is up http://tinyurl.com/yhyk7uw (sub required, via @wotc_rodney) #
- D&D At The Library: The Adventure of Little Rogue http://su.pr/2d573L (via @geeksdreamgirl) #
- Blackmoor license ending: http://bit.ly/2sPJY9 #
- Today only, you can download Shatnerquake from author Jeff Burk (@bizarromagazine) http://is.gd/4X9YG (via @wilw) #
- New #dnd rules update available at http://tinyurl.com/ydo6r5x (via @gregbilsland) #
- A pledge of $25 pre-orders GOLD Season 1 on DVD. Pay only if we meet our goal: http://bit.ly/Y26Q0 (via @davidnett) #
- King of the Monsters RPG design contest. http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/article2647.php Please RT. (via @monkeyking) #
- ROBOT 6: The Pirate Bay To Shut Down http://bit.ly/1yedr2 (via @CBR) "New technologies have made it unnecessary" #
- Sitting on 4.5 million page view in need of ads (Demographics: http://bit.ly/16pECG PDF). Care to advertise? (via @ephealy) #
- Codricuhn, the Blood Storm, in the Demonomicon series http://is.gd/4YTt2 (DDI sub required). Love the backstory here. #
- The Title for the Christmas Special and David's Finale revealed http://j.mp/24KSoU (via @nerdvana) #
- BGG.CON 2009 Live Video Feed (Broadcasting live at http://ustre.am/8fD8) (via @aldie) #
- D6 Fantasy System Reference Doc: http://sycarion.com/static/sixsidedf.html (via @AllenVarney) #
- Video Tutorial for parchment creation, #dnd handouts, etc. http://tinyurl.com/yhzocnd from @teknohippy (via @newbiedm) #
Critical Bits for the week ending 2009-11-14
- Resume as D&D character sheet (via @Sernett)
- Wanna get rid of Treasure Parcels in 4e? I know I do. here’s my suggestion. (via @ChattyDM)
- Tell me how to play 4E and OD&D (so I can ignore it) (via @IAmTavis)
- It turns out “Winning Races: Halfings” is not about Halfling foot races, but does include magic dice. (DDI Sub required)
- National Gaming Day at Your Library (via @RPGadvocate)
- Skill Challenge: “Give it back!”
- Turning Polaris into D&D 4e
- Hollywood Reporter says Dollhouse is cancelled. (via @whedonesque)
- Want another way to tell service members “Thank you?” Consider the KQ Adopt-a-soldier program. (via @KoboldQuarterly)
- Blockhouse Lite is now available! iTunes link (via @koryheath)
- D&D 4e Combat Manager (thanks, @Asmor)
- Using Super Mario Bros to explain World of Warcraft. (NSFW language) (via @WolfStar76)
- “It’s too late. You’ve awakened the gazebo.”
Retro Critical Hits
Greetings everyone, Danny (aka Bartoneus) here! You may have noticed that late last week and over the weekend Critical Hits was in “Retro” mode and now that our layout is back a lot of things are still messed up. A lot of the problems stem from a completely honest and understandable accident, but the end result is hopefully a better framework for the site. Unfortunately the last full backup we had was in May of this year, so we’ll be working through today and tomorrow to get all of the missing images back up and hopefully have everything back to normal soon!
It was actually pretty funny to see the site in the default wordpress theme again, which is the same layout we had back in the Fall of 2005 when we started the site (but with spiffy and cool changing banners). After the next few days if you happen to notice something that’s still broken or missing let us know! Please bear with us as we sort these things out, and everything should be back to normal and better than ever by the end of the week!
Critical Bits for the week ending 2009-11-09
- The Spiel game of the show by BoardGameNews would be right up @bartoneus’s alley
- Trek or Treat! Hear a bunch of us from the Star Trek family perform the radio version of War of the Worlds (via @wilw)
- Check out Swordgleam’s “Martial Flavor” supplement for 4e, including backgrounds, powers, class features, and more
- For those of you who missed the Dresden Files announcement over the weekend
- November’s Featured Campaign is Pursuit of Destiny, by @cwgabriel (via @obsidianportal)
- Win a signed copy of R.A. Salvatore’s “The Ghost King” (via @newbiedm)
- Not iPhone friendly, but here’s a good dominion randomizer (via Asmor)
- GeekDad names “Revenge of the Giants” and “FantasyCraft” on their Holiday Gift Guide (both reviewed on CH)
- “My group does skill challenges via email between games. Here is an example.” (via @cwgabriel)
- FFG is running a Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Pre-release November 13-15
- Ever wondered what to call a group of monsters? (via @mudbunny74)
- Finally someone has answered one of my lingering questions of life…and storm troopers. (via @betterwithmayo)
- Skill Challenge: God of the Flaming Sea
- Friends, that magical time has finally come. *ahem* … TAUNTAUN PRE-ORDER!!! (via Thinkgeek)
- The three #darksun books are live in the product catalogue: Campaign Setting, Creature Catalog, and Adventure… no Player’s Guide. (via @wotc_rodney)
- North Star Games donating 2,000 games to libraries (via BoardGameNews)
- Get PHB and PHB2 for the price of one this holiday season
- Child’s Play 2009 has been officially launched. (via @mudbunny74)
Critical Bits for the week ending 2009-10-31
- Updated Skill Challenges page with Rob Donoghue’s Siege of Fallcrest and Changing the World, along with new Ruling SCs.
- Questing’s Readings – RPG Bloggers Network Edition
- Do you own any of these awesome boardgames?
- Google Wave: we came, we saw, we played D&D
- Pet shop marketing to D&D/WoW players (via @Johenius)
- Lair: Assault on the Anti-Delve
- The Wave’s the Thing: Google Wave, 4e D&D, and You.
- Creating Controlling Powers in 4e
- Curious devices, intriguing documents, and forbidden artifacts, with an emphasis on the Cthulhu Mythos. (via unclebear)
- Player-Generated Premises in a 4e game
- These guys deserve medals! Flickr: Street D&D: San Francisco, October 24, 2009 (via GamerTraveler)
- D&D Geek Justice (via newbiedm)
- Check out @gregbilsland in his awesome beholder costume! (via @Sernett)
- Head Injury Theater’s @jaredvonhindman takes on Drizzt and Co
