• Critical-Hits Studios
    • Criminals Card Game
    • Sentinel Comics: the Roleplaying Game
  • Downloads & Tools
    • Critical Hits Fantasy Name Generator
    • Drinking D&D 2010
    • Drinking D&D 2011
    • Fiasco Playset: “Alma Monster”
    • MODOK’s 11 for Marvel Heroic Roleplaying
    • Refuge In Audacity RPG
    • Strange New Worlds RPG
  • Guides
    • Gamma World
    • Guide to 4e Accessories
    • Guide to Gaming DVDs
    • Skill Challenges
  • RSS Feed
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Critical Hits

Everything tabletop gaming since 2005

  • News
  • Reviews
  • Columns
    • Dire Flailings
    • Dungeonomics
    • Musings of the Chatty DM
    • Pain of Publication
    • The Architect DM
  • Podcasts
    • Critical Hits Podcast
    • Dungeon Master Guys Podcast
  • Roleplaying Games
  • Tabletop Games
  • Game Hacks & Content
  • Video Games
You are here: Home / Archives for 2009

Archives for 2009

Tales of the City Within, Session 2, Part 1

July 13, 2009 by The Chatty DM

Last Friday we sat down for another session of our Summer mini-campaign set in our homegrown setting of the City Within the Dungeon.  See the reports of the last session here and here. The Myth Debunked. Franky: “Phil, based on some comments we’ve read, many of your readers seem to think that we’re this kind […]

Filed Under: Campaign Logs, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, Chatty's 2008-2009 campaign, Primal

Inq. of the Week: You Got Science in my Fantasy

July 13, 2009 by Dave

We heard a lot of complaints that psionics just don’t fit with the D&D milieu. Even for a die hard fan such as myself, it can be hard to justify mental powers (that in other media are often linked to “the next stage of evolution” and other scientific/pseudo-scientific concepts) as part of the D&D world. Dark Sun was a world custom built for psionics, as all the other alternatives for fantastic powers had some issues.

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Inquisition of the Week, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: psion, psionics

2009 Ennie Award Nominations

July 13, 2009 by Dave

You can view the entire list of nominees at the Ennie homepage or at this thread on ENWorld. But let’s get this out of the way first: Best Website Critical Hits Dungeon-A-Day Kobold Quarterly Mad Brew Labs Obsidian Portal Forgive me losing my journalistic composure here, but WE WERE NOMINATED FOR AN ENNIE AWARD! Ahem. […]

Filed Under: Critical Bits, News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: ennies, ennies2009, gencon, gencon2009

Critical Bits for the week ending 2009-07-11

July 11, 2009 by Gato the News Robot

Game designer Mike Selinker talks about the Battletech pods  The Munchkin Super Sekrit Project has, apparently, become available! The MUNCHKIN iPHONE APP!  (via @muskrat_john) 10 Business Lessons I Learned from D&D  The first two week publication cycle has begun on Nevermet Press UpComingCons.com has launched, providing a listing of anime, comic, gaming, and sci-fi cons, as […]

Filed Under: Critical Bits Tagged With: twitter

Product Tie-in Video Games 101: A Lesson in Love and Paychecks

July 10, 2009 by guest

Today we’re going to be discussing one of the biggest money makers for video game studios; Product Tie-ins. They are something that we’ve been accustomed to in video games, and all can form a general consensus when we hear their name said. From E.T. to Chronicles of Riddick, video games based on movies have been around for most of your brief gaming lives. When did they start? Were they always bland and overpriced?

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Humor, Reviews, Video Games Tagged With: ghostbusters, movie tie-in, terminator: salvation

4e Lessons: The Penny Arcade/PVP D&D Podcast, Part 2

July 9, 2009 by The Chatty DM

In part 1, I discussed common D&D 4e mistakes, taking examples from the excellent D&D podcast featuring the guys from Penny Arcade, Scott from PVP and that wonderboy who used to play in that Sci-Fi show. Today I want to look at how the two Dungeon Masters, Chris Perkins and James Wyatt, were DMing. The […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, advice, D&D Podcast

4E: Psion – by the Numbers

July 8, 2009 by Bartoneus

Yesterday saw the introduction of Wizards of the Coast’s new ‘preview’ content roll out for the PHB3, starting with a build for the new Psion class and an article with developer commentary on the new class and the inclusion of the Psionic power source into 4th Edition. Of particular interest to me is the fact that introducing a new, and relatively different, mechanic to the game has caused many to instantly decree imbalance and broken status upon the class.

Filed Under: Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4th Edition, balance, dnd, Dungeons & Dragons, insider, playtest, preview, psion, psionics, Roleplaying Games, roleplaying games

4e Lessons: The Penny Arcade/PVP D&D Podcast, Part 1

July 8, 2009 by The Chatty DM

I’m almost done listening to the Penny Arcade/PVP D&D podcast (which I enjoy immensely) and it makes me realize just how many good D&D 4e lessons  are in there.  The numerous play mistakes made by the inexperienced players, while annoying to anal retentive rules freaks like me, probably reveal a lot about the parts of […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Player Psychology, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, advice, D&D Podcast

YouTube of the Week: Hey! Edition

July 7, 2009 by Dave

Pretty self-explanatory. (via @betterwithmayo)

Filed Under: Humor, Movies, Science Fiction & Fantasy Genre, YouTube Tuesday Tagged With: jurassic park

Inq. of the Week: How Caffeinated?

July 6, 2009 by Bartoneus

We’ve had a lot of Origins 2009 coverage over the last week, and on Saturday celebrating the 4th of July Dave and I realized that GenCon is only a few weeks away. This realization makes me ponder what keeps me going through such hectic times, and more often than not the answer always comes back to caffeine. I’ve been a huge soda fiend since middle school, and even though my day job has stopped buying soda but still provides coffee, I just can’t bear switching over!

Filed Under: Featured, Inquisition of the Week Tagged With: caffeine, coffee, drinks, Inquisition of the Week, soda

« Previous Page
Next Page »

About the Author

  • The Chatty DM

    The Chatty DM is the "nom de plume" of gamer geek Philippe-Antoine Menard. He has been a GM for over 40 years. An award-winning RPG blogger, game designer, and scriptwriter at Ubisoft. He squats a corner of Critical Hits he affectionately calls "Musings of the Chatty DM." (Email Phil or follow him on Twitter.)

    Email: chattydm@critical-hits.comWeb: https://critical-hits.com//category/chattydm/

Subscribe

RSS Feed

Archives

CC License

All articles and comments posted posted on the site (but not the products for sale) are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. References to trademarks and copywritten material are included for review and commentary use only and are not intended as any kind of challenge.

Recent Comments

  • fogus: The best things and stuff of 2024 on Remembering the Master: An Inelegant Eulogy for Kory Heath
  • Routinely Itemised: RPGs #145 on Review: The Magus
  • The Chatty DM on Review: The Magus
  • Linnaeus on Review: The Magus
  • 13th Age: Indexing Truths — Critical Hits on The Horizon Conspiracy

Contact The Staff

Critical Hits staff can be reached via the contact information on their individual staff pages and in their articles. If you want to reach our senior staff, email staff @ critical-hits.com. We get sent a lot of email, so we can't promise we'll be able to respond to everything.

Recent Posts

  • Remembering the Master: An Inelegant Eulogy for Kory Heath
  • Review: The Magus
  • Hope in the Dark Heart of Evil is Not a Plan
  • Chatty on Games #1: Dorf Romantik
  • The Infinity Current: Adventure 0

Top Posts & Pages

  • Home
  • The 5x5 Method Compendium
  • Dungeons & Dragons "Monster Manual" Preview: The Bulette!
  • Critical Hits Fantasy Name Generator
  • On Mid-Medieval Economics, Murder Hoboing and 100gp
  • "The Eversink Post Office" - An Unofficial Supplement for Swords of the Serpentine
  • Finally a manual for the rest of them!
  • Dave Chalker AKA Dave The Game
  • How to Compare Birds to Fish
  • The Incense War: a Story of Price Discovery, Mayhem, and Lust

Copyright © 2025 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in