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You are here: Home / Archives for 2010

Archives for 2010

Review: “Underdark”

February 17, 2010 by Bartoneus

The latest 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons supplement from Wizards of the Coast is simply titled Underdark, and it contains all kinds of information and fleshed out details on the entire realm for which it is named. This book is along the same vein as The Plane Below book on the Elemental Chaos, but the Underdark is a subterranean realm just beneath the surface of your game world and so will always be more accessible than the other planes to your players and their characters.

Filed Under: Featured, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4th Edition, book, D&D, dnd 4e, Dungeons and Dragons, Roleplaying Games, roleplaying games, underdark

What? You want to Sleep here?

February 17, 2010 by The Chatty DM

I don’t like random monsters. On the other hand, the idea of having players sweat for their extended rest could be worth exploring once or twice in a campaign. This is especially true if your group chronically blows their wad of dailies in the first encounter and then just assume they can take an extended rest wherever they please. So, what if you said ‘Yes’ to resting in a dangerous area (like in the middle of a freaking dungeon) but did it with a twist?

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, Chatty's what if, DM advice, Extended Rest, skill challenges, skill checks, skills

Cooties

February 16, 2010 by Vanir

For some guys, talking to girls is difficult. A look back upon mistakes made, and hopes for the future. Also, boobs get mentioned.

Filed Under: Dire Flailings, Humor, Science Fiction & Fantasy Genre, Video Games Tagged With: adolescence, burlap, cinemax, clueless, cooties, dragon age, girls, hitchhiker's guide, mass effect 2, neo-otyugh, red sonja, relationships, space gonorrhea

Critical Hits Podcast #16: Creating Challenging Encounters Seminar

February 16, 2010 by Dave

Matt James of Loremaster, Erik Nowak of Blackdirge Publishing/Goodman Games, and myself gave a talk at synDCon 2010 about creating challenging encounters in 4e. Everything from reverse skill challenges to Beholder tunnels to fighting Orcus at level 1 is covered.

Filed Under: Critical Hits Podcast, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, encounters

Inq. of the Week: Age of Dragons

February 16, 2010 by Dave

Last weekend, while at synDCon, I managed to get into some quick demos of the Dragon Age tabletop RPG run by Hal of Green Ronin. I left with boxed set in hand, so expect a full review coming sometime soon after I get a chance to pour over it, but suffice it to say we couldn’t help but swap some stories about playing the video game.

Filed Under: Featured, Inquisition of the Week, Roleplaying Games, Video Games Tagged With: dragon age

Gears of Ruin: The Ruiner’s Gambit, Session 1, Part 4

February 14, 2010 by The Chatty DM

The Titan Clank hit by the Avenger’s abjure undead power was eventually bloodied. In a cloud of greasy smoke, it stopped functioning and let out a badly battered undead humanoid made of mismatched stitched parts! It was wearing some sort of military leather harness filled with poisoned knives!

Filed Under: Campaign Logs, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, Chatty's 2009-2010 Campaign, Gears of Ruin

Critical Bits for the week ending 2010-02-14

February 14, 2010 by Gato the News Robot

Updated: Character Class Reference with PHB3 classes http://is.gd/7SU2d and Character Race Reference with PHB3/ Dark Sun http://is.gd/7SU5Q # Roleplaying Games as Tools for Story Telling http://is.gd/80SWc # RT @ATerribleIdea: Special Valentine's Day sale: Shambles $5.00 – Show how you love them by trying to eat their brains. http://bit.ly/aHhE4Z # RT @Wizards_DnD: Not sure what's in […]

Filed Under: Critical Bits Tagged With: twitter

Ecology of an Icon: The Ultimate Team

February 12, 2010 by guest

Bursting forth through an eruption of turf and soil, an iconic visage bears down upon its prey with terrifying speed and precision. The Umber Hulk mounted Bullette (referred to as the Umber Bullette) has been an iconic presence within the RPG world for years now, but how these two seemingly savage and completely different creatures came to coexist has only recently come to light.

Filed Under: Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: bulette, mascot, ultimate team, umber hulk

From Talking Heads to Downloadable Endings: Modern Console RPG Trends

February 11, 2010 by guest

Video games have been found to be such a tappable market for moneymaking that EA having a bad fiscal quarter affects the entire Dow Jones. It’s not a few guys in a basement anymore, its a CEO and boardroom environment now. The “suits” making the decisions on the games you play aren’t pushing the limitations of anyone’s imagination, instead they only care about how a game affects an earnings report. Because of this sad fact, there are too many questionable trends happening in gaming, and this year doesn’t forecast to be much different

Filed Under: Editorial, Video Games Tagged With: borderlands, chrono trigger, earthbound, fallout 3, final fantasy, final fantasy tactics, mass effect, mass effect 2, Rant, spore, sports games

Gears of Ruin: The Ruiner’s Gambit, Session 1, Part 3

February 11, 2010 by The Chatty DM

The Wrath of Melora tackles the Claw, Hollywood style and takes on the Titan Clanks while his buddies are being pummelled relentlessly.

Filed Under: Campaign Logs, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, Chatty's 2009-2010 Campaign, Gears of Ruin

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  • Bartoneus

    Danny works professionally as an architectural designer and serves as managing editor here at CH, which means he shares many of the duties of being an editor but without the fame and recognition. He also writes about RPGs, videogames, movies, and TV. He is married to Sucilaria, and has a personal blog at Incorrect Blitz Input. (Email Danny or follow him on Twitter).

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