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You are here: Home / Archives for The Chatty DM

Old School, New School and Gygaxian Naturalism (or not)

May 7, 2009 by The Chatty DM

Here’s the post that I promised wouldn’t write since it could be construed as a comment bait.  However, since I spent 2 hours reading arguments and trying to define some fairly controversial terms, I’m not going to waste that!  No siree! Now, just so we’re clear on this, I’m interested to read your thoughts and […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Debate, Gygaxian Naturalism, new school, old school, world building

One Page Contest Final Update: Less than one week left

May 7, 2009 by The Chatty DM

We’re into week 3 of the One Page Dungeon contest and things are shaping up for some fierce competition!   With about 45 entries so far, we’ve received a very wide variety of ‘dungeons’, from the old-school classic to the really really out there. But it’s not too late for those that thrive on tight […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: contest, one page dungeon

Adventure Prep: The City Adventure

May 6, 2009 by The Chatty DM

For my next D&D session (which is on Friday next week), I’ve decided to go for a city-based adventure. We’ve played 3 sessions into our new Primal/Within campaign and all those were focused on the Dungeon part of the setting and very little on the city (except to interact with Quest giving NPCs). I think […]

Filed Under: Adventure Prep, Musings of the Chatty DM Tagged With: City Adventures, Primal/Within, Tropes, world building

Primal/Within Chronicles: The Font of Sorrows, Session 2 Part 2

May 4, 2009 by The Chatty DM

See part 1, here. City Interlude After having beaten the undead prisoner-guardians of the Font of Sorrows and subduing ‘Spurt’ the enchanted Bulette, our heroes returned to town to complete their rest and return Spurt to its owner. The mad Wizard was relieved to recover his prized pet, although bitterly disappointed to see all the […]

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

Primal/Within Chronicles: The Font of Sorrows, Session 2 Part 1

May 3, 2009 by The Chatty DM

Previously in Chatty’s game… Our new band of heroes are hired by the Burgomeister of one of the City Within’s agricultural burgs to investigate the tainting of its water supply.  The search lead them into an old Elemental Water temple guarded by spectral water wraiths. After defeating the guardians, our heroes explored further and discovered […]

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

One-Page Dungeon Contest Update 2: Four on the Template

April 30, 2009 by The Chatty DM

After 2 weeks, the one-page dungeon contest is revving up nicely.  Entries have been coming in at a steady pace from all over the world. Seriously, this week we got entries from Australia, Italy and Germany just to name a few.  The dungeons are also very very diverse showing off various genres and themes. I […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: contest, Megadungeon, one page dungeon, world building

Random Thoughts Table: Sounds of Free D&D with new Tools!

April 29, 2009 by The Chatty DM

Here’s a mix and match of some of the things lying here and there on my blogging desk. Worlds of Sounds Earlier this year, I got a complimentary set of 3 CDs from reader Giorgio Vezzini.  Giorgio runs a studio in Italy called World of Twillights where he produced 4 CDs of sounds to use […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, DM tools, free

Primal/Within: Some Factions, Sectors and (one) Citizen

April 27, 2009 by The Chatty DM

You might notice that my empty speech bubble in my blog’s header is no longer empty.  Thanks to Eric Maziade, I now have a little plug-in that lets me write quotes! This week is session #2 of my new campaign (if we don’t count the awesome prequel session in the Crypt of the Thief-Prince).  My […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Player Psychology, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, Chatty's 2008-2009 campaign, Megadungeon, Primal/Within, world building

FLGS Chronicles: My Store’s Fauna

April 24, 2009 by The Chatty DM

What’s this? I’m not sure. I’m flirting with non- fiction.  Don’t know what it will turn out into.  I think that I’m slowly getting ready to write a novel. Sometimes, before my Friday night games, I saunter on to my Favorite Local Gaming Store in the north end of Montreal and I sit down with […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games

Notebook Campaign: How I got my Son into Tabletop RPGs

April 23, 2009 by The Chatty DM

This post is my personal musings about introducing my son to tabletop roleplaying as a progression from the Storytime games we’ve been playing since I came back from Gen Con last year.  Instead of telling you why I want to do this, I’ll refer you to Martin Ralya’s excellent RPG advocacy article he just posted […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Bedtime roleplaying, gaming with children, Gaming with Kids

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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/

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