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You are here: Home / Archives for Dave

MM2 Worldwide D&D Game Day: Behind the Screen

May 26, 2009 by Dave

Over a month ago, I discovered that Monster Manual 2 Game Day would fall smack dab in the middle of Balticon, so I decided I’d try to combine peanut butter and chocolate and sign up to run the game day at my Friendly Local Science Fiction Con. I hadn’t been happy with the previous game day at the game store closest to where I live, and didn’t particularly want to leave the con to head to a game store that day, so I navigated through the RPGA signup system to run it myself (and hey, get a pile of minis to boot).

Filed Under: Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, dndgd, mm2, monster manual 2, wwdndgd

Lessons from the Heroic Tier

May 21, 2009 by Dave

This March, I placed my game on hiatus so that I could graduate. At that time, some of the players were at 9th level and not too far from 10, so I decided to cheat a little and advance all the players to Paragon to begin the next chapter on the next tier. However, during the 9 levels of solid play we got in, I learned a few things about D&D 4e, at least as far as I could learn from the heroic tier. Here’s what I’ve learned about running 4e for close to 10 levels, in no particular order.

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, heroic tier

Fascinating, Captain

May 14, 2009 by Dave

As I sat watching Star Trek on Sunday, I was struck with a strong (but familiar) thought: “damn, I really want to run a campaign set in this. ”  About 4 years back now, I tried starting up a Star Trek campaign using d20 Modern/d20 Future and a few house rules (mainly for playable races). I […]

Filed Under: Editorial, Movies, Roleplaying Games, Science Fiction & Fantasy Genre Tagged With: star trek

YouTube Tuesday: To Boldly Go Where No Edition Has Gone Before

May 12, 2009 by Dave

Above, the Death Star blowing up the Enterprise, to consider our SW vs. ST theme this week. Below, links to a number of other Star Trek videos (from the various series) that I’ve collected. Enjoy!

Filed Under: Science Fiction & Fantasy Genre, YouTube Tuesday Tagged With: star trek, star wars

Inq. of the Week: The Stars Are Trekkin’

May 11, 2009 by Dave

Over the weekend, I caught the newest entry in the battle between Star Wars and Star Trek, as the Federation Strikes Back with the new update, featuring a rebooted franchise and cast (with one exception). I was not alone in this, as many showings were sold out as everyone and their mother (literally) sought out the new adventures of Kirk and Spock. Thus, for all you new and old Trek fans alike, to balance the scales of last week, I present to you the following query…

Filed Under: Featured, Inquisition of the Week, Movies, Science Fiction & Fantasy Genre, Television Tagged With: star trek

Scarrport: Get Some Steampunk in your 4e

May 8, 2009 by Dave

There’s a lot to like about Scarrport: City of Secrets, the new setting book from Reality Deviant Productions. What really makes it stand out to me are the rules for Steampunk-style items in your 4e game. By incorporating these kind of items, it adds a different genre to 4e, instead of just being another setting using the same D&D elements.

Filed Under: Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, scarrport, steampunk

YouTube Tuesday: The Preciousss Edition

May 5, 2009 by Dave

Above is the trailer for The Hunt for Gollum, a 40 minute fan-made prequel to the Lord of the Rings movies, and it looks pretty darn good. If you like the trailer, you can watch the full thing only online. I haven’t gotten a chance to see the whole thing through myself, but I can’t […]

Filed Under: Movies, Science Fiction & Fantasy Genre, YouTube Tuesday Tagged With: gollum, lord of the rings, rangers, smeagul is your friend, strider is a badass

Free 4th Edition

April 29, 2009 by Dave

GURPS Lite: “GURPS Lite is a 32-page distillation of the basic GURPS rules. It covers the essentials of character creation, combat, success rolls, adventuring, and game mastering for GURPS Fourth Edition.” Ars Magica: “The fourth edition of Ars Magica‘s core rulebook introduces improved systems in several key areas such as combat, character advancement, and covenant generation.” Shadowrun: “Shadowrun, […]

Filed Under: Critical Bits, News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, ars magica, D&D, gurps

Origins Awards Nominees 2009: Picks and Commentary

April 28, 2009 by Dave

icv2 has published the list of Origins Awards nominees. The nominees are decided by retailers at the GAMA Trade Show, and then attendees of Origins vote on the winners, and are announced at a ceremony on site (which we’ve covered two years in a row now). Here’s the relevant categories to the Critical Hits audience, along with my favorite from each category, and my guess of what will win.

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Editorial, News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: conventions, origins, origins awards

Bonus YouTube: MonstROUS Manual Edition

April 23, 2009 by Dave

Just had to post this up as soon as I saw it. A music video walk through many classic D&D monsters… though more from the Monstrous Manual days than the Monster Manual days. If you ever wanted to hear somebody sing about a Beholder, this is the music video for you. Press info about the […]

Filed Under: Music, Roleplaying Games, YouTube Tuesday Tagged With: D&D, mixel pixel, Monster Manual, monstrous manual, music video

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About the Author

  • Dave

    Dave "The Game" Chalker is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of Critical Hits. Since 2005, he has been bringing readers game news and advice, as well as editing nearly everything published here. He is the designer of the Origins Award-winning Get Bit!, a freelance designer and developer, son of a science fiction author, and a Master of Arts. He lives in MD with e and at least three dogs.

    Email: dave@critical-hits.com

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