• 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 Vanir

Review: WotC’s “D&D Gaming Enhancer”

April 1, 2015 by Vanir

“D&D Gaming Enhancer”, as the product is labeled, is a viscous green liquid designed to “make gaming better.” Wizards of the Coast has opted to ship one gallon of the substance to every owner of the Player’s Handbook.

Filed Under: Dire Flailings, Humor, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: april fools, D&D

Preview: “World Wide Wrestling”

September 11, 2014 by Vanir

In short: I strongly encourage you to check this game out, and throw money at it until it arrives at your house and does a flying elbow through your door.

Filed Under: Dire Flailings, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: indie, Kickstarter, world wide wrestling, wrestling, wwe

Soft Skill Check

October 29, 2013 by Vanir

It comes as little surprise to me, then, that when I look back on all the really good DM’s I’ve ever played with, I see a 10d6 fireball made out of people skills. These people manage to complete the cat-herding ritual that is holding a weekly game night. A lot of them work with their players individually to give each one something personal to enjoy in-game. They manage interpersonal conflicts, both in and out of game. They manage the expectations of their players. And they do it while running a game.

Filed Under: Dire Flailings, Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: gm skills, mentoring, people skills, soft skills

Visiting The Future Before It Vanishes

September 24, 2013 by Vanir

I have made the drive to Gen Con many times, and it’s about three and a half hours. It’s no grueling cross-country trek, but it has proven boring even with a decent music playlist — especially when I’m driving solo. Having a good audiobook playing made it feel like 15 minutes.

Filed Under: Dire Flailings, Newest Critical Hits Tagged With: audiobook, book, emotions, ready player one, star wars, thrawn, timothy zahn, vader, wheaton

[Review] A Crapton of Awesome Old Electronic Games From My Parents’ Basement

September 10, 2013 by Vanir

After I moved out of the house when I was 20, my parents kept all the stuff from my old room in the closet. I’d periodically take a box or two of it home with me over the years (and the occasional well-deserved “when are you going to take the rest of your stuff”), but […]

Filed Under: Dire Flailings Tagged With: 70s, 80s, arcade, coleco, electronic games, galaxian, merlin, pac man, retro, star wars

Tales From Gen Con 2013

September 6, 2013 by Vanir

Hi-ho, Vanir the blog here. Gen Con has come and gone, and (as usual) I returned full of memories, inspiration, and strange ideas. Here are a few of the highlights of my Gen Con 2013 Experience™: PROTIP Do not start a new job the day after Gen Con. WOW that was dumb. My head was […]

Filed Under: Dire Flailings Tagged With: book signing, cosmic patrol, dangerous games, dread, gen con, gencon, magic the gathering, matt forbeck, mercedes lackey, nascrag, rude people

California Pizza Katniss

August 20, 2013 by Vanir

Gen Con 2013 has come and gone, and all that remains is stories. Well, and pictures. And movies. And maybe a little buyer’s remorse from hasty sales floor purchases. But mostly stories. This particular story begins in the California Pizza kitchen across the street from the convention hall. I was sitting with my good friends […]

Filed Under: Dire Flailings Tagged With: gatekeepers, gen con, gencon, gencon 2013, hunger games, katniss, pizza, poseurs

Stat-Flavored Protips, Gen Con 2013 Edition

August 13, 2013 by Vanir

As some of you may be aware, the Best Four Days EVER in Gaming draws near. A lot of new folks will be attending this year, and they will need convention protips. I have a stockpile of those, which I have decided to disseminate through a clever D&D ability scores framework. This is why I […]

Filed Under: Dire Flailings Tagged With: convention, gen con, protips

[Review] Pacific Rim

July 16, 2013 by Vanir

WARNING: mild spoilers for Pacific Rim are contained within. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNT.   Over the weekend, I saw a quiet little movie called Pacific Rim. Going into the movie, I saw nothing but extremely positive reviews — not a big surprise for a Guillermo Del Toro movie and the crowd I listen to. I was super […]

Filed Under: Dire Flailings, Movies Tagged With: gamelon, gamera, ghidora, godzilla, grendizer, iguana, jaeger, kaiju, king ghidora, matthew broderick, mazinger, mazinger z, mazinkaiser, Mecha, mechaghidora, mechagodzilla, megazord, mothra, pacific rim, power rangers, Reviews, rodan, sentai, voltron

My List Of Demands From The Next-Gen Consoles

July 2, 2013 by Vanir

There are several stages to my gadget-lust when anything new comes out, and console launches are no exception. We have already passed Indifference and Disdain, progressed into Intrigue, and we are now crossing the border into Self-Entitled Rabidity. With this in mind, please accept these frothy demands for the next generation of consoles: Second Screen […]

Filed Under: Dire Flailings, Video Games Tagged With: kinect, motion controls, ps4, second screen gaming, wii u, xbox, xbox one

Next Page »

About the Author

  • Vanir

    Vanir is the sort of man who has openly wondered aloud about his own armor class in front of his own grandmother. Despite this, he has still managed to somehow become both married and a father. By day, he develops web applications. By night, web applications develop him.

    Email: vanir@critical-hits.comWeb: https://critical-hits.com//category/dire-flailings/

    Follow me:

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