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You are here: Home / Archives for Newest Critical Hits / Columns / Musings of the Chatty DM / Freelance Writing

Chatty DM, Freelancer, Part 2: Lessons from Day Jobs

June 5, 2011 by The Chatty DM

In which Chatty details his real life work experiences and how they helped shape his burgeoning career as a writer.

Filed Under: Freelance Writing, Musings of the Chatty DM Tagged With: Biography, D&D Insider, freelancing, Real Life Jobs, Writing

Chatty DM, Freelancer, Part 1: Lessons from Academia

May 30, 2011 by The Chatty DM

In which Chatty starts telling the story of what made him a writer, sharing a few key lessons from his early years.

Filed Under: Freelance Writing, Musings of the Chatty DM, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Biography, D&D Insider, freelancing, Writing

The Old School Job, Part 2: The Lich-Sorceress’ Release

May 19, 2011 by The Chatty DM

In which Chatty recounts the story generated by his new Leverage RPG fantasy hack, much to the consternation of catholic nuns and easily offended souls.

Filed Under: Actual Play, Freelance Writing, Game Hacks & Content, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games

The Old School Job, Part 1: The Temple-Brothel of Monte-Cookus

May 18, 2011 by The Chatty DM

In which Chatty finally reveals what new RPG hack he’s been working on for so long and starts telling the story of his latest play test game in a mythical fantasy city.

Filed Under: Actual Play, Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Featured, Freelance Writing, Game Hacks & Content, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games, Uncategorized Tagged With: Cortex Plus, Hack, Leverage RPG, Old School Job

Chatty’s Mailbag: Launching your own RPG

January 28, 2011 by The Chatty DM

Earlier this week I got an email question that made me ponder the realities of publishing one’s own RPG in this already flooded niche market. Here’s our friend’s question: Hey Phil, I’m finishing up development of my first RPG system, and plan to publish it on RPGnow.com in a couple month’s time. I have been […]

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Freelance Writing, Musings of the Chatty DM, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: game design, Independent Publishing, New Game, PDF, Tactical RPG

Carrot Design, Part 2: D&D 4e’s Classic Rewards

January 11, 2011 by The Chatty DM

In which Chatty dives in D&D 4e’s engine and explores the various types of rewards available for its players. He then examines areas where new, interesting types of rewards could be created to enhance the gaming experience of a wider spectrum of players.

Filed Under: Featured, Freelance Writing, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Action Points, Artifacts, d&d 4e, Experience Points, game design, Levels, magic items, needs, Player Motivations, powers, Quests, Rewards, Treasure, XPs

Chatty’s New Lair, V2.0

January 6, 2011 by The Chatty DM

In which Chatty invites you to his basement lair to witness the unveiling of his new secret laboratory of writing doom… or is it writhing doom? I always forget.

Filed Under: Freelance Writing, Geek Stuff, Musings of the Chatty DM, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Creature Comfort, Freelance Writing, Home Office

Carrot Design, Part 1: A Freelancer’s Challenge, From Needs to Rewards

December 23, 2010 by The Chatty DM

In which Chatty, on the heels of his last article, explores the challenges of designing new D&D 4e material for gaming magazines and how a writer needs to dodge many pitfalls to deliver a quality, useful article.

Filed Under: Freelance Writing, Musings of the Chatty DM, Newest Critical Hits, Player Psychology, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: d&d 4e, game design, kobold quarterly, needs, pathfinder, Player Motivations, Rewards

From Here to There: Finally Here!

December 9, 2010 by The Chatty DM

In which Chatty announces that his 4e Adventure is FINALLY out, steals from the publisher to describe the product as a whole and shares his designer notes and the dark secrets behind the adventure he wrote.

Filed Under: Freelance Writing, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: adventure, Cultists, d&d 4e, D&D essentials, essentials, Lovecraft

Pre-Order your print copy of the 2009 Deluxe One Page Dungeon Codex through Kickstarter

July 5, 2010 by The Chatty DM

Get a signed copy of the Deluxe 2009 One Page Dungeon Codex mailed to you anywhere in the world through Tabletop Adventure’s Kickstarter program. All supporters will get a special bonus!

Filed Under: Freelance Writing, Musings of the Chatty DM Tagged With: Font of Sorrows, Kickstarter, one page dungeon, One Page Dungeon Codex

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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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