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

Mouse Guard Chronicles, Session 1, Part 1: Char Gen.

July 13, 2010 by The Chatty DM

On Canada Day, a small group of us convened for an all day gaming geekout to create characters and, time permitting, play a session with the intent to have a extend it into a short campaign if it struck the group’s fancy.

Filed Under: Actual Play, Campaign Logs, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Chatty's 2010 summer campaign, Mouse Guard

The Final Stage of a RPG Group: Dissolution

July 6, 2010 by The Chatty DM

I thought I was done with this increasingly inaccurately named “4-stages of RPG group development series” when I wrote the last part about Stagnation, but recent event in my gaming group lead me to a painful decision and I thought that tackling it as an addendum to the series would be a good idea.

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Player Psychology, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: d&d 4e, gm advice, GMing, Group Dynamics, The 4 stages

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

Roludothon 1 Report: The Sea patrol.

July 2, 2010 by The Chatty DM

Continuing his Roludothon convention report, Chatty relates his 1st Mouse Guard experience as a player.

Filed Under: Actual Play, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: convention report, Mouse Guard, Roludothon

Roludothon 1 Report, Morning: Robo-Rally, Agricola and Cheetoism

June 30, 2010 by The Chatty DM

Chatty DM shares his gaming and social experiences at a local convention in Montreal. He tried Agricola for the first time and, surprisingly, liked it!

Filed Under: Actual Play, Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Musings of the Chatty DM Tagged With: Agricola, Cheetoism, conventions, Montreal, Poutine, RoboRally, Roludothon

What if, Twitter Edition: Dailies as Encounter Powers

June 25, 2010 by The Chatty DM

One of the things I absolutely love about Twitter, once you reach a certain critical mass of followers, is its instant ability to create multiple parallel discussions about a subject.

Yesterday I was working at prepping my Font of Sorrows D&D 4e adventure when the following thought struck me:

What if dailies were encounter powers but could only be used while bloodied? That’s what I see in action movies like Iron Man 2

Filed Under: Game Hacks & Content, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Chatty's what if, Friday Chat

Origins 2010: Get the One Page Dungeon Codex

June 24, 2010 by The Chatty DM

For those attending the Origins Game Fair over the weekend, you can mosey on down to Tabletop Adventure’s booth (#422) and purchase a copy of the Codex on CD-ROM (includes the color PDF Codex in both screen and print resolution formats and all 112 One Page Codex entries) for just 5$. The CDs look awesome and makes for a great, crash proof and portable reference!

Filed Under: Freelance Writing, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: One Page Dungeon Codex, Origins 2010

Of Sorrowful Villainous Shrikes and Losing Encumbrance

June 22, 2010 by The Chatty DM

Way back when, I used to write these short posts (yeah, Pffft!) where I would mix and match various cool things I’d seen on the web or to update people on things I had been doing. I thought it would be a good time to do one now.

Filed Under: Adventure Prep, Freelance Writing, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, art, d&d 4e, Fan Art, monster

3:16 Carnage Among Friends: Part 2, Lead 4 Dead

June 20, 2010 by The Chatty DM

To say that 3:16 little prep is like saying that rain is wet. With the help of a few charts to pick planet names, planetary environments, alien appearances, alien powers and various NPC names, the GM just needs to add a few creative sparks to create a 2-3 hour long adventure.

Filed Under: Actual Play, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 3:16 Carnage Among the Stars, Actual Play, science fiction, Space Marine, Tropes

3:16 Carnage Among Friends: Part 1, Sarge’s Review

June 15, 2010 by The Chatty DM

3:16 is a rules-light, hyper-focused, indie-as-hell roleplaying game. All players are space marines fighting in the 16th battalion of the 3rd army. Their sole mission in life? Drop on planets with scores of other troopers and officer and kill absolutely all life in the name of protecting the Terran home world.

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 3:16 Carnage Among the Stars, Actual Play, Humor, Reviews

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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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