• 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 Newest Critical Hits / Columns / Musings of the Chatty DM

Mobile Phones in Cars

April 3, 2008 by The Chatty DM

I only have one blog and I need to rant about something totally unrelated to RPGs… but somewhat geeky… so feel free to move on or add some oil on the fire. On April 1st, a new law (for real, not as an April Fool’s) passed in Quebec that strictly forbids the use of hand-held […]

Filed Under: Geek Stuff, Musings of the Chatty DM Tagged With: Rant

Pathfinder Preview: Curse of the Crimsom Throne Player’s Guide

April 2, 2008 by The Chatty DM

I got a nice, very red, surprise in the mail yesterday. It was Paizo’s Pathfinder #7, the 1st adventure of the series’ second Adventure Path, along with a copy of the player’s guide. Since I got the guide this time, I thought I’d preview it first and then tackle the adventure tomorrow. The Curse of […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: pathfinder

DM Chronicles, Session 14: You Wanted Planescape? You Got It!

April 1, 2008 by The Chatty DM

This is part of a long running series that chronicles my current D&D campaign set in an adapted version of Ptolus. Oh yeah… I’m not actually quitting.. While it is a lot of work, I’m still having fun here. Last game I played a rather badly designed plot exposition scene that left our enjoyment of […]

Filed Under: Campaign Logs, Musings of the Chatty DM Tagged With: 3.5e, Chatty's 2007-2008 campaign

It’s time to move on…

April 1, 2008 by The Chatty DM

I think many of you saw the signs in the last few days… longer periods between posts, a few personal posts about blogging vs real life and general funkyness. Well after thinking about it long and hard, I’ve decided that it’s time I moved on to more productive things. So I’m going to start writing […]

Filed Under: Geek Stuff, Musings of the Chatty DM Tagged With: Have you looked at the date?

Chatty’s Out of the Box #006: Gummy Dragons

March 30, 2008 by The Chatty DM

Here’s another comic with some new characters, once again done with the creative support of my good friend PM. It was about time that I put my gargantuan and Colossal dragons to use, it’s not like I ever needed them in my actual games. I owe the original idea of this comic to Scotticus, thanks […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Uncategorized Tagged With: Chatty's Out of the Box

Found a name for my gaming group!

March 29, 2008 by The Chatty DM

Yesterday, before we started our bi-monthly D&D game, I had to step outside to go and get the last player from the Subway station nearby. As I got out, I noticed that out of the seven people that play in our group, 4 own a Ford Focus Station Wagon (So Ronin, I may have to […]

Filed Under: Geek Stuff, Musings of the Chatty DM

Robin’s Laws Revisited: Part 4, Creating your Campaign

March 28, 2008 by The Chatty DM

This post is part of a series that revisits Robin Laws’ classic work on Gamemastering, called simply enough Robin’s Laws of Good Game Mastering. I tackle each chapter in order. It’s not so much a review of the book but more my views on the subjects Robin touched then. If you want to get better […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: DMing, Robin Laws, world building

Adventure Prep: My Rewind button

March 26, 2008 by The Chatty DM

This week, my actual prepping work is rather light. Since all 6 players are available (What are the odds?) we have to move the game out of my place. I can only accommodate 5 in my gaming den. That means I’ll have to pack my stuff to go to Math’s on Friday evening. It also […]

Filed Under: Adventure Prep, Musings of the Chatty DM Tagged With: Tropes

I’m okay but busy…

March 26, 2008 by The Chatty DM

Title says it all. With a huge job milestone coming next week and the daily gym, my energy level is steady but on the low side. So when I’m done putting the kids to bed and doing a little prep for my Friday game, there’s no juice left for blogging. I did manage to perform […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM

Linky love from a papercut DM!

March 24, 2008 by The Chatty DM

Hey there, I’m taking it cool today, Gym was tiring, and while I am working on a Robin Laws post, I realized that I need to spend a little bit more time reading up on stuff to do a good post on it. Plus, I got a paper cut on my ring finger today and […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Community

« Previous Page
Next Page »

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/

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 © 2026 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in