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Metatopia 2013 Schedule

October 28, 2013 by Dave

Metatopia is a unique convention, added to the roster of Double Exposure conventions. Metatopia covers games of all kinds, from board/card/party games to roleplaying games to live action games. As someone who has interests in all those areas, I’ve been happy to be at Metatopia every time they’ve put the convention on, including this year.

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Critical Threats, Newest Critical Hits, News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: conventions, game design, metatopia, metatopia 2013

“Neverwinter Campaign Setting” Icons for “13th Age”

August 8, 2013 by Dave

I’ve played (and run) a few more sessions of 13th Age since I wrote my first preview, as the rules became more solid and filled out from those first playtests. I was initially more guarded, but since then, my opinion of 13th Age has only gone up. The actual books are making their way into […]

Filed Under: Critical Threats, Featured, Game Hacks & Content, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 13th Age, 13thAge, 4e, D&D, forgotten realms, Neverwinter

Preview: “Odyssey: The Complete Game Master’s Guide to Campaign Management”

June 3, 2013 by Dave

Engine Publishing, the book publishing arm of our blog rivals/friends at Gnome Stew, has tackled all kinds of subjects before: from NPCs, to plots, to adventure preparation. Their newest book, Odyssey, takes the long view that encompasses aspects of all of these in macro, looking at the campaign as a whole and strategies to deal […]

Filed Under: Critical Threats, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: campaign advice, campaign preparation, Campaigns, gm prep, odyssey

Cortex Plus Hacker’s Guide and Fantasy Heroic Roleplaying

January 25, 2013 by Dave

As you might know, Phil and I have been D&D fans for decades. Here on Critical Hits, we’ve spent a lot of time writing about, musing about, and generally playing with D&D and games like it.

Filed Under: Critical Threats, Featured, Game Hacks & Content, News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Cortex Plus, cphg, D&D, leverage, marvel heroic roleplaying, mhrp, smallville

My Year in Gaming Kickstarters

December 31, 2012 by Dave

As 2012 wraps up, I wanted to take a look at the Kickstarters I supported this year, and ultimately focusing on the games, particularly the RPGs, my most-supported category.

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Comics, Critical Threats, Editorial, Featured, Movies, Music, Roleplaying Games, Science Fiction & Fantasy Genre, Video Games Tagged With: Kickstarter

2012: A Good Year for Cooperative Gaming

December 28, 2012 by Dave

This year has been a great one for new games of all kinds. As I look back at the ones I’ve put the most time into and been most excited about, I was surprised to pick up on a pattern: most of them are cooperative games. While cooperative games are often a mixed bag for me, this year has produced some that I’ve gotten lots of mileage out of. Presented here are five of my very favorites that I encourage you to check out.

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Critical Threats, Editorial, Reviews, Video Games Tagged With: agents of smersh, artemis, artemis starship bridge simulator, dungeon fighter, escape, escape: the curse of the temple, spaceteam, tales of the arabian nights

Too Many Pillars: Background and Specialties in D&D Next

September 14, 2012 by Dave

I was reminded of this when playing the newest version of the playtest packet for D&D Next at Gen Con, and also clicked even more when thinking about themes and how they work in 4e (of which I just had an article posted with new ones, obvious plug) and also how 13th Age tackles it. Here’s my conclusion: I’m not a fan of the Race/Class/Background/Specialty system as implemented in D&D Next.

Filed Under: Critical Threats, Editorial, Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: D&D, D&D next, game design, themes

Portrait of a Card Addict as a Young Man

July 6, 2012 by Dave

After over 10 years clean, only playing the occasional draft in the meantime, I’ve gotten back into Magic: The Gathering, in a pretty big way. I’ve played in the last three prereleases held by my FLGS, and am playing another one this Saturday for the release of Magic 2013 core set. I’ve started playing both drafts at the FLGS, and organizing them at home. Perhaps most shockingly of all, I’ve pushed to play Magic at days when we could be doing other gaming like board games or RPGs. The bug has bit hard.

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Critical Threats Tagged With: magic the gathering

First Impressions Preview: “13th Age”

June 20, 2012 by Dave

Describing itself as a “love letter to D&D”, 13th Age has quite the pedigree behind it. 13th Age is designed by two accomplished and notable game designers, Jonathan Tweet (Everway, multiple editions of D&D, much more) and Rob Heinsoo (Feng Shui, D&D 4e, much more), and is published by Pelgrane Press, whose design on their GUMSHOE and other lines show that their production values are top notch and often eclipse products put out by bigger companies.

Filed Under: Critical Threats, Featured, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 13th Age, D&D

Origins 2012 Report

June 13, 2012 by Dave

I almost didn’t attend Origins this year, despite having attended for many years prior. The date change meant that a number of people I knew would not be attending this time around, cutting down reasons for attending. Likewise, I was already making other plans for that time off. Then Get Bit! was nominated for an award, and that pretty much settled that. Despite the changes, I still had a good time. Here are some of the highlights for me.

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Critical Threats, Editorial, News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: avacyn restored, eventide, flowerfall, get bit!, king of tokyo, magic the gathering, marvel heroic roleplaying, mtg, planechase, set cubed, shelter in place, summoner wars

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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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