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You are here: Home / Archives for Newest Critical Hits / Columns / Know Your Roll

Are You the Most Interesting Roleplayer in the World?

October 29, 2010 by Shawn Merwin

Somewhere, somewhen, out there in the back rooms of a gaming store, in the basement of some gamer’s house, lurks the most interesting gamer in the world. It is my mission to find that gamer.

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Know Your Roll Tagged With: 4e, D&DXP, ddxp2011

Designing is Redesigning

October 15, 2010 by Shawn Merwin

Progress is only made through mistakes. However, recognizing those mistakes and fixing them are not always easy.

Filed Under: Know Your Roll, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, adventure design

Playing Essentials Again (and Again and Again)

October 1, 2010 by Shawn Merwin

In an attempt to quell my obsession with the new Essentials rules, I played several games and made up several characters. And boy are my arms tired.

Filed Under: Know Your Roll, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, essentials, red box

Essentially Unbalanced: For Better or Worse

September 17, 2010 by Shawn Merwin

Since everyone else is talking about Essentials, it is time to look at the new rules with regards to balance between character classes. In the brave new post-Essentials world of D&D, should we be striving for balance or avoiding it?

Filed Under: Editorial, Know Your Roll, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, balance, essentials

Is Your Home Campaign Organized?

September 10, 2010 by Shawn Merwin

If this column takes more than an hour to load, then you will know what my earliest experiences with computer games were like. So I’ll take RPGs every time, whether they are home campaigns or organized-play offerings.

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Know Your Roll, Roleplaying Games

The Unneccesary Evil?

September 2, 2010 by Shawn Merwin

Without boxed text to rule an encounter, will anarchy reign? A continuation of the discussion of boxed text, in which Thomas Paine get invoked and a cockfight breaks out.

Filed Under: Columns, Editorial, Featured, Know Your Roll, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: adventure, boxed text, D&D, Dungeons and Dragons, module, publishing, roleplaying game, Roleplaying Games, shawn merwin

Thinking Outside the Boxed Text

August 27, 2010 by Shawn Merwin

Boxed text is often the first interaction between the writer of an adventure and its players. It had better be good, or Brark the Grimlock Barbarian may have something to say about it.

Filed Under: Editorial, Know Your Roll, Roleplaying Games

The GM: Everyone’s Best Friend

August 20, 2010 by Shawn Merwin

When the GM is everyone’s best friend, no one has to get thrown under the bus.

Filed Under: Editorial, Know Your Roll, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: adventure design, adventure writing, D&D, forgotten realms, living forgotten realms, organized play

What I Learned DMing for 10,000 Players

August 13, 2010 by Shawn Merwin

My first blog, in which I reveal how little I know, and probably would tick off E.M. Forster if he wasn’t dead.

Filed Under: Editorial, Know Your Roll, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 3e, 4e

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About the Author

  • Shawn Merwin

    Shawn Merwin is a freelance writer/editor and game designer with delusions of adequacy and a penchant for games and stories. He's worked on several organized play campaigns: Living Greyhawk, Xen'drik Expeditions, Living Kalamar, Living Forgotten Realms, and D&D Adventurer's League to name a few. His design work for Wizards of the Coast includes Dungeon Delve, Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress, and Halls of Undermountain, as well as two seasons of the D&D Encounters Program. His most recent project is co-designing and editing the Fate-powered game Part-Time Gods of Fate for Encoded Designs. You can follow Shawn on Twitter.

    Email: shawn.merwin@critical-hits.com

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