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Contest Season… and Pimp your site.

June 2, 2008 by The Chatty DM

No true post tonight. I’m reading the D&D Game Day adventure (titled Into the Shadowhaunt) to prepare for a full day of DMing. I won’t spoil it but I can tell you that you should get a D&D mini that represents the pre-generated character you will choose (one of 5) on Saturday. So call your […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games

Chatty’s Initial Thoughts on 4e

June 1, 2008 by The Chatty DM

I’ve decided that I won’t review the 4e Core Books. I will probably do a few ‘Chatty on 4e’ and ‘Chatty’s Debate’ posts on things in the core but I won’t review them. Part of this is because my way of doing reviews tend to be pretty massive. I’d end up with a multi-parter series […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e

4e a Bestseller, the Leak and Community Service for Naughty Geeks

May 30, 2008 by The Chatty DM

Well well, D&D 4e is already such a huge success that WotC have re-sent the books to the printers before the release! I truly am happy about that since I was worried that the appearance of the pre-press printer files of the Core books on the net would cause a dent in demand. It’s now […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e

The Overlord Welcomes 4e! Crunch Wins!

May 28, 2008 by The Chatty DM

Please take this post with the necessary grain of salt. See my comment below the post. Ahhh it’s been a long time now has it? What? You don’t know who I am? I am the dark power behind Chatty’s feverish prose. I’m his id, his darkest desires made thoughts! While he tries real hard to […]

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

Campaign Post Mortem: Part 1, Highlights and links

May 27, 2008 by The Chatty DM

I was taught in Project Management classes (I did 6 months of them) that it’s good practice and useful to go over a completed project and do what is called a Post-Mortem analysis. Well my last D&D 3.5 campaign has been completed for more than 2 weeks and I thought, while I await for my […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Post-Mortem

Robin Laws’ Revisited: Part 5, Creating your Adventure

May 26, 2008 by The Chatty DM

This post is part of a series where I discuss Robin D Laws’ seminal work on GMing: Robin Laws’ of Good Game Mastering, written at the end of the 90’s . I compare it to my personal experience and opinions and I check how well the guide has ‘aged’. The other posts of this series […]

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

Chatty’s Review: Wii will get you Fit

May 24, 2008 by The Chatty DM

I just guest posted a new review about Wii Fit over at Critical-Hits. Why don’t you go and have a look… you might learn just how evil that thing truly is! I love it and my son loves it… he can’t wait to recover from his surgery to start playing it again. Enjoy! I may […]

Filed Under: Geek Stuff, Musings of the Chatty DM

Story Building tips, a Contest?

May 24, 2008 by The Chatty DM

I read this over Robin D. Laws’ Livejournal this morning. He starts with: Given that we’re learning a new crunch-based system I was concerned that the characterization could get lost. So I asked each of the players to submit a two-pronged character arc. This consisted of two opposed possible outcomes for their characters as they […]

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

Slow return to Normal

May 24, 2008 by The Chatty DM

My son was the ultimate trooper. He spent more than 3 hours in surgery because the Eye-Nose-Throat surgeon had to repair the more extensive than expected damage that the thing growing in his inner ear had done. The Good news, the growth is gone. The Bad News, the whole middle ear has been mostly destroyed. […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM

Precariously Balancing on the Edge of Game Design

May 23, 2008 by Dave

Inspired by the discussion in one of my recent posts, I was surprised to hear that there are advocates AGAINST balance. The discussion was about RPGs, which have their own caveats as far as game design goes (which are crucial to the argument about why some feel it’s not important), but let’s start by talking […]

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Critical Threats, Featured, Roleplaying Games

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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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