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

The Guest DM

July 23, 2010 by The Main Event

Occasionally, DMs need a break. In long-running highly developed game worlds players may find that there are parts of the campaign or the world that they are particular interested in. If they notice that the DM needs a break, but is still is gung-ho about his game, this presents a golden opportunity. Running a single adventure in the regular DM’s game world is an unusual break for him and a change of place for the players.

Filed Under: Pain of Publication, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: DM advice, gming advice, star wars

Mouse Guard Chronicles, Session 1, Part 4: The Players’ Turn

July 22, 2010 by The Chatty DM

In which Chatty concludes his telling of his 1st Summer 2010 Mouse Guard session. In this post, the players experiment with the very Indie concepts of Shared Narrative and setting their own scenes.

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

Minions Are Spice

July 22, 2010 by Chris Sims

A minion is a tiny onion used for flavor, especially in soups. That’s what my father told me when I was a kid. Even then, though, the D&D game had imparted enough for me to see the lie and the humor. In fact, if analyzed closely, this quip from dear ol’ dad, and my assimilation of it, might explain a lot about me. Talk about analysis paralysis.

Filed Under: Analysis Paralysis, Columns, Editorial, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, D&D, DM advice, encounter design, minions, monsters

Greetings from the New Initiate

July 21, 2010 by Logan Bonner

When Chris Sims extended an offer to joining Critical-Hits a while back, I was intrigued. I liked the site, and its reputation as a good group of people who usually stay positive about games (but while remaining honest about their opinions). My existing blog, while mostly about gaming, didn’t cleave strictly to D&D discussions. Or at least I didn’t plan for it to always do so. Also, I’ve made a long tradition of following in Chris Sims’s footsteps ever since I became an editor on D&D shortly after he did, so here was another chance.

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Comics, Minor Quests, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, conventions, D&D, Dungeons and Dragons

Mouse Guard Chronicles, Session 1, Part 3: The Unarmed Hero

July 20, 2010 by The Chatty DM

In which Chatty continues his multi-part series detailing his 1st Summer 2010 Mouse Guard session where he tackles a combat conflict and describes the rest of the GM-controlled narrative before turning it over to the players in the next post.

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

Mouse Guard Chronicles, Session 1, Part 2: The Lost Patrol

July 18, 2010 by The Chatty DM

After we ordered and ate our evening meal I asked if they wanted to play a Mouse Guard session now that the PCs were made and that we’d had some time to take a break from char gen and do something else. All players were willing to start playing…

…So I actually had to prep an adventure, like right now!

Filed Under: Actual Play, Campaign Logs, Musings of the Chatty DM, Newest Critical Hits Tagged With: Chatty's 2010 summe, Mouse Guard

Fiasco, It’s Not

July 15, 2010 by Chris Sims

I’m here to report as a Fiasco player. I played with four other veteran gamers, a few among us industry pros. Logan Bonner got us together and learned the rules with us. For the record, I have read on bits of the Fiasco rules, so this report is purely experiential and relies heavily on my memory of events. I’m also trying out a Chatty DM style post for a change.

Filed Under: Analysis Paralysis, Featured, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: coen brothers, fiasco, freeform games, freeform roleplaying, indie games, Rodriguez, roleplaying, Tarantino

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

Dear Roger Ebert

July 13, 2010 by Vanir

I’ve always admired Roger Ebert. Though I disagree with his assertion that videogames can’t be art, I still deeply respect his opinion. As long as he finds out for sure, that is.

Filed Under: Dire Flailings, Humor, Movies, Science Fiction & Fantasy Genre, Television, Video Games Tagged With: agro, art, braid, colossus, ebert, flower, gene siskel, heavy rain, roger ebert, shadow of the colossus, siskel, sotc, videogames

Canon Fodder

July 8, 2010 by Chris Sims

In a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting context, canon can be defined as imagined world history up to just a moment ago. It can also encompass dozens of smaller stories, as with the Forgotten Realms setting and its embracing of novels as canon. Game setting canon can also include differences from core assumptions. Defining differences can make a game world stand apart from its peers. You just have to be careful where you point your canon.

Filed Under: Analysis Paralysis, Editorial, Featured Tagged With: 4e, canon, D&D, dm tips, writing tips

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