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Pax East (and Chatty projects) Update

March 20, 2010 by The Chatty DM

As for the rest of PAX I plan to play some D&D Dark Sun and Encounters. I hope to play some Magic drafts with friends (it’s been 2 years!). I also hope to meet Wil Wheaton face to face and exchange a few funny remarks while he signs the books I’ll stack in front of him. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll get to say hi to Jerry and Mike (Tycho and Gabe). Finally, I plan to crash Chris Tulach’s and Greg Bilsland “Save my Game” seminars so I can ask some really funky “what if” questions that will drive everybody nuts :).

Filed Under: Geek Stuff, Musings of the Chatty DM

Is It The Beards?

March 19, 2010 by guest

Standing on average between 4’8” to 5’6”, Half-Dwarves retain the muscular stature of their Dwarven heritage. The barrel-like frame of the Half-Dwarf means their weight usually exceeds both of their parent’s averages at 180lbs to 240lbs. Skin tone, hair and eye colour tend to come from the Human parent with the grey and sandstone skin tones of the Dwarves rarely occurring amongst the mixed race. Hair and beards remain thick amongst the males, whilst females grow either very little or no facial hair.

Filed Under: Flavour Feast, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: dnd, Dwarves, Half Dwarves, races

Six Months To Four Days

March 16, 2010 by Vanir

Gen Con is six months away, but event registration draws near. Read on to discover almost no information of value whatsoever about Gen Con 2010. But be warned! That one tiny info-morsel could save your life.

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Dire Flailings, Humor, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Axis & Allies, D&D, gen con, gen con 2010, hotels, nerdwhiff, registration, shenanigans, true dungeon

Gears of Ruin: The Phantom Rails, Part 3

March 15, 2010 by The Chatty DM

There they learned of a pact made between the Gith seeking to eradicate the Elemental Chaos influence on the world of Sikarra and Melora’s Eco fanatics who were unable to channel the power of their Nature god to avenge this dying world. The Gith brought a large artifact, a Psi-Crystal so powerful that it could channel power sources throughout a world to a select few. The artifact was mounted on Sirrakas highest mountain range where a fighting monastery was built.

Filed Under: Campaign Logs, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, Chatty's 2009-2010 Campaign, Gears of Ruin

Assassins On The High Seas

March 12, 2010 by guest

This pirate armada is responsible for the countless sunken wrecks that litter the seas around the numerous coastal islands, and many more deaths. Their unique and shadowy talents are for sale to the highest bidder. Operating without honour, these assassins are known to quickly double cross their contractors for an excessive fee without hesitation. The Crimson Armada is a dire and menacing threat to any that find themselves targeted by these pirate ninjas.

Filed Under: Flavour Feast, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: armada, coastal, ninja pirates, ninjas, oni, pirates

Beginner’s Guide To Homebrewing

March 10, 2010 by guest

From humble beginnings at the age of eight, I have been building ‘adventure’ games for my family and friends non-stop. My first game system didn’t go down so well as I spent most of my time trying to convince my older brother and parents to spend their weekends sitting at the table to hear me rant on and on about imaginary monsters and villains that they had no concept of. Since then I’ve continued relentlessly in the homebrew department to the point where I am running weekly games for two groups of six players. Below I’m going to share with you some of the basic tips I have picked up over the years.

Filed Under: Flavour Feast, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Guide, homebrew, homebrew week, Tips, Tricks

The Passion Of The Jesus Phone

March 9, 2010 by Vanir

In which Apple’s capricious and callous handling of their app store finally makes one programmer hulk out and smash. I’m the ever-lovin brown-eyed Vanir-thing. My skin is comprised not of rocks, but of Chicken McNuggets.

Filed Under: Dire Flailings, Editorial, Video Games Tagged With: adobe air, android, app store, droid, flash, game development, iphone, jesus phone, starving programmers

Gears of Ruin: The Phantom Rails, Part 2

March 8, 2010 by The Chatty DM

As the party schemed, hidden behind a pile of Warclank (i.e clockwork mechas) spare parts near the gigantic pile of humanoid corpses, the ghouls and blasphemes continued their Dance Macabre, the ghouls trying to snatch pieces of relatively fresh “meat” from the pile while the reconstructed undead kept them at bay with beams of death-laced energies.

Filed Under: Campaign Logs, Musings of the Chatty DM Tagged With: 4e, Chatty's 2009-2010 Campaign, Gears of Ruin, Tropes

Talmanthian Plateau

March 5, 2010 by guest

Just before the frigid north of a large continent lies an immense mountain plateau. The plateau is commonly known as Angel’s Table to those who live below the sheer cliffs that make it all but inaccessible. Atop the cliffs, a scenic landscape of rolling plains and small forests cover the immense majestic plateau. The creatures and tribes of this unique and exotic landscape call it Talmanthian.

Filed Under: Flavour Feast, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: adventure, Elves, Human, Locale, Location, Merfolk, Roleplaying Games, Uqwauy

Friday Chat: Bits from the Past

March 4, 2010 by The Chatty DM

The most important ingredient in any campaign is a skilled DM who has the time and the energy to carefully design and create his world, and the talent to communicate his setting effectively. The next most important ingredients are willing players who share common goals with the DM. Players interested in hack-and-slash adventures should not be matched a DM interested in careful plot structuring and detailed mystery solving.

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM Tagged With: Bits from the Past, Friday Chat

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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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