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

10 Things I Dig About the New “Monster Manual” (And 5 I Don’t)

August 28, 2014 by Dave

I was one of the fortunate few to get my grubby mitts on an advance copy of the Monster Manual for Dungeons & Dragons. We’ll have a full review of the book in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I wanted to explore some of the aspects that jumped out at me as we flipped through.

Filed Under: Critical Threats, Editorial, Featured, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 5e, D&D, dndnext, Monster Manual, monsters

Breaking D&D 2: Electric Bugaloo

July 22, 2014 by Shawn Merwin

The risk inherent in mentioning optimization, rules complexity, and story vs. rules in a discussion is great. People may fall back into entrenched positions on all sides. So I want to quickly clarify some points that will also frame my discussion going forward.

Filed Under: Columns, Editorial, Featured, Know Your Roll, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 5e, D&D, D&D 5, D&D next

D&D: Breaking (is) Bad

July 10, 2014 by Shawn Merwin

The game has to be about the story if the hobby as a whole is going to flourish. This means that the ultra-optimizing, breaking the game with its own rules because they are there, intentionally ignoring the spirit of the rules to mangle the game into something it isn’t, has to stop.

Filed Under: Columns, Editorial, Featured, Know Your Roll, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 5e, D&D, D&D 5e, RPGs

A D&D Lover’s Guide to Other RPGs: “Dungeon World”

July 2, 2014 by Shawn Merwin

It is no secret that Dungeon World was created as an homage to the earliest versions of D&D. From the six standard ability scores that range from 3-18, to the races and classes of the grand old game, Dungeon World makes no pretense at being anything but a hack of D&D.

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Know Your Roll, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: D&D, dungeon world

A Life Playing D&D

February 25, 2014 by Mike Shea

It’s quite possible that, when we look at the small things that form together to build a happy life, D&D can be high on the list. This might surprise us. Yet if we think about it, the fact that we get so much joy playing D&D might not be all that surprising at all.

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: D&D, Dungeons & Dragons

Deathtrap Dungeon World: Moves from the Tomb

February 20, 2014 by Sersa Victory

Last month, I wrote about how you might design and run deathtrap dungeons using the Dungeon World roleplaying game. To aid GMs further, I’ve created several custom moves based on some of the most iconic and infamous traps lurking in the Tomb of Horrors. Use them as they appear in your own adventures, or modify them to create custom moves for traps of your own devising.

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: deathtrap dungeon world, dungeon world, tomb of horrors

Deathtrap Dungeon World, Part 3: Death and Rewards

January 8, 2014 by Sersa Victory

In this final part of the series, I’ll talk about how to handle death in your Dungeon World delve and how to manage “defy danger or die” effects. I’ll also discuss some strategies for rewarding players and characters that overcome the challenges your deathtrap dungeon presents.

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: deathtrap dungeon world, dungeon world

Deathtrap Dungeon World, Part 2: Dangers and Hard Moves

January 3, 2014 by Sersa Victory

In this part of the series, I’ll talk about how to create monsters, traps, and puzzles for your deathtrap dungeons in a way that embraces Dungeon World’s mechanics and philosophy. In addition, I’ll explain why hard moves are the most important part of your deathtrap dungeon toolkit, and present a list of 20 hard moves you can use in your game tonight.

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: deathtrap dungeon world, dungeon world

Deathtrap Dungeon World, Part 1: GM Principles

December 10, 2013 by Sersa Victory

In this 3-part article series, I’ll share some of my tips for running deathtrap dungeons using the Dungeon World roleplaying game. By drawing on the lessons of my recent deathtrap dungeon campaign, Black Plume Mountain, and by using my conversion of the Tomb of Horrors as a guide, I hope to give you the tools to design and run exciting, dynamic, and brutal delves.

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: deathtrap dungeon world, dungeon design, dungeon world

The State of D&D, Post-Gen Con 2013

October 2, 2013 by Dave

I feel like this post should start with a Star Wars crawl: “It was a time of great change in Dungeons & Dragons…”

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Editorial, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, News, Roleplaying Games, Video Games Tagged With: 4e, D&D, D&D next, dnd, dndnext, gen con, gen con 2013

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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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