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

A Busy Year, Part 1: NPC Importance

December 30, 2015 by Shawn Merwin

Working as a part-time RPG freelancer is a proverbial rollercoaster ride. Sometimes it is thrilling, and other times the reward at the end of the ride is that you get to stop.

Filed Under: Adventure Prep, Columns, Editorial, Featured, Know Your Roll, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: D&D, freelancing, NPCs

Let Your Ambitions Drive You to “House of Bards” for Fate Core

December 8, 2015 by Dave

In House of Bards, the kingdom of Costracinni exists in a constant state of war. And war means turmoil, but for the ambitious back on the home front, that’s just another word for opportunity.

Filed Under: Critical Threats, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: fate, fate core, house of bards, so many bards

Financial One-Shots and Short Campaign Seeds

November 24, 2015 by multiplexer

With a couple of tweaks, filing off the serial numbers, and squinting, tontines are a great inspiration for one-shot, short campaigns, and, in some contexts, longer running story arcs.

Filed Under: Columns, Dungeonomics, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: D&D, economics

The Tontine

November 16, 2015 by multiplexer

“This is a Tontine,” the Transmuter Banker tells the Guild Master as she underwrites the investment vehicle. “And considering adventurers, a terrible idea.” And then she signs the paperwork because, in her mind, Adventurers + Investment = Funny.

Filed Under: Dungeonomics, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: d&d5e, economics

The Decade of Blogging Nerdily: Critical Hits is 10

October 6, 2015 by Dave

Our first post went up October 6th, 2005. Ten years later, we’re still blogging. Here’s a look back at the last decade, along with some reminiscing, our favorite posts, stats, and what’s happening next.

Filed Under: Featured, Newest Critical Hits, News Tagged With: anniversary, blogging, blogiversary, happy birthday critical hits

Tragedy of the Murder Hobos

September 27, 2015 by multiplexer

Nothing screws up a balanced economy based on a carefully manicured and ecologically pure common resource like 20th level Heroes.

Filed Under: Columns, Dungeonomics, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: d&d5e, economics

Dragons and the Free Rider Problem

September 21, 2015 by multiplexer

The village stood around and shouted at one another. They assumed one peasant class was going to pay for the other peasant classes, or the rich would pay for everyone. And thus, no one paid for anything.

Filed Under: Columns, Dungeonomics, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: d&d5e, economics

Dungeon Hazards and Wage Differentials

September 14, 2015 by multiplexer

Murder Hobos are natural risk assessment machines. They will risk their current gains in equipment, XP, and cash if they believe the wage offered to complete the Quest by the Quest Giver matches the right amount of risk/grossness/weirdness they must assume.

Filed Under: Columns, Dungeonomics, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: d&d5e, economics

Cargo Cults in the Murder Hobo Dark Ages

September 8, 2015 by multiplexer

Wuffa was King of the Wolf People. He claimed a pedigree going back to the old country’s mythical Kings and their God of War and Death. His actual pedigree went back two generations to a strong man mercenary who seized an opportunity to better himself.

Filed Under: Columns, Dungeonomics, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: d&d5e, gaming, History

What the Orks Want

September 1, 2015 by multiplexer

Do the Orks have a greater reason for their existence? Or, are they merely story filler like so many fantasy packing peanuts surrounding the nugget of the interesting stuff?

Filed Under: Columns, Dungeonomics, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: d&d5e, gaming, History, orks

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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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