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Mailbag 1 – Character Contortion

April 2, 2010 by Chris Sims

Here’s the first question from the mailbag. Jon Hixson asks: “How do you deal with players new to 4e who want to run characters that the system doesn’t support?”

Filed Under: Analysis Paralysis, Editorial, Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, character concept, DM advice, druid, mailbag, wizard

Nico and Rory’s Quest: Meeting the Ice Titan

April 2, 2010 by The Chatty DM

In which Chatty starts a promising Sword and Wizardy adventure with both his kids. Includes Titans, Druids, Badgers, Horseshoes and jobless super heroes.

Filed Under: Campaign Logs, Musings of the Chatty DM Tagged With: gaming with children, Gaming with Kids, Nico and Rory, swords & wizardry

Lost Badgers and Kid Guards

April 1, 2010 by The Chatty DM

In which Chatty DM comes out of the Full-Spectrum gaming closet and announces great news for Burning Wheel/Mouse Guard fans.

Filed Under: Freelance Writing, Humor, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Burning Wheel, Freelance Writing, Gaming with Kids, Humor

Exclusive Preview: Alliance 2011 Catalog

April 1, 2010 by Gato the News Robot

Through our sources, we’ve managed to obtain a copy of the Alliance Games distributor catalog for the coming year. This catalog is what game retailers use to decide what to order for their store to carry, and we are fortunate enough to get a peek at what the next year in games holds. Here are a few that caught our eye, along with their descriptions from the publishers.

Filed Under: Featured, Humor, News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, dudes of legend, indie games, other systems, pathfinder, swords & wizardry, white wolf, world of synnibar

PLAY D&D NOW, MY LORD

April 1, 2010 by Vanir

One of the hottest new games out on the web today is Evony. I need not go into how it is amazing. It pretty much speaks volumes about itself. Truthfully, I’m not really sure why anyone would play anything but Evony. Just in case you have not ascended to the next level of gaming, I bring to you several ways you can bring a little of the light and goodness that is Evony to your D&D game until you decide to catch up with the rest of humanity.

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Editorial, Humor, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: april, bitches, boobs, d&d tips, evony, fools, my lord

What Does Not Kill You

March 31, 2010 by dixontrimline

When I was sitting in my room, working out the battles, it all seemed so easy, so clean, so antiseptic. The party needed so many thousand experience points, so I divided that amount by the number of encounters remaining, spent my budget to buy the monsters, and then we’ll all roll initiative. Somewhere in all that preparation, I forgot about evaluating for fun.

Filed Under: Editorial, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, challenge, DM advice, minions

We Are the Champions: DM Challenge at Pax East 2010

March 30, 2010 by Dave

As you may have heard by now, I won the DM’s Challenge, put together by WotC on the Saturday of Pax. For weeks, since it was announced, ChattyDM and I have been trash talking and hyping each other up about the event. For a while, I was worried that the event wouldn’t run due to lack of participants. Boy, was I wrong.

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, DM Challenge, pax, pax east, underdark

Cheeseburger, Plain

March 30, 2010 by Vanir

Back in my day, you had to turn in government stamps just to play a game of pong! We used to have to steal ram chips just to remember where we lived! My daddy worked on the parallel port, and worked 256 shifts manufacturing computer metaphors! And all you damn kids want is more explosions. I’ll have none of it!

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Dire Flailings, Humor, Movies, Roleplaying Games, Video Games Tagged With: belmont family album, castlevania, explosions, getting old, glow effects, heavy rain, kotor, kotor 2, lightsabers, neon, oldcore, soul calibur, when i was your age

The Soft Landing: Pax East Highlights

March 29, 2010 by The Chatty DM

Late night board gaming, meeting Wil Wheaton, running the DM challenge, and much more in the Chatty DM’s trip to Pax East.
Oh, and Silver Bulettes that crap gravitational anomalies.

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Geek Stuff, Musings of the Chatty DM, Player Psychology, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4E d&d, Burning Wheel, pax, wil wheaton

Mailbag Memo

March 29, 2010 by Chris Sims

Please don’t hesitate to send me email or leave a comment about questions you have. I’m willing to answer just about anything I legally and conscionably can about games, the industry, freelancing, and working professionally at Wizards of the Coast. I’ll share opinions and facts, as well as how I’d run my game or recommend you solve a problem you have. I have a few questions already, but more is better. Don’t be shy just because I’m a cannibalistic demihuman. (I do bite.) Go ahead, email me. I dare you.

Filed Under: Analysis Paralysis, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, freelancing, industry, mailbag, wizards of the coast

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About the Author

  • Chris Sims

    Chris Sims has played roleplaying games for 35 years, and he has helped produce games for more than a decade. Before he set up his freelance shop in the wilds of Austria, he was an editor, developer, and designer at Wizards of the Coast. There, he worked on Duel Masters, Dungeons & Dragons, and Magic: The Gathering. Ask him something via email that might receive a response in a post, and follow his tweets.

    Email: chris@critical-hits.com

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