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You are here: Home / Archives for Newest Critical Hits

Chatty’s 13th Age: The Lich King’s Curse and Reactive Bosses

May 27, 2014 by The Chatty DM

What if a character granted the curse of the Lich King could no longer die? And what if a monster had powers that triggered on the players’ rolls or special attacks?

Filed Under: Actual Play, Featured, Game Hacks & Content, Musings of the Chatty DM, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 13th Age, 13thAge, chatty's 13th age

“Dungeons & Dragons” New Edition (Formerly “Next”) Gets Release Dates, Cover

May 19, 2014 by Dave

“Dungeons & Dragons”, the new edition, has a release date, just in time for Gen Con, as well as product covers and a few surprises.

Filed Under: Featured, Newest Critical Hits, News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: D&D, D&D next, dndnext, gen con, gen con 2014

Project Paradigm: Making Magic

March 12, 2014 by Dave

In a game where everyone uses magic, magic becomes the cornerstone of design. This is one of the big areas that makes Mage: the Ascension different from Sorcerer from a Harry Potter RPG.

Filed Under: Critical Threats, Featured, Game Hacks & Content, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: fate, fate core, mage: the ascension, project paradigm

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

Samurai Swan Song: A “Seven Samurai”-Inspired “Fiasco”

February 21, 2014 by The Main Event

This playset is meant to create a Fiasco inspired by, or at least paying homage to, the classic story of the Seven Samurai. The players depict Samurai protecting a village from a bandit attack, though they may be little better than thieves themselves. A few more supernatural options have been included towards the ‘6’ roles, though they can easily be avoided if the playgroup decides they want to eschew such influences.

Filed Under: Game Hacks & Content, Movies, Newest Critical Hits, Pain of Publication, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: fiasco, seven samurai

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

Project Paradigm: Some Thoughts on a Mage-Inspired Fate Game

February 5, 2014 by Dave

I’ve written before about my love of Mage: the Ascension. I even went and hacked another game system to play it in a way I really enjoyed, and have run it that way multiple times now. I’m not the only one who wanted to bring Mage back with a modern system. Ryan Macklin also wrote up the hack he was playing with. Now we’re joining forces on it.

Filed Under: Critical Threats, Featured, Game Hacks & Content, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: fate, fate core, mage: the ascension, project paradigm

Review: “Undercaffeinated and Overexposed: The Tale of a Coffee Shop Princess”

January 15, 2014 by The Main Event

A mashup of urban fantasy, fairy tale, and chick-lit, the debut novel of Andrew G. Schneider is ambitious, adept, and boldly written.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction & Fantasy Genre Tagged With: coffee coffee coffee, fairy tale, folklore, Undercaffeinated and Overexposed: The Tale of a Coffee Shop Princess

Chatty’s “13th Age”: The Story So Far, Part 2

January 10, 2014 by The Chatty DM

In Part 1, I started sharing a summary of my 13th Age campaign. In this post, I’ll catch up to current events and tell you a bit more about my players and table dynamics. If you’ve been reading my recent 13th Age posts, you should know that the next chapter is what inspired me to write the 13th Age hack about dealing with PC vs NPC contests.

Filed Under: Actual Play, Featured, Musings of the Chatty DM, Newest Critical Hits, Player Psychology, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 13th Age, chatty's 13th age

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

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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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