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You are here: Home / Archives for Newest Critical Hits

RPGs for Kids: “Castle Death” Revisited

August 23, 2013 by The Chatty DM

Last year, I wrote a short series of posts about a dead simple roleplaying game I played with my son Nico. I thought I should revisit it and add more meat to the concept. The Game Based on the first RPG system I created when I was my son’s age, Castle Death is a simple […]

Filed Under: Featured, Musings of the Chatty DM, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Castle Death, gaming with children, gaming with family, Gaming with Kids, Simple Roleplaying

First Impressions: “Fate Core” Roleplaying Game

August 22, 2013 by Bartoneus

After roughly a year with extremely limited time for roleplaying games, I was invited by a close friend to play in his newly starting modern day, Cthulhu-esque campaign using the early release Fate Core rules from the Kickstarter from Evil Hat Productions. I had heard quite a bit from Dave and other friends about the Dresden […]

Filed Under: Featured, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: cthulhu, dresden files rpg, fate, fate core, first impressions, Reviews, roleplaying game, roleplaying games

First Play Impressions: “Firefly RPG”

August 20, 2013 by The Chatty DM

I’ve been rather discrete about it but I had significant doubts about how the Firefly RPG would turn out and be perceived by gamers. By that I don’t mean the usual jitters of the insecure designer, as I was just one cog of many in an all-star team working on the Gen Con Preview book. […]

Filed Under: Featured, Musings of the Chatty DM, Newest Critical Hits, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: cortex, Cortex Plus, Cortex Plus Action, firefly, Firefly RPG, gencon, gencon 2013

California Pizza Katniss

August 20, 2013 by Vanir

Gen Con 2013 has come and gone, and all that remains is stories. Well, and pictures. And movies. And maybe a little buyer’s remorse from hasty sales floor purchases. But mostly stories. This particular story begins in the California Pizza kitchen across the street from the convention hall. I was sitting with my good friends […]

Filed Under: Dire Flailings Tagged With: gatekeepers, gen con, gencon, gencon 2013, hunger games, katniss, pizza, poseurs

Stat-Flavored Protips, Gen Con 2013 Edition

August 13, 2013 by Vanir

As some of you may be aware, the Best Four Days EVER in Gaming draws near. A lot of new folks will be attending this year, and they will need convention protips. I have a stockpile of those, which I have decided to disseminate through a clever D&D ability scores framework. This is why I […]

Filed Under: Dire Flailings Tagged With: convention, gen con, protips

2013 Gen Con Preview: What to Watch For

August 13, 2013 by Dave

Once again, Gen Con is upon us. You can check out my schedule if you’re so inclined. More importantly, there are games to check out and buy. This is not a comprehensive list: if you want a bigger look at what board games are available there, I recommend checking out the Board Game News list. […]

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 13th Age, 13thAge, Augustus, D&D, D&D next, Dungeon Roll, firefly, Firefly RPG, get bit!, Hillfolk, Sentinels of the Multiverse, star trek, star trek: attack wing, star wars, star wars: age of rebellion

Interview: Amanda Valentine, Developer of “Little Wizards” RPG

August 12, 2013 by Dave

I’ve worked with Amanda Valentine on multiple projects before (including Marvel Heroic Roleplaying), where she served as a lead editor, helping to make the books as best they could be on every level. Amanda has a lot of experience working at every level of game design across multiple game lines, and so I was very […]

Filed Under: Featured, Interviews, News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Gaming with Kids, little wizards

“Neverwinter Campaign Setting” Icons for “13th Age”

August 8, 2013 by Dave

I’ve played (and run) a few more sessions of 13th Age since I wrote my first preview, as the rules became more solid and filled out from those first playtests. I was initially more guarded, but since then, my opinion of 13th Age has only gone up. The actual books are making their way into […]

Filed Under: Critical Threats, Featured, Game Hacks & Content, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 13th Age, 13thAge, 4e, D&D, forgotten realms, Neverwinter

Interview: Rich Baker on “Primeval Thule”

July 22, 2013 by Dave

If you know D&D, you probably know the name Rich Baker. From his role in development of settings like Birthright, games like Alternity and the new Gamma World, many Forgotten Realms supplements and novels, war games, and much more, Baker has many years of industry experience on all kinds of products. Now, Baker has teamed up […]

Filed Under: Featured, Interviews, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 13th Age, 13thAge, 4e, campaign setting, D&D, pathfinder, Primeval Thule

[Review] Pacific Rim

July 16, 2013 by Vanir

WARNING: mild spoilers for Pacific Rim are contained within. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNT.   Over the weekend, I saw a quiet little movie called Pacific Rim. Going into the movie, I saw nothing but extremely positive reviews — not a big surprise for a Guillermo Del Toro movie and the crowd I listen to. I was super […]

Filed Under: Dire Flailings, Movies Tagged With: gamelon, gamera, ghidora, godzilla, grendizer, iguana, jaeger, kaiju, king ghidora, matthew broderick, mazinger, mazinger z, mazinkaiser, Mecha, mechaghidora, mechagodzilla, megazord, mothra, pacific rim, power rangers, Reviews, rodan, sentai, voltron

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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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