• Critical-Hits Studios
    • Criminals Card Game
    • Sentinel Comics: the Roleplaying Game
  • Downloads & Tools
    • Critical Hits Fantasy Name Generator
    • Drinking D&D 2010
    • Drinking D&D 2011
    • Fiasco Playset: “Alma Monster”
    • MODOK’s 11 for Marvel Heroic Roleplaying
    • Refuge In Audacity RPG
    • Strange New Worlds RPG
  • Guides
    • Gamma World
    • Guide to 4e Accessories
    • Guide to Gaming DVDs
    • Skill Challenges
  • RSS Feed
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Critical Hits

Everything tabletop gaming since 2005

  • News
  • Reviews
  • Columns
    • Dire Flailings
    • Dungeonomics
    • Musings of the Chatty DM
    • Pain of Publication
    • The Architect DM
  • Podcasts
    • Critical Hits Podcast
    • Dungeon Master Guys Podcast
  • Roleplaying Games
  • Tabletop Games
  • Game Hacks & Content
  • Video Games
You are here: Home / Archives for Newest Critical Hits

Plot Arcs and Themes: The Stories that Games Tell

November 3, 2007 by Dave

There are two (and sometimes three) ways that games tell stories. There’s the theme, which is the conceptual framework given to us by the game to understand it and give us motivation. For example, in my game Get Bit!, you’re told that you are swimming away from a voracious shark. This gives you the prime […]

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Critical Threats, Featured

Trip to my FLSG: Selling out in style!

November 3, 2007 by The Chatty DM

We had a great game yesterday and I’ll have a lot to say about it soon. However, I’d like to post Yan’s journal entry 1st so I can build on it instead of playing it safe. So you’ll see it all later this week.Yesterday before the game, I went to my Favorite Local Game Store […]

Filed Under: Geek Stuff, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games

Tomorrow is Worldwide D&D Game Day

November 2, 2007 by Dave

Grab a d20 and head on down to Worldwide D&D Game Day! Well… maybe. The official WotC page says “pre-register with [a retailer] today!” Lame… I want to be able to walk into a store and play something and not be bound to an RPGA-ish schedule. Thankfully, here in Maryland we have plenty of quality […]

Filed Under: Critical Bits, News, Roleplaying Games

Spambots invasion

November 2, 2007 by The Chatty DM

As you may have noticed, Spambots have started landing on my Four on the Floor Meme post. I don’t intend to do anything other than delete them as they come…. As long as they stay confined to this post, which, oddly enough, is the only post that has a backlink to it. I’d really rather […]

Filed Under: Geek Stuff, Musings of the Chatty DM

Guest Post: Perspective on Weekend Wizards: A Half-orc's venture into the wild.

November 1, 2007 by The Chatty DM

This is PM’s second post of his Casual Player approach to D&D. Once again, PM’s wry humour entertains us in his tale of confronting his fears about that nasty multi-headed beast that is Role-Playing! Last week, my inner half-orc took a few steps out of the closet and while it was a bit scary out […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Community, The Closet Half Orc, Tropes

"You are mistaken, commissioner. The Hostess cup cakes are the real hero."

November 1, 2007 by Dave

On a quest today to educate Bartoneus on the wonders of Hostess Fruit Pies, I came across this awesome archive of all the real Hostess Fruit Pie comic ads from the 70’s and 80’s. I could probably spend hours basking in their ridiculousness. And don’t forget that they can stop all manner of villain!

Filed Under: Comics, Critical Bits

A few quick Halloween hits…

October 31, 2007 by Dave

I’ve been getting a kick out of Zombie Fluxx lately, after a while of being burnt out on Fluxx. It adds some new neat things to the game, and hey, it’s got lots of zombies and classic zombie references. I’ve been hearing good things about Last Night on Earth as a bigger zombie board game, […]

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Critical Bits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: halloween

Messiah CompleX: Not Quite the Second Coming (Non-Spoiler)

October 31, 2007 by The Main Event

General: When Jesus was born, there were wise kings, gifts, angelic visits, and immaculate conceptions. When the X-Office at Marvel kicked off its brand new crossover Messiah CompleX, they hired old artist Marc Silvestri , released tons of interviews with major comic book industry entities, discussed tidbits about the X-Men status quo after the event, […]

Filed Under: Comics, Featured, Reviews Tagged With: marvel, x-men

RPG Superstar!

October 31, 2007 by Dave

Paizo, the fine folks behind many awesome Dungeon and Dragon issues (until recently), have started a new contest to attract people to the RPG writing biz. They’re calling it “RPG Superstar“, and the first stage of the contest, a completely open call, starts today and accepts submissions for the next two weeks. The first thing […]

Filed Under: Critical Bits, News, Roleplaying Games

Mining Tropes for RPG nuggets: Halloween Special!

October 31, 2007 by The Chatty DM

This is a boring, repeating preface nobody reads anymore. It links to stuff I wrote some time ago that has a vague thematic link to what I’m about to write here… Actually this is a Very D&D specific Trope post. It features a lot of Crunchy bits… like the candy I’m eating right now…The kids […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games, Tropes Tagged With: Crunch, rule of cool, Tropes

« Previous Page
Next Page »

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

    Follow me:

Subscribe

RSS Feed

Archives

CC License

All articles and comments posted posted on the site (but not the products for sale) are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. References to trademarks and copywritten material are included for review and commentary use only and are not intended as any kind of challenge.

Recent Comments

  • fogus: The best things and stuff of 2024 on Remembering the Master: An Inelegant Eulogy for Kory Heath
  • Routinely Itemised: RPGs #145 on Review: The Magus
  • The Chatty DM on Review: The Magus
  • Linnaeus on Review: The Magus
  • 13th Age: Indexing Truths — Critical Hits on The Horizon Conspiracy

Contact The Staff

Critical Hits staff can be reached via the contact information on their individual staff pages and in their articles. If you want to reach our senior staff, email staff @ critical-hits.com. We get sent a lot of email, so we can't promise we'll be able to respond to everything.

Recent Posts

  • Remembering the Master: An Inelegant Eulogy for Kory Heath
  • Review: The Magus
  • Hope in the Dark Heart of Evil is Not a Plan
  • Chatty on Games #1: Dorf Romantik
  • The Infinity Current: Adventure 0

Top Posts & Pages

  • Home
  • The 5x5 Method Compendium
  • Dungeons & Dragons "Monster Manual" Preview: The Bulette!
  • Critical Hits Fantasy Name Generator
  • On Mid-Medieval Economics, Murder Hoboing and 100gp
  • "The Eversink Post Office" - An Unofficial Supplement for Swords of the Serpentine
  • Finally a manual for the rest of them!
  • Dave Chalker AKA Dave The Game
  • How to Compare Birds to Fish
  • The Incense War: a Story of Price Discovery, Mayhem, and Lust

Copyright © 2026 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in