• 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 Roleplaying Games

Mini-Link: Iron Heroes Total Fanboi cop-out from an actual post

January 9, 2008 by The Chatty DM

That title reminds me that I still haven’t received my Pathfinder #4 yet… I need to drop Paizo a line… The US Postal Service is, shall we say, not the swiftest there is. I already mentioned there might not be a post tonight, well this one is, sort of. It’s just not as meaty as […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: mini-post

(Not so)Mini-Crunch: Magic loot by any other name.

January 8, 2008 by The Chatty DM

I’m fresh back from the Gym, proud in my willpower to have resisted the pull of World of Warcraft and the Blog to take care of me first…. I’m also quite aware of the WotC announcement about the way they plan to handle the next version of the OGL and it’s associated brand license (the […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Crunch, DMing

Today's 4e Announcement and What It Means For You

January 8, 2008 by Dave

Pretty big announcement from WotC, as covered by ENWorld, about the future of the licensing agreement formerly known as the d20 License. Most of it won’t matter to the casual D&D player. But here’s some tidbits that might be important (and keep in mind, everything is subject to change, this is all interpretation): Until 2009, […]

Filed Under: Critical Bits, News, Roleplaying Games

Robin's Laws Revisited: Part 1, The Rule 0 of DMing

January 7, 2008 by The Chatty DM

At the eve of my 25th RPG/GMing birthday, I’m actually reading something I told myself I’d read but never did up till now: The award winning Robin’s Laws of Good Game Mastering. (Copyright 2002 by Steve Jackson Games Inc). To say that it’s a good read for all DM/GM is an understatement and is well […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Player Psychology, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: DMing, Robin Laws

Inq. of the Week: Are You Not Entertained?

January 7, 2008 by Bartoneus

We had a gathering last night for the premiere of the new breed of American Gladiators (on NBC), and it was definitely two of the most entertaining hours of television I’ve ever experienced. Tonight there is at least one more episode on at 8pm, and we will definitely be posting a review / recap later […]

Filed Under: Featured, Inquisition of the Week, Roleplaying Games, Television Tagged With: alignment, American Gladiators, D&D, games, guitar hero, malibu, rock band

Adventure Prep: Of Planescaping and High Intensity Hacking, Part 2

January 6, 2008 by The Chatty DM

I’m preparing for next Friday’s game, the year’s first, which will also coincide with a new campaign arc. I’ll also be marking my 35th birthday and my 25th year as a Dungeon/Game Master. Weeeee! Nostalgic Aside: My 1st dungeon was drawn on a piece of graph paper, was filled with death traps, had a White […]

Filed Under: Adventure Prep, Musings of the Chatty DM Tagged With: DMing

Critical Hits: Now Easier and More Fun

January 4, 2008 by Dave

The latest Design & Development article from Wizards tells us most of what we need to know about a subject near and dear to our hearts: Critical Hits. In fourth edition, a natural 20 equals a critical hit, and a critical hit does maximum damage. This fixes the syndrome that I always hated: Roll a […]

Filed Under: Critical Bits, Roleplaying Games

Mini-Prep: Just how little do you need to prep?

January 3, 2008 by The Chatty DM

That title brings back memories of my Internship in a Molecular Biology lab, before DNA isolation became automated. Anyway, yesterday’s post took more creative juice than originally planned. Today I’ll keep it shorter and turn the keyboard over to you earlier on (Andy, your new year’s recommendations are simmering in my noggin’ and will be […]

Filed Under: Adventure Prep, Musings of the Chatty DM Tagged With: mini-post

Mining Tropes for RPG Nuggets: I, Overlord!

January 2, 2008 by The Chatty DM

This post is part of a series exploring Tropes (recurrent plot devices and expectations in fiction) as applied to RPGs, see the growing collection of posts on the subject here. Now that Yax has fallen in my fiendish trap by accepting my Ennies challenge, I thought I’d start the ball rolling by finally tackling one […]

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

Chatty’s Review: Silvervine Chapter 1, First impressions

January 1, 2008 by The Chatty DM

This post is part of a series that tackles the reading review of a yet unpublished RPG called Silvervine. The 1st post, explaining what the review project sets to accomplish can be found here. Please note that game is still in development and my feedback is part of the creators’ efforts to make this the […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games

« Previous Page
Next Page »

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/

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