This year’s DDXP was a very interesting one, as I suspected. We were actually able to get there, unlike last year, though Fort Wayne’s weather seems persistant in its attempts to keep us out. In order to help finance the trip, and because I was one of the few who had an early look at the new D&D, I volunteered to DM seven four-hour slots of the new game to eager players. While I only ended up running four games of it (mostly because I was too tired to do any more than that), I had a blast and felt good about the games that I ran.
Cure Selfish Wounds
Today’s D&D Next post at the Wizards site by Bruce Cordell is titled Time to Heal and discusses the role of the Cleric class and how it relates to healing through the life span of Dungeons & Dragons. There’s a nice little recap of how healing and the Cleric class have both worked in previous editions, and then there is a poll asking how people prefer the mechanics to be handled. Reading about how healing worked in previous editions brought forward some experiences that I am dying to share with you.
Dwarven SEAL Team Neutralizes Terrorist DM Threat: Film At 11
This year at DDXP, I got to try out running games for complete strangers. Little did I know what I had actually signed on for. Find out how six dwarves can make a grown man weep using only some ingenuity and a sackful of d12s.
DDXP 2012: “Charting the Course: An Edition for All Editions” and “New Products” Seminars
This past weekend was DDXP, and since this the new edition of D&D was announced recently, this was both the first chance the public would both find out directly from the mouths of the people making the game what it would be like, as well as try a limited demo of the new game. Like in 2008, questions about the new game were answered, and new ones were created. And just like back then, we were on the scene to report on the goings on to try to bring you a taste of the information available if you couldn’t be there.
Our D&D Greatest Hits: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition
The D&D Greatest Hits series continues with a roundtable look at our fond memories from 2nd edition AD&D.
Pelor’s Peg-Leg Protection Protocol
I understand WotC’s apprehension about distributing digital copies of their stuff, and making it easy for people to pirate their products. Let’s face it, though: all the DRM in the world isn’t going to stop it. Not offering legitimate digital copies of their books definitely isn’t going to stop it (right now there’s only one way to get a digital version of a D&D book, and it ain’t legal). So what IS going to stop the piracy of WotC’s intellectual property?
Interview: “Atomic Robo The Roleplaying Game”
Maybe you’re a fan of the many-award winning Dresden Files Roleplaying Game, powered by the FATE game engine. Maybe you’re a fan of robots punching Nazis. Maybe you are a fan of both, in which case, there’s going to be a new roleplaying game for you!
Critical Hits Podcast #34: The Id DM and the Psychology of D&D
Mike Shea of Sly Flourish and Michael Mallen, practicing psychologist and author of the Id DM D&D blog, discuss the psychology of the gaming table. This podcast discusses some of Mallen’s excellent studies into the mind of the players and the dungeon master and statistical studies of the Penny Arcade D&D podcasts.
Game Design and Openness
I do all of my design work at Sand & Steam openly. Every bit of what I do is laid out for everyone to see, warts and all. When I first started, I choose openness not because of any high-minded philosophy about information needing to be free. No, I did so for one very simple, very motivating reason: I was scared.
Our D&D Greatest Hits: Chatty’s Advanced Dungeons and Dragons
I was very intrigued with Mike Mearls’ vision of creating a “D&D’s Greatest Hits”. It evokes a plethora of images about modular designs and piecemeal “build your own game” elements that inspires the writer and buding game designer in me. This gave me an idea for a series of post here at Critical Hits. I thought it would be interesting if we shared our five DMing Greatest Hits for some or all of the versions of D&D we played as dungeon masters.
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