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You are here: Home / Archives for Roleplaying Games

Inquisition of the Week: Best Game Nominees

July 19, 2010 by Dave

This week, as we’ve been beating the drums, Ennies voting is going on now (obligatory plug- category #18, vote us #1 in Best Blog!) Of course, the big category, of which there are 10 nominees, is Product of the Year. These games exemplify excellence in everything from writing, design, and presentation. Though all the nominees are worth notice, it is these that have some of the highest honors in the industry.

Filed Under: Inquisition of the Week, Roleplaying Games

Mouse Guard Chronicles, Session 1, Part 2: The Lost Patrol

July 18, 2010 by The Chatty DM

After we ordered and ate our evening meal I asked if they wanted to play a Mouse Guard session now that the PCs were made and that we’d had some time to take a break from char gen and do something else. All players were willing to start playing…

…So I actually had to prep an adventure, like right now!

Filed Under: Actual Play, Campaign Logs, Musings of the Chatty DM, Newest Critical Hits Tagged With: Chatty's 2010 summe, Mouse Guard

CONTEST: Want To Go To GenCon/Can’t Go To GenCon

July 16, 2010 by Dave

For those of you without tickets to GenCon, whether because you haven’t bought them but could go or because you can’t go at all, we offer the following multi-part contest. Choose the one that best fits your situation: I Want A Ticket To Go To GenCon, I Can’t Go To GenCon, I Have A Ticket And I’m Going To GenCon.

Filed Under: News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: contest, gencon

For Your Ennies Voting Consideration

July 16, 2010 by Dave

Voting opens today, and we’d really like you to vote for us as Best Blog. We were nominated last year too and lost to fine competition, and this year’s competition is easily as fierce. Thus, we’re presenting this post that highlights some of our content over this past year that we believe qualifies us to be Best Blog.

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, News, Roleplaying Games

Fiasco, It’s Not

July 15, 2010 by Chris Sims

I’m here to report as a Fiasco player. I played with four other veteran gamers, a few among us industry pros. Logan Bonner got us together and learned the rules with us. For the record, I have read on bits of the Fiasco rules, so this report is purely experiential and relies heavily on my memory of events. I’m also trying out a Chatty DM style post for a change.

Filed Under: Analysis Paralysis, Featured, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: coen brothers, fiasco, freeform games, freeform roleplaying, indie games, Rodriguez, roleplaying, Tarantino

Spicing Up Your Class Features

July 14, 2010 by Bartoneus

There are a lot of mechanics in Dungeons & Dragons that do not have much flavor to them, but when given the right amount can completely change how the game is perceived and played by those at the table. My experiences detailed here all relate to 4th Edition D&D, but the ideas can easily apply to any RPG that’s out there. I first started to realize that something magical could be done with the 4E class features at GenCon last year while playing in a delve run by Jeremy Crawford. I sat next to Jared from Head Injury Theater who picked the WotC pregenerated warden and I picked the pregen druid, but quickly we realized that I’d need a mini to represent my druid’s wild shape form.

Filed Under: Editorial, Roleplaying Games

Interview: Steve Townshend, D&D Freelancer and Co-Author of “Demonomicon”

July 14, 2010 by Dave

Steve Townshend is a freelance writer (both for D&D and his own fiction) and actor living in Chicago. We recently had the chance to interview Steve over email about the release of the new D&D Demonomicon book, of which his name shares the cover with Mike Mearls and Brian R. James. We also asked him about story in D&D games, a subject with which he has a lot to say.

Filed Under: Featured, Interviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, demonomicon, DM advice, freelancing, monsters, steve townshend

Mouse Guard Chronicles, Session 1, Part 1: Char Gen.

July 13, 2010 by The Chatty DM

On Canada Day, a small group of us convened for an all day gaming geekout to create characters and, time permitting, play a session with the intent to have a extend it into a short campaign if it struck the group’s fancy.

Filed Under: Actual Play, Campaign Logs, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Chatty's 2010 summer campaign, Mouse Guard

Sly Flourish’s Dungeon Master Tips eBook

July 12, 2010 by Dave

This is 73 pages of solid DMing advice from start to finish. As the book says up front, this isn’t a guide for the brand new DM. Nor is it an in-depth guide to higher level DMing/storytelling concepts like Robin Laws’s book: most topics range from several paragraphs to a single sentence. For DMs who have been playing 4e D&D for a bit and are looking to get a variety of tips to improve their game, this is the book to get.

Filed Under: Featured, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, DMing tips, ebook, sly flourish

2010 Ennie Nominations Announced (with Recommendations)

July 10, 2010 by Dave

It’s that time of year again, when the big RPG award nominees of the year are announced, after careful consideration and selection by a panel of judges voted on by the community. The full list of nominees for the year are available on their site. And of course, we’d like to call out our new favorite category…

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, News, Roleplaying Games

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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

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