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You are here: Home / Archives for Crunch

It’s Not Easy Being Fluffy

January 30, 2013 by Vanir

In which Vanir revisits his roleplaying roots, loses them, and finds them again. Also, he dresses a Mogwai up like Mr. Rogers for the first time in 30 years.

Filed Under: Dire Flailings, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Crunch, fluff, kids, openness, play styles, pretend, roleplay, theatre of the mind

Risk, Reward and Thunder-Reclamation

January 8, 2013 by Vanir

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the things you miss when you run a roleplaying game instead of playing a character in it, and I’ve remembered something that I don’t think I’ve been giving enough of to my players: namely, the thrill of extracting a character you love from a dangerous situation. It’s the gift that keeps on threatening to kill you.

Filed Under: Dire Flailings, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: combat, Crunch, fluff, play balance, Reward, risk

The Architect DM: Last Minute Planning

September 14, 2011 by Bartoneus

Charrette is a word that most likely means nothing to you, unless of course you studied Architecture or Design in school then it is a word that can mean quite a lot and the emotions it brings up vary widely from person to person. Charrette is a word used among architecture students to describe a design crunch/cramming session that derives from the French word for “cart”. The term became popular because schools in Paris would have carts pushed around to collect student’s drawings and it was not uncommon for students to continue working on their drawings for as long as possible by riding in the cart. For better or worse, the term has stuck through to this day and architecture students are still as bad as ever at finishing their projects before rigid deadlines.

Filed Under: Roleplaying Games, The Architect DM Tagged With: adventure, charrette, Crunch, D&D, DM advice, dnd, Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeons and Dragons, gm advice, last minute, planning, prep, preparation, roleplaying games, the architect dm

The Lion, The Witch, and the Progressive Enhancement: CRAZY DELICIOUS

October 20, 2010 by Vanir

When I am not being angry at BioWare or working feverishly into the night coming up with Star Wars-themed sexual innuendo, I sometimes show up to my day job as a web developer. One concept that we frequently use at work to make websites usable and friendly to everyone is called progressive enhancement. Put simply, […]

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Dire Flailings, Humor, Roleplaying Games, Science Fiction & Fantasy Genre, Video Games Tagged With: Crunch, fluff, lumbar support, progressive enhancement, Rule of Fun, web development, WoW

Epic Laundry Basket: Laser Clerics!

August 18, 2008 by The Chatty DM

I like Laser Clerics. Like Jeff Rients, I think there should be more lasers in D&D. You disagree? That’s fine with me. Here’s the thing: rules are lies, especially the Fluff! You want a darker, grittier Cleric? Why don’t we just apply Chatty’s patented template of Doom to this ability then? The Evil Eye With […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, clerics, Crunch

The Overlord Welcomes 4e! Crunch Wins!

May 28, 2008 by The Chatty DM

Please take this post with the necessary grain of salt. See my comment below the post. Ahhh it’s been a long time now has it? What? You don’t know who I am? I am the dark power behind Chatty’s feverish prose. I’m his id, his darkest desires made thoughts! While he tries real hard to […]

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

Mini-Crunch: The Bebilith Revisited

February 10, 2008 by The Chatty DM

I’m currently writing about Friday’s last game and chances are the post will be massive. So I’m taking this one “Aside” I had plan to write and making it into a separate crunchy mini-post. While I was preping last week’s adventure, I had a strong arachnid theme going (I looooooove spider monsters!). At a certain […]

Filed Under: Game Hacks & Content, Musings of the Chatty DM Tagged With: Breaking PC gear, Crunch, D&D Demons, Rule of Fun

Mini-Fluff'N'Crunch: Requiem for my Bronze Friend

January 15, 2008 by The Chatty DM

That perfidious and oh so diabolical Yax has been reading all those “WotC presents” books and, through his Red Dragon comic-relief Minion Expy, has announced that our cherished Wizards on the Coast are revamping the dragons. One thing that broke my heart a bit (the cynics will say that WotC has ripped out theirs long […]

Filed Under: Musings of the Chatty DM, Uncategorized Tagged With: Crunch, fluff, mini-post, Tropes

(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

(Not so)Mini-Crunch: Killer Cyborg Ogre Ninja

December 11, 2007 by The Chatty DM

When I opened the forums last weekend (come on, join us!), I created a ‘technical issues and complaints’ board. In order to fluff it up, I wrote that it was being manned by a smiling Killer Cyborg Ogre Ninja. Somehow this sparked enough interest for some readers ask to have it stated up. While I’ll […]

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

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About the Author

  • Vanir

    Vanir is the sort of man who has openly wondered aloud about his own armor class in front of his own grandmother. Despite this, he has still managed to somehow become both married and a father. By day, he develops web applications. By night, web applications develop him.

    Email: vanir@critical-hits.comWeb: https://critical-hits.com//category/dire-flailings/

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