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You are here: Home / Archives for Dungeons & Dragons

The New D&D Starter Red Box: A Chatty and Nico Review

August 24, 2010 by The Chatty DM

The first product of the D&D Essentials product line, while likely to be the target of hordes of people who will complain that it is not what it could never be… is what I wished I opened in 1986.

It is an introduction to the D&D game that goes directly to the heart of things.

Filed Under: Featured, Musings of the Chatty DM, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, Cook, d&d 4e, D&D essentials, Dungeons & Dragons, essentials, Mentzer, playing with children, playing with kids, red box, starter set

Character Concepts: Dragonborn

February 25, 2010 by Bartoneus

A handful of character concepts and builds for creating an effective and elementally devastating dragonborn. From a Warden/Fighter that spews acid left and right to becoming an all-powerful avatar of the deceased god Io.

Filed Under: Featured, Reviews, Roleplaying Games, The Architect DM Tagged With: 4th Edition, D&D, dnd 4e, dragon born, Dragonborn, Dungeons & Dragons, PHB races, player's handbook, race, roleplaying games, Roleplaying Games

Railroading in a Good Way

January 20, 2010 by Bartoneus

The term ‘railroading’ usually sends a shiver down the spine of any tabletop RPG player because of the negative implications that come along with it. To be honest, most DMs dislike the term as well and railroading is generally referred to as a problem with an RPG.

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Roleplaying Games, The Architect DM Tagged With: D&D, DM advice, dnd, Dungeons & Dragons, railroading, roleplaying, Roleplaying Games, tabletop gaming

The Most Important Games of the Decade

December 31, 2009 by Dave

As we roll over to ’09 to ’10, getting nostalgic for the advances and updates for the past 10 years is inevitable. 2000 to 2009 was an important decade for gaming, and the landscape for us gamers has changed dramatically. Here, on New Year’s Eve, we look back on our opinion of some of the most important games of the decade. While they are not all necessarily great games in and of themselves, they have made their impact on the gaming industry for many years to come.

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Editorial, Roleplaying Games, Video Games Tagged With: carcassonne, Dungeons & Dragons, grand theft auto 3, halo, mage knight, world of warcraft, yu-gi-oh

Inq. of the Week: Tiers of Play?

September 9, 2009 by Bartoneus

Dave and I both started running 4th Edition D&D campaigns when the system was released, now over a year later Dave’s game is solidly into the paragon tier while mine looks to be entering paragon in the next few weeks.

Filed Under: Featured, Inquisition of the Week, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, 4th Edition, dnd, Dungeons & Dragons, Inquisition of the Week, paragon epic heroic, roleplaying games, Roleplaying Games, tabletop, tiers of play

GenCon 2009: High Level D&D Seminar

August 26, 2009 by Bartoneus

While at GenCon this year there were many events and seminars which I wanted to attend, but one of the seminars that I really didn’t want to miss was the High Level D&D one hosted by Bruce Cordell and Stephen Schubert from Wizards of the Coast.

Filed Under: Featured, News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 2009, 4e, 4th Edition, dnd, Dungeons & Dragons, gen con, gencon, high level, roleplaying game, seminar, tabletop, wizards of the coast, wotc

Review: “Adventurer’s Vault 2”

August 11, 2009 by Bartoneus

The second arms and equipment resource book, Adventurer’s Vault 2 is much like the first installment but this time presenting a myriad of items for (as the cover says) ALL character classes. This book begins to fill out some of the under represented classes such as the Swordmage and most of the PHB2 classes that missed out on the items in the first Player’s Handbook and Adventurer’s Vault.

Filed Under: Featured, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4th Edition, adventurer, adventurer's vault 2, D&D, dnd 4e, Dungeons & Dragons, magic items, roleplaying game, Roleplaying Games, tabletop, wizards of the coast, wotc

4th Edition D&D: Beyond Level 30

August 7, 2009 by Bartoneus

Character level is one of the core concepts behind most roleplaying games, and it has been at the core of D&D from the very beginning as an indication of a character’s abilities, power, and influence in the world. Back in Original D&D they were so distinguished that each level had a different name depending on your class – a Fighter became a Veteran, Warrior, Swordsman, Hero, and eventually Myrmidon, Champion, and finally a Lord.

Filed Under: Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, 4th Edition, dnd, Dungeons & Dragons, epic levels, level advancement, roleplaying games, Roleplaying Games, tabletop

Monster Manual 2 – In Depth #4

August 5, 2009 by Bartoneus

Continuing a series of posts I did in May, I take a more in depth look at each monster entry in the 4th Edition Monster Manual 2!

Filed Under: Featured, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: dnd 4e, Dungeons & Dragons, monster manual 2, preview, Reviews, roleplaying game, Roleplaying Games

4E: Psion – by the Numbers

July 8, 2009 by Bartoneus

Yesterday saw the introduction of Wizards of the Coast’s new ‘preview’ content roll out for the PHB3, starting with a build for the new Psion class and an article with developer commentary on the new class and the inclusion of the Psionic power source into 4th Edition. Of particular interest to me is the fact that introducing a new, and relatively different, mechanic to the game has caused many to instantly decree imbalance and broken status upon the class.

Filed Under: Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4th Edition, balance, dnd, Dungeons & Dragons, insider, playtest, preview, psion, psionics, Roleplaying Games, roleplaying games

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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/

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