Critical Hit: A Dungeons and Dragons Podcast, has wrapped up its first year of casting the pods of four heroes fighting the Void. I came home the other day to a nice surprise. In addition to my weekly stash of comics, there was another box with my name on it.
What’s in the box!? What’s in the box!?
Hmmm… the return address said Wizards of the Coast. This was either something really cool, or a really large C&D letter.
Thankfully it wasn’t a legal document, instead there were two large bags stuffed with something that looked really familiar.
Oh, yes! Dungeons and Dragons miniatures! Specifically, the box contained two sets of Savage Encounters figures for Major Spoilers to use during our recording of Critical Hit.
Our Game Master, Rodrigo will be quick to tell you that the miniatures we use in the game are rather slim at times, and this addition will really allow future encounter images to pop. Personally, I’m a big fan of using actual D&D figures in the game, and usually pick up a few here and there when I’m out and about. Miniatures add a great deal to the gaming experience, and I recommend picking up a few when you can.
Even my son can’t believe the collection showed up at the door. He’s only three, but he always shows an interest in what Daddy and His Weird Friends are doing when we gather around the table and spin interesting tales. Before I could gather up all the figures and get them back in the box, he already had the Adult Gray Dragon and Skeletal Cyclops in his little mitts battling one another for the fate of the TiVo remote. At one point I heard him exclaim, “AHHH! You’re eating my head!” Sure enough, the dragon did have the cyclops’ head in his maw.
If you listen closely to the Critical Hit podcast, you’ll hear occasional references and wonder if there is a comic book connection. Upon looking at the character cards for the set, I have a feeling Zombie Hulk may make an appearance in the near future. These cards are very useful for those who don’t want to carry the Monster Manual around with them when they game, but may not be that useful if you are using the miniature as a substitute for another creature.
Zombie Hulk miniature on the left, LEGO minifig on the right. I know future encounters are going to be a lot more interesting in the near future. I’m really impressed with the detailing on each figure, and they sure as heck beat paper tokens or pieces from your Monopoly set.
What other adventures will these miniatures have when waiting between encounters?
While this was a really nice surprise from the fine folks at Wizards of the Coast, the weekend was about to be filled with one more surprise.
13 Comments
Awesome! glad to see them supporting you guys! seems like a good relationship, they get good press and you guys get a some better gear for your sessions, and just what you asked for too.
Its about time, they really should be thanking you. I know personally that my friends and I have all bought books of 4 edition because of Critical Hit. Thats five people buying the core stuff. Plus little extra books to follow along and make our own adventures. Wizards of the coasts should be sending you brownies every week.
Those minis look cool, I wonder how long it will be until we see some in action, since there are already a lot of episodes in the can.
Very nice! Glad to see you get recognition for your podcast from the guys in suits. ;)
And if it means anything to WotC: I bought the core rule set of DnD4 because of Critical Hit.
Hey, I love the podcast (I’m on episode 16 at the moment, learning all kinds of fun stunts to pull on my party, thanks Roderigo!) and think that the shipment of minis is super great. I just have one question.
What is that fascinating device in the background of the first three images?
Ha ha! that’s the first thing I noticed.
Cool! Squeeky wheel does get the grease, you guys keep saying how it would be great if Wizard of the Coast could sponsor the show seen how you’ve rekindled the love of D&D for tons of fans.
I never thought in a million years they’d actually send you guys something, I have a better opinion of this faceless and evil organisation ;-)
This is how I imagine the conversation went:
Research guy: “you know there are these geeks in some sort of graphic novel website who actually managed to get more people into D&D then our advertisement has in the last 10 years?”
Management dude: “really? lets send them some free stuff then!”
I’m glad that you all are finally getting some results from WotC. The quality of the story, professionalism/production quality of the sound, and the fun of the players make this a weekly treat for me.
Add me to the list of “I got into 4e and now buy more WotC product because of Critical Hit.”
Whats the other surprise?
You can read it here
I’ve loved D&D since I was in high school and I still have my DM Guide, Players Handbook and Monster Manual, from 2nd Edition (a lot of good that does me), and I love hearing the adventures but it just makes me sad because in Ohio I can’t seem to find a group of people to play with. I know Hitman Sam from the site here is down, but I need to find a good DM. By the way, I’m listening to all of the podcasts in order and I’m on episode 100 right now, recently I listened to the episode where Rodrigo explained how to play Magic: The Gathering and now I want to go out and buy a bunch of cards and play again. Back in the day I played with friends like one time and then bought a crap ton of cards (including quite a few packs of Unglued) and I never played again so I just gave all my cards away. I haven’t played since because it just seemed so heavy and difficult to understand, so tell Rodrigo thanks for breaking it down, I think I might be able to pick it up and know what’s going on. I know I’d have to use trial and error on building a really good deck but at least I have the gist. I still have a ton of Lord of the Rings the TCG cards but I don’t think people play that anymore.
It’s about time! It proove only that WoTC have a slight understanding of modern marketing. Geee, if I were in their position, I would monitor the usages made of the game over the intardwebs, not only to encourage groups like yours, which is the best viral publicity but to also protect my intellectual property.
Oh Man! I saw “Zombie Hulk” and immediately thought of the chase figure from Heroclix.
That is some really nice SWAG…enjoy!