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criticalhitparader.com
Critical Hit Parader
@criticalhitparader.com
570 followers 270 following 200 posts
Covering the intersection of music and tabletop roleplaying games.

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Clark Ashton Smith TTRPG & Music and Nine Inch Nails-Inspired Bite the Hand plus Plus Olga Kahn's "Echoes from the Barrow-Downs" @spellbookgaming.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/critical...
A still image from the Slayer video for "Seasons in the Abyss" showing silhouettes of two riders on camels in front of a setting red orange sun.
November 7, 2025 at 6:38 PM
criticalhitparader.com
New releases from DnD fans Howling Giant & Tolkien-inspired Joy Shannon plus Hüsker Dü Halloween song rec open.substack.com/pub/critical...
Album cover for "Crucible & Ruin" by Howling Giant. It features a painting by Susan M. Davies depicting forest home of some sort with a door and two windows built into a tree. Stone steps lead up to the door. Through a clearing between trees, two wolves are silhouetted in front of a full moon. A white Critical Hit Parader guitar pick sits mysteriously on the bottom right corner of the album.
October 29, 2025 at 1:39 PM
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AVTT/PTTN & the Faith No More RPG by @accidentalcyclops.bsky.social plus Grailknights superhero music open.substack.com/pub/critical...
Album artwork for the AVTT/PTTN album. The artwork is by Martin Kvamme, who has lots of album cover credits, including works by The Avett Brothers and Mike Patton. The colors of the artworks are primarily black, and shades of orange. It shows a fiery ring in the sky with lots of clouds. A horizon appears in the ring. Three paperback books that make up the Faith No More Role-Playing Game. They all have black backgrounds. "The Real Thing" has gold text and a gold fish and crown symbol. "Angel Dust" has blue lettering and a bull symbol. "King for a Day" has red lettering.
October 22, 2025 at 2:57 PM
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What Music Is Inspiring TTRPGs These Days? I collected the music references from the personal Appendix N blog bandwagon. @prismaticwasteland.com open.substack.com/pub/critical...
Four vinyl records: 1) Heaven and Hell by Black Sabbath featuring smoking angels. 2) Fire of Unknown Origin by Blue Oyster Cult showing members of the Blue Oyster Cult (the Imaginos ones, not the band itself). 3) Tarkus by Emerson, Lake and Palmer depicting an armadillo tank creature. 4) Hall of the Mountain Grill by Hawkwind with an illustration of a derelict spaceship in the mists of an alien lagoon.
October 15, 2025 at 1:47 PM
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Leonard Cohen, OSR Guru - genius post from @thiccmomswag.bsky.social Plus Glitter Wizard and Castle Rat #ttrpg #dccrpg open.substack.com/pub/critical...
A photo of several old school roleplaying game books, two Leonard Cohen books, and a Leonard Cohen album. A white Critical Hit Parader guitar pick lays handsomely (depending on your politics) on top of a Songs of Leonard Cohen vinyl album.
October 8, 2025 at 1:19 PM
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D&D in the New Musical Express plus three "Vital Records" open.substack.com/pub/critical...
A picture of part of a page from New Musical Express 17th January, 1981. It shows an article with a headline of "In Every Fantasy Home A Gnome." It has a bolded excerpt that reads "It's the new thing! It's the game you can play between consenting adults without losing your pants! It's sweeping Middle America and Middle Earth too! It's Dungeon and Dragons!" There is also an illustration that shows two six sided dice and a couple of dragon/phoenix looking creatures and a bunch of floating eyes.
October 1, 2025 at 1:22 PM
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D&D-Inspired Music from Hannah Fae & Fairy Doom from Faetooth plus New Loot the Body TTRPG Soundtrack #dnd @lootthebody.bsky.social @sincerelyhannahfae.bsky.social @faetooth.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/critical...
The album cover to "You Feel Completely Peculiar" by Loot the Body. It features a colorful drawing of a mushroom in front of a rainbow and psychedelic lettering.
September 25, 2025 at 1:39 PM
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Latest newsletter: Led Zeppelin RPG? Plus Crypt from Trollish Delver Games @voxparlour.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/critical...
The contents of the totally real Led Zeppelin role playing game. The photo shows a white box with the 4 band member logos from the band's fourth album. It's totally real. The photo also shows the Austin Osmon Spare tarot deck and the Aleister Crowley Thoth tarot deck that came in this real box for this real game. Last, the soundtrack for the game is shown in a jewel case with the same black and white letters and runes as the white box that this real game really came in.
September 18, 2025 at 1:39 PM
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Obscure Frazetta Album Covers @bradkyle.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/critical...
The soundtrack album to the movie The Night They Raided Minsky's. It features a Frank Frazetta illustration showing a bunch of female burlesque dancers on top of a movie marquee and being dragged into a police wagon along with an assortment of other characters.
September 10, 2025 at 1:38 PM
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Ursula K. Le Guin & music plus Moorcock on Bowie, Bruce & Bob (Dylan) in this week's newsletter... open.substack.com/pub/critical...
Two album covers. The first album cover is for "Music and Poetry of the Kesh" by Ursula K. LeGuin and Todd Barton. It is a gray cover with a short quote and a set of symbols. The second album cover is the album "Reptilian" by Keep of Kalessin with artwork by Marco Vasco featuring a closeup of a dragon's face with gold colored eyes.
September 3, 2025 at 2:56 PM
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Includes TTRPG projects from @castlegrief.bsky.social and @brendanlasalle.bsky.social
The cover of the Dungeon Crawl Classics module called "Hole in the Sky" by Brendan LaSalle. It features a painting by Doug Kovacs. Plus 3 zines from Castle Grief along with a cassette tape.
July 30, 2025 at 1:33 PM
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Robert Plant Shire Music & Ozzy TTRPG Connections plus New Amon Amarth Song @christianlindke.bsky.social @themountaingoats.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/critical...
A photo of Black Sabbath's Master of Reality album. It is black with a purple title filling the album cover. A small black and purple paperback of John Darnielle's 33 1/3 book about the same album lies on top of the bottom right corner of the record. A white Critical Hit Parader guitar pick sits like an Orchid on top of the album.
July 30, 2025 at 1:20 PM
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Made a great cover for Smoulder…
July 22, 2025 at 7:59 PM
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July 22, 2025 at 7:53 PM
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Latest newsletter: Music TTRPGs & Black Sabbath's Gollum plus Cassette Case Game Jam & Story Behind BÖC Song @lackingceremony.bsky.social @birbnerb.bsky.social @bullypulpithq.bsky.social @axiomdelver.bsky.social criticalhitparader.substack.com/p/music-ttrp...
Images from 5 TTRPG products. 1) Umlaut - showing an electric guitar. 2) Ribbon Drive showing a sepia toned empty road. 3) High Strung featuring someone playing a white electric guitar. 4) Rock Opera '79 featuring a cartoon of a rocker playing a flying V guitar. 5) Fiasco World Tour showing a green backstage pass with a picture of an 18 wheeler. 6) Musical Memories showing a thumbnail of the game book.
July 17, 2025 at 1:54 PM
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Made it to Dungeon Con! @goodmangames.bsky.social
May 3, 2025 at 3:15 PM
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Latest free newsletter on the intersection of music and roleplaying games: Harpers Tolkien Music & Elric Action Figure Plus Festival of the Forgotten Soundtrack by V Is For Villains @sarahvillains.bsky.social @stforgestudios.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/critical...
Four images. The first depicts a D&D scene in a tavern with a dragonborn bard playing a stringed instrument and tavern patrons dancing and clapping. The second is the blue and white symbol of the Harpers made up of a crescent moon and harp instrument. The third is a prototype of the Elric action figure from Harvinger Studios. It shows a black armored Elric with shoulder length white hair and a crimson cape. The fourth is an advertisement for the Festival of the Forgotten 5E product shows a D&D party walking into a lit up carnival with dark red tents at night. The subtitle says "For the Party Who Never Fit In..."
March 15, 2025 at 4:55 PM
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Dragon Guitars & Jeff Easley Plus Last Train to Bremen & Rockbeasts @jeffeasley.bsky.social @seaexcursion.itch.io @rockbeasts.bsky.social @newmadras.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/critical...
At the top are two Paul Reed Smith Dragon guitars. Both double humbuckers and double cutouts. The top one has a dragon on the fretboard. The other has a dragon on the body with the tail going up the fretboard. Below the guitars is a picture of the AD&D Night Below boxed set. It has a painting by Jeff Easley featuring sinister looking underdark monsters, including a fish like humanoid Kuo Toa and a tentacle-faced mindflayer. The last picture is a page excerpt from the Last Train to Bremem rulebook. It features the four animal musician icons of the game: a cockerel (Fiddle and PR. The face), a cat (Bass guitar and manager. The brains), a hound (Lead guitar and lyricist. The heart.), and a mule (Drums. Treasurer.)
March 5, 2025 at 4:01 PM
criticalhitparader.com
Latest free newsletter: Dungeon Synth Soundtrack for #DCCRPG, Mirrorshield, & Jethro Tull Plus King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Thief Fighter@wizardthieffighter.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/critical...
Three images: 1) A mockup of a cassette cover and insert for Dunjon Magik's Blights ov the Eastern Forest soundtrack featuring artwork by C.Aaron Kreader, Stefan Poag and Garrick Andrus. 2) Album cover artwork from Mirrorshield depicting a witch, a castle, and a dragon. 3) Album cover for Jethro Tull's Curious Ruminant depicting a horned masquerade style mask.
February 26, 2025 at 3:15 PM
criticalhitparader.com
Latest Critical Hit Parader Newsletter: Music for Dungeons + Castle Grief Sword & Sorcery Zine w/ Cassette Plus Metal Tabletop RPGs - Glumdark @stuhorvath.com @johnmcguirerpg.bsky.social @diogooldskull.bsky.social @castlegrief.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/critical...
Three images. The first is labeled Gnoll - Music for Dungeons and has a black and white drawing of a warrior in a dungeon going down steps about to be attacked by a sword and shield wielding humanoid. The second is labled Kal-Arath Twin Sun Sutra and is a sepia toned painting on ink (I think) of a naked masculine warrior shown from behind next to kneeling naked feminine figure. The last shows a book titled Glumdark with a red and black cover with a skeletal-spider-like creature. It sits on top of parchments and is next to polyhedral dice.
February 19, 2025 at 3:46 PM
criticalhitparader.com
Heavy Metal Monster Manual & Stories Behind Prog Rock Album Covers Plus Mystic Punks: Dead Hills Mall Adventure Zine & Cassette Synth Soundtrack @greedygorgonpress.bsky.social @smoggo.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/critical...
Three images: 1) A black and white picture of an axe wielding warrior battling a demon from the Heavy Metal Monster Manual 2) A dayglo red and blue album cover from Uriah Heep showing two magicians having a spell duel 3) Roger Dean artwork for the Relayer album by Yes showing a wintry scene with white horse mounted soldiers
February 14, 2025 at 2:24 PM
criticalhitparader.com
Look what I saw out in the wild of the Cary, NC Barnes & Noble! Rulebooks for #DCCRPG & MCC, plus Tome of Adventure Vols 1 & 2. Because @goodmangames.bsky.social generously offers their 3rd party publishers free ads in the back of the DCC rulebook, there was a Critical Hit Parader sighting as well!
Smiling middle aged guy in a black shirt pointing at a bookshelf and Barnes & Noble. Closeup of two hands pointing at books published by Goodman games on a Barnes & Noble bookshelf. Includes DCC RPG, MCC RPG, Tome of Adventure Volumes 1 & 2. Batman graphic novels and D&D books visible on nearby shelves. Smiling middle aged guy in black shirt pointing to a page in an open Dungeon Crawl Classics rulebook. The pages shows ads from DCC 3rd party publishers. The guy's finger is specifically pointing to the Critical Hit Parader ad with the pride that could only come from one of his kids having provided the artwork of an Elric-inspired albino warrior playing a guitar shaped like the Blue Oyster Cult logo.
February 11, 2025 at 9:30 PM
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I have a free weekly newsletter on the intersection of music and tabletop roleplaying games. Check out the archive of over 100 issues and/or subscribe to have a new issue in your inbox every Wednesday. criticalhitparader.substack.com
"Critical Hit Parader" logotype in red and black
February 8, 2025 at 5:11 PM
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Latest Critical Hit Parader newsletter on the intersection of music & TTRPGs: Joni Mitchell Music References to J.R.R. Tolkien Plus Plus A Templar’s Tale Concept Album from @amultitudeofone.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/critical...
Album cover featuring a painted portrait of Joni Mitchell holding a red flower, a Knights of Camelot board game box showing two knights jousting, and a Rick Wakeman album cover showing a sword stuck in an anvil.
February 6, 2025 at 6:22 PM
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Latest Critical Hit Parader newsletter: Favorite Fantasy/Sci-Fi Album Covers by Frazetta, Whelan, Dean, Gawlick, Riggs, Baizley, Away, & Matthews Plus Music Inspired by the Lord of the Rings @michaelwhelan.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/critical...
Four album covers: 1) Future architectural landscape by Gawlick for Blue Oyster Cult 2) Michael Whelan's sword wielding albino Elric for Cirith Ungol, 3) Frank Frazetta's three "snow giant" barbarians fighting on snow covered mountain for Dust 4) Bound angel figures by John Dyer Baizley for Baroness
January 29, 2025 at 3:47 PM