The GROGNARD Files

It’s that time again! We went on the road in a charabanc and headed to England’s 4th City, Birmingham, for the UK Game Expo 2023.

We report on the games we played, the people we saw and the stuff we bought in a spectacular weekend.

Learn how we became Pookie Porters carrying his impressive haul, which can be seen revealed on this video.

There is also news from our bar-side chat with Paul Fricker and his podcast recommendation of Filthy Ritual, the true crime podcast. He has also written about it on his substack.

Dirk participated in a panel of fellow podcasters with the RPG Repair Shop. There is an edited sample featured here, but if you want more, then listen at Frankenstein’s RPG.

If you would like to support the podcast, then please support us on Patreon. Thanks.

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Join Dirk the Dice, climbing to the top of Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh for an episode that we used to label ‘extra’ but who cares if they have an episode number?

Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore joins us to share his First, Last and Everything. He mentions Mythic and The Quiet Year in a conversation recorded at this year’s virtual GROGMEET.

Blythy and Dirk are in the Las O Gowrie answering listener questions in a Thunderphase! segement.

Join our Patreon to support the podcast and get a ‘a little extra’.

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Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. This is a remastered version of episode 2 (part 1) with some additional edits and the levels balanced and an extra segment reflecting on the episode eight years later.

Open Box – reliving the memories of playing the game for the first time and the faltering start.

Judge Blythy Rules! – The Armchair Adventurers’ Resident Rules Lawyer discusses the finer points of the rules and style of play. We also speculate on what horrors have faced British Prime Ministers.

White Dwarf – @dailydwarf talks about his early experiences of playing Call of Cthulhu and selects his favourite item from the pages from the halcyon days of the UK’s best gaming magazine.

An invitation to listeners to contribute their stories of playing Call of Cthulhu in the early days.

Look out for a Micro Grog Pod coming soon featuring a list of our favourite CoC supplements and a current online pricing guide.

Episode 3 will feature TRAVELLER RPG

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Still Dirk. Star Frontiers returns. This time we are looking at the adventures that were created for the game. Dark Side of the Moon and Face of the Enemy were very sophisticated modules produced by TSR.

Wayne Peters joins us to talk about Space 1999 and add it to the every-expanding Appendix G.

We mention a great Call of Cthulhu adventure, Of Sorrow and Clay, which we played at virtual GROGMEET.

Music is Helix by Omari.

Why not support us on Patreon?

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Join the Galactic Legions with Dirk and Blythy as we explore Star Frontiers.

Introduction: An apology for the misreading of the shrine last time. The background to Star Frontiers as a setting explained.

Book Club: Ben Riggs joins Dirk in the Zoom of Role-Playing Rambling to talk about the history of TSR as explained in his book. Slaying the Dragon.

Daily Dwarf: The triumphant return of the Daily Dwarf essay looking at how Imagine magazine covered Star Frontiers.

Speed-Rating: Judge Blythy and Dirk give the low-down on the game including the highlights and the things that don’t quite work.

Save for Half: an advert for our friends at The Save for Half podcast

I’ll get mi coat: Monster of the Week and Planescape, our latest obsessions

Outro: Virtual Grogmeet, the Book Club and join us on Patreon.

I guess I was Never There – new EP from Omari (Dirk Jnr)

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Introduction: We look at the Satanic Panic in this episode. We have touched on it before, during our interview with Tim Harford. We are part of the Scarred for Life generation, so were met with mild bemusement rather than a moral panic.

I somehow manage to croak through this … apologies … normal service will resume as soon as the Lemsip kicks in.

Open Box (3.45) Author of Dangerous Games, Joseph Laycock, Professor of Religious Studies at Texas State University, joins us in the zoom of role-playing rambling to explain the history of RPG moral panics in America.

GROGGLEBOX (34:41) Blythy and Dirk watch the made for TV Mazes and Monsters (1982) It has been released on BluRay with friends of the show, Scott Dorwood, How we Roll and Seth Skorkowsky

Appendix G (01:11:00) Kehaar aka Clarky adds Dr Who and the UNIT campaign to Appendix G and talks about he became the poster-boy for satanism on The Wirral.

I’ll Get My Coat (1:22:00) Dirk and Blythy look forward to the forthcoming Moorcock Weekender and reflect upon the end of the first season of The Pirates of Drinax.

Outro (1:31:0) sniffle … Bookclub …. Substack ….sniffle …. virtualGROGMEET … sniffle … thanks for being a Patreon. *coughs*

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INTRO – What was one of the triggers that stopped me playing back in the day? The discovery of cult movies. In this episode we explore the late night television schedules in the form of Moviedrome.

Starburst Memories: 4.15 – we are joined in the room of rambling by Mr Jim Moon of the Hypnogoria podcast. We talk about the fabulous first season of the Moviedrome, presented by film-maker Alex Cox.

Speed Rating: 51. Blythy tries to resist the taste of Summer by hiding in the stock cupboard and talking about one of his current favourite games: Vaesen from Free League.

Save for Half – we are proud to advertise one of the greatest vintage games podcasts out there (and a friend of the show).

I’ll Get Mi Coat: Weakness, thy name is Dirk.

Please support us on Patreon.

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It has been another incredible year for The Armchair Adventurers. We review the experiences that we have had with games old and new and reflect upon the year in general. There may be some irrelevant Beatles chat too.

INTRO – A new review and a breakdown of what to expect in the latest issue (including a ‘less’ v ‘fewer’ subtext).

GROGGIES Part 1. (4.10) Find out more about Red Markets in our appearance on Orlanth Rexes Gaming Vexes.

Bookclub (31:00): We were joined in the Book Club by the You Tuber Bud from Bud’s RPG reviews to talk about Viral the Modern Day Call of Cthulhu scenario.

GROGGIES Part 2.(51:00) Banging on about The Beatles for the UNIT campaign and awarding GROGGIE of the year for an amazing experience.

Outro. The annual round up of the new podcasts that have been added to the roll call this year. Appearances on The Smart Party Podcast, twice on Frankenstein’s RPG and performing on Tale of the Manticore. Recommendations include Baz’s incredible RuneQuest Year Zero, Ludo and Joerge’s The God Learners, The Titterpigs RPG Podcast, Beatles Books, and The Video Archive.

Like what we do? Please support it on Patreon.

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At GROGMEET22 we had a great gaming experience with members of the GROGSQUAD. In this podcast we look back on some of the highlights.

Introduction to Chris McDowall. Chris talks about his formative years as a gamer and the influences on his design choices.

12:00 A GamesMaster Prepares – Dirk and Blythy discuss their experiences GMing the multi-table Mothership game and the other great games.

42:00 OpenBox – Chris McDowall introduces Into the Odd and Electric Bastionland.

01:12 GamesMaster Prepares more – A discussion of more games played, including Old School Essentials using these great pre-generated characters.

Thanks to everyone who made the event possible.

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This is the GROGPOD naked. There’s no interviews or GROGSQUAD sections, it is just Dirk and Blythy talking bobbins. Swordbearer was a game that we played a lot for a brief period. We liked it, but for some reason it didn’t connect and become a game that did not stick in our repertoire. Why not?

Intro: This is The GROGNARD files and we are talking SwordBearer

Speed-Dating: Open Box, Judge Blythy Rules! Monster off! we explore the SwordBearer game and its amazing innovations.

Advert: Third Floor Wars – great interviews with game designers

GamesMaster’s Screen: We look at some of the games that are on our shelf that we have not yet played. Should we Play, Stay, or give away:

Würm – the prehistoric tribal RPG

Icons – the Super Hero Game

Apocalypse World – the ground-breaking RPG about post catastrophe role-playing

Warrior, Rogue, Mage – an OSR game with neat ideas

Ironsworn

Band of Blades

Outro: Don’t forget that you can still join virtual GROGMEET over at WARHORN.

If you want to support the Patreon, now is good time to join as the benefits are about to be refreshed.

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This is the second part of our episode all about Savage Worlds. This time we look at some of the settings that we have enjoyed playing in over the past few years.

3.15 Titan Effect, interview with Christian Nommay. The new Declassified edition is available on Drive Thru RPG

24.43 The GamesMasters Screen – Judge Blythy joins me in the Zoom of Role-Playing Rambling to look at Deadlands, Slipstream, The Day After Ragnarok, Necessary Evil and others to explore the varied Savage Worlds you can play in.

You can read more about Wages Ophir on this very site.

1.11.50 Appendix G. Michael Butler asks us, “who watches the Watchmen?”

1.35.01 I’ll Get Mi Coat. Closing Time chatter about Kult and where is the role-playing?

You can find out the latest about GROGMEET here and support the podcast at Patreon.

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INTRO: Welcome to another Book Club Extra. We take break from the usual format to give you a little something extra. The Great Library of RPGs Book Club meets on the first Sunday of the month between 9:30 – 11:00. You can join at the Bookclub app if you are interested and follow developments on the discord server (contact me for an invite).

Full Fathom Five (2.30) – Paul Fricker talks to us about his scenario Full Fathom Five which is available at the Miskatonic Depository. He has recently contributed to the Story Telling Collective, giving guidance on writing Call of Cthulhu adventures. We look at some of the influences on Full Fathom Five including Moby Dick, the story of The Essex, and Master and Commander. Paul is one of the hosts of The Good Friends of Jackson Ellias (I appeared on there, talking about Gangsters and Gozu).

Actual Play (46.16) If you are a Patreon of the GROGNARD files, you can take part in the monthly one-shot club. This is a bit of sample play of Full Fathom Five. The rest will be released on The Patreon feed later in September.

GROGGLEBOX (56:23) Blythy and Dirk talk about The Thing (1982)

Tale of the Manticore advert (1.32)

I’ll Get mi Coat 1.32 – The end of one campaign and the start of another.

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Welcome to an episode that we have been talking about for a while. The Armchair Adventurers Club have played more Savage Worlds over the past few years than any other game, so why has it taken us so long to get to this episode? There is so much to cover and this first part goes on forever! Thankfully, with new chapter breaks, you can take your time to find a way through it.

Daily Dwarf (4.34) Makes a return, telling the story of how we got into Savage Worlds in the first place and what White Dwarf in its hey day had to say about generic systems. @dailydwarf credits What Would the Smart Party Do? for championing the system.

Open Box (14.18) Eric Lamoureux, host of the Wild Die Savage Worlds podcast, joins us in the Zoom of Roleplaying Rambling to talk about Wise Guys, his excellent gangster game, and other Savage Worlds projects.

Judge Blythy Rules (50.34) When it comes to Games Mastering Savage Worlds, we have had different experiences. Blythy has run campaigns in the published settings, I have done one shots in my own settings. In the noisy Las O Gowrie pub in Manchester we compare some of our favourite aspects of the game.

Talk Top Talk from Third Floor Wars (1.47.0) We recommend this great podcast which really gets under the skin of games design in interviews with people who make games.

I’ll Get mi Coat (1.47.30) Closing time chatter about the games that we are working on at the moment and some of our thoughts. Incudes Things from the Flood and The League of Eternal Guardians.

We also mention Run the Adventure and Roll to Save podcasts. If you are interested in Owl Bear and the Wizard’s Staff convention, you’ll find information about the face-to-face event on the site, while the online convention sign ups are on Warhorn.

The Bookclub membership is managed via Bookclubz, where you’ll find more about our meetings on the first Sunday of every month (except when it isn’t)

Thanks for giving us a monthly tip at Patreon. It is very much appreciated.

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This is the second part of our exploration of Scarred for Life, the fantastic series of books about growing up in the dark decades of the seventies and eighties. Gen X-rated popular culture shaped our imaginations and informed our gaming.

Buy the books here.

Content warning for this one as we quote directly from a couple of controversial games from the 80s.

I’ve had a go at putting chapters on this one. In case they don’t pull through, here is the menu:

00:00 INTRO: The incredible ghost voices that appeared on the free flexi-disc from The Unexplained magazine.

03:53 The GAMESMASTER’s Screen. Ste Brotherstone give us insight from the forthcoming volume of Scarred for Life. Phoenix Command, Alma Mater, The Unexplained: Mysteries of Mind, Space, & Time, The Price of Freedom, and 2000ad. I also mention the wonderful Save for Half podcast who did a recent episode on East Texas University.

57:30 Library Use. Judge Blythy joins me in the Room of Role-Playing rambling to look at Unexplained magazine. I make a mistake – it didn’t last for 115 issues, it was 157!

1:33:0 Advert. Frankenstein’s RPG podcast – I appeared on a recent episode about Magic/ PSIonics and Investigation in SF role-playing games.

1:34:0 I’ll Get mi Coat. Closing time chatter about Agon, Delta Green and a brief mention of the UNIT campaign.

1:46:Outro. The Book Club is on the first Sunday of every month at 09:30 GMT for 90 minutes. Owl Bear and The Wizard’s Staff convention is scheduled to take place on the weekend 2nd September. I will be supporting an online version of the event. Watch this space for more details.

Support us on Patreon

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Here we go! After a two year break, Dirk and Blythy are back in Birmingham talking about RuneQuest, DCC, Traveller, Conan, Old School Essentials and into the Odd. It’s good to be back.

Why not support us on Patreon?

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The 70s and 80s were the golden age of dark popular culture and Scarred for Life have chronicled the TV, comics, adverts, sweets and others of the period in a conversational but forensic style. There are two volumes available with a third on its way at the end of Summer ’22, which will feature role-playing games of the 1980s. We are joined by Stephen Brotherstone, one of the authors, and we talk about his formative years in role-playing and how this project came into being.

You can find out more about Scarred for Life by following the twitter account. The books are available print on demand, check for discount codes. They also have live shows.

We discuss Threads, Noah’s Castle, Dracula Lollies and much, much more.

Resident rules lawyer Judge Blythy joins me in the Port Street Beer House for a new segment where we do a Speed Rating of a game. This time we look at Monster of the Week – the rules highlights and our experiences of playing the game. There is a Jazz warning.

We finish off with a bit of closing time chatter about Dungeon Crawl Classics and the new Blade Runner kickstarter.

Follow us on Patreon to support the podcast and associated projects.

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Welcome, this is an extra-GROGPOD which is from a live recording made at this year’s virtual GROGMEET. Every month, on the first Sunday, the GROGSQUAD meet to discuss books from The Great Library of RPGs. This time we read The Gutter Prayer and invited Gareth Hanrahan for a Q&A session.

If you would like to be part of the book club, then please let me know in the comments below and I will send an invite.

If you like what we do, then please consider supporting us on Patreon.

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One of the foundational films that shaped the games that we played is Excalibur (1981). In this episode we look back on the film and consider how it can continue to inspire our gaming.

To see some of the issues of Starburst that we refer to in this episode, you’ll find images over at Dirk Malcolm’s World of Film where I have written a couple of pieces about how the magazine covered the film.

Also in this episode, David Larkins, Line Editor of King Arthur Pendragon at Chaosium, talks about Berlin Wicked City, The Esoteric Order of Role-players and much more.

Sam Vail adds Robin of Sherwood to the Appendix G.

Please consider supporting the podcast at Patreon.

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Join me as I take an idea for a walk across the Gangster RPG shelf in the GROGPOD den. It also features a sample actual play of GangBusters – The Vanishing Investigator.

Games mentioned:

GangBusters

Gangster!

Crime Fighter

Fiasco

Hillfolk

Spirit of ’77

Cartel

Blades in the Dark

Wise Guys

Also mentioned: Good Friends of Jackson Ellias, Will Weaton’s Demonstration of Fiasco, Reviews from R’lyeh, Third Floor Wars, Tale of the Manticore, and Orlanth Rex’s Gaming Vexes.

Join Patreon, for more of the Actual Play.

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In this episode, we finally draw the sword from the stone and examine a game that had an enormous impact on gaming in the 80s: King Arthur Pendragon.

David Larkins, the Pendragon line editor for Chaosium, joins us to tell us about the history of the game, how it works and the future developments.

Judge Blythy, our resident rules-lawyer, reviews the mechanics and we discuss how the game works conceptually.

We also have some closing time chatter about hot topics on our table top.

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“Get your trousers on, you’re nicked!” We are still in the mood for some old fashioned cops and robbers. In this part we look a bit more closely at how the rules work in GangBusters. Judge Blythy, our resident rules lawyer casts his eye over some of the highlights of the system.

New in this podcast is Appendix G. This segment will invite members of the GROGSQUAD to talk about books, films, TV and other media that has influenced their gaming. Vaughan Allen provides a background to The Sweeney, the UK cop show from the 70s, and talks about how it has influenced his Delta Green game.

Over in the GROGGLEBOX we watch The Untouchables (1987).

Why not support the podcast at Patreon?

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As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster in an RPG.

This time we look back at a classic from back in the day. Pound the mean streets of LakeFront City as we look back to playing the game back in the 80s. Blythy opens up the box of delights as we recall the old neighbourhood where we used to play.

We are joined by Mark Hunt who has revived GangBusters with some additional material for the old game. He’s also revised the game retro-cloning the BX rules. You can find everything over on Drive Thru RPG.

We are looking for recommendations for youth groups where we can send games from our good friends at bonhomiegames.uk – following fundraising in memory of Mike Hobbs. Please get in touch if you know of a group that would benefit from new games.

Dirk

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It’s that time of the year again when our thoughts turn to The GROGGIES, our review of the year, with a series of special awards for the highlights. Get ready to open the spurious golden envelope to find the winners.

We are delighted to have musical accompaniment by Paul Mitchener who also provides his First, Last and Everything. If you want to join the Mitchester Arms, you’ll find a link here.

We mention Kehaar’s White Hound campaign.

I have listed all the podcast appearances in 2021 on the GROGPOD page.

You can support the podcast at Patreon.

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We return to the subject of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks with our special guest Jonathan Green who has written a history of the publishing phenomena. He is an active gamebook designer with many projects in his repertoire. You’ll find his latest work Ronin 47 (late pledges) kickstarter.

Judge Blythy joins me at the Las O Gowrie as we look at a copy of Warlock issue 11, the Fighting Fantasy magazine. Followed by a monster battle from Out of the Pit.

I’m about to appear on The Good Friends of Jackson Elias podcast talking about Gangsters in Call of Cthulhu.

You can support the GROGPOD by joining the Patreon campaign and throw some coins in the beret.

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Welcome to another extra all about this year’s GROGMEET. This time it includes a live recording made at Fan Boy Three.

Frankenstein’s RPG podcast has been pulling together the best bits of role-playing games this year to produce an epic monster of a game. We got together to decide which would be the best supplement to support the game.

You can catch up with the Frankenstein’s RPG over at anchor.

Also in this extra podcast, I give a personal reflection on the games I played and recommend some podcasts that you may enjoy.

I played Paranoia with Iain Wilson, you can catch some of his actual plays and discussion on his podcast Roll to Save.

Pookie makes quizzes and reviews RPGs.

Newt Newport is a publisher D1o1 games and organises Go Play Manchester.

Tale of the Manticore

What am I Rolling (Vurt actual play)

Breakfast in the Ruins (Wizardry and Wild Romance)

Fictoplasm (Corum)

Weird Studies

Gaming & BS

The Gauntlet Podcast

Fear of the Black Dragon

Smart Party (Jason Cordova interview)

Orlanth Rex’s Gaming Vexes

Titterpigs

You can find out more recommendations by following the newsletter on Patreon.

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It’s that time of year when we are preparing for the GROGMEET convention in Manchester and, this time, online.

Blythy and Dirk discuss the history of the meet-up, give some tips on how to start one yourself, discuss the thorny issue of ‘player sign-ups’ and run through the games they are running at the event.

Ottawa Tom shares the first game he played, the last game he played and the game that means everything to him.

Why not catch up on Frankenstein’s RPG before the GROGNARD files meets up with it!

GROGMEET art is by Simon Perrins.

Support the podcast on Patreon.

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We are pleased to say that Ian Livingstone returns to the GROGPOD to face the Games Master’s Screen. He talks about the early days of White Dwarf and the upcoming book, Dice Men from Unbound, and he also talks about his role in shaping computer studies in the UK.

Fabio Vollono shares the first game he played, the last game he played and the game that means everything to him. He mostly talks about his amazing memories of hanging around Dalling Road back in the day. You can find his fantastic miniatures at his etsy shop.

Daily Dwarf has provided another great essay (that I read) about White Dwarf and solo gaming.

Blythy and Dirk watch and discuss South of Watford, a documentary about Fantasy Games from 1984.

You can support The GROGNARD files on Patreon.

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Armed with no more than 2 dice a pencil and eraser we are delighted to have special guest Ian Livingstone on Episode 50.

Also in this episode, the return of face to face recording in the Las O Gowrie. Judge Blythy talks to Dirk about his experiences of Fighting Fantasy and reveals his thoughts of the rules. We also talk of Advanced Fighting Fantasy, Troika, and Quarrel and Fable.

Mr Jim Moon, host of the fabulous Hypnogoria shares his first, last and everything.

The return of the excellent Sea Shanty from Daily Dwarf and Lichway Ed Foster.

You can support the GROGNARD files at Patreon.

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Forgotten Futures is the table-top RPG that is based on the scientific romances of the late Victorian and Edwardian period. Marcus L Rowland take us on a tour on his works and the ways that it has been distributed during its years of production. You can find a whole host of fascinating material on Marcus’ website including his other works, such as Diana Warrior Princess and The Original Flatland RolePlaying Game.

Also in this extra GROGPOD there is the return of Games Master Prepares. Dirk the Dice tries to crack the secret code of Cthulhu in Space by using the Marcus L Rowland method.

You can support the podcast and the GROGNARD files community by throwing some coins in the beret at Patreon. There’s an all new zine bundle on its way before the end of the year.

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This is the 80th GROGPOD and there is a sense of celebration in the air. We are delighted to have Marcus L Rowland as our guest. He was a stalwart of Whit Dwarf during its hey day. Cthulhu Now! Green Horizon, To Live and Die in Mega City One and the Fear of Flying, his contribution to our gaming imagination back in the day is inestimable.

@DailyDwarf provides a retrospective of his work in White Dwarf.

The first ever Patreon of The GROGNARD Files was Sam Vail and he reveals the first game he played, the last game he played and the game that means everything to him in a lifetime of gaming.

Blythy joins me in the Room of Role Playing Rambling to answer listener questions in the Thunder Phase!

Check out Bud’s RPG Review.

You can support the GROGNARD files on Patreon.

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The GROGNARD files returns with the Return of Call of Cthulhu with the return of Lynne Hardy. This time she faces the Keeper’s Screen to reveal her Arcane secrets. She talks about her contribution to the Dying Earth Role-Playing Game, Cogs, Cakes and Swordsticks, the game she designed, and more news about upcoming Chaosium releases that we can look forward to in the coming months.

In the introduction, I refer to it as Episode 47, it’s not, but what are numbers. I have never understood our bizarre numbering system. This show note counts as Errata. We delve into Different Worlds Issue 19 which was a Call of Cthulhu special and features errata, essays by Sandy Petersen and Lyn Willis and more.

The Post Bag returns with comments from listeners. If you are interested in hearing more from The God Learners podcast, you’ll find it where you get your podcasts.

We share a hoary old story about a trip to Morecambe, where nothing really happened, but it was character forming.

This episode features an advert for Tale of the Manticore.

Please invest in The GROGNARD Files at Patreon.

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The Armchair Adventurers keep coming back to Call of Cthulhu and we are about to begin Children of Fear, written by our guest Lynne Hardy.

In this episode we discuss Lynne’s formative years in role-playing and how she started work with Chaosium with a pitch for this richly detailed and horrific campaign.

Tristan Narbrough is a GROGSQUAD member who currently lives in Japan, he tells us about his first, last and everything.

Blythy is back from the wilderness and in fine form talking about different Cthulhu mythos settings that we have experienced.

You can support the podcast by backing us on Patreon.

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As the Final Score recedes (great result between Arbroath and Queen of the South) it’s time to grab a Tizer and sit down to an episode all about Dr Who.

We speak to Dave Chapman, who is the lead writer on Doctor Who Roleplaying Game from Cubicle 7 about his history with the Doctor, his career in game design.

Michael B has sent his First, Last and Everything from Down Under.

In the zoom of roleplaying rambling we watch Dr Who, Pyramids from Mars on the GROGGLEBOX

Please show your support for the podcast over at Patreon.

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Tim Harford, economist, columnist, broadcaster, best-selling author, podcaster and role-player was the very special guest at virtual GROGMEET 2021.

There were a vast array of games available over the weekend, including a fiendish quiz set by Pookie from Reviews from R’lyeh – thank you to everyone who took part to make it a great event.

It was a joy and a privilege to join Tim in the Zoom of Role-Playing Rambling to discuss his formative years in the hobby, his current game and all about the setting that means everything to him.

You’ll find Tim’s podcast, Cautionary Tales, over at his website and through all your usual pod boxes.

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Download Episode

Whatever happened to March 2021? We may never know, let’s hope that April restores normal service.

In this episode we continue the discussion with Chris Klug about his career in game design:

James Bond RPG (which we covered in Episode 15), Aidyn’s Chronicles, and his work for Chaosium, such as The Smoking Ruin for RuneQuest Glorantha.

Judge Blythy hands over his gavel for Judge Blythy Rules and we introduce a new segment to discuss Deadlands and other matters.

You can support The GROGNARD files by putting a tip in the beret at Patreon.

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The GROGNARD files opens on one of our favorites from back in the day. Blythy bought it from Northern Games Day while I was playing a great game of RuneQuest and he was feeling sorry for himself. We played a lot of this game as it was our swords and sorcery game of choice. In this episode we are reconnecting with the game.

Chris Klug is in the Open Box section talking about how he got into game design and the factors that influenced his design decisions for the 2nd edition of the game.

Rob Arcangeli is the GROGSQUAD member who provides an interesting First, Last and Everything. I never expected that The Age of Sigmar would feature in this section.

We watch The Sword and the Sorcerer together in the GROGGLEBOX.

Join our Patreon to take part.

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In this episode we review the games that we have played in 2020 – there were so many! During the discussion we cover our experiences of playing Lyonesse, Savage Worlds, Mutant Year Zero and many more. You can see the report on all the games we played by following this link.

Dave Morris joins us in the Room of Role-Playing Rambling and discusses White Dwarf and other projects he’s been involved with over his long career in gaming. You can join his Patreon to support JewelSpider and follow his blog.

There’s a new twitter account for you to follow @theRPGLibrarian follow it and direct mail me if you’d like to know more about the monthly Book Club, starting in Feb.

Follow all of the GROGNARD files projects on Patreon.

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The last GROGPOD of 2020 features a classic British Old School RPG, Dragon Warriors.

You can find out more about Dave Morris at his blog and his Patreon.

Daily Dwarf has a blog too.

Dave Paterson is about to launch a new podcast Frankenstein’s RPG and he’s a regular on Orlanth Rex’s Gaming Vexes.

Dragon Warriors is available at Drive Thru RPG (print on demand) as is Casket of Fays. There is a collection of information at The Cobwebbed Forest.

If you like what we do, then please like, subscribe, tell someone else or support us on Patreon.

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This is a bonus episode featuring a ‘Library Use’ segment that we recorded which looks in detail at issue 52 of Dragon Magazine (published in August 1981). The publication was around the same time as the launch of the Moldvay edition of Basic D&D. We discuss an article where the new edition is discussed in comparison with the Holmes edition. We also review some of the other content in this feature rich issue.

The bonus edition is dedicated to our Patreons who made it possible.

We also mention: Guy Milner’s Blog Burn After Running, and Roll to Save

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This is the second part of the Dungeons and Dragons Episode. Lew Pulsipher returns to talk more about his contributions to White Dwarf, his strategy game Britannia and his contributions to EN World.

Daily Dwarf revisits Holmes Basic D&D and tries to revive the magic.

Cris Watkins from Bonhomie Games shares his First, Last and Everything.

Blythy and Dirk have a ‘cover off’ looking at some of the art that defined Dungeons and Dragons.

Covers under discussion: Errol Otis , Larry Elmore , Dungeon Master’s Guide David C Sutherland, and Jeff Easley, Monster Manual David C Sutherland, and the Fiend Folio is wrongly attributed to Russ Nicolson, it was actually painted by Emanuel, sorry about that.

Support the podcast by joining the Patreon.

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GROGMEET2020, the fifth annual meet-up of the GROGSQUAD, had to be held online to avoid pathogens. It didn’t stop us having a fantastic weekend which included a Pub Quiz, a Mausritter Tournament Dungeon, and an eclectic mix of games over four time-slots: seventy sessions in total.

To end the event we recorded this live panel in the Zoom of Role-Playing rambling (with an audience of over 50 people!).

Dirk the Dice is joined by Paul (The Good Friends of Jackson Elias) and Gaz (What Would the Smart Party Do?) to answer a series of medium-fire questions from the thunder pot.

This episode mentions Paul’s Full Fathom Five scenario and The Smart Party’s You Tube Channel and much, much more!

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We knew we’d get there eventually.

This episode is dedicated to Basic Dungeons and Dragons.

Our guest is Lew Pulsipher who was a regular contributor to the Golden Era of White Dwarf. He talks about his formative years in role-playing. He is still contributing to EN World and has a Video channel all about Games Design.

Blythy and I talk about finding players and how he fell in love with the game back in the day and his joy in rediscovering it now.

Ralph Lovegrove from Fictoplasm offers his first last and everything. I appeared on his podcast talking about Hawkmoon.

You can sign up for GROGMEETish2020 at Warhorn. Support us on Patreon.

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Welcome to the end of the world! In the latest episode we look at the FGU RPG Aftermath!, a game that is still supported by useful online resources.

I ran a one-shot for GrimCon but working out the rules was a challenge.

Thankfully Doc Cowie is on hand to help me through the twists and turns.

Also mentioned is Improvised Radio Theatre with Dice.

There’s a First, Last and Everything from Doc RPG Griff

Ed and Blythy watch Threads in the GROGGLEBOX.

Support The GROGNARD files on Patreon.

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Blimey, we’ve been doing this bobbins for five years! Good grief! In this episode, we go back to the beginning to look at RuneQuest with Jason Durall, as well as other highlights from his career in role-playing.

Blythy and I face the randomly selected Thunder Phase suggested by Patreons.

First, last and everything is presented by Bud RPG Reviews.

I make a reference to Full Fathom Five, a Call of Cthulhu game that’s currently on Drive Thru Rpg via the Miskatonic Repository.

Here’s to another 5 years!

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Know o prince … the GROGNARD files produces another epic (take your time …). We’ve been playing Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed of, by Modiphius and having great fun emulating the Hyborian world of Robert E Howard.

Jason Durall is an enthusiastic player as well as designer and he gives a great interview talking of his formative years in the hobby and how he approached the Conan project.

We take a look at the rules that seem to provoke a love-hate relationship in players. Are they really as crunchy as they appear?

Finally, Eddy joins us as we discuss Conan The Barbarian (1982). If you can persevere the pops and crackles of Zoom compression, you’ll hear a significant difference of opinion.

Newsletters, one-shots, an incoming ‘zine, why not join The Patreon?

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Loz Whitaker from The Design Mechanism returns to face The GamesMaster’s screen. He talks about The Eternal Champion, Strontium Dog and Mythras.

We have been enjoying a Hawkmoon series of adventures using Mythras using elements of Chaosium’s Hawkmoon and the Mongoose version.

Doc ‘Con’ Cowie shares his First, Last and Everything.

In a new section, we look at vintage magazines Different Worlds and Adventurer.

Support the podcast at Patreon.

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Welcome to a new GROGPOD about a new game that we are very excited about.

Lyonesse, Fantasy Role-Playing based on the novels by Jack Vance has been released by The Design Mechanism. We are joined by Lawrence Whitaker who tells us about the project and his formative years in role-playing.

Daily Dwarf looks at some of the other literary worlds that were brought to life in the pages of White Dwarf during its hey day.

STIMBOT5000 Andy Stimpson of Breakfast in the Ruins podcast tells us about the first game he played, the last game he played and the game that means everything to him.

Blythy and I look behind the Games Masters Screen to look for inspiration from Vance. We also cover The Dying Earth by Pelgrane Press.

There’s a new ad, produced by the UK’s Premier RPG podcast The Smart Party (I resisted the urge to put Premier in inverted commas).

Steve Ray has started Orlanth Rex’s Gaming Vexes over on anchor.

Please support The GROGNARD files at our Patreon site to catch actual plays and other gubins.

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Hello, my name is Dirk the Dice and this is the GROGNARD files podcast. If you are new here, then this is the place to begin as it provides a quick overview of what to expect from the GROGPOD.

It’s probably best to start at the beginning, but time is precious, so this introduction provides some recommendations to help you make your decision.

The GROGNARD files has been going on and on for almost five years with over 60 podcasts to choose from. I hope that you enjoy the back catalogue and stay around for some more.

To put a tip in the beret, then please head over to Patreon. Thanks.

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Welcome to the post apocalypse with Pookie from Reviews from R’lyeh. We talk about how RPGs taught us everything we need to know about the apocalypse.

Old Scouse Role Player shares his first, last and everything.

Please support what we do on Patreon.

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Welcome to the second part of the MERP episode. I recommend Menion (AKA Rob’s) podcast ; we speak to Liz Danforth – why not support her on Patreon? Thanks to Per Broden for his excellent First, Last and Everything, the an ad for our good friends at The Good Friends …. and we roll some crits on our new Patreons.

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Popular demand has insisted that we look at MERP from Iron Crown (1984). In this first part we come to terms with Tolkien and our relationship to Middle Earth.

Thanks to Liz Danforth, Daily Dwarf , Graham Kinniburgh, and Steve Ray for their help in putting this Episode together.

Support us on Patreon

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What makes Pulp “pulp” we ask ourselves in this episode.

It features the interview with Paul Fricker that we recorded at GROGMEET19. He’s one of the hosts of The Good Friends of Jackson Ellias, who we joined in the E.N.World Hall of Fame, thanks to the generous votes from the GROGSQUAD.

There’s also a First, Last and Everything from Lee Williams and much more.

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It’s the end of the world as we know it, but we feel fine, because we’ve been gaming, a lot. We review the year in gaming over a pint with Clint, the pub dog.

Jamie Thomson is back looking over his career in Fighting Fantasy, The Way of the Tiger game books, The Fabled Lands and The Dark Lord Series (to the sound of a very noisy computer fan).

Check out EN World and vote for your favourite podcasts.

Recommended here are dPercentile, Role Play Rescue, Monster Man, Smart Party, Improvised Radio Theatre with Dice, Red Moon Roleplaying, GROGTALK, Appendix N Book Club and Breakfast in the Ruins.

Please keep us going by pledging to our Patreon.

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INTRO: We are still recovering from a successful GROGMEET19. I picked up some new games along the way, including Pendragon and the new Eberron supplement for D&D (thanks to the coverage that they received on The Smart Party).

OPEN BOX (with Jamie Thomson): Features editor for White Dwarf between 1981-84, author of Fighting Fantasy books, the Way of the Tiger and Fabled Lands gamebooks. He has been working on Dice Men: Games Workshop 1975 – 1985 with Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson.

OPEN BOX LARPing: Blythy and I have been friends for 40 years, so we celebrate with a memoir of how we met and share our thoughts on Killer, which is still available for download.

FIRST LAST AND EVERYTHING: Shannon Ferguson aka Angry Monk shares the first game he played, the last game he played and the game that means everything to him.

LARPING part 2: We talk our experiences of DIY Larping in Newton Le Willows.

OUTRO: More details of our Patreon projects.

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INTRO: It’s the first anniversary of Greg Stafford’s passing and to recognise the event, we are celebrating one of his greatest, collaborative creations: Thieves’ World. There’s a quick potted history featured here, if you want to see the supplement for yourself, I’ve made a short unboxing film.

OPEN BOX: Eddy has managed to track down a copy of the supplement from eBay. We open it up together.

FIRST, LAST and EVERYTHING: From Californian GROGSQUADer Will Johnson.

WHITE DWARF: @DailyDwarf ‘s back for White Dwarf in the City.

GAMESMASTER’S SCREEN: Blythy and Dirk try to make the tables work.

OUTRO: Follow us on Patreon.

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The GROGNARD files is back with the latest episode which looks in-depth at Numenera RPG based on the Cypher System which was the first new-fangled game that we played when we returned to the hobby.

There’s a great First, Last and Everything from Kaye Elling (make sure you follow the progress of her Judge Death model on Twitter).

Also included is an update on the latest projects. You can support us via Patreon.

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As an extra to Episode 30, here’s the rest of the Actual Play. It also features a ‘Games Master Prepares’ segment about using The Five Room Dungeon.

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INTRO: This time we are looking at Blake’s 7 and its influence on our gaming.

GROGGLEBOX: Eddy joins us in a noisy Port Street Beer House in Manchester to discuss ‘Project Avalon’

ACTUAL PLAY: Thanks to Andrew Cousins of lending me his copy of the rules to play. Blythy as Avon, Doc Con Cowie as Blake, Andrew Cousins as Vila, The Welsh Wizard Michael Hobbs as Jenner, and Mark Kitching as Cally.

FIRST, LAST and EVERYTHING: Guy Milner of Burn After Running blog.

THE GM SCREEN: Just how much of a fan is Blythy?

OUTRO: News about the GROGZINE 20

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In this episode we discover the seven ages of White Dwarf with @DailyDwarf and the First Last and everything from Nick Edwards.

We also bang on a bit about the Patreon which has got some new goals.

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Mike Brunton, our special guest for Episode 29, suddenly passed away on 18th July 2019. This is the interview in full, released as a celebration of his gaming career. It also features Paul Cockburn adding a tribute to his old friend and colleague.

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It’s taken us 50 podcasts to dedicate an episode to White Dwarf. It was the centre of our RPG lives when we were teenagers.

In this episode Mike Brunton tells us how he got into RPGs and worked with TSR UK and Imagine magazine. Next time he will be relating his experiences as editor of White Dwarf and working for Games Workshop.

Neil Hopkins provides his First, Last and Everything. He created solo adventures for Quasits and Quasars

Eddy tells the story of the fateful night when he answered a small ad.

We are encouraging everyone to sign up to become a King of Dungeons (because it is awesome).

Blythy joins me for a run through some White Dwarf bag issues and to talk crisps.

Why not support our Patreon?

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This is a GROGPOD extra, made possible thanks to the generosity of the GROGSQUAD patreons. This is a Newstalgia podcast talking about the things we are playing now.

It is focused on the preparations for the RPGs played at UK Games Expo: Savage Worlds, PSI World and Lyonesse.

Here are some links mentioned in the pod:

Role-Play Rescue: Che Webster’s GM Journal inspired the approach to this podcast

Keehar’s Blog: An occasional blog where Keehar shares his preparation and play reports.

The Smart Party: Listen to the full seminar ‘How to GM at Conventions.

Bud’s RPG Reviews: I met the man behind ‘the hands’ check out his channel.

The Design Mechanism: Follow them to catch the Lyonesse preview when it comes available

The post EXTRA – A RPG GamesMaster Prepares (UK Games Expo 19) first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.

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INTRO: A new review of The GROGNARD files

INTERVIEW: A list of interesting things referred to by Ken: His mini, Trollhala Press, Fours, and Big Jack Brass

ACTUAL PLAY: Hook up with The Smart Party to hear more

FIRST, LAST, EVERYTHING: This time : Steve Ray

GROGGLEBOX: At The Earth’s Core

Outro: Thanks for supporting

The post Episode 28 (Part 2) More Tunnels & Trolls RPG (with Ken St Andre) first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.

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INTRO: 00:00:16 – This is the first part of a two part episode looking at the games and worlds created by Ken St Andre. He’s one of the founders of the hobby and tremendously influential on the development of RPGS.

OPEN BOX: 00:04:40 – Live from his Troll Cave in Arizona, The Trollgodfather tells the story of his origins and influences. Find Ken St Andre works at Trollhalla.

WHITE DWARF: 00:40:40 @dailydwarf is back! He’s looking at how White Dwarf provided advice on how to get the best out of your monsters!

FIRST, LAST, EVERYTHING: 00:55:10 A brand new feature for the GROGPOD – a member of the GROGSQUAD selects three of their favourite games – the first they played, the last game that got them excited and the game that means everything to them. James Holloway from the Monster Man podcast is up first.

GAMESMASTERS’ SCREEN 01:03:40 Blythy and Dirk in the room of roleplaying rambling playing monsters.

OUTRO: Check out Save for Half and their episode about Monsters! Monsters! The most recent edition of What would the Smart Party do? podcast covers 70s games. If you’d like to hear a Monsters! Monsters! actual play, go to Whartson Hall.

The GROGZINE is coming as a gift for Patreons.

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I was kindly invited to Games Master a game of Stormbringer by the wonderfully macabre actual play podcast Red Moon Roleplaying.

These is a teaser for an upcoming special guest, listen to the show to find out more …

Adventure: The Fang and the Fountain from Perils of the Young Kingdoms
Music by: Ager Sonus, Cryo Chamber

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We’re continuing our Robin of Sherwood theme. We discuss Fate and use it to provide a sample play in Sherwood Forest created by the TV series.

We hope that it will inspire you to invest in some FUDGE dice and have a go at creating your own worlds.

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I attended the first ever PodUk Convention in Birmingham and appeared in a live show. How We Roll podcast hosted a live, actual play, with Scott Dorwood (from The Good Friends of Jackson Ellias) as the keeper.

Hope that you enjoy listening to The Necropolis.

The post EXTRA – Call of Cthulhu Actual Play (with How We Roll and Scott Dorwood) first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.

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INTRO: In this episode we are continuing our exploration of the context of gaming in the eighties, by looking at one of the TV series that influenced how we played.

POTTED HISTORY: This is a quick summary of how the programme came to be made and a bit of background about Richard Carpenter. If you’d like to know more, I recommend the wonderful, comprehensive books by Andrew Orton 

OPEN BOX: Graham Staplehurst talks about his writing in fanzines, for MERP and his role in bringing Robin of Sherwood to life in RPGs. He mentions Other Minds magazine and the audio dramas available from Spiteful Puppet.

GROGGLEBOX: A new feature. Blythy and Ed join Dirk to do a commentary on The Seven Poor Knights from Acre episode.

OUTRO: A quick update on our latest projects. Also a shout out for The Lost Art of Ray Willner: The Adventures of Robin Hood.

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INTRO: This is an unusual GROGPOD as it was recorded live at GROGMEET 18. Ian Cooper talks about HeroQuest and there’s a chance for you to win a copy of the game thanks to our friends at bonhomiegames.uk

Show us your favourite handout, character sheet, floor plan, prop, mini or any other physical item you’ve produced for your gaming before the end of Feb to be in with a chance of winning.

INTERVIEW: Ian Cooper talks about his formative years in gaming, oral story telling, Greg Stafford, HeroQuest and his Coming Storm campaign.

GAMESMASTER’S SCREEN: Blythy joins me in the Room of Role-Playing Rambling to talk about generic systems. Want to know more about Judge Dredd in the world of GUMSHOE? Then check out Steve Ray’s play reports.

OUTRO:  Patreon thanks, the latest news about the GROGZINE and the plans for the next episode.

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In this episode we review our year in gaming and dish out our GROGGIE awards.

It also features WFRP actual play, hosted by The Smart Party.

Subscribe to their feed to catch the rest of it, when it is released.

Podcast recommendations: How we Roll, The Chimpions, Vintage RPG podcast, and Appendix N.

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INTRO: We’ve had another iTunes review (we’d love to get more!)

GAMESMASTER’S SCREEN: Graeme Davis takes us on a whistle stop tour around his career so far: check out this book-listing  at Graeme’s site for all the references mentioned.

WHITE DWARF: @dailydwarf has given another insightful perspective of all of the adventures that appeared White Dwarf for the game.

OPEN BOX: Blythy and Dirk talk about Warhammer and how they can fit it in their gaming repertoire.

OUTRO: Only a few days left to register for a hard copy of the GROGZINE 2019.

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INTRO: The GROGNARD files is dedicated to Greg Stafford (1948-2018)

OPEN BOX: Graeme Davis talks to us about the genesis of the 1st edition of WARHAMMER and some of the plans for the new edition. You find out more about his long and distinguished career in gaming on his website.

WHITE DWARF: The Daily Dwarf reviews the articles that appeared in White Dwarf for WARHAMMER, it’s a long list.

JUDGE BAZ RULES!: Baz Stevens from The Smart Party podcast (The UK’s Premier RPG Podcast… mmm?) joins us in the room of role-playing rambling to get deep and dirty into the rules.

OUTRO: Join our Patreon before the end of November to get a hard copy of the zine.

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Intro: It has been a summer of love for the library – there’s too much on there!

Open Box: We’re in Port Street in Manchester reflecting on the campaign

The White Dwarf: Daily Dwarf goes Against the Giants.

Games Master’s Screen: What’s our favourite class?

Ed’s Shed: Ed decides to ‘bring out the Gimp‘ when he creates a dynamic, digital table top.

Outro: Find out more about the Patreon campaign and the next GROGZINE.

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INTRO: I’ve got one of those blowers with a feather on the end to celebrate our anniversary and the release of RuneQuest RolePlaying in Glorantha.

MOB RETURNS: MOB talks about all the different ways that you can play in Glorantha: 13th Age, HeroQuest, but especially RuneQuest. Here he talks about how RuneQuest appeals to the gamers from back in the day, through its legacy supplements and how it can appeal to new gamers who have discovered Glorantha through The King of Dragon Pass. He also talks about some of the new releases, such as the Bestiary and 6 Ages as well as some of the fan initiatives such as Encounter Role-Play. He also reveals the plans to create a site for Glorantha fan material using a similar model as The Miskatonic  Repository.

JUDGE BLYTHY ROLLS: We discuss ‘how to get started in Glorantha’ with an emphasis on ‘play’s the thing’.

ACTUAL PLAY: Gaz and Baz from The Smart Party podcast with Matt Hart from Steam Forged Games join Dirk in a Diana Jones Award winning segment of Actual Play. If you want to see more then head to their site.

JUDGE BLYTHY ROLLS AGAIN: We discuss character creation using the new rules. I try to appeal to the Judge with my new gizmos from Infinity Engine and Q Workshop.

OUTRO: There’s three months to go to join the Patreon campaign to receive a hard-copy of the GROGZINE 19.

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INTRO: Three years of GROGPODing and Forty Years of RuneQuest seems like a great point in time to revisit the game that we played the most back in the day. RQ3 contributed to us stopping playing, so this is a chance to revisit the game and see what happened when we stopped playing. The sound is a bit haywire on this podcast, hope it doesn’t spoil things too much.

OPENBOX: Chaosium’s Vice President tells the stories of his formative years in role-playing and how RuneQuest in Glorantha was so important to him. He was instrumental in keeping the flame alive as a fan as he wrote and developed Sun County, the first RuneQuest supplement produced for 8 years, following Avalon Hill acquiring the game in 1984. He wrote a report in the early nineties for The Tales of the Reaching Moon explaining how the game could be revived.  This is a great chat about the nineties renaissance.

THE WHITE DWARF: A survey of RQ3 as it appeared (and disappeared) from White Dwarf, written by the wonderful @dailydwarf

JUDGE BLYTHY RULES! Dirk and Blythy pick over the bones of RQ3 and there’s a monster quiz!

OUTRO: Check out the RuneQuest Actual Play with The Smart Party   . If you’d like the GROGZINE 19 and The Collected Daily Dwarf Vol 3 and Judge Blythy’s Book of Judgments — then please chuck us a tip in the beret and join the Patreon campaign

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INTRO (00:00) The GROGNARD files finally sells out to one of those new fangled games. There’s a new iTunes review too, that compares us to Ridley Scott’s Hovis advert. 

OPEN BOX (with Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan) (0:07) We are joined by Gar who tells us about his formative years in RPGs, his role in relaunching some of the 80s classics for Mongoose and his role in developing adventures for Night’s Black Agents.

ACTUAL PLAY (41:31) The Virtual GROGMEET twittercrew take on Operation: GROUNDWORM.

JUDGE BLYTHY: (1:02:00) Judge Blythy sinks his teeth into the finer points of spending points.

OUTRO (1:40:02) Up date from the Patreon Projects.

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INTRO We’ve had a great, positive response to the first part of the episode, and a new iTunes review from Steve Race, host of Squadron Chatter, the Unofficial Podcast for Squadron UK RPG.

GM SCREEN (with Simon Burley) Simon Burley returns, to talk about Imagine magazine, his role as a ‘zine editor, his passion for the UK convention scene and the design principles behind his Code of … series of games.

POST BAG We head for birthday drinks in the hubbub of the Las O Gowrie snug and review some of the correspondence that we’ve received

WHITE DWARF @DailyDwarf has written an essay about the articles and scenarios that appeared in White Dwarf to support GOLDEN HEROES.

SHAGGY DOG A long rambling story about the worst game ever.

OUTRO The usual parish notices and thanks to Patreons.

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INTRO: This is a game that embodies the spirit of the podcast. It belongs to a period when the players were informing the gaming industry. Games Workshop decided to do a big budget version of the game. You can see the short film I made here (it’s less than 5 minutes)

OPEN BOX (with Simon Burley): As the co-creator of the game, Simon shares the story of its ups and downs. You can find SQUADRON UK at Drive Thru by following the link.

JUDGE BLYTHY RULES: We examine the rules with our resident rules lawyer.

OUTRO: News of the latest Patreons. and the aims of the campaign.

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INTRO: Thanks to a Poll of Patreons, we are examining a game that we never played back in the day … PARANOIA.

OPEN BOX: (with Paul Baldowski): Paul Baldowski was a writer for the Mongoose edition. He’s also runs Just Crunch which publishes The Cthulhu Hack. Also, make sure you check out the Fighting Fantasy accessories at All Rolled Up.

WHITE DWARF: @dailydwarf provides a survey of the surprising amount of PARANOIA material that appeared in White Dwarf after Games Workshop printed the second edition in the UK

ACTUAL PLAY: A sample from an online game of PARANOIA. You can’t beat a bit of bully.

GAMESMASTER’S SCREEN: One of Blythy’s clones talks about the game and why we never played it back in the day.

OUTRO: Thanks to Patreons and best wishes to Kalum of the Roliste Podcast

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INTRO A new review on iTunes

WHITE DWARF @dailydwarf “2000ad and Me” a personal reflection on the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic

GAMES MASTER’s SCREEN Marc Gascoigne returns to talk about Fighting Fantasy, EarthDawn (!), The Black Library and Angry Robot. Also, the famous ‘lost’ RPG – Dark Future.

JUDGE BLYTHY RULES an examination of the system and setting of Judge Dredd RPG

OUTRO Details of the GROGSQUAD patreon campaign and an interesting project to document the early years of Games Workshop.

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INTRO: Warning, there’s an unnecessary David Bowie impression in this bit, as the Judge Dredd Board Game appeared in Labyrinth.

POTTED HISTORY: (00:05:00) A brief publication history of Judge in RPGs and news of the forthcoming game from EN Publishing.

OPEN BOX (with Marc Gascoigne): (10:44) We are joined by a giant in the world of Science Fiction and Fantasy publishing. He tells stories about his time editing DragonLords fanzine , working with Games Workshop and designing Judge Dredd.

DAILY DWARF: (00:48:24) @dailydwarf writes an introduction to some of the great material that appeared in White Dwarf, before the sun set on its coverage of RPGs.

ATTIC ATTACK: (01:07:00) Blythy joins Dirk in the loft to reflect on 2000ad and how it influenced our play.

OUTRO: (01:37:00) Dirk is running Judge Dredd at Spaghetti ConJunction in Birmingham on 10th Feb 2017. Also, there’s news about how to get PDFs of the GROGZINE and the forthcoming Virtual GROGMEET.

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Intro: For this GROGPOD, we take a break from the usual format, instead of concentrating on a single subject, we are looking back at some of the experiences that we have had over the year.

Thanks to Phil the Dice Mechanic for his review

Groggies Pt 1: Our annual awards are determined by the random subjects written on the spurious envelopes. In this section we look back on the year in games mastering – some of the highs and lows – we award the Messianic Megalomaniac award for the year.

The Trial of RuneQuest: Earlier in the year, Dirk took the RPG Academy to Apple Lane. This is an edited extract. You can find the full version here and the you tube video here (if you really need to).

Groggies Pt 2: This is the Olive Kinnisberg Memorial Award for players, playing and players and the games that we play. There’s a mention of UK Games Expo, The Heroes Journey and Star Trek Adventures.

Postbag Pt1: Mark Hides has written a memoir of his experiences of RPGs in Sheffield. You can get his book here.

Groggies Pt 3 There have been lows as well as highs

Postbag Pt2 Rog Coe and Wayne Peters are regular correspondents to this site.

Groggies Pt 4 The new game that we have been playing and some of the hopes for the new year.

Outro: Thanks to Patreons and you’ll find details about the Spaghetti Conjunction here 

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INTRO: A dedication to Carl T. Ford, the publisher/ editor of Dagon Fanzine.

GAMESMASTER’S SCREEN 00:02:20 (With Mike Mason) Mike faces the Keeper’s Screen to talk about Traveller, D&D and the all new Masks of Nyarlathotep (coming soon).

DAILY DWARF 00:40:00 @dailydwarf does an incisive assessment of the scenarios that appeared in White Dwarf. CURSE OF THE BONE was the winner of his 2015 Scenario Slam

JUDGE BLYTHY RULES! 01:00:00 We take a look at some of the changes in the 7th Edition rules.

OUTRO: 01:40:00 More news about the Patreon Campaign.

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INTRO 00.00.16

We are returning to one of our favourite games, Call of Cthulhu, to consider what has changed for the game over the past 2 years, since the last episode.

OPEN BOX (with Mike Mason) 06.00

At the time of recording, Mike had just returned from his trip to NECRONOMICON and was fresh with the news of the great success for Call of Cthulhu at GENCON.

Mike shares his experiences from his formative years of role-playing and how his fascination with horror, drew him towards Call of Cthulhu.

ED’S BRAND NEW SHED 50.00

Ed is the first of us to hit 50 and his family have treated him to a brand-new metal shed. He talks us through his Fungi From Yuggoth scrapbook. You can get Mutable Deception from Drive Thru RPG.

GAMESMASTER’S SCREEN 01.08.00

We’re on a Jolly Boys outing – this is the player reflections on playing the Fungi … campaign.

OUTRO 01.33.00

We had many new Patreons joining us in September. Thanks to you all – sorry for mangling your names – we are very grateful for your contributions and look forward to making the ‘zine available in the next couple of months.

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INTRO

This time we are looking at James Bond 007, a game we didn’t play back in the day, but the GROGSQUAD suggested that we should give it the once over.

We had a great review from Mike Hobbs from Meeples and Miniatures

POTTED HISTORY 03:43 This is the story of Chris Klug realising his vision of an espionage game that wasn’t simulationist in its approach.

JUDGE BLYTHY RULES 09:53 Our resident rules lawyer, the man with the Golden Gavel, checks out the finer points of the rules.

ACTUAL PLAY GOLDFINGER 40:38 An extract from our game of Goldfinger.

STARBURST MEMORIES 01:08 Learning from the Bond Villains

OUTRO 01:43 The new GROGZINE is coming! Sign up now. 

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INTRO: News about a new PBM ‘zine that we’ve inspired – Bones of the Lost God – if you like Phil’s monsters, he’s put some of his art on Red Bubble.

GAMESMASTER’S SCREEN (with Ian Marsh): Ian Marsh returns to talk about his editorial-ship at White Dwarf and his involvement in Games Workshop. He also talks about Dr Who and his TimeLord game, before bringing us up to date with his latest endeavours. 

DAGON (with @dailydwarf): @dailydwarf gives his usual insightful analysis of literary criticism covered in Dagon ‘zine.

ATTIC ATTACK: Blythy joins me in the attic to talk about ‘zines and comments provided by listeners. I mention Monster Man, a new podcast that is being developed by James Holloway, check out progress at his site.

OUTRO: We’re making a ‘zine – sign up at Patreon – before the end of September 2017 to get a copy.

Thank you to all our Patreons for your continued support; without you, we would not have been going for so long.

If you would like a PDF of the last GROGZINE you can get it at Drive Thru RPG and The Complete Daily Dwarf too. All proceeds will go to YSDC to support the community there.

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INTRO Welcome to the world of fanzines.

OPEN BOX (with Ian Marsh) The first part of an interview with Ian Marsh, who was the editor of DragonLords fanzine and went on to become the editor of White Dwarf.

DAILY DWARF For one episode only @dailydwarf becomes the Daily Dagon as he looks at Dagon and why he thinks is was such a special zine.

OPEN BOX Another one? This time it’s with Blythy as we look at our experience in the world of PBMs.

OUTRO: Thanks to Shop on the Borderlands for providing a copy of DragonLords issue 7 for discussion.

Let us know your favourite ‘zine and send us pictures for discussion in the next episode.

Why not show your love for the podcast, and join the activities of the GROGSQUAD by becoming a Patreon?

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INTRO 00:05

By a strange quirk of fate, Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes has suddenly become available as a PDF from Drive Thru RPG.

We’ve had another five star review on iTunes, this time it’s from Baz, of The Smart Party podcast.

OPEN BOX 05:30

Dirk returns to Whartson Hall to visit Big Jack Brass, our Flying Buffalo correspondent. He talks about his twitter hash tag #overlookedrpgs and provides a potted history of MSPE.

STARBURST MEMORIES 30:00

Following the Top Secret episode, we’ve had some correspondence from DM Mike from the new old-school podcast Save for Half.

Dirk talks about Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Blythy introduces Spooks.

BIG JACK BRASS, RULES! 01:00:00

Wearing the wig this episode is the locum Judge Big Jack Brass, looking at the ins and outs of the MSPE rules.

OUTRO 01:23:00

Jon will be appearing on Desert Island Dungeons very soon

The GROGNARD Files 2017 annual fanzine and The Collected Daily Dwarf are now available on Drive Thru RPG.

Dirk gives news of the next ‘zine and thanks new Patreons. Why not join.

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INTRO – We’re still taken aback at the scale of response to the first part of this episode, but we’re conscious enough to issue a warning about Hob Nob balls.

POTTED HISTORY (3.49) – Kindly provided by @hobgoblinorange  who provides an overview of the major players and developments in the miniature figure art in the early 80s. He recommends the site The Stuff of Legends which features lots of images of Citadel miniatures from back in the day.

GMSCREEN (11.29) We return to the wonderful Las O Gowrie in Manchester to continue the interview with Tim Olsen, the former manager of Dalling Road branch of Games Workshop. TV and ZZ Top emerge as he faces the annecdotamator.

If you want to see Tim’s TV AM appearance you’ll find it here from 16:00 (John Noakes!)

THE WHITE DWARF (25.45) @dailydwarf returns with the second part of his Small but Perfectly Formed essay, examining miniatures in White Dwarf before it became all about miniatures.

ATTIC ATTACK (37.14) We climb into the attic of the all-new Dirk Towers to look at some of the interesting minis from our collection.

POSTBAG (01.06.34) There’s been a great response from listeners to the last episode, share some of the game shop memories from all over the UK. Including Alegis Downport who did a great piece on Tunnels and Trolls on his blog. There’s also the last word from Tim Olsen.

Thanks to everyone who joined the Patreon campaign this month. You’ll get a name check next time when I’ll share the details of the next ‘zine.

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INTRO (15 secs)

This is an unusual episode as it is about a place more than a thing. This is about the remembered place that was Games Workshop, when we were kids, and the magical lead figures we found there.

POTTED HISTORY (6.32)

The story about how school friends came together to form Games Workshop and how it grew and grew …

OPEN BOX (WITH TIM OLSEN) (10:17)

I am joined by Tim Olsen who was instrumental in the early days of GW. He was the manager of Dalling Road branch, then Manchester, before taking the first stores to America. He is a fascinating and lovely guy. You’ll enjoy his contribution.

WHITE DWARF (31:35)

The first part of @dailydwarf ‘s contribution to the episode where he talks about his experience of using figures in his games.

OPEN BOX (46:08)

Blythy joins me to talk about minis, memories and how we consume games. There’s a riot going on in the background, sorry about that, it is the sound of Bolton I’m afraid.

THERE ISN’T A LAST BIT (1:20)

A call for the submission of your memories of Games Workshop and a thank you to Patreons.

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For your eyes only. Don’t accept this Podcast if the seal is broken.

INTRO: I love the world of espionage and this is the first in our ‘Spy Sequence’ that we’ll be peppering through the next year. We’ve had another iTunes review too – please give us one if you haven’t already.

OPEN BOX: Top Secret was one of those games that we only played a few times, but it made a lasting impression on us. In this section we remember those early games and I challenge Blythy about whether or not he really likes spy-based games.

POTTED HISTORY: The game emerged from a single vision, born from a college dorm, in this section I talk through the history of the game. If you want to hear the story from Merle Rasmussen’s mouth, then seek out The Dead Game’s society’s interview with him from 2014.

JUDGE BLYTHY RULES!: We roll a character and Judge Blythy complains that there are far too many tables. In a thrilling exchange, there is a transformation as Judge Nutmeg transforms into Mr Hand-Wavey Davey.

THE WHITE DWARF  DRAGON: Top Secret didn’t appear in White Dwarf, so we turn to Dragon – a magazine that fully supported the development of Top Secret.

STARBURST MEMORIES: Blythy and I discuss our favourite spy moments from films and television in a brand new feature that includes an overly complicated audience participation feature.

OUTRO: There’s a chance to play Top Secret if you join our Patreon campaign. This is a thank you bit for all those who are already supporting us.

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INTRO Blimey Charlie! This is the twentieth podcast!

1:53 GAMESMASTER’S SCREEN Rick Meints, President of Chaosium, joins us once again. This time we roll on a special ‘plunder’ table to search his fabled collection as he recounts past adventures from back in the day.

42:08 OPEN BOX Borderlands is Chaosium’s classic campaign from 1982 – we’ve played it twice, once in ’83 and again in ’13 – find out why this is very much our ‘foundational document’.

1.25 POSTBAG We’ve revamped the Patreon campaign – join now and get access to the ‘zine PDF  – also, you can join the Valhalla agents at Convergence …

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INTRO We’re back for more podcasts in 2017! We’re returning to our origins and looking again at the game that we began with back in 1981.

OPEN BOX 4.31 – the only President from the USA who really matters is the President of Chaosium, Rick Meints, who joins us to open the box on his early years of play and to talk about how he transformed from a player and collector of Chaosium games, to running the company.

WHITE DWARF 36.50 – @dailydwarf examines my favourite department of White Dwarf – RuneRites with its new creatures, magic and rules for combat.

JUDGE BLYTHY RULES! 50.00 – RuneQuest 6 has been rebranded as MYTHRAS . Ahead of Dirk running his Luther Arkwright scenario at Convergence in March, Blythy casts his critical eye over the rules.

OUTRO: I’ve been appearing on various podcasts as a RuneQuest zealot – Dissecting Worlds and the RPG Academy as well as appearing wild-eyed on Twitch.

The Patreon campaign is being reviewed and renewed for 2017.

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INTRO

Special thanks to Paul Cockburn for his contribution to these podcasts.

This podcast is dedicated to Joe Dever, creator of The Lone Wolf adventure books, who sadly passed away in November.

GAMESMASTERS’ SCREEN with Paul Cockburn

Paul Cockburn is behind The GamesMaster’s Screen to pick out some of the regular highlights from Imagine Magazine: Nick The Novice, Pelinore, and more. He also tells the story of the rise and the untimely fall of the magazine.

THE GROGGIES 2016

Our review of the a year in gaming: Roll 20, Dungeons and Dragons, Tunnels and Trolls, Nights Black Agents, Call of Cthulhu and Numenera are all discussed.

The Last Bit

Thanks to Patreons, reviewers and listeners. Have a great holiday and all the very best for 2017 to you and yours.

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0 INTRO

We have been hard at work producing the GROGNARD files fanzine for Patreon backers. There are still a few hard copies available for new $3.50 backers. They are limited. Once they’re gone they’re gone. PDFs are available for download for $1 backers from 21st November.

6:33 SHOW AND TELL

Blythy joins me in the attic to look at some of the issues of IMAGINE in our collection.

I will be running the Luther Arkwright adventure THE FIRE OPAL OF SET at Convergence in Stockport on 18th March 2017.

43:50 OPEN BOX – PAUL COCKBURN

We are pleased to join Paul Cockburn, editor of Imagine, and he talks about his gaming experiences and how Imagine got off the ground.

He’s back in the next part looking at specific features of the magazine.

01:09 THE WHITE DWARF

@dailydwarf reflects on CRITICAL MASS and Dave Langford’s contribution to White Dwarf and the SF literary hinterland.

01:20 POSTBAG

DM Mike from Save or Die podcast, asks a sensory Pelinore question …

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Wednesdays 21:00 – 23:00 Fortnightly, between Sept 15 and July 16 was Traveller Time. During this period we played Traveller online using Roll 20.

INTRO: I put out an advert for players on the site to play the classic 1983 adventure from GDW.

OPEN BOX: 4:27 We discuss some of the benefits and pitfalls of playing online

POTTED HISTORY: 31:57 A run down of the history of the supplement and the characters and players.

GAMESMASTERS SCREEN: 38:22 Blythy and Dirk discuss some of the highlights and lowlights of the adventure

ED’S SHED 01:26 Not bargain hunting this time, instead he offers his views on the adventure.

POST BAG 01:30 Other players offer their views and thanks to new Patreon backers.

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We return to ‘blast away the fiends of boredom’ with another T&T episode. This time we are joined by Big Jack Brass, Jon Hancock.

0.15 Introduction. We had feedback from non-other than Ken St Andre himself…

4.05 Open Box. Jon talks about his early life in role playing and why he was drawn to T&T.

24.04 Actual Play. Jon is the GM for Monsters! Monsters!, where the ill-kin are the heroes.

You’ll find more from the Whartson Hall gaming group at UK Roleplayers forums.

34.01 Gamesmasters Screen. Why is T&T so good? Jon counts the ways.

1.17 Actual Play. Blythy joins Dirk for a solo game and a reluctant example of actual play.

1.31 Postbag. Feedback and thank you to new Patreons.

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Yes, it’s time for Solos and … satisfaction? It’s time for Tunnels and Trolls.

Intro:

Caroline is in big hair and specs, because we’ve had another iTunes in America!

Potted History (4.00):

A quick run through of the origin story of T&T.

Open Box (8.23):

Brought to you from a replica of Dirk’s teenage bedroom, as we bring memories of the early games, until the dog signals that it’s time to leave.

The White Dwarf (30.22)

@dailydwarf has light pickings from the early days of White Dwarf, but there are some great St Andre pieces.

Judge Blythy Rules! (44.36)

We take time to delight in elegant simplicity.

Ed’s Bargain Shed (1.15)

The first games that Ed played were with T&T. Sister Barbara could prevent the discovery of Trolls and Girls at school.

There isn’t final section (1.22)

Update on the Patreon campaign.

Send in your Traveller questions and comments.

Details of the next part of the episode which will feature Big Jack Brass, Jon Hancock, in interview.

-Dirk

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This episode includes odds n’ sods, Old Scroates and Points of View about AD&D.

Introduction 00.15 

Dirk muses over the ridiculous, complicated numbering strategy adopted by the podcast and introduces Ric and Tim, the stars of this part of the episode.

Old Scroates (Part 1) 04.15

It’s not a proper theGROGNARDfiles episode without a cheeky mention of Runequest. Tim tells the story of playing with John Quaife, contributor to White Dwarf, back in the day.

Potted History (Part 1) 15.17

The original story of D&D.

Old Scroates (Part 2) D&D Tales 25.04

Tim and Ric share their experiences of playing D&D with reports of games they have played.

Potted History (Part 2) 36.29

What happened to D&D during our deep freeze.

Old Scroates (Part 3) 40.31

Tim and Ric address some of the issues that have been raised in our AD&D episode.

Post Bag 01.02

Blythy joins Dirk as we rifle through the bag of holding to pick out some interesting points of view. Please be aware that your head may rattle when the Demon Overlord appears.

Outro 01.28

Updates on the latest news from the Patreon projects. Please note that contrary to what is said in this bit, GROGMEET is not taking place 10 years ago.

Thank you to all of our supporters and listeners. If you get chance, please pop a review on iTunes. Thanks Dirk.

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The saga continues …

Intro: 0:18 There’s been another review on iTunes. Dirk reveals his love of monsters.

Open Box: 4:37 Dirk and Blythy get all nostalgic about 5e that they started playing 3 months ago.

White Dwarf: 24:42 @dailydwarf has scrutinised every single monster produced in the FIEND FACTORY to pick some of his favourites.

Games Masters Screen: 43:11 In the absence of much discussion about monsters Dirk and Blythy face each other off with a wandering monster table.

Last bit: 1:24 Thanks to Patreons – we’ve been hard at work writing for your ‘zine.

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So, after we’ve covered the Dungeon Masters Guide it’s time for us to get to the nitty-gritty of the core rules.

INTRODUCTION 0:19

The story so far and a review from iTunes. Please review us too, if you haven’t already.

WHITE DWARF SCENARIOS (Part 1) 4:54

@dailydwarf makes his first, controversial, pick from his personal best AD&D scenarios in White Dwarf and lists the ‘also rans’.

JUDGE BLYTHY RULES! 13:24

We got a mention on the very entertaining Old School podcast SAVE OR DIE. They have an interview with Chris Holmes, son of Dr J. Eric Holmes, author of D&D Basic from back in the day.

WHITE DWARF SCENARIOS (Part 2) 44:54

GAMES MASTER’S SCREEN 50:22

Two wizards dual to the death on the blackened heath.

WHITE DWARF SCENARIOS (Part 3) 1:22

POST BAG 1:29

I’ve made a contribution to the Rolistes Podcast Foodie Special.

Last couple of tickets remain for Grog-Meet in November.

Become an honorary member of The Armchair Adventurers by putting a few coins in the beret as a tip, at the Patreon site. Watch the video I made too, I’m very proud of it.

Next Time: Monster Manual and our thoughts on 5e.

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Roll up! Roll up! Finally, the GROGNARD files turns it’s attention to the grand daddy of them all. Make some space in your pod box for a 2 hour spectacular.

Introduction. Dirk shows off his new turn table and invites you to add songs to his RPG playlist

1. Daily Dwarf Open Box. 7.04 – Find out how @dailydwarf was introduced to the hobby via Dungeons and Dragons.

2. Open Box. 11.08. The Armchair Adventurers talk about the early days of playing D&D with only one third of the rules and discovering the red box in ’83.

3. The White Dwarf. 32.39 @dailydwarf begins his personal selection of articles from the greatest RPG magazine of them all.

4. Open Box Again 41.00 The Armchair Adventurers rediscover AD&D in the early 21st Century.

5. The White Dwarf. 54.11 @dailydwarf continues his picks.

6. Judge Blythy Rules! 1.00 Judge Blythy pours over the finer details of The Dungeon Master’s Guide while Dirk rides in on a high horse.

7. The White Dwarf. @dailydwarf concludes his choices with praise for Lew Pulsipher’s contributions.

8. Thanks to new Patreons and a request for entries to our postbag. Next time we’ll be looking at The Player’s Handbook.

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INTRODUCTION 

This is the supplement to the first part … a companion which is all about STORMBRINGER supplements.

We have had some encouraging iTunes reviews … if you haven’t done one, then please do because it will tax all those Apple algorithms.

GAME-MASTERS SCREEN (4:46)

Blythy joins me in the Octagon Tower to look at some of the key supplements for the early editions of STORMBRINGER.

If you want an antidote to our gushing … then please listen to System Mastery for an alternative view.

ED’S BARGAIN SHED (43:07)

Eddy shares his ‘Bargainometer’ to help listeners build up their collection of early STORMBRINGER material.

SHOW AND TELL (56:31)

This is a new ‘occasional’ section where we look at our joint archives to help illustrate a subject. This time we are delving into the boxes labelled ‘Moorcockania’.

Here are a couple of useful links to help you begin your journey into the Multiverse and beyond …

If you want to read Moorcock’s tome that tackles the Inklings – then Wizardry and Wild Romance is still in print.

Colin Greenland’s extended interview in Death is no Obstacle is a bit harder to find.

I’ve created a Spotify playlist entitled Wondrous Stories so you can collaborate in a list of music that you played back in the day for #4rpgmusic

If you have never experienced the joy of Elric before and want to get a ‘flavour’ then the graphic novel The Ruby Throne is highly recommended.

If you want to learn more about The Final Programme, then head over to Hypnogoria where host Mr Jim Moon will guide you … “I have it on good authority that the world is going to end. I’m going home to watch it on television.”

POSTBAG (1:23)

Listener contributions and special thanks to our Patreon members.

If you want to listen to Rolistes Podcast with great Dragonmeet content … then tell Kalum I sent you …

Next time … get calculating your THACO because we are talking ADVANCED Dungeons and Dragons.

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“I think of myself as a bad writer with big ideas, but I’d rather be that than a big writer with bad ideas.”  – Michael  Moorcock

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The subject of this episode is STORMBRINGER – Fantasy Role Playing in the world of Elric.

We have also opened a Patreon campaign to support the development of the podcast, and to help towards the production of The GROGNARD files fanzine.

If you would like to tip a few coins in the beret, then please go to this site:

The GROGNARD files patreon

SECTION 1: POTTED HISTORY (6:03)

Some background to the Elric stories.

The story of STORMBRINGER’s origins with new material from Ken St Andre – look out for a transcript of the conversation we had with him on theGROGNARDfiles.com, coming soon.

SECTION 2: OPEN BOX (16:59)

Blythy joins me in a faithful reconstruction of his teenage bedroom to discuss the early games we played of STORMBRINGER.

SECTION 3: THE WHITE DWARF (35:41)

A magnificent contribution by @dailydwarf about the dog-days of White Dwarf’s hey day and the brilliant The Madcap Laughs adventure for STORMBRINGER that appeared in the august journal.

SECTION 4: JUDGE BLYTHY RULES! (51:36)

The resident Agent of Law, Judge Blythy takes on the chaotic ‘Guantlet of Hand-Waving’ during an analysis of the rules

SECTION 5: THERE ISN’T ONE (01:23:00)

What to look forward to in Part 2 (supplements, a ‘show and tell’ of Moorcock miscellany’ and listener post bag).

Please write to us by commenting on the site or sticking a review on iTunes.

The post Episode 5 (Part 1) Stormbringer RPG first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.

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In a break with the usual format, The Armchair Adventurers are at risk of disappearing up their own fundament.

It’s too short to break in two, too long to listen in one go, so disappointing either way. Take your time, pause a little, as you listen to the blow by blow account of our big day out.

INTRODUCTION

It’s 30 years since we last went to a Games Convention. We went to Dragonmeet ’15 in December, this is a reflection on what we did when we were there and how things have changed in gaming in the meantime.

This introduction includes a A brief potted history of Dragonmeet, with extra bits of information provided by Modiphius.

OPEN BOX

The morning of the day before, Judge Blythy joins Dirk as we plan the trip and reminisce about Games Cons of the past.

WHITE DWARF

Everything comes back to White Dwarf and it’s coverage of Games Conventions back in the day were our way of enjoying them vicariously.

There’s a quote from Scott Dorwood who reviewed the podcast.

GAMESMASTER’S SCREEN

Some general reflections on our observations while we were there as well as a blow by blow account of some of the experiences we had.

Under discussion:

Call of Cthulhu Dreamlands using 7th Edition

Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 rules distilled into 52 pages

How the market has changed, stuff we bought, and the apparent controversy around the benign Chaosium seminar.

We attend seminars featuring Ken and Robin Talk Quickly About Stuff and the “Is there too much Cthulhu” debate between The Good Friends … and The Smart Party.

While we were there, we interviewed Mike Cule, star of the stage and screen, and the author of RUMBLE AT THE TIN INN (amongst others) and one of the hosts of Improvised Radio Theatre with Dice.

ED’S BARGAIN SHED

Eddy, the resident bargain-hunter in chief, shares his Dragonmeet haul and takes on the 20 quid challenge.

POSTBAG

Listeners share their convention experiences.

Normal service will be resumed next time when we discuss STORMBRINGER.

The post Episode 4 – RPG Games Cons Dragonmeet first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.

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In this episode, we return to Traveller, and look at some of the supplements for the game. When it comes to politics, we are as woolly as John Stewart Mill riding a sheep and wearing cardigans, so we examine our attitudes towards the politics of the Imperium.

Games master’s Screen: Judge Blythy enjoys the benefit of High Passage, as his status demands, however he is less enamoured the concept of the D66.

The usual memories and discussion around the selected supplements take place.

Postbag: There’s been much interest in Traveller including a game description by Andrew Cousins. I also reflect upon the recent Runequest Classic kickstarter.

The post Episode 3 (Part 2) Traveller RPG Micro-Grog Pod first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.

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Introduction – The origin of the game

Section One – Open Box – reliving the memories of playing the game for the first time with Blythy, who was our referee back in the day. We introduce ‘the prime directive’ and Blythy has a black mark on his wall.

Section Two – White Dwarf – @dailydwarf talks about his early experiences of playing Traveller and makes a selection of an article, scenario and ‘Starbase’ column from the pages of the UK’s best gaming magazine.

Section Three – Judge Blythy Rules – Listing three great mechanics and one that doesn’t quite work, the resident rules-lawyer goes ‘under the bonnet’.

Section Four – An invitation to listeners to contribute their stories of playing Traveller. What’s your favourite supplement?

Look out for a Micro Grog-Pod (Traveller – Part Two) coming soon featuring a list of our favourite Traveller supplements and a current online pricing guide.

The post Episode 3 (Part 1) Traveller RPG first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.

This is a supplement to the Second Episode of The GROGNARD RPG Files – Call of Cthulhu.

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GAMESMASTER’S SCREEN

Behind the screen I have a table of Call of Cthulhu supplements. I’m joined by Judge Blythy who rolls the 1D100 to select 5 for detailed discussion.

ED’S BARGAIN SHED

Ed, The Armchair Adventurer’s Chief bargain-hunter provides an e-Bay price index for the supplements under discussion.

POSTBAG

A selection from listener comments, including a fascinating look at The Lovecraft Variant – an early Cthulhu adaptation for Tunnels and Trolls.

Follow me on Twitter @theGROGNARDfile

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Introduction – The origin of the game

Section One – Open Box – reliving the memories of playing the game for the first time and the faltering start.

Section Two – Judge Blythy Rules! – The Armchair Adventurers’ Resident Rules Lawyer discusses the finer points of the rules and style of play. We also speculate on what horrors have faced British Prime Ministers.

Section Three – White Dwarf – @dailydwarf talks about his early experiences of playing Call of Cthulhu and selects his favourite item from the pages from the halcyon days of the UK’s best gaming magazine.

Section Four – An invitation to listeners to contribute their stories of playing Call of Cthulhu in the early days.

Look out for a Micro Grod Pod coming soon featuring a list of our favourite CoC supplements and a current online pricing guide.

Episode 3 will feature TRAVELLER RPG

The post Episode 2 (Part 1) Call of Cthulhu RPG first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.

In the second episode of the GROGNARD files podcast, Dirk the Dice looks at the history of the game, where did it come from and where was it going back in 2015.

Potted History: Glorantha was the glorious creation of Greg Stafford. This is the story how his creation became a fantastic role-playing world and spawned different editions of RuneQuest.

Post Bag 27:00: People were actually listening to the first part of the episode. Dirk reviews some of the responses to the discussion about RuneQuest and the ‘duck’ issue.

ReMaster Refelction 37:00 looking back on the first episode, eight years later.

Support the GROGPOD on Patreon.

The post Runequest RPG Ep. 1 (Part 2) first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.

It was a steep learning curve, but this was where the GROGPOD first began. This is a remastered version of the original recording. Nothing has been re-recorded, but the levels have been balanced, some light editing of pauses, and chapters added.

In this first episode, I open up the Runequest GROGNARD file, as it’s the game that we first played all those years ago.

Open Box – revealing the content within the 2nd edition box set produced in the UK by Games Workshop

The White Dwarf – @dailydwarf selects the best Runequest feature from White Dwarf magazine.

Judge Blythy Rules! – @sjamb7 our resident rules lawyer talks through some of the finer points of Runequest and argues the toss over Ducks.

Games Master’s Screen – Five Runequest supplements randomly selected using my Grognard table with a buyers guide from @Edinthesand

Coming soon, a Micro Grog Pod containing the Origin Story  and complete history of Runequest. Until then – enjoy, and let me know what you think!

The post Runequest RPG Ep. 1 (Part 1) first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.