The GROGNARD Files

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*

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.

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 Jorge’s The God Learners, The Titterpigs RPG Podcast, Beatles Books, and The Video Archive. Like what we do? Please support it on Patreon.

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.

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.

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.

Art by John Sumrow 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.

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.

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. 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

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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?

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

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.

Fighting Fantasy Part 3 with Jonathan Green 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.

Dave Paterson hosts Frankenstein’s RPG with Dirk, Blythy, Paul and Ian 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 I’m 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.