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.
Daily Dwarf commented that he hadn’t seen a lot of the ‘person from our world in a fantasy world’ in RPGs… Well, I shall mention that this is a possible trope for the GURPS INFINITE WORLDS setting and especially the GURPS BANESTORM worldbook. GURPS has also recently published a small supplement (or long essay) called GURPS PORTAL FANTASY about the theme.
See also Monte Cook’s THE STRANGE for another multiversal setting in which hopping from what is alleged to be our world to more fantastical places is a central theme.
And what about the AMBER RPG? Eh? Eh?
Thanks Michael – looks like I need to read more GURPS. 🙂
Finally got round to listening to the whole podcast, while enjoying some sunny perambulations in the Edin-burgh.
Always fancied playing in the Dying Earth or Gaen Reach RPGs, and may see what level of interest there is in my group for Lyonessse.
Vance’s Dying Earth books were amongst my favourite fantasy fiction, in my earlier gaming days, particularly enjoying the roguish nature of all the story protaganists, with Vance’s cunning sense of humour everpresent. Some of my mates hated the verbose wordiness of Vance, but I thought his work was a much needed relief from all the Good Versus Evil story tropes common in the 80’s. Also, bears a touch of homage to Voltaire’s Candide!
On the science fiction front, I was unaware how rich the Gaen Reach stories were.
Especially for Traveller / Firefly merchant ship campaings, I heartily recommend Vance’s Ports of Call and its follow-up Lurulu – great picaresque adventures, without having to rely on pulling out a FGMP-15 to resolve bar brawls and such like.
The George RR Martin edited anthology, Songs of the Dying Earth, is filled to the brim with lots of smaller, classic Vancian stories by a host of notable writers – plenty of gaming material there too…
Those were terrible rolls for breakfast, inDEED.