Armchair Museum of Stuff

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Today is the first anniversary of the Podcast.

Whizz. Pop.

The first episode had a painful birth, but I eventually managed to squeeze out the Runequest file on 7th August last year.

INSPIRED

My internet presence began as a lauded Anonymous Work Blogger who lost out on a prestigious Guardian Award (judged by Bruce Sterling, no less) to a prostitute in 2003. Since then I have had various projects that come and go, some more successful than others. When began to seriously to get back in to the hobby in 2010, I held the desire to translate it into something…

Originally we had conceived an e-book of our memoirs of playing games back in the day. I don’t really have a voice for radio, I’m a hesitant, low talkin’ slow talker, but I love listening to podcasts and have been listening to them for a long time, so I really wanted to make one of my own.

My podcast inspiration came from RPG Gamer Dad who was a fellow gamer from back in the day who was trying to rediscover the hobby that he left behind. His podcast is currently on an extended hiatus, but the candle that burns twice as bright, burns half of long, and I urge you to go back and listen to his back catalogue. He has a sense of wonderment and excitement about the hobby that I can never hope to reach. Thanks to RPG Gamer Dad, I was introduced to the rigorous approach of Mr Jim Moon’s Hypnogoria, a podcaster who takes care to research his subjects and present them from the position of subjective authority. Finally, the most important influence on theGROGNARDfiles is the late, lamented Word Podcast, hosted by Mark Ellen and Dave Hepworth who are veterans of the UK Rock magazine scene, who adopted the tone of two old duffers in conversation, sharing anecdotes and opinions on how the world of music was changing.

Of all the crazy projects that I’ve initiated, the podcast has been the most rewarding as it has put me in touch with so many great people, a whole network of gamers that I never really knew existed. The greatest element is getting feedback and the stories of people going up into the attic to recover the games they used to play back in the day.

CURATING THE MIASMA 

Our Patreon campaign has reached another goal which unlocks something for backers only: a fortnightly digest of media consumed by The Armchair Adventurers. This was an idea directly stolen from Ken and Robin Talk Quickly About Stuff as it is a feature that they offer, however it’s going to be more like the “Something for the Weekend” e-zine that Word magazine circulated weekly, pointing out interesting corners to explore in a world where you are constantly bombarded with ‘push notices’ and links.

The Armchair Museum is a newsletter that handpicks 5 – 6 interesting, entertaining and unusual things that catch our attention, with pithy comment from us. Pith, we have a lot of pith.

Books, films, music, magazines, TV series, adverts, apps, stationery, and anything else in an eclectic mix tape made just for you.

The first one will be released in September and in a ‘try before you buy’ it will appear here. The rest will be for Patreon backers only.

BEYOND THE FIRST YEAR

I’ve been asked a number of times “What’s your plan to keep going in the long term?” The number of old games is finite, so the format we’ve adopted has the potential run out of steam. Don’t worry, we have enough fuel in the tank to keep us going at least for the next 12 months. We’ve got interviews, campaign specials, DVD commentaries and lots more games to come. The podcast will keep coming while it’s still fun and not a chore.

Thanks for backing, commenting, reviewing and plain old listening over the past 12 months… here’s looking forward to another 12! Dirk

Get yer ‘zine on!

grognard-files-final.jpgHere at Dirk Towers, we’re currently beavering away over the first annual ‘zine that’s due to be launched at GROGMEET later in the year.

The hard-copy of the ‘zine will be available to PATREON supporters pledging $3.50 plus and to attendees of GROGMEET.

The print run will be strictly limited. We’ll probably print an additional 20 for our own private pleasure, but other than that, it will be PDF only.

If you want a hard-copy, please ensure that you have signed up before the end of September as we’ll be taking the print numbers from 1st October.

Also, make sure that you complete the shipping details on your PATREON profile, so we can get the ‘zine to you (Worldwide shipping).

The PDF will be available to all PATREONS ($1 plus) from December.

The content for the ‘zine continues to take shape, this is what you can expect:

  • The Armchair Adventurers’ Memoir – an excerpt from the memoir that we started writing in 2014 and ended up being a podcast instead
  • The Gladiators Gazette – the story of Dirk’s dabbling with the world of postal games back in the day.
  • Safe Word – A FATE accelerated Scenario set in the world of Jerry Cornelius
  • A Cut out and keep shrine to the actress Caroline Munro by design supremo Superlogo Boy
  • The Collected @dailydwarf – the first volume of essays selecting the best of the best from the hey day of White Dwarf

There’s contributions from Ed from his shed and the illustrious Games Masters of GROGMEET and much more.

Right, no more time to waste, my nose must return to the grindstone. Dirk

 

 

Episode 6 (Part 4) AD&D RPG UnEarthed Arcana

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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.

 

 

 

GROGMEET Update! – July

GrogMeet 2016 (corrected)

THE FELLOWSHIP IS COMPLETE

DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS 5e *New*

Rumour has turned to action in the city streets now, as your guild finds itself under attack. There can only be one Thieves Guild in the city, so the time has come to put an end to this insult. As the Grandmasters ‘troubleshooters’ you have been tasked by him personally, with finding these upstarts and putting them down, permenantly. Lets hope your combined talents are up to it.

GM: Tim Brittain

ACHTUNG CTHULHU! 

Operation Twitcher: 1938, American Explorer Richard Byrd is quizzed by the Nazis about the South Pole, he informs the British and American governments of the Nazis interest but no action is taken at this time.

1942, reports are received of strange phenomena in the far South Atlantic. Richard Byrd now an Admiral in the US Navy is called in by the admiralty to brief a select team of marines and scientists on dealing with with the Antarctic conditions.

GM: Katherine Simmons-Smith

BOOT HILL 

Boot Hill 3rd edition Wild West Role-Playing Game, one of TSR Inc’s forgotten gems. Boot Hill is a game of grand adventure in the American Frontier; a world of cowpokes, gamblers, sheriffs and gunslingers. This is an original adventure based in the official setting Promise City entitled “Matthew 12:43”

GM: Ian Griffiths

ALSO…

  • Judge Blythy from the GROGNARD files will be running a STORMBRINGER adventure to feed Arioch with souls.
  • We’re delighted to have GM @Asako_Soh on the team, who is fresh from running games at UK Games Expo and the D&D Tweetup,  to run a classic adventure for West End Games Star Wars RPG
  • Dirk the Dice will be taking players to Glorantha in a Classic RUNEQUEST scenario: Assault on Lunar Outpost XIII.

CONVIVIAL BEGINNINGS

The event will begin with demonstrations and ‘pick up and play’ board games hosted by bonhomiegames.uk – the home of convivial gaming. Cris Watkins will help us get in the gaming mood with mass participation games and a pop-up library of sample games to play.

BOOK YOUR TICKET

The event is being held on 12th November at Manchester’s Mad Lab, in the heart of the city’s Northern Quarter. Doors open at 10.00 for board games and chat, RPG sessions begin at noon and will finish at 4.30 – 4.45.

There’ll be a short presentation at the end of the event to launch theGROGNARDfiles ‘zine – doors close at 5.00pm.

Use the eventbrite page link here – let me know if you have any issues.

‘ZINE-TASTIC

The GROGNARD files ‘zine will be launched at the end of the event and every attendee will get a copy to take home.

The Armchair Adventurers are currently burning the mid-night oil to create content for the ‘zine. Thanks to the support of Patreons we’ll also be including the collected works of @dailydwarf.

To get a copy, you’ll need to be registered as a Patreon before the end of September. The Patreon campaign supports the podcast and helps to develop other projects. There’s the chance to play in online games (using Roll20) as well as additional material.

Thanks – Dirk

 

Post Bag of Holding – Entries Required

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Later this week, Judge Blythy and I will be heading into the Room of RPG Rambling to reach into the Bag of Holding and pull out post from listeners. In the next, final part to the epic Advanced Dungeons and Dragons episode, I’ll be responding to listener contributions with Hizzoner.

The next podcast will be the footnotes, the Silmarillion, the UnEarthed Arcana of the Dungeons and Dragons Episodes, with various odds and sods from pulled together from the shelves of the GROGNARD files. Odds and sods that include:

  • The Potted History of D&D – rescued from the cutting room floor from the first part of the episode is the usual whistle stop tour of the history of the game
  • Dirk meets the Old Scroates -Dirk hit the road to meet listeners Ric and Tim to talk about their experiences of playing different editions of D&D (and some great Runequest anecdotes too)
  • Post Bag: An extra special Postbag, reviewing listener comments regarding their own experiences playing D&D back in the day and some people taking issue with the comments that we made during our discussions

If you would like to contribute to the discussion about D&D, it’s not too late, please add to the comments on this post, and we’ll try to respond to as many as possible.

We’ve got the Random Dungeon Generator covered. Brace yourself Judge B. Dirk

 

1D6 Directing Monsters the Spielberg way

In the latest podcast I have advocated that Dungeon Masters should adopt a “Spielberg’ approach to directing monsters, rather than Peter Jackson’s method. I’ve been asked a pertinent question: that’s all very well, but how do you codify it?

I have attempted to channel my inner Robin D Laws to pick out the dramatic beats that Spielberg uses so they can be adopted into an RPG session.

Strictly speaking, Spielberg has directed three monster movies; Jurassic Park (1993), its sequel Lost World (1997) and the best of them all, Jaws (1975). It seems like he’s done more, because he incorporates these techniques into the characterisation of objects and people in other films he’s directed: in Saving Private Ryan (1999) the tank is portrayed as a lumbering T-Rex and the malevolent truck in Dual (1971) is as relentless as a great white shark.

Here’s some quick thoughts on what I meant by ‘directing monsters the Spielberg way’ and some suggestions on how they can be built into your games. The key device is ‘suspense’ which is part of the grammar of film, but difficult to replicate in games, however I believe that it’s still possible to inject the creeping anticipation of jeopardy in the most world-weary, jaded gamer with the application of Spielbergian tactics …

1.FORESHADOW HOW NASTY THE MONSTER IS …

The oft cited reason for players becoming jaded with monsters is the meta-gaming knowledge of what the monster is capable of and its vulnerabilities. “Everyone knows what to expect, where’s the thrill in that?” Long term players can no longer get excited about the prospect of a band of goblins because they’ve killed them a thousand times before.

However, Speilberg uses this meta-knowledge to share with the audience the potential threat of the creature, so they can anticipate it’s appearance. If a monster has a special attack, a strategy of combat or vulnerability then there’s no harm in revealing it to the players, as it will sharpen their thinking.

Include an NPC with a Cornish-American accent to tell  stories of previous encounters, how armies have been eaten by the creature, exaggerate the size … “from the dorsal to the tail” and it’s capacity to kill.

2.MAKE MONSTERS FEEL LIKE PHYSICAL ENTITIES

Both Jackson and Spielberg owe a debt to Ray Harryhausen, a monster auteur who was so dedicated to his creations that he left the direction of humans to others. His stop-motion method used physical models, painstakingly moved frame by frame, which gave the creations a sense of gravity which is sometimes lacking in Jackson’s monster films. Due to limitations of the technology, Harryhausan depended upon the suggestion of the potential of his monsters through sound effects and partially concealed glimpses.

Never wholly convinced by CGI, Spielberg adopts a similar approach, choosing to mix computer animation with animatronic puppets. In addition, Spielberg is masterful at combining sound and subtle visual effects to add weight to the creatures: the ripples in the cup as the T-Rex approaches, the click-click-click of the Velociraptors claw on the tiles, and the movement in the water of the shark in Jaws.

In game, it’s useful to pepper the approach of a monster with similar techniques to tantalise and tease the players’ senses: the acrid smells, the distant rumble, the displaced dust and the euphoric screech as it enters the scene.

3.DUMMY DECOY … THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING WORSE

Once you’ve established the creatures’ abilities by foreshadowing, it’s possible to use ‘dummy’ effects to rattle the players: a rustle in the long grass, a silhouette through the tent, or a cardboard dorsal fin.

There’s always deniers who have a vested interest in ensuring the status quo is restored and the disruption caused by the monster is resolved. What if they’re wrong? What if the monster they caught isn’t the monster that’s causing the trouble?

4. THEY’RE RELENTLESS, LOOK FOR COVER!

Arguably, Spielberg created cinema’s first relentless, faceless terror in Dual (which was actually a TV movie, but you know what I mean) it’s a trope that has been repeated often by many filmmakers since.

Characters in Spielberg’s movie are more prepared to run away than the average RPG player character, nevertheless, there’s always occasions when they may reach for a place of safety, a place of safety that can only resist the terror for a certain length of time, before the horror is going to break through.

The monster tipping over the wagon, pushing it to the edge of a cliff, breaking through the defences, the weather isn’t helping either … when will it end?

5. TO DEFEAT A MONSTER, YOU HAVE TO BECOME A MONSTER …

Robert Shaw* as Quint in Jaws, Bob Peck as Muldoon in Jurassic Park in some ways, have characteristics of the creatures that they’re trying to defeat. It’s a trope that Spielberg uses in Schindler’s List (1993) too. Liam Neeson’s Schindler is a counterpoint to Ralph Fiennes’s Amon Goth.

What if the monsters have some of the characteristics of the player characters. The same spells? A mirror of the attributes and skills of the player characters?

6. SOMETIMES, SET-DRESSING IS OK …

There are times when you need to have vistas of monsters with John Williams music while monsters stampede, act out rituals, or just make the place look colourful.

 

* Robert Shaw is from round our way

 

Episode 6 (Part 3) AD&D RPG Monster Manual

Monster Manual

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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.

GROGMEET 16 – June Update!

 

GrogMeet 2016 (corrected)

More tickets have been released for GROG MEET 2016 and a waiting list opened (to be advised of cancellations.)

The event is being held on 12th November at Manchester’s Mad Lab, in the heart of the city’s Northern Quarter. Doors open at 10.00 for board games and chat, RPG sessions begin at noon and will finish at 4.30. The GROGNARD files ‘zine will be launched at the end of the event and every attendee will get a copy to take home.

Use the eventbrite page link here – let me know if you have any issues.

THE FELLOWSHIP IS ALMOST COMPLETE

New games have been added. I’m awaiting details of the final member of the Magnificent 7, but the confirmed games are:

ACHTUNG CTHULHU! *NEW*

Operation Twitcher: 1938, American Explorer Richard Byrd is quizzed by the Nazis about the South Pole, he informs the British and American governments of the Nazis interest but no action is taken at this time.

1942, reports are received of strange phenomena in the far South Atlantic. Richard Byrd now an Admiral in the US Navy is called in by the admiralty to brief a select team of marines and scientists on dealing with with the Antarctic conditions.

GM: Katherine Simmons-Smith

BOOT HILL *NEW*

Boot Hill 3rd edition Wild West Role-Playing Game, one of TSR Inc’s forgotten gems. Boot Hill is a game of grand adventure in the American Frontier; a world of cowpokes, gamblers, sheriffs and gunslingers. This is an original adventure based in the official setting Promise City entitled “Matthew 12:43”

GM: Ian Griffiths

ALSO…

  • Judge Blythy from the GROGNARD files will be running a STORMBRINGER adventure to feed Arioch with souls.
  • We’re delighted to have GM @Asako_Soh on the team, who is fresh from running games at UK Games Expo and the D&D Tweetup,  to run a classic adventure for West End Games Star Wars RPG
  • Dirk the Dice will be taking players to Glorantha in a Classic RUNEQUEST scenario: Assault on Lunar Outpost XIII.

The event will begin with demonstrations and ‘pick up and play’ board games hosted by bonhomiegames.uk – the home of convivial gaming. Cris Watkins will help us get in the gaming mood with mass participation games and a pop-up library of sample games to play.

The event is taking shape. More information will be released next month. Sign up sheets for the RPGs will be released nearer the time.

Beginning to get very excited about it now!

 

GROG CLUB Unlocked!

Last week, the $100 monthly goal was reached, which means that we’re opening the doors to the Saturday GROG-CLUB. This is a 6 monthly online meet-up that one of The Armchair Adventurers will Games Master using the Roll 20 site. The club will be open to $5.00 patreons (although we may open it up if there isn’t sufficient demand at that level).

Four places are available for each session, if there are more wanting to play, attendance will be determined by a ballot and unsuccessful applicants will be carried over to the next session.

This post is to ‘put the feelers out’ to get a sense of what people want from this activity, so your feedback (in the comments) will be welcome.

THE PROPOSAL

The game will take place at the weekend 17th – 18th September for about 5 hours.

There will be a short ‘session zero’ the week before to familiarise yourself with Roll 20, the pre-generated characters and to introduce each other.

I will be the Gamesmaster for this session. The games under offer are:

THE SEA CAVE – RUNEQUEST – A previously unpublished scenario written by Greg Stafford which was released as part of the Runequest classic Kick-starter last year.

or

A TIME TO HARVEST – The ‘Open Game’ scenario provided by Chaosium to introduce players to Call of Cthulhu 7th ed.

or

SAFE WORD – Play-test the Fate Core seventies, spy-caper featuring Jerry Cornelius which is to appear in the GROGNARD files fanzine.

THE QUESTIONS

Are you interested in taking part?

What is the best time for you during the weekend?

Which of the three games under offer would you like to play?

Do you have any questions or suggestions?

Thank you for the continued support of the GROGNARD files!