Tag: Call of Cthulhu

Five Items that Made Chaosium (with Rick Meints)

Rick Meints, President of Chaosium, joins us in the room of role-playing rambling to find five items from the history of the company.

Chaosium is celebrating 50 years since the company was founded by Greg Stafford. Their games have always been at the core of what we play, so it was great to have more time with returning guest, Rick Meints.

Rick is the president of Chaosium, perhaps more importantly, he is the Head of the Department of Nostalgia, the custodian to the extensive, if chaotic, archive of the company. He started as a collector, and ended up heading the company.

We set him the challenge of finding five items from the archive that represent the development of the company over fifty years. What products are the milestones of progress in the history of Chaosium?

There are some unexpected items in there. Let us know what you think.

The interview was recorded in front of an audience as part of GROGMEETish in November. In the room of role-playing rambling, I’m joined by resident rules-lawyer Judge Blythy to review GROGMEETish. We also talk about NPCs or Games Master Characters and how to handle a ‘cast of 1000s’.

The advert is for Eldritch Stories from Mason and Fricker.

Why not support us on Patreon? Offers are now available apparently.

Dirk

More Magic in RPGs (with China Miéville)

Back in the room of roleplaying rambling, still banging on about playing magic.

Magic in RPGs is a continuing obsession for Dirk the Dice and Blythy in this latest episode of the podcast.

We talk about Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D) and Powers and Perils (Pee & Pee) and marvel at how we played in the early 2000s, when we didn’t know any better and were more willing to freeform and ‘make stuff up’.

Also in this episode, we are pleased that GROGSQUADer
China Miéville provided his first, last and everything.

I think that I need to find out more about Tales of Argosa .

Mike and Roger over at Improvised Radio Theatre with Dice have an interesting discussion about magic – following our mention of it last time.

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Magic in RPGs (with Stu Horvath) Ep.79

What do we want to Play, Stay or Giveaway when it comes to Magic in RPGs? Stu Horvath adds his thoughts too.

It’s a kind of magic, in RPGs. This time we are joined by Stu Horvath, podcaster (Vintage RPG Podcast) and writer, who talks about his book Monsters, Aliens and Holes in the Ground, which takes us decade by decade through the history of RPGs.

He also contributes to our discussion about magic in RPGs. What would we like to play, stay on our shelves or give away?

Virtual GROGMEET is available to register on Warhorn.

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Monsters in RPGs Ep.73 Pt.1

The first part of an Episode all about Monsters. Which Bestiary should stay? Which should we play? And which could go away?

This time we are looking at bestiaries from our book shelves. We talk about:

Numenera,

Forbidden Lands,

Call of Cthulhu,

Dragon Warriors,

13th Age,

Vaesen,

This was at the request of GROGSQUADer China Miéville who Dirk talked to at an RPG Symposium earlier this year.

Next time, James Holloway, Monster Man joins us, because monsters are great.

Support the podcast on Patreon.

Cults of Cthulhu (with Mike Mason) Ep 66

Live from GROGMEET 23, join us as we roll back the years with Mike Mason. We look at the key moments in the history of Call of Cthulhu: its origins and its early campaigns.

In Library Use, Blythy and Dirk look at Cults of Cthulhu and Different Worlds and consider the world populated by people who are ‘tuned in’ to Cthulhu.

Mike Mason and Paul Fricker have a new podcast project

You can support the GROGNARD files at Patreon.

Call of Cthulhu Ep.2 (Part 2) – REMASTERED

Another repeat! This the next in the ongoing campaign to remaster the files from the early GROGPODs. Some of the early ones are difficult to hear, so this has been equalised. It does result in some strange gaps and distortions, but nothing too distracting I hope. The roll of dice are missing from here because I got complaints about it hurting peoples’ heads.

I mention Improvised Radio Theatre with Dice, which is still going strong.

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.

The Lovecraft Variant is now a fully fledged game.

Follow me on Twitter @theGROGNARDfile

Call of Cthulhu Ep.2 (Part 1) – REMASTERED

The early episodes are steadily being remastered with an extra segment reflecting on the episode eight years on.

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

Review of 2022 (with Bud’s RPG Reviews) Ep 58

The Armchair Adventurers have had another incredible year of gaming. Dirk and Blythy roll out the red carpet to the GROGGIE awards. At the Book Club, Bud talks about Viral: A Modern Call of Cthulhu Scenario.

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.

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Full Fathom Five (with Paul Fricker) Book Club – Extra

“Moby Dick as a Slasher pic” Paul Fricker talks to The Great Library of RPGs Book Club about Full Fathom Five for Call of Cthulhu.

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.