The GROGNARD Files

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 PatreonThe post Scarred for Life by RPGs (with Stephen Brotherstone) Ep. 54 (Part 2) first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.

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 post UK GAMES EXPO 2022 – GROGPOD extra first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.

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.The post Scarred for Life by RPGs (with Stephen Brotherstone) Ep 54 (Part 1) first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.

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.The post RPG Book Club GROGPOD Extra (with Gareth Hanrahan) first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.

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. The post King Arthur Pendragon RPG (with David Larkins) Ep.53 (Part 2) first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.

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.The post GangBusting RPGs (GROGPOD extra) first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.

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.The post King Arthur Pendragon RPG (with David Larkins) first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.

“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? The post GangBusters Ep.52 (Part 2) first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.

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. DirkThe post GangBusters RPG (with Mark Hunt) Ep.52 (Part 1) first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.

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.The post Episode 51 – Review of 2021 first appeared on The GROGNARD Files.