The GROGNARD Files

"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. The post Full Fathom Five (with Paul Fricker) Book Club – Extra first appeared on The GROGNARD Files .

Exploring the very best that Savage Worlds RPG can offer the gamer. Personal insights from The Armchair Adventurers (Dirk, Blythy and The Daily Dwarf) and special guest Eric Lamoureux The post Savage Worlds (with Eric Lamoureux) Ep 55 Pt. 1 first appeared on 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 … Continue reading "Scarred for Life by RPGs (with Stephen Brotherstone) Ep. 5...

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 … Continue reading "Scarred for Life by RPGs (with Stephen Brotherstone) Ep 54 (...

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 … Continue reading "RPG Book Club GROGPOD Extra (with Gareth Hanrahan)" The...

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 … Continue reading "King Arthur Pendragon RPG (with David Larkins) Ep.53 (Part 2)" The post King A...

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 … Continue reading "GangBusting RPGs (GROGPOD extra)" The pos...

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 … Continue reading "King Arthur Pendragon RPG (with David Larkins)" The post King Arthur P...

“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 … Continue reading "GangBusters Ep.52 (Part 2)" The post GangBusters Ep.52 (Part 2)...

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 … Continue reading "GangBusters RPG (with Mark Hunt) Ep.52 (Part 1)" The post GangBusters RPG (with Mark Hunt) Ep.52 (Part 1)...

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, … Continue reading "Episode 51 – Review of 2021" The post Episode 51 –...

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 … Continue reading "Episode 50 (Part 3) Fighting Fantasy (wit...

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 … Continue reading "Extra – Dirk and Blythy grogMEET Franke...

It’s that time of year when we are preparing for the GROGMEET convention in Manchester and, this time, online. Blythy and Dirk discuss the history of the meet-up, give some tips on how to start one yourself, discuss the thorny issue of ‘player sign-ups’ and run through the games they are running at the event. … Continue reading "Extra – It’s a con! GROGMEET prep...

We are pleased to say that Ian Livingstone returns to the GROGPOD to face the Games Master’s Screen. He talks about the early days of White Dwarf and the upcoming book, Dice Men from Unbound, and he also talks about his role in shaping computer studies in the UK. Fabio Vollono shares the first game … Continue reading "Episode 50 (Part 2) Fighting Fantasy (with Ian Livingstone)" The pos...

Armed with no more than 2 dice a pencil and eraser we are delighted to have special guest Ian Livingstone on Episode 50. Also in this episode, the return of face to face recording in the Las O Gowrie. Judge Blythy talks to Dirk about his experiences of Fighting Fantasy and reveals his thoughts of … Continue reading "Episode 50 (Part 1) Fighting Fantasy (with Ian Livingstone)" The post Episod...

Forgotten Futures is the table-top RPG that is based on the scientific romances of the late Victorian and Edwardian period. Marcus L Rowland take us on a tour on his works and the ways that it has been distributed during its years of production. You can find a whole host of fascinating material on Marcus’ … Continue reading "Extra – Forgotten Futures (with Marcus L Rowland)" The...

This is the 80th GROGPOD and there is a sense of celebration in the air. We are delighted to have Marcus L Rowland as our guest. He was a stalwart of Whit Dwarf during its hey day. Cthulhu Now! Green Horizon, To Live and Die in Mega City One and the Fear of Flying, his … Continue reading "Episode 49 – Marcus L. Rowland (with Thunder Phase!)" The post Episode 49 – Marcus L. Rowland (wit...

The GROGNARD files returns with the Return of Call of Cthulhu with the return of Lynne Hardy. This time she faces the Keeper’s Screen to reveal her Arcane secrets. She talks about her contribution to the Dying Earth Role-Playing Game, Cogs, Cakes and Swordsticks, the game she designed, and more news about upcoming Chaosium releases … Continue reading "Episode 48 (Part 2) Return to Call...

The Armchair Adventurers keep coming back to Call of Cthulhu and we are about to begin Children of Fear, written by our guest Lynne Hardy. In this episode we discuss Lynne’s formative years in role-playing and how she started work with Chaosium with a pitch for this richly detailed and horrific campaign. Tristan Narbrough is … Continue reading "Episode 48 (Part 1) Return to Call of Cth...

As the Final Score recedes (great result between Arbroath and Queen of the South) it’s time to grab a Tizer and sit down to an episode all about Dr Who. We speak to Dave Chapman, who is the lead writer on Doctor Who Roleplaying Game from Cubicle 7 about his history with the Doctor, his … Continue reading "Episode 47 – Dr Who RPG (with Dave Chapman)" The post Episode 47 – Dr Who R...

Tim Harford, economist, columnist, broadcaster, best-selling author, podcaster and role-player was the very special guest at virtual GROGMEET 2021. There were a vast array of games available over the weekend, including a fiendish quiz set by Pookie from Reviews from R’lyeh – thank you to everyone who took part to make it a great event. … Continue reading "Extra – My Role-Pl...

Download Episode Whatever happened to March 2021? We may never know, let’s hope that April restores normal service. In this episode we continue the discussion with Chris Klug about his career in game design: James Bond RPG (which we covered in Episode 15), Aidyn’s Chronicles, and his work for Chaosium, such as The Smoking Ruin … Continue reading "Episode 46 (Part 2) DragonQuest R...

Download Episode The GROGNARD files opens on one of our favorites from back in the day. Blythy bought it from Northern Games Day while I was playing a great game of RuneQuest and he was feeling sorry for himself. We played a lot of this game as it was our swords and sorcery game of … Continue reading "Episode 46 (Part 1) DragonQuest RPG (with Chris Klug)" The post Episode 46 (Part 1) DragonQ...