This week on the Vintage RPG podcast, we check out The Court of Ardor in Southern Middle-earth (1983), a sourcebook for MERP that predates MERP and significantly expands Tolkien’s world. It mainly introduces a cabal of elves in the service of Morgoth who, well, they act a lot more like the royal family of Roger Zelazny’s Amber Chronicles than anyth…

Our guest this week is John “Hambone” McGuire as we continue our Gary Con 2024 series of 50 years of D&D interviews. We talk about his 321 Action core book and the adventures he’s written to go along with it, including upcoming Hotel Exorcist, Braineaters! that he’s working on with Brian Shutter (Neon Lords of the Toxic Wastelands), and his love of…

This week on the Vintage RPG podcast, we’re looking at Casket of Souls (1987), a puzzlebook by Ian Livingstone that spins out of the success of the Fighting Fantasy series. You, too, can pore over Iain McCaig’s lush art work, looking for clues to solve the riddle and win the titular, gold-plated casket! Well, you could in 1987, anyway. The contest …

This week on the Vintage RPG podcast, we’re looking at Barony (1990), a game that sought to redefine RPGs with concepts that were decades before their time. Open-ended character progression, keyword-based health, a free-form magic system that anticipates Mage — how the heck does this exist? And why don’t more people know about it? And who the heck …

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we check out The Sorcerers’ Enclave, a cool narrative art book by Aaron Howdle that mixes the intricate maximalism of finding books and cut-aways with the aesthetics of early Warhammer and other dark fantasy staples. Is it an RPG book? It isn’t not an RPG book! More like this, please. * * * Experience Points ha…

The Vat Spawn follow beefy elite goblins into a room of swords with a goblin museum curators arguing about presentation. The head curator laughs as Dragon Warrior touches a cursed codeine razor and is weakened with magical addiction. A big ole fight breaks out with Tiger Wizard trip attacks and a fun knife-in-the-head polymorph into goblin hipsterd…

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we talk to Isaac VanDuyn about his ambitious RPG that seeks to fulfill the promise of all those evangelicals from the ‘80s who were so worried about tame old D&D corrupting the souls of their children. The result (illustrated by Kim Diaz Holm and featuring the cartography of Lex Rocket) is a lush and grim game …

Welcome to Dove’s Bay, the most horrible island in Maine (take that, Stephen King)! This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we check out Grimrock Isle (1992), the second Call of Cthulhu product from Triad Entertainments. It’s both a solo and a group scenario, spread across several booklets contained in a snazzy folder. Just about every mythos threat …

Our guest this week is Banana Chan as we continue our Gary Con 2024 series of 50 years of Dungeons and Dragons interviews. We discuss her upcoming The Darkness At The Brink Of Ohio, a solo journaling game with a soundtrack with a full cast. You’re one of three late shift workers listening to the radio, while being consumed by a parasite. She discus…

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we're looking at CM4: Earthshaker (1985), the BECMI module that pits players against a 1,280-foot-tall robot run by an entire clan of gnomes. Well, not exactly, the gnomes run the robot as a tourist attraction, the players have to deal with the evil NPCs who try to hijack the robot. And they better win, because…

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we look back at Paul M. Sammon’s coverage of the making of Conan the Barbarian in the April 1982 issue of Cinefantastique. The double issue has three features by Sammon — a lengthy piece of reportage on the filming and interviews with designer Ron Cobb and director John Milius — and lots of behind-the-scenes ph…

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we chat with Tyler Vance, the fine artist behind Void: The Frontier. Tyler’s been exploring Void for a while now, having published three rules-agnostic setting zines that pair his enigmatic narratives with his equally mysterious paintings. Now he’s concocted a gorgeous card game, now on Kickstarter. We talk abo…

307 Goblin Guards & Credit Cards - Rise of the Vat Spawn The Vat Spawn peruse the lobby of the goblin museum when the alarm button gets pushed after Tiger Wizard is caught trying to steal trillmatic rings. A negotiation starts up on either side of a force field with a goblin on stilts named Snax. An elite goblin named Meat Fists swallows a cat whol…

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we chat with Megan Dawson Jaffe about the new Nerdy City RPG Holomatixx: A New Wave Order. Spinning out of their other Omni System games like the kid adventure Rememorex and the game of transforming robots, Commandroids, Holomatixx takes on pop star superheroes in the vein of Jem and Holograms and Barbie and th…

Our guest this week is Elisa Teague as we continue our Gary Con 2024 series of 50 years of Dungeons and Dragons interviews. We discuss her history with the game, including a 13-year D&D campaign! We discuss her work with Founders and Legends, The Crooked Moon: Folk Horror in 5E by Legends of Avantris, Surviving Strange Hollow, Gloomhaven RPG, Marve…

Stu was tied up with lots of crap this week, so have a re-run! Original show notes: Make ours Marvel! This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we take a look at TSR’s massive, 8-volume compendium of Marvel comics lore, The Gamer’s Handbook of the Marvel Universe (1988-1992). They’re like a monster manual of superheroes and villains, some awesome, some…

The Vat Spawn leave the colosseum of mutilation and head to Goblintown. There they infiltrate a secret epicenter of commerce in Def Jamisus called The Goblin Museum. Behind security doors, trades and saves are happening. Tiger Wizard, Bat Alchemist, and Warlock Roc make cash money deposits with an anxious goblin while Dragon Warrior admires a sculp…

Stu’s ongoing West Marches-style Old-School Essentials campaign is a year old, so this week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we thought we’d see how things are going (and how many characters have died). And since you can’t really trust the Dungeon Master, we invited two of the players — Justin Wigard and Clay Fleischer — on to share their impressions of…

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we look at Shadowgate (1987, 1989), the point-and-click fantasy adventure videogame. Explore a mysterious castle while trying to find a way to stop the Warlock Lord from destroying the world! Tremble in fear as your torch burns low! Get eaten by every monster! Have a soundtrack-induced panic attack! All this an…

This week our guest is Luke Stratton, creator of Pirate Borg and we talk about his history with D&D and roleplaying, getting into the OSR and MÖRK BORG, a birthday surprise involving the film The Game, and how he assembled his pirate crew to make the game a success. Follow Luke, Limithron & Pirate Borg: Website - IG - Facebook - X - YouTube - LinkT…

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we chat with Gavriel Quiroga about his new game, Black Rainbow Society. A sequel of sorts to Hell Night, this game doesn’t feature players in the roles of fiends from hell, but rather normal humans grappling with the knowledge that there is more to existence than the mundane world (a staple theme of ’90s RPGs, …

MD 305 Mutilations & Standing Ovations This week the Vat Spawn, dressed as Def Jamisus Garys (that’s the police), have infiltrated the colosseum just in time to view the public mutilation of ten people, who were then dropped to the Necropolis below. The cops, who’s clothes they stole, found the Vat Spawn and a brawl commenced in the side hall of th…

At the very end of last year, Bryan Ansell, a man who played a pivotal role in the world of tabletop games, passed away. To understand just how important Ansell was, this week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we chat with Timothy Linward, Wargamer staff writer and author of the forthcoming Grimdark: A Very British Hell. Tim walks us through the early da…

This is an abbreviated version of our episode last summer with Joey Royale. Be sure to check out the map on our website.By Epic Levels

This week our guest is Sarah Moore, host of Sarah's Table on GenConTV where she spotlights RPGs created by indie designers and small publishers. She's the co-designer of The Crowned, an RPG by Formerly Feral Games, where you play a god of a small slice of reality. Sarah is also the production coordinator for Actoroke and wears many hats for Peter A…

Where does the game end and real life begin? This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we look at Gameplayers, Stephen Bowkett’s 1986 novel. At first blush, it seems to belong in that silly microgenre of panicky novels dedicated to wondering about how kids can cope with fantasy as powerful as tabletop RPGs (see Mazes & Monsters and Hobgoblin, both 1981…

Set phasers to stun! This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we check out FASA’s 1982 Star Trek RPG. It’s an interesting game in it’s own right — a hack of Traveller, when it comes down to it — but is also super interesting in regards to fandom, IP canon and licensed RPGs. Climb on board as we explore these strange old worlds! * * * Stu’s book, Monst…

This week Stefan Pokorny of Dwarven Forge is our guest from our Gary Con 2024 series focusing on the question, “What has 50 years of Dungeons & Dragons meant to you?” We discuss his childhood in NYC and growing up with D&D, his journey from artists to sculptor of the most popular modular terrain for tabletop roleplaying, The Dwarvenaut (the 2016 do…

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we talk to John Patrick Cooper about Get in the Van, his live music-themed Troika hack. Form a band (hardcore, hair or thrash) in the year 198X, hit the road, do battle with the audience, rock their faces off and get to the next gig. A tight, fun little ode to the road dog life. Also, surprise, Cooper designed …

This week the Vat Spawn are at the Rock Ride station platform with The Coroner. They’re stopped while trying to pass through a DJPD checkpoint. The fuzz find a joint on Warlock Roc and they’re detained. They unsuccessfully attempt to bribe the officers, and the cops call in backup. Tiger Wizard uses the Mad Dungeon word “sneakily” to create a carto…

There may be a million ways to die, but you’re probably only going to see the first two or three. This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re remembering the classic coin-eating arcade game, Dragon’s Lair (1983). That’s the one that features the cell-shaded, professionally animated (by Don frickin’ Bluth!) adventure of Dirk the Daring that was hidd…

Our guest this week is Brigitte Winter of Scryptid Games. Brigitte (she/her) is a writer, photographer, and game designer based in Maryland. She consumes and creates stories and games that are queer, feminist, intimate, and deliciously weird. We talked about Scryptid Games, Psychic Trash Detectives, Ball of the Wild and their Kickstarter for Agains…

If the Colour is out of Space it should maybe consider weeding some of its shelves, amirite? This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re going back to witch-haunted Arkham, Massachusetts by way of Chaosium’s latest edition of the Arkham sourcebook (previously known as Arkham Unveiled, H.P. Lovecraft’s Arkham and The Compact Arkham Unveiled). This i…

This week our heroes meet The Coroner in the basement of his mortuary. We learn that the dead bodies of Def Jamisus city are sent down chutes to the Necropolis below. The Marshal of Mummies explains that astral markers are needed to re-up their magical powers before leaving them with The Coroner to take them to view today’s public executions, and w…

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re checking out Caverns of Thracia (1979)! Considered by some to be the late Jennell Jaquays’ finest work, we talk about some of the ways it differs from her previous Judges Guild module, Dark Tower, the cool way it handles random encounters and its place in the high trinity of ’70s adventure design. Fun Fac…

This week we talk with Anthony Meloro and Jay Domingo about their kickstarter for the Mystic Punks TTRPG, OUT TODAY exclusively through Exalted Funeral. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/exaltedfuneral/mystic-punks-table-top-roleplaying-game We talk about all the fun things that come with the Mystic Punks Tabletop Roleplaying Game Kickstarter: A…

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re continuing our talk with Anthony Meloro about Mystic Punks! This is Part the Second, so be sure to check out last week’s jam to get the full experience. On tap: the imminent Kickstarter for the multiplayer Mystic Punks RPG, the majestic art of Benjamin Marra, trash culture, the healing power of reefer and…

This week, the Vat Spawn chat about crime and punishment before smoking a joint to heal their wounds. Dr. Dre-colich shows the vat spawn to their very specific apartments and they get geared up for their intense four-part mission. First, infiltrate a goblin enclave to find CleRick Rubin's missing daughter. Second, cozy up to CleRick Rubin and the M…

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re talking to Anthony Meloro about Mystic Punks! This is Part One, because we got to gabbing so long that we got two episodes worth of chat. Within, we talk about the original Mystic Punks solo game, the imminent Kickstarter for the multiplayer Mystic Punks RPG, the majestic art of Benjamin Marra, trash cult…

Our guest this week is Luke Gygax and we talk Founders & Legends (Mar. 15-20), Gary Con (March 21st-24th) and Gaxx Worx: Okkorim, G20 shoes and G20 magazine, Gooey Cube. The Tomb of Gyzaengaxx: Mega-Adventure & Campaign, 50 Years of Adventures - Essays collection. Follow Luke at: website – IG – FB – Twitter Follow Gary Con at: website – IG – FB – T…

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re talking about Roger Zelazny’s 1971 novel Jack of Shadows. Gygax included the novel — a high-concept blend of fantasy and science fiction — in Appendix N, but it isn’t one that gets talked about all that often. Perhaps because it is such an unrelentingly ugly book, featuring a protagonist who embraces his …

Welcome to episode one of Rise of the Vat Spawn! In this episode, our protagonists are birthed from colorful vats before fighting some undead skeletal animals. Dragon Warrior gets stabbed in the guts. Warlock Roc gets sprayed by goo. Bat Alchemist manipulates that same liquid goo to freeze the baddies in places. Tiger Wizard tames a skeletal tiger.…

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we talk to Chuck Kranz and Adam Rose about their forthcoming RPG, Teenage Odyssey. Set in a small town in the early '90s, the game casts players as teens navigating humdrum lives that are periodically thrown into chaos by bizarre supernatural events. Featuring art by Marie Enger and a light and flexible system …

This week we chat with Justin Sirois of Severed Books & Toys to discuss the first Game Face Con in Baltimore on March 9th & 10th at Peabody Brewery. Sign up to be notified of his BackerKit to make Mork Borg Action figures that launches April 2nd. This is a collab with Johan Nohr & Pelle Nilsson. The 7-inch fully articulated figure of the skeleton f…

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we take a look at the Cold War curiosity The Price of Freedom (1986). Basically Red Dawn (or Red Scare) the RPG, it seems like a serious attempt at creating a game in the mode of similar military-focused, conservatively minded box sets that were coming out at the same time. On the other hand, it’s by Greg Costi…

Welcome to session zero of our season 3 actual play Rise of the Vat Spawn where fantasy and hip hop culture are smashed together to create an epic urban adventure. Here we'll discuss what to expect for the season, including format, tone, safety tools, and we'll utilize Mad Dungeon words as we have in our previous seasons. We'll create and introduce…

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we talk to Luke Gearing and David Hoskins, the creative team behind the new RPG Swyvers, from Melsonian Arts Council. In a fictionalized, horrible sort of fantasy London full of corruption and wild magic, the only way to get yours is to take it from somebody else. Rules light, with a focus on collaborative play…

Welcome to our first episode of Season Three! This week we talk with Anthony Meloro and Jay Domingo about their upcoming kickstarter for the Mystic Punks TTRPG, out exclusively through Exalted Funeral. Pre-save the Mystic Punks Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/exaltedfuneral/mystic-punks-table-top-roleplaying-game?ref=clipboar…

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we chat with Joey Royale about the new adventure in Ninja City: Drug Demon Disco, for DCC. A new drug is hitting the streets and turning people into demons — can you and your ninja pals save the city? Can you do it while busting out the best breakdancing moves? Find out on Kickstarter, now! We also chat a littl…

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re looking back through videogame history at The Temple of Apshai Trilogy (1985), the classic remake of the original 1979 game and its two expansions. Apshai is maybe (depending on the criteria) the first dungeoncrawler videogame and one of the earliest videogame interpretations of Dungeons & Dragons. The Tr…