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Extra – It’s a con! GROGMEET preparation
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...
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Extra – Dirk and Blythy grogMEET Frankenstein (with Ian Cooper and Paul Fricker)
Dave Paterson hosts Frankenstein’s RPG with Dirk, Blythy, Paul and Ian Welcome to another extra all about this year’s GROGMEET. This time it includes a live recording made at Fan Boy Three....
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GROGMEET 2021 – Scrapbook
If you have listened to my brief play-reports on the latest GROGPOD, you can use these images from the weekend to illustrate the event before your very eyes. GROGMOOR GMs gather to put the swords and...
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Episode 50 (Part 3) Fighting Fantasy (with Jonathan Green)
Fighting Fantasy Part 3 with Jonathan Green 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...
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Episode 51 – Review of 2021
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...
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GangBusters RPG (with Mark Hunt) Ep.52 (Part 1)
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...
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GangBusters Ep.52 (Part 2)
“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...
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King Arthur Pendragon RPG (with David Larkins)
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...
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GangBusting RPGs (GROGPOD extra)
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...
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King Arthur Pendragon RPG (with David Larkins) Ep.53 (Part 2)
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...
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RPG Book Club GROGPOD Extra (with Gareth Hanrahan)
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...
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Scarred for Life by RPGs (with Stephen Brotherstone) Ep 54 (Part 1)
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...
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UK GAMES EXPO 2022 – GROGPOD extra
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...
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UK GAMES Expo 2022 – Scrapbook
The platty jubes weekender! Cod bless ya! Benjamin Smith GM, looks over the GODSWALL “I have in my hand, a piece of paper …” yeah, yeah, whatever GROGSQUAD Assemble! Paul, Dave, Ed, Jim, Pookie, Bud,...
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Scarred for Life by RPGs (with Stephen Brotherstone) Ep. 54 (Part 2)
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...
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Savage Worlds (with Eric Lamoureux) Ep 55 Pt. 1
Welcome to an episode that we have been talking about for a while. The Armchair Adventurers Club have played more Savage Worlds over the past few years than any other game, so why has it taken us so...
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Full Fathom Five (with Paul Fricker) Book Club – Extra
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...
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Savage Worlds (with Christian Nommay) Ep55 (Part 2)
This is the second part of our episode all about Savage Worlds. This time we look at some of the settings that we have enjoyed playing in over the past few years. 3.15 Titan Effect, interview with...
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SwordBearer RPG Ep.56
This is the GROGPOD naked. There’s no interviews or GROGSQUAD sections, it is just Dirk and Blythy talking bobbins. Swordbearer was a game that we played a lot for a brief period. We liked it, but for...
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PROGMEET competition
This weekend is GROGMEET 2022. For some long forgotten reason it has a progressive rock theme. Some of the games have taken their influence from Prog Rock classics from Genesis to Gong. The wonderful...
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Into the Odd RPG at GROGMEET22 (with Chris McDowall) Ep. 57
At GROGMEET22 we had a great gaming experience with members of the GROGSQUAD. In this podcast we look back on some of the highlights. Introduction to Chris McDowall. Chris talks about his formative...
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GROGMEET2022 – Scrapbook
As you listen to the GROGMEET22 podcast, why not browse through some of these images from the event. You find more write ups and reflections from Clarky, Stef, and Graham . (Let me know if there are...
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The Day of The Dice Men
Ian Livingstone, Dirk the Dice and Steve Jackson “You’re the GROG man!” Ian Livingstone has a smile of recognition as he met me in a smart Sardinian inspired restaurant in Belgrave, Westminster. He’s...
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Review of 2022 (with Bud’s RPG Reviews) Ep 58
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...
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Vaesen (and Moviedrome with Hypnogoria) Ep.59
INTRO – What was one of the triggers that stopped me playing back in the day? The discovery of cult movies. In this episode we explore the late night television schedules in the form of Moviedrome....
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Dangerous Games (with Joseph Laycock) Ep.60
Introduction: We look at the Satanic Panic in this episode. We have touched on it before, during our interview with Tim Harford. We are part of the Scarred for Life generation, so were met with mild...
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Moorcock Weekender
The Fellowship on the Moonbeam Roads The One Ring Road Trip has been established for a number of years. In late Winter every year, a group of Tolkien gamers meet and play the One Ring RPG together....
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Star Frontiers (with Ben Riggs) Ep.61 (Part 1)
Join the Galactic Legions with Dirk and Blythy as we explore Star Frontiers. Introduction: An apology for the misreading of the shrine last time. The background to Star Frontiers as a setting...
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Star Frontiers: Where No Dwarf Has Gone Before
“Oi DD, we’re doing Star Frontiers on the next pod, I need 1500 words from you, stat!” Dirk the Dice, host of The GROGNARD files RPG Podcast Hmm, the latest assignment from his messianic...
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The Fellowship of Welsh Wizzard
Today marks two years since our gaming friend Mike Hobbs passed away. The Welsh Wizzard’s good humour, generous spirit and enthusiasm was infectious and much missed. We tried to continue his spirit by...
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virtualGROGMEET 2023 – Play Report
If you have been paying attention you’ll know that my gaming has taken a thematic thread this year. I have been playing games that use the concept of the multiverse as a setting. This was not planned,...
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Star Frontiers Ep 61 (Part 2)
Still Dirk. Star Frontiers returns. This time we are looking at the adventures that were created for the game. Dark Side of the Moon and Face of the Enemy were very sophisticated modules produced by...
View ArticleCall of Cthulhu Ep.2 (Part 1) – REMASTERED
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...
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Starring in the Frontiers
In the early eighties my friends and I used to frequent our local hobby shop to coo over various Grenadier, Ral Partha and Citadel miniatures we could not afford. We had been introduced to RPGs by one...
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Tale of the Manticore (with Jon Cohen) ep.62
Join Dirk the Dice, climbing to the top of Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh for an episode that we used to label ‘extra’ but who cares if they have an episode number? Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore...
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UK Games Expo Report 2023
It’s that time again! We went on the road in a charabanc and headed to England’s 4th City, Birmingham, for the UK Game Expo 2023. We report on the games we played, the people we saw and the stuff we...
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UK Game Expo 2023 – Scrapbook
To illustrate the podcast with our report on our exploits at UK Games Expo 2023 here are a collections of images from the weekend. The National Express, waiting for the Jolly Hostess Angry Men in Local...
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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...
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Liminal (with Paul Mitchener) Ep.63 (Part 1)
Welcome to the world of Liminal. Dirk and Blythy are in the throes of discovering a world where the ordinary and extraordinary interact. Joining us in the Room of Role-Playing Rambling is the creator...
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Liminal Inspirations Ep.63 (with C.K.McDonnell) (Part 2)
In this episode, we continue looking for inspiration from urban horror/fantasy. C.K. McDonnell joins the book club to talk about his career and his series of novels set in Manchester, The Stranger...
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Michael Moorcock Ep. 64
Behold the man! Michael Moorcock joins us in the room of role-playing rambling to talk about memoir, the multiverse, movies and much more. I recommend Sanctom Secorum and Appendix N Bookclub...
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Glorantha (with Jeff Richard)
A homecoming. The GROGNARD files returns to Glorantha, the setting where our RPG life began. 4mins – Jeff Richard joins us at the Book Club to talk about The King of Sartar, Greg Stafford’s epic book...
View ArticleDown Dread Portals
This year has been the year of the Multiverse at The GROGNARD files with Planescape and the Sundered Worlds of Moorcock. We were intrigued to hear about the new Multiversal game from Newt Newport’s...
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GROGMEET 2023 Scrapbook
10th-12th November 23 was GROGMEET. This year we took over the city. The games and socialising was spread across multiple locations, so it could be bigger but stay small. Thanks to FanBoy Three,...
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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...
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Review of 2023 in RPGs (with Gaz Bowerbank)
Another year comes to a close, we review the gaming highlights and award The GROGGIES … We talk about our highlights and low lights of the year. Well done to the GROGGIES of the year:...
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Five Room Dungeons (with Johnn Four) Ep. 68
This episode follows the theme of the previous one, where we looked at Adventure Design. This time at the book club we have the amazing Johnn Four who shares his Five Room Dungeon method and explains...
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Traveller RPG Revisited (with Marc Miller) Ep 69
In this episode, we have a very special guest. Marc Miller is the creator of the Traveller Role-Playing game and in this interview he talks to Dirk the Dice about his first encounter with Dungeons and...
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White Dwarf RPG Covers (with ThunderPhase) Ep. 70 Pt. 1
The return of @dailydwarf with an article about Good, the Bad and downright Odd covers of White Dwarf from 1 – 106 (when they stopped doing RPGs). Join us as we go into a time capsule and review some...
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ThunderPhase! TTRPG Questions and Answers Ep.70 Pt.2
Welcome back, just when you knew you had enough of Dirk the Dice and Judge Blythy rambling on and on about TTRPGs, they’re back with more. These are the answers to the GROGPOD listener questions that...
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