This Ol’ Dungeon Podcast

One Shot Episode 18 ...Talking about Halloween Parties with Christopher Tupa

It's that time of year again!  Every year, host Luau Lou sits down with artist and friend of the show, Christopher Tupa (http://ctupa.com/Art_by_Ctupa/Home.html, https://www.youtube.com/@artbytupa3222) to talk Halloweens-past and present.  THIS IS NOT A GAMING EPISODE! No, this is just an excuse for two old friends to get together and talk about their favorite holiday, Halloween.  This year the theme is "What would you have going on at an Ultimate Halloween party?" So if you want to listen to that conversation...well we're inviting you to eavesdrop! If you have some Halloween memories, ideas, or want to talk about the gaming material this podcast is normally about, just write us at thisoldungeon@gmail.com or post on our Facebook page(https://www.facebook.com/people/This-Ol-Dungeon/100052215825539/).

Episode 36 White Wolf’s Loom of Fate for Mage the Ascension

Happy Halloween! For this month of the macabre we went diving for a good October RPG product and turned up, "All Hallow's Eve" a starting adventure from the Mage: The Ascension RPG rule book.  Come to find out, the adventure was expanded upon for the campaign-length 1993 product, "Loom of Fate." So we all took a good walk outside of our usual gaming systems to check out this tale of the weird from the hottest RPG producers of the 90s.  There's a couple letters from the homeowners and Edwin is up for Geek Credit!  If you have questions or gaming memories you would like to share, don't forget to write: thisoldungeon@gmail.com.

One Shot Episode 17 Prisoners of the Secret Overlord with David Matalon

We got the jump on this one!  David Matalon (screenwriter of the up-coming Totally Killer movie) has used his down time from the writers' strike to work on a project within his beloved hobby, and on October 3rd he will be releasing the all-new DCC adventure "Prisoners of the Secret Overlords." This adventure pays homage to many of the great lettered-series of the early days of gaming while just doing an absolute mic-drop on keeping that DCC flavor with the weird, wild, and gritty.  We have a great talk about his intro into gaming, his inspiration to become a screenwriter, and all the facets of this oversized-module that make it such a barbarous romp through one of the most unusual dungeons a band of reavers will ever encounter!

Episode 35 BSOLO The Ghost of Lion Castle and The Hotel Exorcist

In this episode we take a swing at solo play modules with one of the classics, BSOLO "Ghost of Lion Castle." Solo play modules are making a big resurgence right now and it was a blast to look at how the process was done in 1984 and talk about how that experience could have been improved.  Speaking of new solo plays, Bill's company Pacesetter Games and Simulations is finishing out a Kickstarter featuring their take on solo plays with a CAMPAIGN of them-don't miss it! Kickstarter Link

At the very end you get a bonus sit down with John Hambone McGuire from The Vintage RPG Podcast talking about horror in RPGs and his forthcoming project, "The Hotel Exorcist" -launching October 13th! You can get the prequel to this chiller for free off DrivethruRPG! Get the Download! The rules for 3, 2, 1, Action! are available for free there too!

Don't forget to write in for a chance to win next episode when we play Geek Credit.  We'll be reviewing a White Wolf product, and possibly announcing a cool writing contest.  Keep on gaming folks!

OneShotEpisode16_Jonathan_Sullivans_A_Fairly_Odd_Tale_Per_Aspera_Games

With our full, regular September episode just around the corner, I wanted to sneak one extra One Shot Episode in while my buddy and all around "RPG Idea Wizard," Jonathan Sullivan still has his Kickstarter going.  However, we actually spend the majority of this episode talking about his early gaming experiences and what it takes to make an 3PP adventure worthy of the Dungeon Crawl Classics label.

But we do get around to talking about his new adventure, "A Fairly Odd Tale" occasionally and I think you're going to love it! Check it out here... At the end I also mention, friend of the show, Levi Combs's new best of the RPG best extravaganza: "The Closet of the Eye Wizard" with only about 3 days left for backing (Closet of the Eye Wizard).  My project called "Cover Stories" (3 gm screen-shaped short form adventures) is also out there too.

Remember that our next regular episode will be coming up and you can get in as a "play at home winner" for the Geek Credit section simply by writing into thisoldungeon@gmail.com or sending us a message on our facebook page (TOD Facebook Page) tell us a gaming story, ask us a question, explain to us why we're wrong or give us a product review idea (remember we want OLD adventures -let's say earlier than 2010).  Cheers!

One Shot Episode 15 Adventures of Black Ridge Island for B/X and 5E

Friend of the show Ben Burns is back to talk about all the projects going on over at New Comet Games including the recently released "Horrors at El Dorado Royale" for Call of Cthulhu and his current Kickstarter for D&D 5e as well as Swords & Wizardry, OSE, and B/X! Check out the campaign here: Adventures of Black Ridge Island. We talk about a bit about campaign and setting book production as well as a bit of a discussion of...AI ART (Did I trigger ya'?).  Ben's always a hoot to sit down with, so come along and hear about all that he's got underway (including some teasers about his next Zeta Complex product).

Episode 34 Erik Tenkar and Bad Mike Take on B1 In Search of the Unknown

In this episode we have Erik Tenkar and Bad Mike Badolato -the dynamic duo themselves- straight from the "Talking Crit" livestream among their other OSR contributions such as the Tavern blog, The North Texas RPG Con, RPG auctions, Swords and Wizardry Light, and many others.

We get to talk with them all about these endeavors as well as the classic B1: In Search of the Unknown, which is getting a non-canon sequel for NTX this coming year!

These guys are a lot of fun, so sit back and enjoy some banter.

One Shot Episode 14 with Jeff Jones and his Gary’s Appendix Issue 3

Jeff Jones of the RPG Ramblings podcast stops by for a discussion about game design, what it means to create something within the space of of the 1st Edition DMG, and whatever else floats across my mind while were talking. We also get a chance to discuss his Gary's Appendix series - with Issue 3 Kickstarting RIGHT NOW! Give it a listen and go check out the project, its a great one! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1580058713/garys-appendix-issue-3?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=gary%27s%20

Episode 33 Lady in Distress with a Short Interview with Mike Carr

In this episode Bill, Edwin, and Lou discuss the classic Top Secret module, TS003: "Lady in Distress."  This GenCon XIV tournament module features a cruise ship taken over by terrorists who are after a secret bio weapon smuggled on board by a rogue Spanish scientist.  BUT FIRST: Mike Carr - TSR legend and co-writer of this adventure - spends some of his afternoon with us answering a few questions about the module.  Bill is in the hot seat for Geek Credit and the mailbag doth provide...  Below we have some bonus anecdotes from Merle Rasmussen the OG Admisstrator and founder of the Top Secret game.  We are looking to have both him and Mike back for full-length episodes.

Mr. Rasmussen: "(Mike) and I are long-time friends. Mike was working for TSR before I submitted modern espionage rules. We wrote letters to each other (before the internet) and I sent him a copy of my rules with the working title SPY WORLD (inspired by GAMMA WORLD). Mike sent me the note from Gary Gygax, “Accept this MS [manuscript] as soon as it is typed.” I then hired typists to complete the work. Mike and I independently filed the rules under “TOP SECRET.” When we discovered this coincidence, it was obvious the game should be titled, TOP SECRET®!

I wrote a module to be included in the TOP SECRET® COMPANION. It involved terrorists using Carbonophage Microbes to destroy the carbon-carbon reinforced surfaces of the Space Shuttle. I was paid by TSR, unfortunately, they would hold my product for a year. Space Shuttle Challenger exploded seconds after liftoff killing all crew members on board. This is the problem writing contemporary role-playing games-- reality sometimes catches up.

I also submitted material for TOP SECRET: NEW WORLD ORDER® that ended up on the cutting room floor. Good news! Last night I saw editing on HACKNOIA® GONZO MODERN Role-Playing Game by Jolly Blackburn and Merle M. Rasmussen. SOLARIAN GAMES hopes to publish the conspiracy, supernatural, and espionage rules. They signed a licensing agreement with KENZER & COMPANY years ago. Jolly is a fan of TOP SECRET® and spoofed my serious spy game in his Knights of the Dinner Table® cartoons calling it HACKNOIA®. I suggested we create HACKNOIA® for real. Players create characters like James Bond, but play them like Maxwell Smart. He said he couldn’t write rules. I told him I couldn’t draw comics. We shook on the deal. SOLARIAN GAMES must be nearing completion. They are on their third editor and they politely asked me to stop writing! " -more to come from Mr. Rasmussen in future episodes!

 

 

   

Episode 32 Champions: Dayof the Destroyer and technomancer of Candy Mountain

Edwin, Bill and Lou are back from the North Texas RPG Convention!  We answer questions about whether we would want to be full-time game developers and what our favorite dungeons and traps are.  Then, we get into the feature segment talking about "Day of the Destroyer" - a Champions superhero adventure. 

Stay tune after the closing to hear an interview with Stefan Surrat about his latest Kickstarter bundle, "The Technomancer of Candy Mountain" and "Marvels of the Multiverse" -which both sound like amazing MCC/DCC products!

Here's the link to the KS (ending SOON!): https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brimstonecradle/the-technomancer-of-candy-mountain-mcc-rpg?ref=75sly0