The Vintage RPG Podcast Vintage RPG

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). What we get, though, is a coming of age story in which a D&D-like game plays a prominent role in helping the grade-school protagonist deal with the increasing complexities of real life. And not in a corny After School Special way, believe it or not! The kids talk like kids, the game feels like a plausible game and the forays into fantasy are peppered with clever monsters and interesting encounters.
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Stu’s book, Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground is for sale now! Buy it!
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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!
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Stu’s book, Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground is for sale now! Buy it!
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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 Dead Mall, our favorite Tunnel Goons hack about exploring monster-filled abandoned malls, so we talked about that some too!
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Stu’s book, Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground is for sale now! Buy it!
Patreon? Discord? Cool RPG things to buy? All the Vintage RPG links you need are right here in one place!
Like, Rate, Subscribe and Review the Vintage RPG Podcast!

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 hidden behind an endless series of near-impossible reflex tests. An exercise in beautiful frustration that nevertheless contributed much to the visual language of fantasy in the ‘80s and beyond!
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Stu’s book, Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground is for sale now! Buy it!
Patreon? Discord? Cool RPG things to buy? All the Vintage RPG links you need are right here in one place!
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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 is a ground-up renovation of Keith Herber’s original text by Mike Mason and it is everything you’d want from such a project. The old stuff feels new, the new stuff blends in, the whole package feels fresh and exciting. A new street map! A genuine newspaper! A social reputation system! Ghouls! What more could you want? A better lead-in joke? Hambone doesn’t have a monopoly on bad jokes, sorry.
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Stu's pretty sure that at one point in the show, he says The Lurker at the Threshold when he meant "The Thing on the Doorstep." His confusion is understandable.
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Stu’s book, Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground is for sale now! Buy it!
Patreon? Discord? Cool RPG things to buy? All the Vintage RPG links you need are right here in one place!
Like, Rate, Subscribe and Review the Vintage RPG Podcast!

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 Fact: while folks, particularly in the OSR, think Caverns is top, Jennell considered neither that nor Dark Tower as the best examples of her work — and there are plenty of other gems in that bibliography.
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Stu’s book, Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground is for sale now! Buy it!
Patreon? Discord? Cool RPG things to buy? All the Vintage RPG links you need are right here in one place!
Like, Rate, Subscribe and Review the Vintage RPG Podcast!