The Vintage RPG Podcast

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Alien Sep 20, 2021

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Space is a place that wants to kill us, be it with the vacuum, the cold, the hostile exo-environments, the hubris of humanity or a good old fashioned xenomorph. That's right, this week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we take a look at the Alien RPG. The latest permutation of Free League's Year Zero Engine is refined to be even deadlier. It boasts frameworks for both traditional campaign play and more directed cinematic play. There's a pretty excellent stress and panic system. It all comes together as a pretty excellent survival horror/sci-fi RPG!

Black Magic Sep 13, 2021

Show notes

"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble!" This week, we're doing a bit of black magic and calling up demons. Specifically the demons in the Ars Goetia, the 72 kings, dukes, presidents and barons of Hell. We run down the history of this notorious book of demonology, its unlikely origins and its connections to pop culture and roleplaying games.

Horror on the Orient Express Post-Mortem Sep 06, 2021

Show notes

Choo-choo! Stu recently wrapped up running the Call of Cthulhu campaign Horror on the Orient Express after about a year and a quarter of weekly sessions. A momentous occasion! This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we thought it would be cool to chat about it. Who survived? What was left of them? Just how on rails was it? Were the flashback scenarios as good as advertised? We discuss, and manage to do it relatively spoiler free.

We also check in with Tony Vasinda from Plus One Exp about Down We Go, a new game currently crowdfunding on Gamefound.

Thousand Year Old Vampire Aug 30, 2021

Show notes

They say forever is a long, long time and, if Thousand Year Old Vampire is an indication, forever sure does suck. Is that a pun? That might be a pun. Sorry. Anyway, this week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we take a look at Tim Hutchings' solo journaling game about memory, tragedy and confronting things you'd rather ignore. It is maybe the most intense solo games ever published.

Also, Drew Cochran gives us the Indie Elevator Pitch for his forthcoming RPG, Epic of Dreams!

Erol Otus Interview Aug 23, 2021

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This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we talk to legendary RPG artist Erol Otus! What more can I say?

Cities Aug 16, 2021

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"I will find a city, find myself a city to live in." That's the chorus of the Talking Heads song "Cities," and it kind of speaks to how RPG designers approached city design in the early days of the hobby. This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we're talking about Midkemia Press and their signature approach to cities, called, appropriately, Cities! They were interested in finding ways to create the bustle of city streets and do so largely through piles of random tables — the method was so compelling that Chaosium hired Midkemia to put together a similar system to form up the heart of the Thieves' World box set!

Shadows of Yog-Sothoth Aug 09, 2021

Show notes

Echoing the success of Chaosium's recent Call of Cthulhu Classic collection Kickstarter, this week on the Vintage RPG Podcast we take a look at the first Call of Cthulhu campaign: Shadows of Yog-Sothoth. Which has very little to do with good ol' Yoggy and much more to do with waking up Cthulhu well before the alarm. As the first, it's now really what you'd expect from a CoC campaign, but it still has charm to spare. Let's plumb the depths of madness, yea?

Deities & Demigods Aug 02, 2021

Show notes

What happened to Cthulhu? Was it a curse? Did TSR finally go to far? Did Chaosium steal the fire of the gods? Was it banned? Was it burned? On this week's Vintage RPG Podcast, we reveal the shocking true story behind Deities & Demigods and the removal of the Cthulhu and Melnibonean mythologies. Actually, we don't, because it was never a big secret and most of the details have been floating around the internet for decades, but there are lots of misconceptions about this book and its history and it seemed like we should do our part in helping to clear them up. The truth isn't scandalous at all but, ultimately, it's probably more interesting!

All the Worlds' Monsters Jul 26, 2021

Show notes

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we look at the first book of monsters for D&D. The Monster Manual? Oh, no, not that — the first D&D monster book was All the Worlds' Monsters (1977), from Chaosium! We talk about how salty that made TSR. More interesting, All the Worlds' Monsters is sort of the first step in a long legacy of collaboration in the RPG industry on Chaosium's part, so we talk about that a bit too. Also on tap: Alarums & Excursions and the Perrin Conventions.

Delta Green (2016) Jul 19, 2021

Show notes

A few weeks back, we talked about the Pagan Publishing Delta Green sourcebooks for Call of Cthulhu. This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we're chatting about the standalone Delta Green RPG from Arc Dream (2016). Based on Call of Cthulhu sixth edition, the game makes some key modification to the sanity system. It also finds ways to reinvent the mythos while keeping the focus of the horror human — in a lot of ways, Delta Green is about alienation and trauma. Mulder and Scully this is not.

Clarification: In the episode, Stu mentions that Delta Green is based on Call of Cthulhu 6th Edition. That's not accurate! While the underlying mechanics are inspired by that game, Delta Green's system stands alone and features several unique additions, including Bonds (mentioned in the episode) and Lethality. Arc Dream and Delta Green are completely independent from Chaosium and Call of Cthulhu.

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