The GROGNARD Files

In this GROGPOD, Judge Blythy talks about his initiation into the cult of DCC. We look at what makes it work.

Goodman Games, the publisher of DCC, is hosting DCC Day on 19th July 2025.

We are joined by Brendan LaSalle who talks about DCC and his futuristic variant, XCrawl Classics where you can have a spectator sport in the dungeon.

Next time we will look at some more settings.

You can support the GROGNARD ...

In this episode, we continue our examination of magic in Role-Playing Games with a look at Ars Magica with Science Fiction author Adrian Tchaikovsky. He talks to us about the setting, the rules and the way that magic works in the game.

We haven’t had chance to play it yet, so Dirk and Blythy meet in the Lass O Gowrie pub in Manchester and discuss the difficulties of ‘fitting it all in’.

We have been to UK Games Exp...

Returning guest Stephen Brotherstone, co-author of the Scarred for Life series of books and shows, joins us in the zoom of Role Playing Rambling to examine the witchcraft and horrors that haunted our childhood years.

You can see Ste as his show is on the road during 2025 and the latest volume of the series is now available. Highly recommended as it is packed with gaming nostalgia content.

Also in this episode, Dirk and ...

Magic in RPGs is a continuing obsession for Dirk the Dice and Blythy in this latest episode of the podcast.

We talk about Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D) and Powers and Perils (Pee & Pee) and marvel at how we played in the early 2000s, when we didn’t know any better and were more willing to freeform and ‘make stuff up’.

Also in this episode, we are pleased that GROGSQUADer
China Miéville provided h...

It’s a kind of magic, in RPGs. This time we are joined by Stu Horvath, podcaster (Vintage RPG Podcast) and writer, who talks about his book Monsters, Aliens and Holes in the Ground, which takes us decade by decade through the history of RPGs.

He also contributes to our discussion about magic in RPGs. What would we like to play, stay on our shelves or give away?

Virtual GROGMEET is available to register on Warhorn.

S...

This time we are talking about GROGMEET our annual Role Playing Games meet up in Manchester.

We were joined by game designer, publisher and entrepreneur Paul Baldowski who talks about Dangerous Journeys, PBMs and his game Sanction.

Blythy shares his experiences and how we played Gatsby and The Great Race by Paul Fricker.

If you want to find out more about Dice on the Borderlands you can find it at Warhorn.

P...

This GROGPOD features a special recording of an interview with writer Ben Aaronovitch, the creator of The Rivers of London series of books. An RPG has been developed by the team at Chaosium. Ben talks about the project, his formative years in gaming and gives insight into his creative process.

The interview was recorded live as part of GROGMEETish which took place in November. It features additional questions from the GROGS...

Following Part 1, we are now ready to open the spurious envelopes on our 1984 experiences.

We also issue a challenge to listeners to help us discover new enthusiasms.

At Daily Dwarf returns with an overview of what was happening in the pages of White Dwarf.

Please pass on The GROGNARD files to your RPG friends and consider supporting us at Patreon.

The post 1984: A Year in RPGs Ep75 Pt2 first appeared on The G...

Welcome to the zoom of role-playing rambling where we are looking backwards to look forwards. This time we are transporting you back to the heady days of 1984.

We are joined by the fabulous Bob Fischer who shares the highlights from his 1984 diaries.

Judge Blythy, our resident rules lawyer, joins Dirk to determine the RPG Highlights of 1984, but get distracted (see part 2)

Make sure you check out the wonderful ...

En garde! Yes, this time we are investigating the worlds of 17th Century Europe and asking, “is this the true mode of all fantasy role-playing high-adventure?”

We are joined by Graham Kinniburgh, who tells us about his Oscar night triumph with An Irish Goodbye and what it was like being at The Battle of the Bastards.

He is adding The Three Musketeers to Appendix G.

In the Zoom of Role-Playing rambling we talk ab...

Welcome to the third and final part of our Monsters in Role Playing Games (RPGs) episode. This time we are joined in the Room of Role Playing rambling by Tomas Harenstam from Free League. He talks about his formative years in Swedish role playing and how to create a great Bestiary.

Dirk and Blythy answer listener Monster questions before having a chat about When we were Wizards.

Support the Patreon for access to exc...

We continue to explore the worlds of monsters in role-playing games (RPGs). In this episode, we are joined by James Holloway, from the Monster Man podcast. He adds a new entry into the ever expanding Appendix G.

Judge Blythy and Dirk talk about the famous monsters of Hollywood and beyond and consider what we can learn from them.

The end music is Concrete by Omari, from Phunk Media

Please support us on...

This time we are looking at bestiaries from our book shelves. We talk about:

Numenera,

Forbidden Lands,

Call of Cthulhu,

Dragon Warriors,

13th Age,

Vaesen,

This was at the request of GROGSQUADer China Miéville who Dirk talked to at an RPG Symposium earlier this year.

Next time, James Holloway, Monster Man joins us, because monsters are great.

Support the podcast on Patreon.

The post Mo...

Image by Lee Williams

Following our podcasts about home computing in the 1980s, we turn our attention to the emerging culture of ‘Cyberpunk’ and how it shaped a new imaginative space – especially for gaming.

We look at Neuromancer by William Gibson, with writer Alister Davison who has added the novel to Appendix G, the list of media that has inspired us. Do you have any suggesions?

Judge Blyhty is in to Roome of Rol...

We’ve talked about our formative years in RPGs, what about computers? They were as important as a common-ground to become friends.

In this episode Dirk and Blythy talk about their exposure to computers in the 80s.

Also, we discuss Rippers for Savage Worlds and the crisis of confidence when creating a setting.

Please consider supporting us on Patreon.

The post 80s Computers and RPGs Ep71 Pt2 first appeared on The...

At this year’s virtual GROGMEET we were joined by Dan Whitehead, the author of Speccy Nation, who took us on a tour of The ZX Spectrum. The 8-bit computer was a staple of our every day lives in the 1980s.

There’s an advert for Third Floor Wars which recently featured Burn After Running’s Guy Milner.

The next season of the Book Club features classic science fiction.

Please support us on Patreon.

The post ZX Spec...

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 didn’t fit into the first part.

There’s also a Post Bag section, where we talk about to the favourite covers of White Dwarf identified by our listeners.

Please support us on Patreon

The post ThunderPhase! TTRPG ...

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 of our favourites.

If you’d like to play along and let us know your favourite White Dwarf cover, then head to Daily Dwarf’s site where he has helpfully put together a catalogue of the covers.

Dirk and Judge Blythy join ...