The Vintage RPG Podcast

The Vintage RPG Podcast episodes:

• 06.17.2024

  Void: The Frontier

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we chat with Tyler Vance, the fine artist behind Void: The Frontier. Tyler’s been exploring Void for a while now, having published three rules-agnostic setting zines that pair his enigmatic narratives with...

  
• 06.10.2024

  Holomatixx: A New Wave Order

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we chat with Megan Dawson Jaffe about the new Nerdy City RPG Holomatixx: A New Wave Order. Spinning out of their other Omni System games like the kid adventure Rememorex and the game...

  
• 06.03.2024

  Gamer's Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Remastered)

  Stu was tied up with lots of crap this week, so have a re-run! Original show notes: Make ours Marvel! This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we take a look at TSR’s massive, 8-volume compendium of Marvel comics lore,...

  
• 05.27.2024

  One Year of West Marches

  Stu’s ongoing West Marches-style Old-School Essentials campaign is a year old, so this week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we thought we’d see how things are going (and how many characters have died). And since you can’t really trust the...

  
• 05.20.2024

  Shadowgate

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we look at Shadowgate (1987, 1989), the point-and-click fantasy adventure videogame. Explore a mysterious castle while trying to find a way to stop the Warlock Lord from destroying the world! Tremble in fear...

  
• 05.13.2024

  The Black Rainbow Society

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we chat with Gavriel Quiroga about his new game, Black Rainbow Society. A sequel of sorts to Hell Night, this game doesn’t feature players in the roles of fiends from hell, but rather...

  
• 05.06.2024

  Bryan Ansell, 1955-2023

  At the very end of last year, Bryan Ansell, a man who played a pivotal role in the world of tabletop games, passed away. To understand just how important Ansell was, this week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we chat...

  
• 04.29.2024

  Gameplayers

  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...

  
• 04.22.2024

  Star Trek: The Role Playing Game

  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...

  
• 04.15.2024

  Get in the Van

  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...

  
• 04.08.2024

  Dragon's Lair

  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...

  
• 04.01.2024

  Arkham

  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...

  
• 03.25.2024

  Caverns of Thracia

  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,...

  
• 03.18.2024

  Mystic Punks, Part Two

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re continuing our talk with Anthony Meloro about Mystic Punks! This is Part the Second, so be sure to check out last week’s jam to get the full experience. On tap: the imminent...

  
• 03.11.2024

  Mystic Punks, Part One

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re talking to Anthony Meloro about Mystic Punks! This is Part One, because we got to gabbing so long that we got two episodes worth of chat. Within, we talk about the original...

  
• 03.04.2024

  Jack of Shadows

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re talking about Roger Zelazny’s 1971 novel Jack of Shadows. Gygax included the novel — a high-concept blend of fantasy and science fiction — in Appendix N, but it isn’t one that gets...

  
• 02.26.2024

  Teenage Odyssey

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we talk to Chuck Kranz and Adam Rose about their forthcoming RPG, Teenage Odyssey. Set in a small town in the early '90s, the game casts players as teens navigating humdrum lives that...

  
• 02.19.2024

  The Price of Freedom

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we take a look at the Cold War curiosity The Price of Freedom (1986). Basically Red Dawn (or Red Scare) the RPG, it seems like a serious attempt at creating a game in...

  
• 02.12.2024

  Swyvers

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we talk to Luke Gearing and David Hoskins, the creative team behind the new RPG Swyvers, from Melsonian Arts Council. In a fictionalized, horrible sort of fantasy London full of corruption and wild...

  
• 02.05.2024

  Ninja City: Drug Demon Disco

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we chat with Joey Royale about the new adventure in Ninja City: Drug Demon Disco, for DCC. A new drug is hitting the streets and turning people into demons — can you and...

  
• 01.29.2024

  The Temple of Apshai Trilogy

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re looking back through videogame history at The Temple of Apshai Trilogy (1985), the classic remake of the original 1979 game and its two expansions. Apshai is maybe (depending on the criteria) the...

  
• 01.22.2024

  Teaching Adventure Design

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast we welcome back friend of the show Mark Sable, who is about to start teaching a class called Writing Adventures for Tabletop RPGs. Seems like something y'all might be interested in. We talk...

  
• 01.15.2024

  MIG3: The Meints Index to Glorantha

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, Stu's crowing about one of his Christmas gifts, The Meints Guide to Glorantha, by Chaosium president Rick Meints. The books amounts to the definitive guide to all publications to include material on Glorantha...

  
• 01.08.2024

  How to Write Adventure Modules that Don't Suck

  And we're back! This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, Hambone's got the reins and talking about two books from Goodman Games: the Dungeon Crawl Classics Reference Booklet and How to Write Adventure Modules that Don't Suck. Spoiler: he loves...

  
• 01.01.2024

  Black Angel (Remastered)

  Hello friends! We're running remastered repeats for the holidays. I can't tell you why I thought Black Angel worked for the holidays beyond being similar to that vague, dreamy vibe of The Green Knight (itself a Christmas movie of a...

  
• 12.25.2023

  The Official AD&D Coloring Album (Remastered)

  Hello friends! We're running remastered repeats for the holidays. I thought the Coloring Album would, in some way, speak to warm memories of childhood Christmas gifts. Whether or not that's apt, we hope your holidays are rad! Original notes: This...

  
• 12.18.2023

  Thieves' World (Remastered)

  Hello friends! We weren't planning to go to reruns this soon, but events conspired to prevent the recording of a new episode for this week. We're sorry about that, but also we're sure you'll enjoy revisiting this classic episode. We've...

  
• 12.11.2023

  First Quest: The Music

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we look at (and listen to) First Quest: The Music, a double LP record of electronic music and narration for an officially licensed (and totally ridiculous) Dungeons & Dragons adventure printed on the...

  
• 12.04.2023

  The Marvelous Children of Inang-Uri

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, Momatoes is back to chat with us about her new RPG, The Marvelous Children of Inang-Uri. It’s a worldmaking game that spans generations, has a splash of hidden traitor mechanics for flavor and...

  
• 11.27.2023

  Good Books 2023, Part 2

  A couple weeks back, Stu talked about some books that came out in 2023 that he thought were notable. This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, Hambone’s got his own picks for books that are well worth your time.  On...

  
• 11.20.2023

  Russ Nicholson Interview (Remastered)

  We lost a real legend in Russ Nicholson this year. I can honestly say that Russ and his work sneak into my mind in short order whenever I talk about fantasy art at length, no matter the period. When we...

  
• 11.13.2023

  Good Books 2023

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re looking at some cool books that came out in 2023. Perhaps in a novel twist on frequency bias, Stu noticed a bunch of books hitting shelves that, like steak and red wine,...

  
• 11.06.2023

  Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo

  In January, the Vintage RPG Podcast is going to the Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo (PAGE) to sell some books and play some games, so we thought we’d talk to the expo organizer, Ron Meischker, to see what to expect. Stu’s...

  
• 10.30.2023

  The Abyss of Hallucinations

  In the tradition of Ozzy Osbourne asking the long-dead Aleister Crowley what went on in his head, this week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we ask the very much alive Max Moon what’s going on in his. As it turns...

  
• 10.23.2023

  The Ancestral Trail

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we take a look at The Ancestral Trail (1993), a serialized fantasy fiction released in fortnightly intervals in the UK. Every issue a new environment and a new, monstrous foe. It’s a pretty...

  
• 10.16.2023

  Beyond the Supernatural

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we look at Beyond the Supernatural (1987), Palladium’s horror RPG that anticipates a bunch of mechanics and lore that would be important for Rifts and the Megaversal system. Richard Corben on the cover,...

  
• 10.09.2023

  Halls of Horror

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we talk about dungeon tiles, specifically Halls of Horror (1986), the set of haunted mansion tiles produced by Games Workshop. We also talk briefly about the board game Mystery Mansion and the fact...

  
• 10.02.2023

  Don't Play This Game

  It’s just a game, right? This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, Hambone talks to Charlie Menzies about the found footage solo RPG Don’t Play This Game. I was busy with book stuff so I couldn't be on this show, and...

  
• 09.25.2023

  The Dare

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re getting into the spooky season a little early with The Dare (2020), a scenario for Call of Cthulhu that pits some costumed kids against a haunted house and the thoroughly horrific witch...

  
• 09.18.2023

  Realm of Chaos

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we explore the Realm of Chaos, the two-volume opus from Games Workshop dedicated to all things chaotic. Slaves to Darkness (1988) and The Lost and the Damned (1990) detail the four lords of...

  
• 09.11.2023

  Barkeep on the Borderland

  Pull up a stool and name your poison! This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we chat with W. F. Smith, the mastermind behind Barkeep on the Borderlands! This Ennie Award-winning zine is the product of over thirty collaborators, including 11...

  
• 09.04.2023

  Bloodsport Gambler

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we chat with Dillon Morton, the creator of Bloodsport Gambler, a game betting on horrifically brutal arena combat. And, because of all that debt, you can’t afford to lose those bets, so it...

  
• 08.28.2023

  Arkham Investigator's Wallet

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re opening up the Arkham Investigator’s Wallet, from the prop maestros at the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. It’s a real leather wallet, stuffed with ‘20s-style IDs, paperwork, newspaper clippings, a trolley coin, a...

  
• 08.21.2023

  Swordthrust

  Climb into the Titan’s ear! This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re talking about Swordthrust (1984), a particularly wild scenario from Mayfair’s Role Aids line of D&D; supplements. Despite the generic sounding title, this adventure sees players exploring the...

  
• 08.14.2023

  Tony DiTerlizzi Interview (Remastered)

  Contrary to Mick's claim, time was not on our side this past week, so we had to dig into our archive for another remastered rerun. When we redid the fairly recent Erol Otus interview last time, I made a mental...

  
• 08.07.2023

  Champions

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re talking about Champions, from Hero Games, a major evolutionary step in point-buy RPG systems, one of the best regarded superhero RPGs of all time AND the cornerstone of the broader, semi-universal Hero...

  
• 07.31.2023

  The Monster Overhaul

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we take a look at The Monster Overhaul, by Skerples, a book that looks to reimagine not just the monsters but the book that contains them and the way we use them in...

  
• 07.24.2023

  The Armory’s 30-Sided Dice Gaming Tables

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, Stu finds a book he didn’t know he owned: The Armory’s 30-Sided Dice Gaming Tables. It’s weird and mostly useless, but has some nice (though odd) illustrations (by Greg Barrett, who did the...

  
• 07.17.2023

  The Complete Warlock

  This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we look at The Complete Warlock, one of the earliest hacks of the original D&D; — the rules were compiled from a homebrew California-area game in 1975 and finally saw print in 1978,...

  
• 07.10.2023

  Dungeons & Dragons ReAction Figures

  Toys, toys, toys. This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we look at the new Dungeons & Dragons toys released as part of Super7’s ReAction Figures line. As with other ReAction toys, these are old style figures with five points...