On this month’s episode of This Ol’ Dungeon, we are digesting Boot Hill’s BH3, “Ballots and Bullets.” This adventure sets the PCs in the middle of the mining town, Promise City, where elections for Marshal, Mayor, and Town Council are about to take place. The PCs have 10 weeks to help their supported faction win these elections amid both fair and unfair practices and a lot of potential gun-play. The module itself is like many a political candidate, promising much…but does it deliver? We have a lot of fun talking about this one, and were given some great listener questions about making fantasy campaign games work as well as which board games we love to play.  At the end, we give out the information for being a part of our quiz-portion (Geek Credit) that we are trying to start back up. Basically, if you have a good multiple choice, geek-oriented question, you can send it to [email protected]. if we use it on the show, you will get a shot at winning fantastic RPG prizes!  Thanks for listening folks, and we will catch you in September with a bit of Mechwarrior!

Friend of the show Eddie Bartlett stops by on this one shot episode to talk about his and John Watson’s up-coming DCC release, “Dungeon Dwelling Creatures” (DDC). This DCC-compatible rulebook puts players in the role of the monsters—and not that sort of cutesy “Oh I’m a cat-person,” or, “Look at me, my father was a dragon…” stuff. No, these monsters are grotesque, wicked little things like Orcs, Wendigos, Debiks, Hags and many more. Eddie talks a lot about the functional design of a game like this and gives us some insight into how some of the classes work, what “Vile” is and how it compares to Luck, and what we can expect in this new DCC-powered game system. This project is going to be live on Backerkit throughout August (launching August 1st). You can follow it here:  https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/3a256628-d20c-4ff6-b74b-a36b89f27015/landing?fbclid=IwY2xjawLyI7FleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHiQRGWJ-JnCNIdQiKW3AflCX8j6z85S07U7HV5QMwDl2-xBUwBqzOa1yB5aM_aem_x7LG46rBERYG-2bQypBeaw

It also has a quickstart guide that has been out for a bit, available at DriveThruRPG here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/502566/dungeon-dwelling-creatures-quick-start-rules The quickstart is a great sample of some of these amazing classes, a few spells, and a great adventure to show you just one of the many ways playing the monsters is a unique source of fun!

You won't believe it, dungeonneers!  We have the one and only Allen Hammack -yes, THAT Allen Hammack- on to talk about his seminal creation, "The Ghost Tower of Inverness." We learn about Allen's introduction to gaming, his experiences playing in and writing tournament games. We get a bit of a peek into the early days of TSR and his job there. And of course there's the listener mail segment—where we talk about "monster of the week" type adventures—and  the "This Ol' Dungeon" segment—where we learn the reasons behind some of the designs of the Ghost Tower and talk about a few of the things we might change up. Please give the episode a listen. If you have feedback, stories about your experiences with the Ghost Tower or tournament play, or questions you would like to hear our input on, write to: [email protected].

We are also excited to (soon) be getting back to the Geek Credit quiz show at the end of the episodes and have created [email protected] where you can send your RPG and geek-related quiz questions and answers. Those questions will be selected to be used by one of us to test the others. All contributors to that segment's questions will be put in a drawing for fabulous RPG prizes!  Thanks for your support, everybody!

In this episode we handle some great listener mail discussing important, non-game con items, whether pulp has transformed from a genre to play style in RPGs, and face the aftermath of doing the TSR Indiana Jones game. For our main offering we have the divisive classic, "Against the Cult of the Reptile God." And like the naga that lies at the conclusion of the adventure our thoughts and writhe between praise and reproach of the adventure's parts - you'll never gues who Bill winds up siding with (actually, you will because there are only two other hosts...).  Here's the addition Bill's company made to try and fix some of the issues with this adventure: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/263910/n0-5-twisting-trail-of-the-reptile-cult

Quick apology to those that already downloaded this episode once. There was apparently some corrupt parts of the original file. This version has the entire show on it. Thanks for your patience! 

The planets must be ready to align, because in a moment of shocking This Ol' Dungeon history, all three hosts get fired up about this episode's focus, 'Nepal Nightmare." This adventure for the infamous Indiana Jones RPG by TSR has a lot to work from. As mentioned in the episode, the unpublished paper models for Star Frontiers by the late Dennis Kauth can be found through this link: https://www.papermodelers.com/forum/alternate-dimensions/44572-rpg-vehicles-dennis-kauth.html. Please keep the letters coming. We plan to return again mid-June. Happy gaming!

It's been a minute, but we are back at our trek through the classic Call of Cthulhu campaign, "Masks of Nyarlathotep." This time Bill is sick, so its up to Edwin and Lou to come through. we've got some great write-ins about using other adventure parties as random encounters, a question about XP systems and what they contribute to the feel of a campaign, and then a run through of the London portion of the Masks.

Lou gets to sit down once again with creator Matt De Micco who's newest creation is a fantasy setting explored through 4 interlinked non-linear adventures entitled "The Cult of the Winged Skull." You will get to hear all about the Wythmail setting and these adventures as Matt discuss this fantastic undertaking. We're talking rivaling groups of knights, clandestine sects of wizards, new monsters and PIRATES! Towards the end of the episode we also get a sneak peak at his upcoming Weird Frontiers work, and bit about his pulp-baseball RPG. If you want in on this awesome tome of fantasy adventure, check out his Kickstarter! Time is running out! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cclydesdalemassacre/the-cult-of-the-winged-skull?ref=discovery&term=winged%20skull&total_hits=11&category_id=34

In this episode we discuss different uses and purposes of random encounter charts (thanks to the suggestion of listener John Williams) and do our best to make a go of "Time Trap!" an early adventure for the TSR Marvel Super Heroes games. If you have suggestions, questions, or gaming stories you would like to share, write us at [email protected] or catch us on Facebook!

Well, curtain pulled back, February was a busy month and almost got away from us! So here we go with a fun mini-adventure that was packaged between AC2 Combat Shield..."The Treasure of the Hideous Ones." Like the adventure, this episode is low-key but full of some fun moments!

We're all very honored to have made it to 50 regular episodes! Suggested by listeners, we tried to hype-up this golden anniversary by having former hosts Briggy and Thomas back on to join the current crew in discussions that range from whether module challenge ratings give accurate information, to hosting our own "dream episode" of TOD, to giving the This Ol' Dungeon treatment to Merle Rasmussen's "Lathan's Gold." Mid-episode you also get a one-on-one interview with the man, himself, Merle Rasmussen. It's a bit of a long one, folks, but you don't hit 50 too often! We had a lot of fun on this one and we hope you will too.