Roleplaying games from historical research
A little poem for Hallowe’en. By ROBERT S. CARR I’m the one who gets you all, Ho! I swing my shovel! Lean ones, fat ones, short or tall, Ho! I swing my shovel! Rich and poor I lay you deep Where the grave-worms writhe and creep In the cold earth’s oozy seep, Ho! I swing…
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Another little story from Fantasy Fan magazine read by Ben Tucker through Librivox.. Thanks to Ben and his team. Statistics to use Aphlar as an NPC: Magic Might: 30 (Aquam) Characteristics: Int +3, Per +4, Pre –2, Com –2, Str -16, Sta +3*, Dex –1, Qik +7** * Note that he is Tireless, which is…
Read MoreThe process of catching up on the podcast transcripts continues apace! First quarter of 2024. Second quarter of 2024.
Read MoreTime to catch up! These are the transcripts for July – December 2023.
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John Buchan was a Scottish novelist and poet who died in 1940. He was Governor-General of Canada for a while, which was no so odd as you’d imagine back in the days of Empire. This is Buchan attempting to be a 9th Century peasant. A grog or companion in Ars Magica could repeat this. ***…
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A brief episode this week, because I was busy writing the index of creatures with Might in the 5th edition. It’s useful for authors working under the Open License, but terrible copy for a podcast. In the Venetian book there’s always been a column sized gap at the end of the magical humans chapter. I…
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Richard Morse was one of the circle of people H.P. Lovecraft traded letters with. This was recoded by Ben Tucker. Thanks to him and his production team. I’m attracted to this because it has a certain Venetian feel, particularly because I’ve recently been writing about theriac, their plague medicine. *** The city lay stricken, in…
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The first book I wrote for Ars Magica was Sanctuary of Ice which was based heavily on Karl Felix Wolff’s The Pale Mountains. As a matter of personal joy, that book entered the public domain in 2024 and KirksVoice at Librivox recorded a small excerpt. Thanks to the reader and production team. *** To the…
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Do you ever read a piece of media and say “I want to use that in a game, but don’t know how?” That was how I’ve felt about “The Riddle” by Walter de la Mare. I’ve used his material on this podcast before, but this eerie little story, written for small children, deliberately doesn’t tell…
Read MoreThis week an odd little familiar that turned up while I was looking at some Venetian material. I’ve been reading “Venice is a fish” and there’s a section in it which, to me, seems to be a perfect origin story for a. familiar Here’s the quote: “Apart from the inevitable mess left by man’s best…
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Games From Folktales 