Deep in the dungeon, the party faces down the Iron Golem—after close calls too many to count—in their quest for the Tiara that The Enchantress keeps locked away. Then, we talk about funny monster interactions, and how to make poison feel fair despite the fact that it's awful—and unexpected rolls against a pretty key part of old-school style games. How can we make the rules work for us? Subscribe at sstabhmontown.substack.com

Sstabhmontown Adventures

9: The Iron Golem

This week we get a whole gang together: Ferrius Yew, Lil' Sebastian, Benedict, Margaret, and Toc the Dwarf, to tell us about an incredible fight deep within the dungeon with a horrible monster of eyes. One of the most famous monsters of 80s-style AD&D, The Beholder. Subscribe at sstabhmontown.substack.com

8: The Beholder

This week I had the opportunity to run a game for a whole group of new players in one of their homes. I thought I would share some of what I do to make games with new groups happen. Subscribe at sstabhmontown.substack.com

Running games for strangers

This week Ferrius Yew and 'Lil Sebastian narrate the adventure, including an encounter with the terrifying Banshee, and talk about the Monstrous and gender. Then, 'Lil Sebastian outlines a cockamamie plan to take on the Iron Golem this week. Subscribe at sstabhmontown.substack.com

7: Ferrius Yew and 'Lil Sebastian the Whomping Willow

This week began with a rumour: that an NPC party following ours into the dungeon had been savagely attacked. We met their attackers within the dungeon—this week Benedictish Frankwich and Ser Cleve tell their stories. Then, we talk about Bendict's Curse, and about how to measure the quality of dungeons. Subscribe at sstabhmontown.substack.com

6: Benedictish, Ser Cleve, and the NPC Party

This week Archibald Arborlax, bird watcher extraordinare, rejoined the party after many months away. In the dungeon, Archibald declared the monster living in a heap of trash to be an “Otyugh”, shortly before being swallowed by the thing. We talk about death, difficulty, and access to the drop-in game, as well as writing rules, especially those ones about dying—and waking the dead. Subscribe at sstabhmontown.substack.com

5: Archibald and the Otyugh

We haven't had a chance to record stories lately, but here's a little treat about everyone's favourite monster, which we've been busy fighting within the dungeon. Subscribe at sstabhmontown.substack.com

The Basilisk (mini-episode)

This week—two adventures in one podcast! The first week, Legar makes it to level four after a successful exploration of a lower level of the dungeon, in which only one person died, even after Ser Cleve met the party's most feared foe. The week after, the party goes deeper. Then, we roll up a new character with some player-invented customizations and extra charts. Subscribe at sstabhmontown.substack.com

Legar the Fighter, The Basilisk, and the Ogre Mage

This week, Bill Bucket tells us about exploring a dungeon level, connecting known and unknown parts of a map, and a few battles with strange foes. Then, we talk about the AD&D spell Identify, the limited list we use from Swords and Wizardry White Box, and about learning spells from different editions of the game. Subscribe at sstabhmontown.substack.com

William of Bucket and the Dwarf Friday

This week, in the dungeon of the Enchantress' Museum, Toc the Dwarf did battle against a strange creature from the history of Dungeons & Dragons—supplement I, Greyhawk, to be specific. Our Actual Play story is told by Toc and Rolph, with further conversation about magic items, history, and D&D intertextuality. Subscribe at sstabhmontown.substack.com

Toc the Dwarf and the Insect-adillo

Our first Episode! This week, we hear about how the party came to Lonhall, and why we're delving a dungeon in search of a precious tiara—and then about the disasters that followed when the Gnome Doc Pate attempted to trick three score goblin librarians. Benedictish Frankwich is a powerful fighter who has been in action for almost a year-and-a-half. Then, after story time, we talk about Quests and Geases, and sandbox play, and what might happen this week. Subscribe at sstabhmontown.substack.com

Benedictish Frankwich and the Quest for the Tiara

We play old-school D&D, and we try to do it without being awful. Stories from the players of our open-table, drop-in game, plus discussion of roleplaying game and narrative theory, rules experiments, and more.