Telephone, telegraph, tell a friend about the podcast. Also feel free to leave some five-star reviews on your podcast platform of choice! It really helps put the show in front of new listeners. Episode Introduction Tom Hanks is a true treasure. He's probably the best thing about "Mazes and Monsters," a 1982 television movie about a group of friends who take their roleplaying game a little too far. The movie was made in the period right before Hanks really took off, so he was affordable, but afte...
Oct 24, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 41
Telephone, telegraph, tell a friend about the podcast. Also feel free to leave some five-star reviews on your podcast platform of choice! It really helps put the show in front of new listeners. Episode Introduction The battle of the acronyms. We're coming back from a recording break and catching up on the news we missed. One of those items -- the big one -- is the latest lawsuit in the back and forth between Wizards of the Coast and Ernie Gygax's problematic reboot of his father's TSR company. T...
Oct 10, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 40
Telephone, telegraph, tell a friend about the podcast. Also feel free to leave some five-star reviews on your podcast platform of choice! It really helps put the show in front of new listeners. Episode Introduction We're back with the second part of our thrilling and technically challenged interview with G. Edward Patterson. We talked about his system-neutral bestiary, "A Groats-worth of Grotesques," a while back and he found the episode thanks to a writer's block-induced self Googling. He reach...
Sep 26, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 39
Telephone, telegraph, tell a friend about the podcast. Also feel free to leave some five-star reviews on your podcast platform of choice! It really helps put the show in front of new listeners. Episode Introduction G. Edward Patterson's ears were burning. We talked about his system-neutral bestiary, "A Groats-worth of Grotesques," a while back and he found the episode thanks to a writer's block-induced self Googling. He reached out and we decided to chat... for an hour and 45 minutes. This is pa...
Sep 12, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 38
Telephone, telegraph, tell a friend about the podcast. Also feel free to leave some five-star reviews on your podcast platform of choice! It really helps put the show in front of new listeners. Episode Introduction Cancel all your gaming plans for 2023. Wizards of the Coast hits us with two big news nuggets: the official unveiling of One D&D, the next generation of Dungeons and Dragons; and their 2023 release lineup, including a heist book, a bizarre update to Phandelver and the resurfacing of P...
Aug 29, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 37
Telephone, telegraph, tell a friend about the podcast. Also feel free to leave some five-star reviews on your podcast platform of choice! It really helps put the show in front of new listeners. Special Notice to Listeners on Samsung Podcasts: How did you find us? We're getting a TON of traffic from you all of the sudden. Episode Introduction We're back from Queen City Anime Con and are thoroughly exhausted. If you missed us there, then you missed some fun gaming panels, TTRPG improv and live sho...
Aug 15, 2022•51 min•Ep. 36
Please check out our YouTube and give us a subscribe! Update: Check out More Unpopular D&D Opinions here: https://goblinsandgrowlers.podbean.com/e/more-unpopular-dd-opinions-the-goblins-and-growlers-podcast/ Telephone, telegraph, tell a friend about the podcast. Also feel free to leave some five-star reviews on your podcast platform of choice! It really helps put the show in front of new listeners. Episode Introduction What D&D hill are you going to die on, no matter what anyone else say...
Aug 01, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 35
Telephone, telegraph, tell a friend about the podcast. Also feel free to leave some five-star reviews on your podcast platform of choice! It really helps put the show in front of new listeners. Episode Introduction Welcome to this timely episode of GGP. The newest Dungeons and Dragons release, “ Journeys through the Radiant Citadel ,” comes out tomorrow as of this release date. We discuss what we know about the release, and, because all the writers on the project are black or brown, talk about w...
Jul 18, 2022•48 min•Ep. 34
Telephone, telegraph, tell a friend about the podcast. Also feel free to leave some five-star reviews on your podcast platform of choice! It really helps put the show in front of new listeners. Episode Introduction Happy Fourth of July, Goblins. To celebrate, we invited a couple of our friends, Inver and Sydney, to chat about the most patriotic thing we could think of: the red-blooded cryptids unique to this U.S of A. We got Mothman. We got Slenderman. We got Skunk Apes. We got the Flatwoods Mon...
Jul 04, 2022•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 33
A GIANT Unearthed Arcana Release and A Grotesque System-Neutral Bestiary Telephone, telegraph, tell a friend about the podcast. Also feel free to leave some five-star reviews on your podcast platform of choice! It really helps put the show in front of new listeners. Episode Introduction The Unearthed Arcana actually was pretty reasonably sized, but it still felt like a lot because of the subject matter. Josh throws his usual prosecutorial shade at this playtest materials. It's interesting that m...
Jun 20, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 32
Monsters of the Multiverse: Great or Grift? I consider myself somewhat plugged into Wizards of the Coast’s release schedule, but this new Mordenkainen almost snuck past me. I saw “multiverse” in the title and immediately thought they chose the name to cleverly tie into “Spiderman” and "Doctor Strange.” There was an Unearthed Arcana in 2021 called “Travelers of the Multiverse” and it mainly featured player races associated with the “Spelljammer” setting, which we all knew was coming out in 2022. ...
Jun 06, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 31
Second Edition AD&D Spelljammer Episode Introduction Thanks for sticking with us after the delay on last week's episode. That was totally Brandon's fault! We're back on the horse this week to talk about the original Spelljammer from Second Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. Once the Fifth Edition version comes out in a couple of months we'll see how different they really are. We were looking at the "Legend of SPelljammer" box set that came out in 1991. Spelljammer itself came out in 1991. It...
May 30, 2022•54 min•Ep. 30
Hey, Hey, Episode Delay a.k.a. Brandon You Dope How’s everyone doing this fine Monday morning (or whenever you’re listening to this)? So, I’ve got a confession to make. It’s Real Talk Time. I know we promised you an episode on Spelljammer Second Edition to dovetail with last episode’s discussion of the upcoming 5E Spelljammer. HOWEVER I’ve got no new episode for you this week, but it’s totally my fault. What happened was this: We hired a fantastic new editor to help us with production on the pod...
May 23, 2022•4 min•Ep. 29
Spelljammer 5E and Hostile Takeovers Episode Introduction A doubleheader of topics today. We start off with our best understanding/interpretation of the attempted hostile takeover of Hasbro by hedge fund Alta Fox. They're trying to get people on the Hasbro board so they can spin off Wizards of the Coast into an independent company. Maybe there's an argument to be made there, but it's a complicated subject and there's politics on both sides of it. THEN, we get into the real fun stuff and chat abo...
May 09, 2022•55 min•Ep. 28
Conan Unchained! Episode Introduction “The GMs forgot the secret of old modules, and we who found it, are just podcasters… Just podcasters. Not Twitch streamers, not gaming journalists, just podcasters. The secret of old modules has always carried with them a mystery. You must learn their riddle, listeners. You must learn their discipline. For no site, no site in this world you can trust. Not Facebook, not Reddit, not forums. Old modules, you can trust.” - Conan’s father, probably Brandon and Jo...
Apr 25, 2022•41 min•Ep. 27
The Mind Behind 'The End': Part 2 of Our Interview with Joe Donka | The Goblins and Growlers Podcast Episode Introduction Welcome to part 2 of our interview with Joe Donka, creator of "The End," the 1995 Christian Apocalypse role-playing game that was banned from GenCon. This is essentially part 3 of our Joe Donka Trilogy so, if you haven't already, be sure to go back and listen to our January 10 episode where we discuss the game for the first time, then go back and listen to the first part of o...
Apr 11, 2022•53 min•Ep. 26
The Mind Behind 'The End': Part 1 of Our Interview with Joe Donka | The Goblins and Growlers Podcast Episode Introduction We’re joined today by Joe Donka, creator of "The End," a roleplaying game set in the Christian Apocalypse. After spending hours scouring the internet for alternate ways to contact Joe, Brandon and I came up with a game plan for if we didn’t hear from him, then we both got busy with life as we often do. In the meantime, Joe reached back out to Brandon and agreed to an intervie...
Mar 28, 2022•54 min•Ep. 25
Power Rangers TTRPG from Renegade Games Studios Episode Introduction Brandon pretty much goes full nerd in this one. He doesn't get a ton of opportunities to talk about Power Rangers and Super Sentai, though, so give him a break. This week he and Josh review Renegade Games Studios' new "Power Rangers Roleplaying Game" which, if you needed a hint, is based on the classic Power Rangers franchise, specifically the first six seasons from the 1990s. It originally was supposed to use the Dungeons & Dr...
Mar 14, 2022•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 24
Push It Real Good Episode Introduction Josh and Brandon’re here and we’re in effect. It’s been a while since it was just us on the show. They catch up on some personal news, as well as talking about Brandon’s latest TTRPG product selection, and some basic Twitter drama. Relatedly discussing an indie TTRPG system called Alter Arms. The meat of this week’s episode is Cezar Capacle’s Push SRD, a rules-light game design system, which Josh repeatedly calls “beautifully simplistic.” Topics Personal ne...
Feb 28, 2022•52 min•Ep. 23
Review: Critical Role’s “The Legend of Vox Machina” Episodes 10-12 Episode Introduction Here we are 12 episodes later reviewing the final installments of the first season of Critical Role's "The Legend of Vox Machina." Brandon knew nothing about Critical Role going into to this, so odes he want to keep watching or has he soured on it? Has the series rejuvenated Gabe's interest in Critical Role after becoming something of a lapsed fan? Also: it's a spoiler review. A couple of notes: - The final e...
Feb 22, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 22
Review: Critical Role’s “The Legend of Vox Machina” Episodes 7-9 Episode Introduction Happy Valentine's Day. Brandon + Gabe = Review of episodes 7-9 of "The Legend of Vox Machina" from Critical Role and Prime Video. We're in the stride. Everything feels cohesive (except for Pike's story) and our episode notes are suffering from us being engrossed in the plot. By the end of this batch we're rounding third and are on the cusp of the final action in the season. It's pretty great so far and Brandon,...
Feb 14, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 21
Review: Critical Role’s “The Legend of Vox Machina” Episodes 4-6 Episode Introduction Brandon and Gabe are back with a review of episodes 4-6 of "The Legend of Vox Machina" from Critical Role and Prime Video. This batch of episodes feels so much more cohesive than episodes 1, 2 and 3. The story gets rolling kept us engaged through all three 24-minute installments. After the somewhat bumpy episodes 1 and 2, it feels like the show has hit its stride. We're invested now and would be binging them fo...
Feb 08, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 19
Amnesia Campaigns: Who Am I? Why Am I Here! Episode Introduction Noah Downs (he's a lawyer, but he's a cool lawyer) returns this week to talk with us about amnesia campaigns. How fun is it when your players have no idea who they are or what they're doing. If you're not as old as me, you can Google "Admiral Stockdale debate" to see the first thing I thought of when we discussed talking about this topic. Noah's reasons for discussing this aren't entirely altruistic, however. He has a new amnesia c...
Feb 07, 2022•59 min•Ep. 20
Review: Critical Role’s “The Legend of Vox Machina” Episodes 1-3 Episode Introduction Josh was busy this weekend, so Brandon and Gabe hijacked the podcast to do a review of the new “Critical Role” animated series, “The Legend of Vox Machina.” Gabe is a casual fan of “Critical Role” who fell out of regular listening because of the episode length. Brandon actually has never seen or listened to an episode of “Critical Role,” so he’s going into this series knowing nothing but with an open heart and ...
Jan 31, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 18
How to Legally Publish Your TTRPG Content Episode Introduction We’re joined by guest Noah Downs (he’s a lawyer, but he’s a cool lawyer) to talk about OGLs and SRDs, the alphabet soups of publishing tabletop role-playing game content. Noah tells us about how Wizards of the Coast’s Open Gaming License works and how you can use the Fifth Edition System Reference Document to legally create content you can publish and monetize. We also discuss fan-content policies for podcasts and copyright and trade...
Jan 24, 2022•47 min•Ep. 17
”The End,” a tabletop RPG about the Christian Apocalypse Episode Introduction Josh and Brandon discuss 1995’s “The End” from Scapegoat Games. It’s a role-playing game based on the Christian Apocalypse and was kicked out of GenCon for its use of religious imagery. It’s bleak, interesting, and maybe came before its time. They also start down a rabbit hole of investigation and mystery as they try to get in touch with its creator to talk about how it came to be. Hopefully there will be a Part 2 to t...
Jan 10, 2022•43 min•Ep. 16
James Bond 007: Role Playing In Her Majesty’s Secret Service Join Josh and Brandon as they enter a world of espionage, intrigue, and dice-rolling, with Victory Games’ TTRPG “Role Playing in Her Majesty’s Secret Service”. A brief news item about Wizards of the Coast rebooting and retconning in their latest Errata to eliminate more insensitive portrayals and stereotyping from Dungeons and Dragons. Not surprising and another step in their reaction to 2020. It’s a good move. (01:19) A second item ab...
Dec 27, 2021•56 min•Ep. 15
Low Magic? No Magic? No Problem! We Finance! What kind of settings do you enjoy more? Heavy magic, low magic, or a more realistic milieu with near-zero casting? This episode we discuss merits and preferences on the level of magic in a gaming setting. Just a freewheeling discussion about magic levels. Tweet at us or email at [email protected] to tell us what you think! We also quickly touch base on a new release for "Boy Problems," the Carly Rae Jepsen TTRPG. Go to boyproblems.itch.i...
Dec 13, 2021•40 min•Ep. 14
Interview with game designer Cezar Capacle So, we all know you don't necessarily need dice for a fun tabletop experience, but can you get away without waking consciousness? In today's episode, Brandon interviews Cezar Capacle, a game designer from Brazil who's trying to push the limits of what a TTRPG can be. Cezar talked to us while he was in the middle of making a huge trans-Atlantic change in his life, so we really appreciate him taking the time to talk. You can show your appreciation, too, b...
Nov 29, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Restoration Games' Return to Dark Tower "Dark Tower" is an early electronic board game from way back in the early 1980s. It was pretty revolutionary (and legitimately fun) for the late 70s/early 80s, but you definitely could put it in the category of "reach exceeded grasp." Imagine if someone used the Antikythera Mechanism to play Fortnite. It was expensive, easy to break, and Milton Bradley stole the idea from the original creators. Now it's still expensive, mostly broken, and incredibly diffic...
Nov 15, 2021•32 min•Ep. 12
