The Good Friends of Jackson Elias

We’re back and we’re learning hideous secrets from Nyarlathotep, Messenger of the Outer Gods, signing his black book and hoping we recognise him next time we meet him. He can be difficult to pick out... The post Mythos Deities: Nyarlathotep appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re discussing all the nifty Cthulhu-related stuff that happened at Gen Con 2018 (and one non-Cthulhu thing). Well, I say “we”, but this largely means Paul, as he’s the only one of... The post Gen Con 2018 appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re tripping over our feet, dropping our only torch and entirely failing to save the day. This is our look at the role of failure in RPGs. Or at least that’s what... The post The Joy of Failure appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

In episode 137 we discussed Nathan Ballingrud‘s short story Wild Acre. A few days ago, Mr Ballingrud generously took some time to record an interview with us. We discuss Wild Acre and its themes of trauma, as well as... The post Special: Nathan Ballingrud Interview appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re checking the undergrowth for sinister shapes, getting ready to run for our lives and preparing to deal with the consequences. This episode is our discussion of Nathan Ballingrud’s short story, Wild Acre.... The post Wild Acre appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re building on last episode‘s discussion of the theme of mental illness in Lovecraft’s work. This time, we turn our attention to the role of insanity in Call of Cthulhu. Obviously, Call of Cthulhu... The post Insanity in Call of Cthulhu appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re tackling a potentially contentious subject. If you spend much time on gaming forums or social media, you may have stumbled across debates about whether mental illness is a fit subject for gaming.... The post Insanity in Lovecraft appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

Would you like a peek behind the new Masks of Nyarlathotep? After last episode‘s spoiler-free discussion of the classic campaign, this time we’re revealing all. Mike Mason and Lynne Hardy from Chaosium join Paul Fricker and Scott... The post Masks of Nyarlathotep (part 2) appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re excavating ancient horrors, dragging them up into the light and revealing them to a trembling world. This is our spoiler-free discussion of the new edition of Masks of Nyarlathotep, with all four of... The post Masks of Nyarlathotep (part 1) appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re dangling shiny things in front of our players, making encouraging noises and trying to direct their attention back to the game. This is our discussion of player engagement, specifically what engages... The post Player Engagement appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re strapping on our headlamps, checking our harnesses and spelunking like our lives depended upon it. This is our look into subterranean spaces in Call of Cthulhu and Lovecraft. From his work,... The post Subterranean Spaces in Call of Cthulhu appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re lost in the woods. There seem to be some familiar landmarks, however. If we look to the left, there’s The Blair Witch Project. Over there on the right is The Wicker... The post The Ritual appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re counting our shells, holding our breath and searching for somewhere to hide until dawn. This is our look at the subgenre of survival horror. While we might normally associate survival horror... The post Survival Horror appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re chasing our tails, trying to lick our nether regions and hissing at anyone who looks at us funny. Meow. This is our look into the role of cats in Call of... The post Cats in Call of Cthulhu and Lovecraft appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re splitting our sides, busting a gut and otherwise rupturing ourselves in the pursuit of comedy. It’s rare to find a gaming table where no one is laughing, even if the subject... The post Comedy in RPGs appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re touching up our greasepaint, frolicking with wild abandon and preparing for our unspeakable transformation. This episode is our look at Thomas Ligotti’s weird tale The Last Feast of Harlequin. While Ligotti may... The post The Last Feast of Harlequin appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, standing atop Sentinel Hill, chill wind whipping under our robes, shrieking until our lungs hurt. Damn, that wind’s cold! This is our discussion of Yog-Sothoth, the All-in-One, the Gate, the Key, the Lurker... The post Mythos Deities: Yog-Sothoth appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re baring all. The most common thing people seem to ask writers is “Where do you get your ideas?” Apparently, “By eating the brains of more talented writers” isn’t as helpful an... The post Inspiration and Development appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re erecting monstrous effigies, playing deadly games and proclaiming that The post The Wicker Man appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re hiding in the hedgerows, weaving twisted little corn dollies and performing unspeakable acts of Morris dancing. This episode is our discussion of the very British subgenre of folk horror. In particular,... The post Folk Horror appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back with another special recording to tide you over during that long, bleak fortnight between regular episodes. This time, we’re coming to you from MK LitFest 2017, the first ever Milton Keynes literary festival. We... The post Special: Milton Keynes LitFest 2017 appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re wondering just what it is we’ve been doing with all these dice. Inspired by our mention of Ron Edwards’ System Does Matter essay in our recent episode on Sorcerer, we give some thought to how... The post System Matters appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re watching in helpless terror as echoes of the dead past haunt us, screaming endlessly. This is our look at the classic 1972 British horror film, The Stone Tape. Fittingly, the BBC originally... The post The Stone Tape appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

Main Topic We’re back and we’re starting a cult. No, worse than that — we’re starting three of them! Last episode, we looked at how real religions and their practices might inform our depiction of... The post The Mythos as Religion (part 2) appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

Main Topic We’re back and we’re making offerings to twisted idols, praying in inhuman tongues and performing rites passed down through strange aeons. This is our look at the role religion plays in the Cthulhu... The post The Mythos as Religion (part 1) appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

Main Topic We’re back and we’re scratching pentagrams into the floor, muttering blasphemous incantations and making ill-advised pacts with demons. This episode is our discussion of Ron Edwards’ influential indie RPG, Sorcerer. Kicking off a... The post Sorcerer appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

Main Topic We’re back and we’re digging into another Lovecraft story, looking for the horrors that lie beneath. The Shunned House is one of the more minor of Lovecraft’s major stories, if that makes any sense.... The post The Shunned House appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

Main Topic: Shub-Niggurath We’re back and we’re dancing around in the woods, bleating with ecstasy, smearing our mutating bodies with Mother’s milk. This episode is our discussion of the Lovecraftian deity, Shub-Niggurath. It is part of... The post Mythos Deities: Shub-Niggurath appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back — well, sort of. For the first time since we moved to a regular fortnightly schedule, some 2 1/2 years ago, we are unable to put out a full episode. I’ve been a... The post Special: Necronomicon 2017 Call of Cthulhu Scenarios appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back with another special episode recorded at Necronomicon 2017. This time it’s the turn of the seminar about Call of Cthulhu campaigns. Once again, Mike Mason chairs the discussion, and Lynne Hardy joins Matt,... The post Special: Necronomicon 2017 Call of Cthulhu Campaigns appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

Main Topic We’re back and we’re intimidating goons, charming cult leaders and fast-talking the slow-witted. This is our look at the use of social conflicts in RPGs. By this, we don’t mean arguments over whose... The post Social Conflicts in RPGs appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back with another special episode we recorded at Necronomicon 2017. This time it’s the Pulp Versus Pure panel that took place on the Friday morning. Paul Fricker and Lynne Hardy defend the purity of... The post Special: Necronomicon 2017 Pulp vs Pure appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we have such sights to show you. Or tell you. Can you really tell a sight? You can tell of it, but does that really convey the same visceral impact? This is... The post Hellraiser appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

Our recent visit to the Necronomicon convention in Providence was a blur of wonders. One of the highlights was finally getting to meet our friends from the Miskatonic University Podcast in the suspiciously waxy flesh. While... The post Special: Necronomicon 2017 with the Miskatonic University Podcast appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re putting ourselves through our paces. Over on our Google+ Community, Tore Nielsen recently asked us to explain a little more about how we handle pacing in games. It’s a topic we... The post Pacing in Horror Games appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

Main Topic We’re back and we’re giving the wheel of misfortune another spin. In our earlier R’lyeh Roulette episodes — 37 and 60 — we rolled for random spells from the spreadsheet that would one... The post R’lyeh Roulette III: Monster Madness appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re still being haunted by those hellish dreams surfacing from lost R’yeh like bubbles of pure madness. This is the second part of our discussion of Lovecraft’s classic weird tale, The Call... The post The Call of Cthulhu (part 2) appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re talking about one of Lovecraft’s best-known stories. The Call of Cthulhu probably boasts more name recognition than any other Lovecraft tale. This is largely due to the ubiquity of old squidhead himself.... The post The Call of Cthulhu (part 1) appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re following up episode 105‘s discussion of the World of Darkness with a more detailed look at one of the core games that make up the current incarnation of the line. Mage: the Awakening is the reinvention of the RPG that started life as Mage: the Ascension. Onyx Path released a second, heavily revised edition last year, and this version is the focus of our episode. The post Mage: the Awakening appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

Paul attended the UK Games Expo in Birmingham recently. While he was there, he took part in a seminar about running horror games, with Mike Mason and Lynne Hardy. Unfortunately, neither Matt nor Scott could make... The post Special: UK Games Expo 2017 appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re putting on silly voices, adopting exaggerated mannerisms and making life as miserable as possible for the player characters. In other words, we’re playing NPCs. This is the follow-up to our discussion... The post Portraying Memorable Non-Player Characters appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re poring over stat blocks, writing up physical descriptions and searching the internet for names. This is the first of two episodes about NPCs. Our focus this time is on how we... The post Creating Memorable Non-Player Characters appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re sharpening our fangs, picking the nits out of our fur and preparing for some paradox. Born in 1991 out of Vampire: the Masquerade, the World of Darkness has grown, changed and... The post The World of Darkness appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re wrapping up our investigation into, um, investigations. This is the second part of our look at investigative games. Once again, we are joined by Mike Mason, line editor for Call of Cthulhu.... The post The Appeal of Investigative Games (part 2) appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re polishing our magnifying glasses, scraping the gum off our shoes and hunting for clues. This is the first of two episodes delving into the appeal of investigative games. A big topic such... The post The Appeal of Investigative Games (part 1) appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re heading out into uncharted space. Where better to talk about horror movies? This time it’s the turn of 1997’s Event Horizon, an ambitious film that blends science fiction, cosmic horror, religious... The post Event Horizon appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re indulging in some therapeutic negativity. Normally, we use the podcast to talk about things we like. This time we’re venting our bile ducts, spewing forth about aspects of gaming, books and... The post The Memory Hole appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’ve made it to 100! There’s no sign of our telegram from the Queen yet, but it will surely be here any minute. We have spent countless hours sitting around in a... The post The Appeal of Lovecraft appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re doing unspeakable things to innocent villagers. It’s all right, though. Master told us to. And who are we to question Master? Generous Master feeds us only the best table scraps, sometimes... The post My Life with Master appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re getting some of that old-time religion. When we say old-time, we mean pre-Christian. Or maybe we mean dating back to 1917. It can be so hard to tell sometimes. Our subject... The post Mythos Deities: Dagon appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.