The Good Friends of Jackson Elias

We’re back and we’re heading into uncomfortable territory. This is our discussion about extreme subject matter in games. As you might surmise, the conversation gets a little unpleasant at times. It is hard to talk about... The post Extreme Subjects in Gaming appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re trying to make even less sense than usual. This is for your protection. Pontypool has taught us the hidden dangers that lie in meaning, so we’re going to follow the advice of... The post Pontypool appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re setting our long-range scanners to search the cosmos for the insidious influence of the Mythos. One of the things that set Lovecraft’s work apart from the Gothic tales that had previously... The post The Mythos as Science Fiction appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re digging through the crypt to bring you another toothsome Lovecraft tale, dripping with succulent grave mould. This time it’s the turn of The Outsider, probably the most popular story from Lovecraft’s early,... The post The Outsider appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re facing the inevitable. All good things must come to an end, and this includes our look at beginnings, middles and ends in roleplaying games. Our previous two episodes examined how to... The post Ends appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re continuing our analysis of the structure of roleplaying games. RPG scenarios are similar in form to stories, even if they become more chaotic in play! While they don’t necessarily follow a... The post Middles appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re ready to start at the beginning. No, this doesn’t mean that we’re recycling episode 1. Instead, we are trying something a bit new. This episode is the first of three linked... The post Beginnings appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re following up last episode’s discussion of Clark Ashton Smith with a look at one of his stories. The Seven Geases is part of Smith’s Hyperborean cycle, the series of his that most... The post The Seven Geases appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re delving into the life and work of Clark Ashton Smith. Along with Robert E Howard, Smith was a core member of H P Lovecraft’s literary circle. While his work was massively... The post Clark Ashton Smith appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re digging through those thick books and bulging boxed sets that dominate our gaming shelves. Published campaigns have been a huge part of roleplaying games since their infancy. This is especially true... The post Running Published Campaigns appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re talking about a horror film for the first time in far too long. The Witch: A New England Folktale is one of the most unusual and ambitious horror films of recent years. It... The post The VVitch appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re mostly live! No, we haven’t fallen into the clutches of Herbert West. The bulk of this episode is a live recording of a seminar we gave at the Continuum 2016 convention... The post What Makes a Good Convention Game? appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re resorting to violence again. Combat is a large part of roleplaying games, arguably disproportionately so.  Even in Call of Cthulhu, a game where academics, librarians and antiquarians carefully search crumbling ruins and pore... The post Making Combat More Interesting appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re ransacking lost temples, mouldering tombs and forbidden ruins to bring you things man was not meant to know. Our searches have uncovered a number choice Mythos artefacts to share with you. Specifically, that number... The post Mythos Artefacts appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re looking at the dice clutched in our hands, asking “why?” Seriously, sitting around a table with people you like while everyone pretends to be someone else sounds pretty weird. And yet, for many,... The post The Appeal of Roleplaying Games appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re tearing into the ripe meat of another Lovecraft story. This time we discuss the charnel pleasures and toothsome delights of Pickman’s Model. While there is nothing of the cosmic about this tale,... The post Pickman’s Model appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and after a few episodes about Call of Cthulhu, we’re talking about Dead of Night, a horror RPG that is largely tentacle-free. That’s not to say that you that you can’t do Lovecraftian horror with... The post Dead of Night appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re continuing our run of episodes inspired by the print release of Call of Cthulhu 7th edition by taking a look at Pulp Cthulhu. While it’s only available as a backer-only PDF at the moment, Pulp... The post Pulp Cthulhu appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back with the conclusion of our discussion about how Call of Cthulhu 7th edition came about. Once again, we’re joined by Mike Mason, line editor of Call of Cthulhu, who co-authored  7th edition along with our very own Paul... The post How Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition Happened (part 2) appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back… In fact, we’re all the way back to May of 2015. Around a year ago, when we believed the print release of Call of Cthulhu 7th edition was imminent, we spent a day chatting with Mike... The post How Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition Happened (part 1) appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re staring death straight in its empty, pitiless eyes. This episode is our discussion of death in games. Well, specifically it’s a look at the different ways we can handle the deaths of player... The post DEATH appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re looking at all the different ways in which people use Call of Cthulhu at the gaming table. Conveniently enough, we have Call of Cthulhu line developer Mike Mason on hand to help... The post Styles of Play in Call of Cthulhu appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re talking about everyone’s favourite eldritch curtain-twitcher, Erich Zann. Lovecraft’s short story, The Music of Erich Zann, is a highpoint of his early career. More importantly, it is a rare example of a work... The post The Music of Erich Zann appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re taking a look at David Lynch‘s 2006 film, INLAND EMPIRE. This is a strange, strange film, even by Lynch’s standards, and unravelling it almost proved too much for the three of... The post INLAND EMPIRE appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re taking a whistle-stop tour through what’s new in Call of Cthulhu 7th edition. While we’ve done episodes on some of the new mechanics before, and Paul has recorded a series of videos summarising the... The post What’s New in Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition? appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re getting physical. This time we’re taking a look at all those neat little things that Keepers can give to players in the course of a game, excepting the keen sense of their own mortality... The post Props and Handouts appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re chasing you young whipper-snappers off our lawns. Things just ain’t what they used to be, with all these mobile telephonic doodads skulking in people’s pockets, cheap flights to all corners of the world,... The post Horror Gaming in the Modern Day appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re wrapping up our discussion of H P Lovecraft’s eerie mix of the Gothic and the cosmic, The Colour Out of Space. This time we’re looking at various adaptations, as well as... The post The Colour Out of Space (part 2) appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re looking at another of Lovecraft’s major stories. This time it’s the turn of The Colour Out of Space, an unsettling tale that Lovecraft considered the closest he came to capturing the essence... The post The Colour Out of Space (part 1) appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re looking at the two Clive Barker feature films that aren’t Hellraiser. We have nothing against Pinhead and his cruel crew of sadomasochistic sybarites (just trying to say that is a torture that would... The post Nightbreed and Lord of Illusions appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

You may have seen or heard us mention that we co-hosted a seminar at the recent Dragonmeet convention in London, along with our good friends Baz and Gaz from the What Would the Smart Party... The post Special: Dragonmeet 2015 with The Smart Party appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re doing another top three countdown. This is a spiritual follow-up to episode 62’s look at our favourite Lovecraftian monsters, only this time we’ve set our sights a bit higher. We each... The post Top Three Mythos Deities appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re mulling over a topic suggested to us by good friend of the Good Friends, Tore Nielsen: what is the appeal of horror? Apparently this is a huge subject, and even pinning down... The post The Appeal of Horror appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re looking at another classic horror short story. This time it’s Karl Edward Wagner’s Sticks, a nasty little tale that is both of the Cthulhu Mythos and about it. The story draws from a... The post Karl Edward Wagner’s Sticks appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re continuing last episode‘s coverage of Lamentations of the Flame Princess with an interview with James Edward Raggi IV, the man behind the horrors. This was originally meant as a brief insert for the... The post James Raggi Interview appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re looking at the Old School Renaissance and, more specifically, Lamentations of the Flame Princess. In case you aren’t familiar with the OSR, it’s a broad movement that embraces the simplicity and immediacy... The post Lamentations of the Flame Princess appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re looking at monsters, hoping against hope that they don’t look back at us! In particular, we’re talking about our favourite monsters from Lovecraft and Call of Cthulhu. There’s one entry on... The post Our Favourite Lovecraftian Monsters appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re watching horror films about books. We don’t mean films based on books (although one is, just to confuse things), but films where a book plays a central role. In fact, you... The post Maléfique & The Ninth Gate appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re plunging once more into the abyss of despair and madness that is R’lyeh Roulette. In case you didn’t listen to our first round, back in episode 37, this is where we let... The post R’lyeh Roulette II appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re watching each other from the corners of our eyes. Paul is hiding something behind his back, Matt keeps glancing at the door, and I’m trying to look nonchalant. It’s only a matter... The post Conflict & Secrets at the Gaming Table appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

Our minds may have escaped the clutches of the Great Race, but their interest in other ages has clearly rubbed off on us. We have also grown new protuberances, capable of fine manipulation, from atop our... The post Cthulhu Through the Ages appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back from the distant past! Our minds have escaped the sinister and rugose clutches of the Great Race, and we have returned to the present to wrap up our discussion of Lovecraft’s classic story, The... The post The Shadow Out of Time (part 2) appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re breaking normal communication protocols to get this time-sensitive transmission to you before counter intelligence can trace the source. Memorise the contents and burn after listening. The Kickstarter for World War Cthulhu: Cold War, Cubicle... The post Special: World War Cthulhu: Cold War appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back — back about 250 million years in the past, to be precise! At least this gives us a chance to take an extended look at Lovecraft’s classic tale of time travel, identity theft... The post The Shadow Out of Time (part 1) appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re looking at a couple of old favourites: Re-Animator and From Beyond. While these films have been around for almost as long as Matt, we would still be remiss if we didn’t... The post Re-Animator & From Beyond appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

This episode we’re taking a look at Unknown Armies, a roleplaying game that’s not strictly horror, but is close enough that we feel little remorse for talking about it. We also have too many hardened notches... The post Unknown Armies appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

This episode we’re speaking about the unspeakable, mentioning the unmentionable and naming the nameless. More particularly, we’re talking about a recently published book that we co-wrote, Nameless Horrors, using this as a starting point for a discussion about... The post Nameless Horrors appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re doing our homework. In particular, we’re looking at what kinds of research can help GMs and players give their games depth, possible sources of information and how not to lose your... The post Research appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back with the first episode of our new, regular schedule. Now that we’ve hit $50 per episode in sponsorship via Patreon, expect a new episode every other Tuesday. We also have five episodes in... The post Repulsion and The Babadook appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back, and we’re celebrating our fiftieth episode! We’re as surprised as you are that we’ve made it this far; we really should have been eaten by a shoggoth or returned to our essential salts long ago.... The post How Cthulhu Took Over the World appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.