The GROGNARD Files – 10 Years of The GROGNARD Files

Episode 84 (Aug 7, 2025)
Host: Dirk the Dice
Guests: Judge Blythe, Eddie, Daily Dwarf

Episode Overview

This special episode marks the 10th anniversary of The GROGNARD Files, a podcast devoted to reflecting on classic and contemporary tabletop roleplaying games (RPGs). Host Dirk the Dice is joined by long-time co-host Judge Blythe and returning guests including Eddie and Daily Dwarf. The episode is an affectionate and humorous retrospective on the podcast’s origins, evolution, the UK gaming community, and the culture that surrounds RPGs, blending listener Q&A, nostalgic stories, and new insights.

Main Segments and Key Discussion Points

1. Welcome and Origins of The GROGNARD Files

• Format and Early Days

  • Dirk recounts humble beginnings in 2015, starting the podcast "recording under the stairs like an aging Harry Potter" ([00:16]). The podcast was always meant as a "magazine format, as an oral fanzine with different segments" ([02:54]).

• Initial Contributors

  • Early involvement from “@DailyDwarf” and “Eddie,” the original "armchair adventurer-collector-in-chief", who hunted bargains on eBay ([03:55]).

• Name Trivia

  • The term "Grognard" was adopted to reflect a grumbling soldier—though some purists object to the pronunciation ([02:06]).

• The Classic Format

  • Each episode features:
    • Revisiting old RPGs
    • Sharing personal play experiences
    • White Dwarf magazine highlights

2. Reflections: 10 Years of Podcasting

[Room of Roleplaying Rambling – Open Box]

• How The World Changed

  • Blythe: “10 years ago we were still part of the European Union. Trump hadn't been elected, and the biggest thing we were looking forward to was RuneQuest 6 Adventures in Glorantha, which never appeared.” ([05:35])

• Podcast Longevity

  • Running joke: Dirk always felt the show had “another six months in it,” but ten years later, it’s still going ([06:02]).

• Nostalgia & 90s Myths

  • Lighthearted debate about the "mythology" around 90s music and nostalgia in general ([07:31]).
  • “I hate nostalgia." – Judge Blythe ([07:40])

• Soundscape Anecdote

  • Memories of being derailed by loud Magic: The Gathering players, described as a “Jimmy Carr strangling a sea lion” laugh ([08:27]).

Thunder Phase: Listener Q&A (Selected Highlights)

Biopic Casting

• Who Plays Dirk & Blythe?
  • Blythe: “Harrison Ford would play me now. Young Harrison Ford 'back in the day,' just for consistency.” ([10:14])
  • Dirk: “Robert Redford. Young Robert Redford. Same principle.” ([11:54])
• Tone: Silly, self-aware answers that playfully overstate their glamour.

Changing Attitudes & Friendship

• On Changing Relationships:

  • “We're gaming more and our circle of friends is wider... ten years ago I would not have thought we'd play as many games not with each other.” – Dirk ([12:41])
  • Blythe adds that separate gaming allows exploration of new games and styles that one another may not have chosen independently ([13:00]).

• Difference in Interests

  • The ‘Judge Dredd episode’ revealed their diverging interests, e.g., Dirk’s deeper attachment to Judge Dredd and 2000AD ([15:01]):
    • "We're not the same, are we?” – Dirk
    • “No.” – Blythe
  • Led to shifting the podcast from focusing solely on mechanics to "back in the day and today" ([18:05]).

Grog Meet Reflections

• Origins as “just a meet up”
  • “2016. It was just a handful of people at that point.” ([18:54])
• Growth and Success
  • Now 80–110 people. Managing numbers and intimacy is key to its continued success ([19:48], [20:55]).
  • “It is a case. I don't regret it because it's the thing that keeps this thing going, really.” – Dirk ([19:48])
• Venue Woes
  • Tales of “the year of the Shed,” a nearly disastrous, cold venue ([22:41]).

Golden Age of Gaming vs. Today

• Punk Spirit vs. Commercialization:
  • Dirk: “Back then it had a bit more of a punk spirit, a bit of a creativity spirit…nowadays it feels more of a commercial enterprise.” ([24:07], [24:25])
• No “Mystique” in GMing
  • Disdain for modern GM “universities” and over-mystification ([24:53]).
• More Accessibility Today
  • Today’s new gamers have the advantage of easy access to knowledge and diverse games ([26:00], [27:41]).
• Cautionary Note on Actual Play
  • Blythe: “People getting into the hobby have become quite anxious because the standard is that Critical Role standard... No one really does it like that.” ([26:15])

Longevity & Friendship

• Podcast as a "Marriage"
  • “The key to a marriage is tolerance...eventually we just put up with it, don't we?” – Blythe ([28:38])
• Editing Fatigue
  • Dirk: “There’s times when I’m irritated by you...because I’ve spent most of the previous night listening to your voice over and over again.” ([29:02])

Advice for Younger Selves

• Write It Down:
  • “Write it down, do a journal. This is material you're going to use.” – Dirk ([32:00])
• Less/Much Preparation:
  • Blythe: “I'd tell my 14-year-old self—stop worrying about all the preparation.” ([32:26])
  • Dirk: “Conversely, my advice would be prepare more.” ([32:53])

Nostalgia as a “Seductive Liar”

• Complex Relationship With Nostalgia
  • “When you listen to the Beatles, you're not nostalgic for the 60s necessarily.” – Dirk ([34:32])
  • “Nostalgia sometimes can kind of hold true...sometimes you can't (recapture it), other times you can.” – Blythe ([35:34])

3. Eddie’s Return: Collecting Memories, Rebuying History

• Music & Atmosphere

  • Reminiscing about soundtracks (“played Mike Oldfield and Tangerine Dream...classic roleplaying background music”) ([39:06], [39:14], [39:50]).

• Collecting, Print on Demand, and eBay Bargains

  • Shift from compulsive hunting for old books to enjoying print-on-demand reprints ([44:04]).
  • “Why pay £30 for Gateway Bestiary when you can get it for £10 from Chaosium—an almost perfect replica?” ([44:18])

• Buying for Nostalgia Alone

  • The thrill of acquiring things once desired, just to put them on the shelf ([45:11]).

• HAN (Hârn) Campaigns

  • Eddie returns to running classic Han modules; prefers the original material to modern updates ([47:47]–[51:23]).
  • “It was the map that sold it...just enough detail in without boring you to death.” – Eddie ([48:10]).

4. Daily Dwarf: UK Gaming Culture & White Dwarf Magazine

([54:23] – [63:22])

• White Dwarf’s Community Building

  • White Dwarf's “Small Ads” and letter pages connected pre-internet UK gamers ([55:03]–[59:00]).
  • “Greasing the wheels of commerce as eBay of its day and providing a heartbeat to the UK RPG community.” ([58:13])

• Letters Page Antics

  • Covered rules clarifications, feuds, and culture wars that would play out “over six months of green-inked back and forth.”

• Fanzines & DIY Spirit

  • White Dwarf (and 'Imagine', briefly) nurtured fanzines that built the scene ([59:30] onward).

• The Real Magic of the Podcast

  • “The real secret of the Grog Pod...is that it's built on friendship. Dirk and Blithey’s camaraderie shines through... it's an open friendship where we feel instantly at ease.” ([62:51])

5. Thunder Phase Round 2: More Listener Q&A

([63:22] onward)

Online Gaming and Global Community

• Meeting Internationally

  • “Ten years ago, it took all of our time to meet people who were playing in Wigan, never mind people on the other side of the world.” ([64:06])

• Cultural Differences

  • Interview with Mike from Australia: Cultural and mythological differences in fantasy gaming settings (Australian folklore vs. British; handling Liminal and aboriginal mythology) ([64:34]).

The Good and Bad Gamer

• Self-Awareness
  • Dirk: “A good gamer is somebody who brings everybody in.” ([67:53])
  • Blythe: “What makes me a bad gamer is my slight intolerance to lore...I find all the lower just a bit too much.” ([68:00])
  • Dirk on Blythe: “…when you are in that board of rejecting the lore, you leak a bit.” ([69:22])

Favorite Episodes & Unexpected Enjoyments

• Personal Favorites

  • Dirk: LARP stories and “well-honed” anecdotes ([76:39]).
  • Blythe: Postal Gaming episode and tales of running by-mail games ([76:58]).

• Games Enjoyed More Than Expected

  • Blythe: Helvétia (fantasy Switzerland) was “unexpectedly good” ([77:31]).
  • Dirk: Realized a late appreciation for The Dee Sanction after initial resistance ([78:19]).

If You Were a Game Mechanic...

• Blythe: “Mercurial magic table in DCC. Crazy stuff that might happen if you cast a spell.” ([79:15])
• Dirk: “Resistance table...or a luck mechanic. I think I am quite impulsive and live on my wits and like to wing it.” ([80:01])

Desert Island RPG Books

• Blythe: “I would take DCC rulebook...and one of the Traveler sector books. There’s a lot of lonely fun looking at the star maps.” ([85:55]–[87:22])
• Dirk: “I have never read a rulebook from cover to cover...but maybe the big Guide to Glorantha volumes would be interesting.” ([87:13], [89:19])

Why Haven’t You Published Your Own Scenarios?

• The Challenge of Writing
  • Dirk: “I find it impossible...to convey what was in my head to another person in the form of words.” ([90:34])
  • “The effort to pleasure ratio is just not right.” ([92:10])
  • Blythe: “There’s an art to get a scenario, write it down, publish it so that when someone reads it, it makes sense and is runnable. That’s quite a thing.” ([98:12])

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• “It was always intended to be a magazine format—as an oral fanzine with different segments and sections with discrete themes.” – Dirk ([02:54])
• “I've been saying ‘another six months’ for ten years, haven’t you?” – Judge Blythe ([06:03])
• “I hate nostalgia.” – Judge Blythe ([07:40])
• “It was a laugh that we described as Jimmy Carr strangling a sea lion.” – Dirk ([08:27])
• “A good gamer is somebody who brings everybody in.” – Dirk ([67:53])
• “What makes me a bad gamer is my slight intolerance to lore.” – Judge Blythe ([68:00])
• “Back then, it had a bit more of a punk spirit... now it feels more of a commercial enterprise.” – Dirk ([24:07])
• “Greasing the wheels of commerce as eBay of its day and providing a heartbeat to the UK RPG community.” – Daily Dwarf ([58:13])
• "The real secret of the Grog Pod, I think, is that it's built on friendship. Dirk and Blithey's camaraderie shines through..." – Daily Dwarf ([62:51])
• “The thing I’m proudest of is that, when we put out any episode, there’s always an initial response, and people respond to it... That is the stuff that keeps it going.” – Dirk ([100:56])

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Origins and History: [00:16]–[05:00]
• Thunder Phase – Q&A Begins: [09:16]
• Biopic Casting: [09:54]–[12:04]
• Reflections on Gaming & Friendship: [12:08]–[18:00]
• Grog Meet Retrospective: [18:22]–[23:20]
• Golden Age vs. Today: [23:20]–[28:15]
• Advice for Younger Selves: [32:00]–[32:53]
• Nostalgia Chat: [33:00]–[37:35]
• Eddie Segment – Collecting & Hârn: [37:51]–[54:23]
• Daily Dwarf Essay – White Dwarf Culture: [54:23]–[63:22]
• Online & International Gaming: [63:22]–[66:27]
• Good/Bad Gamer & Emotional Leakage: [66:52]–[70:19]
• Favorite Episodes & Desert Island RPGs: [76:28]–[89:43]
• Publishing Your Own Scenarios: [90:03]–[99:18]
• Proudest Consequences of Podcast: [99:30]–[104:11]
• Closing Thoughts: [104:11]–[104:57]

Overall Tone

The episode combines affectionate nostalgia, British understatement, warmth, and sly humor. Dirk and Blythe’s chemistry is relaxed, self-deprecating, and inviting, encouraging listeners to feel like part of the conversation, often poking fun at themselves and the foibles of gaming culture.

Summary for New Listeners

This anniversary episode is both a nostalgic trip and a living snapshot of UK RPG culture, focusing on friendship and the evolution of play. For fans old and new, it’s filled with funny anecdotes, earnest advice, deep dives on the scene's history, and a celebration of the grassroots spirit that’s kept their community strong for a decade. The success of “Grog Meet” as an in-person event and the growth of an online friendship network stand as their proudest achievements, but above all, The GROGNARD Files reminds us that at the heart of all these games are lasting, adaptable relationships.

For Further Listening

Skip the tedious parts—there aren’t any! But if you want quick touchstones for the podcast’s ethos, jump to the Thunder Phase Q&A ([09:16], [63:22]), Eddie’s collecting stories ([37:51]), or Daily Dwarf’s reflection on UK RPG culture ([54:23]). For British gamers, anyone with affection for White Dwarf, or anyone seeking joyful, irreverent RPG chatter, this episode is essential listening.

End summary.