The GROGNARD Files

Episode: Five Items that Made Chaosium (with Rick Meints)
Date: January 1, 2026
Host: Dirk the Dice
Guest: Rick Meints (President of Chaosium)

Overview

This special episode celebrates Chaosium’s 50th anniversary with a deep dive into five pivotal items from the publisher’s storied history. Host Dirk the Dice interviews Rick Meints, Chaosium’s president and head of the “Department of Nostalgia,” challenging him to select just five products that best represent Chaosium’s creativity and contributions to tabletop RPGs. The episode blends gaming history, collector insights, and warm, anecdotal discussion, perfect for both long-time fans and those interested in the legacy of one of gaming’s most influential companies.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Chaosium at 50

• Dirk contextualizes the conversation from Oslo, reflecting on curation—drawing a parallel between the Munch Museum’s preservation of an artist’s legacy and the challenge of preserving RPG history.
  (03:43)
• Rick shares Chaosium’s approach to celebrating their 50th, which officially began on October 31, 2025—the date of Chaosium's foundation in 1975.
• The unique start: Greg Stafford’s infamous misspelling of “Franis” on the incorporation paperwork—proof that “chaos” has always been a part of Chaosium’s DNA.
  (05:51)

2. The Scale of Chaosium’s Output

• Since 1975, Chaosium has produced over 750 core publications, not counting licensed products and community content, such as the Miskatonic Repository and Johnstown Compendium.
  (08:48-10:42)
• Rick explains his ongoing "All Manner of Chaos" cataloguing project—aiming to document every Chaosium publication and printing variation, down to differences in ink and barcodes.
• The community of collectors and “collaborative catalogers” helps keep the record accurate:

  “Some very, shall we say, competitive collectors or should we say collaborative collectors. They'll say, hey Rick, I know about something that's not on your list... I'm happy to get it added.” (12:38)

The Five Artifacts That Made Chaosium (with Timestamps)

1. All the World’s Monsters (1977)

• The first RPG Monster Manual ever, predating TSR’s by months.
• Collaboration between Steve Perrin, Jeff Pimper, and the early RPG community via APAs (amateur press associations).
• Noteworthy for broadening Chaosium beyond its wargaming roots—Chaosium’s first RPG product was, in fact, a D&D supplement.
• Quirky, crowdsourced monsters; notable collectors’ item with at least five different printings.

  “The very first monster manual to come out in the entire World in 1977 was All the World's Monsters… Chaosium’s first role playing product was a D&D expansion, basically Monster Manual.” (15:46-17:27)

2. The Pendragon Campaign (1985 onwards)

• Essential supplement that unlocked Pendragon’s unique multi-generational play and “winter phase.”
• Recognized by Greg Stafford as his greatest work. Started small but has grown into epic multi-volume sets (with more to come in the 6th edition).
• Notable for its handcrafted, “cut and paste” production before the computer era.

  “It was the Pendragon campaign that brought that all to life and made it just beyond just what was a one page handout in the ruleset.” (26:16-28:22)

3. Thieves' World Box Set (1981)

• Ground-breaking for its cross-system support—AD&D, Runequest, Tunnels & Trolls, Chivalry & Sorcery, and more—years before “universal” became an RPG buzzword.
• Reflected Greg Stafford’s commitment to industry collaboration, helping found GAMA and building bridges between designers.
• The product’s backstory had industry drama: Chaosium’s exclusive RPG rights to Moorcock’s Elric led to the legendary “Deities & Demigods” copyright saga with TSR.

  “Greg believed in the industry. He believed in working with a lot of people… the Complete Sanctuary adventure pack has AD&D, Chivalry and Sorcery, Dragon Quest, D&D, Fantasy Trip, RuneQuest, Traveller and Tunnels and Trolls rules all in the same box.” (32:34-36:11)

4. Masks of Nyarlathotep (First Edition, 1984)

• The definitive Call of Cthulhu global campaign, pushing the system from one-shot adventures to epic, world-spanning storytelling.
• Celebrated for its use of physical props and innovative handouts, now central to “Cthulhu” play culture.
• Written by Hollywood screenwriter Larry DiTillio during a writers’ strike—a cross-pollination of pop culture and RPGs.

  “Masks of Nyarlathotep, especially for Call of Cthulhu, it was the big original campaign that really made people, instead of one shots, think much bigger campaigns.” (40:39-42:23)

5. Mythos Collectible Card Game (1996)

• Chaosium’s biggest single commercial success—riding the CCG wave, but ultimately flattening as the market crashed.
• Brings up the “dark years” of Chaosium: after Mythos, a mass layoff, leadership changes, and survival on a shoestring until the early 2010s.
• Rick calls it the game that “changed the trajectory of the company more than almost every other product.”

  “Collectible card games really changed Chaosium's focus for a while... and it actually slowed down the development a number of our game lines in the 90s just because we're just making money. It was a license to print money, so to speak, for a short amount of time.” (50:32-54:58)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the difficulty of choosing just five items:

  “It's like picking amongst your children. It's like, how do you say, who's your favorite kid?... I did actually talk with some of the other people in the company saying if you were going to pick five, just name one. And I got different answers for different reasons and all of them were right.” (13:35)

• On the hobby’s early days:
  Distribution of early products was mostly through word of mouth and mail order; collating games with friends in cramped apartments—with free beer only after collation for quality control! (21:34)

• On collaborative publishing and industry friendships:

  “You play guitar, you play bass, I play drums. We all got to get together and play together.” (33:20)

• On Masks of Nyarlathotep’s impact:

  “It really helped cement the use of props in Call of Cthulhu games. Like you were saying, the matchbook cover or a business card or a telegram, you know, Masks has that in spades.” (42:47)

• On the “dark years” and survival:

  “Within a year, Greg was gone, Pendragon was gone. All Runequest publications had stopped... we're very lucky to be here today through all those dark years. But it was a really cool game and it's a big part of our history.” (53:55)

Bonus: Chaosium’s Early Creativity & Ephemera

• Chaosium’s first “products” were Greg Stafford’s handmade wood carvings—preceding even the games themselves.
• Discussion about the importance of documenting RPG history: Rick is creating an “All Manner of Chaos” retrospective, inspired partly by the Games Workshop "Diceman" coffee table book.
  (48:41-49:54)

The Legacy and the Future

• Today, Chaosium thrives after near-bankruptcy multiple times—always rescued by new creativity and community engagement.
• Rick previews ongoing 50th-anniversary happenings:
  • New Call of Cthulhu slipcases with special covers,
  • A reissue of White Bear, Red Moon (the first game),
  • The “Harmast Saga” for RuneQuest,
  • Four Chaosium conventions worldwide.

  “We're really spending a lot of time working with game masters at conventions of all sizes to get people playing our games, because we know that once they've played them, there's a decent chance that a lot of those people are going to fall in love with them. Kind of like I did back in the 70s.” (58:10)

Related Discussion: Running and Remembering RPGs, and the Dilemmas of GM-ing

(Post-interview topical chat among Dirk, Blindy, and Mike Mason)

• Reflections on recent convention play, with anecdotes about running games, using Tarot cards in “forged in the dark” story systems, and the evolving challenges of GM-ing games with many NPCs.
• Entertaining musings about terminology: should we now call NPCs “Games Master Characters” (GMCs)? Is “NPC” a pejorative?

  “Are the non-players bothered by being called NPCs? They don’t exist!” (75:08)

• Tips for running games with cast-of-thousands campaigns—distinguishing NPCs using quirks, visual cues, assigning to players.

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Time | Segment / Highlight | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------| | 03:43 | Start of interview; Dirk introduces Rick | | 08:48 | Chaosium’s product output; 750+ products | | 13:35 | Rick’s methodology in picking the Five | | 15:46 | Item #1: All the World’s Monsters | | 26:16 | Item #2: Pendragon Campaign | | 32:34 | Item #3: Thieves’ World Box Set | | 40:39 | Item #4: Masks of Nyarlathotep | | 50:32 | Item #5: Mythos Card Game | | 56:07 | Company’s near-collapses and rebounds | | 58:10 | 50th Anniversary plans and the future |

Closing Thoughts

This episode is a loving tribute to Chaosium’s half-century of creative risk-taking, innovation, and collaboration. The five items chosen by Rick Meints chart not just product history, but the high drama, the personal stories, and the near-tragedies that make up Chaosium’s journey—offering listeners both a history lesson and a celebration of community. Whether you’re a devoted fan or discovering Chaosium’s myths for the first time, this episode is a treasury of hobby history.

Further Listening

• Dirk teases more from the Rick Meints interview and a Q&A session for future Patreon “Dirk’s Dossier” episodes.
• Upcoming “Groggies” episode—Grognard Files’ annual RPG awards.

Summary by GROGNARD Files Summarizer—keep it bobbins!