The GROGNARD Files – Monsters in RPGs Ep.73 Pt.1
Host: Dirk the Dice, with Blythey
Date: July 28, 2024

Episode Overview

In this episode, Dirk the Dice and Blythey dig into the enduring role of monsters and bestiaries in tabletop RPGs. Framing the discussion with their signature blend of nostalgia, dry humour, and gentle self-mockery, the pair revisit their lifelong love for monster manuals, muse on the evolution of bestiaries across decades, and compare what makes a monster book memorable, essential, or expendable. The recurring segment "Stay, Play, Giveaway" is used to put several iconic bestiaries to the test, while weighing their emotional, imaginative, and practical value.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: RPGs, Libraries, and the "Cogitorium"

• Dirk reveals his den is now dubbed the “Cogitorium,” a nod to Paul Auster, perfectly suited to his overflowing RPG library, shrine to Caroline Munro, and GROGNARD records.
• [00:16] “...the perfect place for the great library of RPGs and my grognard files.”
• China Miéville (author) suggested the focus on bestiaries—he’s a listener and inspired the episode’s theme.

2. Monsters and Social Context – Do RPGs Reflect the World?

• The conversation meanders through eras of UK politics, pop charts, and RPG trends. Dirk and Blythey compare what RPGs were "in the charts" during governmental shifts (1979, 1997, 2010, 2024), asking whether wider culture shapes gaming tastes.
• “Maybe gaming is immune to the zeitgeist...it’s got its own trajectory.” — Dirk, [14:15]
• Blythey argues that RPGs reflect broader social changes more now than in the 1980s/90s, as the hobby’s demographics and visibility have expanded.
• [15:35] “Now it started reflecting the times because more people want that.” — Blythey

3. Why Do Monsters & Bestiaries Endure?

• Bestiaries are central to most RPGs—the imaginative engine that conveys setting, threat, and adventure hook all at once.
• [23:07] “They lie at the heart of most games… monsters, creatures, beings, aliens... central to most roleplaying games.” — Blythey
• Good bestiaries:
  • Are extensive and inspiring
  • Provide lore, motives, and hooks, not just stats
  • Add wonder, not just “giant versions” of mundane animals

4. Evolution of Bestiaries

• Early monster books (like AD&D’s Monster Manual) favored dry listings and endless variants (giant weasels!), which offered little substance beyond stat blocks.
• RuneQuest and other games innovated by:
  • Treating monsters as cultures, not just adversaries
  • Emphasizing ecology, social structures, and non-evil “monsters”
  • Presenting adventure seeds instead of rote entries
  • [29:26] “RuneQuest… made monsters kind of integral to the world, and also make monsters not necessarily evil… just different.” — Blythey

5. The "Stay, Play, Giveaway" Segment

(Which bestiaries are most essential, most playable, and most expendable?)

A. Stay: Never Give Away

• Blythey: Malleus Monstrorum (Cthulhu Bestiary), Vol. 1

  • “...It's a fantastic. The monsters in Cthulhu are great. They’re just great monsters. Weird, they're alien, they're frightening. They're still frightened players.” [33:30]
  • Rich lore, endless hooks, always relevant—“the one supplement you've got to get.”

• Dirk: Out of the Shadows (Dragon Warriors)

  • Celebrates monsters as mythic, narrative entities. “...each of the monsters that exist in the world of legend...When they're explained here, it's like they've always been there as part of your own personal mythology.” [35:53]
  • Full of atmospheric flavor and narrative spark.

B. Play: Must-Use Next

• Blythey: Vaesen (Free League)
  • Scandinavian folkloric monsters, beautifully illustrated, with motives and solutions rooted in myth rather than combat.
  • [41:40] “Every monster has been thought about...the motives, why they're aggressive, and how to defeat them in ways other than just straightforward combat.”
• Dirk: Forbidden Lands: Book of Beasts
  • Consistency of evocative art, lore, and random attack tables for dynamic play.
  • [44:24] “Sometimes it's about how monsters are presented...You can spend hours in this book.”

C. Giveaway: Farewell, with Regret

• Blythey: Numenera
  • Despite initial fascination, finds monsters “so weird and unusual” that they're hard to actually use in play.
  • [51:20] “They're all so weird that you think...I just don't know how to use them meaningfully in the game.”
• Dirk: 13th Age Bestiary
  • Inventive ideas fail to cohere or inspire a sense of wonder.
  • [57:19] “It feels like a brainstorm of people throwing down ideas...but it comes back to what we were saying about the Kinoneer the Traveler supplement—it is just a load of ideas that you have to scratch your head and work your way through.”

6. What Makes a Monster Book Great?

• Narrative, resonance, imaginative art, and adventure prompts are key—not mechanical repetition.
• “I also like the sense of wonder and I think that that's what's been extracted a little bit.” — Dirk, [58:15]

7. Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On inevitable regret:

  • [21:18] “...I got rid of some books and then I listened to a podcast and thought, oh, I've got a copy of that. Oh no, I haven't, I've given it away.” — Dirk

• On monster design evolution:

  • [29:26] “White Dwarf... started to look at monsters as more of how they threaded into the world and became...more than just a straightforward listing.” — Dirk

• On "overgaming" and the loss of wonder:

  • [58:15] “I also like the sense of wonder and I think that that's what's been extracted a little bit.” — Dirk

• On bestiary pronunciation woes:

  • [26:11] “People will be writing in right as we speak. Vestry. Vestry. That's not how you pronounce it. Why you speak to King's English. Oh, sorry. Monster book. Call it that.” — Blythey

• Dirk and Blythey riff on replacing a scenario’s land-shark with a sacred donkey:

  • [62:12] “You could replace that idea with a donkey.” — Dirk
  • [62:14] “A sacred donkey the villagers wouldn't let you go near...” — Blythey

8. Closing Chatter

• Blythey preparing for the finale of his long-running Pirates of Drinax Traveller campaign, balancing the need for narrative drive and a satisfying end.

• [65:32] “I do think these things can go on too long. I don't think you can keep running it open ended forever because I think it's a danger where it will burn out.”

• Dirk reflects on running a Battle Beyond the Stars Savage Worlds adventure—and on using AI for pregenerated characters:

  • [73:13] “Forgive me, Blythey, for I have sinned because I created all of those using chat gtp.”
  • [74:05] “I have finally found the use of it.”—AI for character creation, met with irreverent approval.

Notable Timestamps

• 00:16: Introduction; origin of “Cogitorium”
• 03:59: Start of “Stay, Play, Giveaway”
• 14:15: Gaming’s relationship (or not) to broader cultural zeitgeist
• 23:07–27:53: What makes a good bestiary; monster book nostalgia
• 29:26: On the evolution from monster listings to cultural/world integration
• 33:30: Cthulhu’s Malleus Monstrorum analyzed
• 35:53: Dragon Warriors’ Out of the Shadows praised
• 41:40: Vaesen’s unique allure
• 44:24: Forbidden Lands Book of Beasts described
• 51:20–52:16: Numenera’s imaginative but “impractical” monsters
• 57:19: 13th Age Bestiary’s failings explored
• 62:12–62:23: The “sacred donkey” moment
• 65:32–68:17: Pirates of Drinax campaign wrap-up
• 73:13–74:51: AI-generated characters for one-shots—confession and musings

Tone & Takeaways

Dirk and Blythey are reflective, conversational, and frequently self-deprecating, inviting listeners to join their ongoing conversation among friends. Their central point: monsters matter in RPGs—not just for combat, but for the mythic, emotional, and narrative resonance they bring. The best bestiaries spark the imagination, offer narrative hooks, and feel like living parts of a world. Others, no matter how inventive, can miss the mark if they fail to connect or inspire.

Coming Soon

• Next episode: Guest spots, including James Holloway (Monster Man Podcast), for deeper dives into monster design.
• Grog Meet events: Online in November, in-person in Manchester January 2025 (moved for Taylor Swift’s entourage—really).

“There's not enough donkeys in these things.” — Dirk, [62:43]