The Magnus Archives: The Listening Club TTRPG Special – Episode 2

Release Date: December 18, 2025
Host/Game Master: Johnny
Players: Lowry (Elodie Jones), Anusha (Margot Maria), Ian (Alphonse Platt), Pip (Barry Knapp)

Main Theme / Purpose

This episode continues the Magnus Archives’ TTRPG special arc, following a group of ordinary friends—fans of the fictional “Armitage Library” horror podcast—whose routine listening club is disrupted by a mysterious message from a missing member, June. The players roleplay their characters as they investigate June’s sudden disappearance, blending meta-commentary on podcast horror tropes with real suspense, dark humor, and inventive roleplay.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Recap and In-Character Setup

Timestamp: 05:42–08:15

• Johnny recaps last session: All players portray “normal people” in a listening club for the horror podcast “Armitage Library.” The latest episode, #100, ended with narrator Arthur G. Neville supposedly defeating the drain-dwelling monster “Mr. Clot”—though possibly not for good.
• Elodie: Immediately cross-references episodes in a spreadsheet, focusing on when the “clog monster” first appeared.
• Players discuss podcast horror tropes like “monster never truly dies” and whether something/someone is behind the recurring villain.
  • Margot: “The way they keep killing it off and bringing it back … it’s like it’s getting too obvious now, you know.”
  • Barry: “Exactly. I get it. It’s an immortal amoeba. … But who’s behind the creature, is what I’m wondering.”
• The group's absent member, June, is established as the club’s founder and a hardworking, stressed, but organized character.

2. Inciting Incident: June’s Urgent Message

Timestamp: 10:20–12:07

• June sends an urgent, out-of-character email: “Need to see you now. Urgent. Quick.”
• The group feels something is wrong as June never misses meetings.
• Margot tries calling June (voicemail), then the group decides to visit her flat.
• Elodie offers: “My laptop’s got plenty of charge. We can just do this on the bus if we want to, like, hop over.”
• The gang takes the bus to June’s nearby flat.

3. Investigation at June’s Flat

Timestamp: 13:27–17:44

• Group arrives, buzzes her flat—no answer.
• Margot uses her “barista” solidarity to charm the downstairs neighbor into letting them in, then attempts (unnecessarily) to pick the lock:
  • Johnny: “You spend a while tinkering with it, and then you realize it is unlocked … whether you tell other people this or … that's up to you.”
  • Margot (embarrassed) just goes along as if she succeeded.
• The group is uneasy about breaking in, but Johnny reassures: “Look, we’re checking up on a friend, that’s all.”

4. Searching for Clues in the Flat

Timestamp: 17:44–24:33

• Flat is gloomy. June’s keys are still there; it seems she hasn’t left.
• Room by room search:
  • Bathroom: Empty; nothing unusual.
  • Bedroom: Messy, stacks of podcast transcripts, highlighted notes on “Moldy Pencil Productions” (the “Armitage Library” company).
  • Living room: Fresh food, no mess; open envelope with a letter—“Dear June, Thank you for getting in touch … Please find what you requested enclosed. —A.G.N.” No visible enclosure.
• Studio/Office:
  • Dark; high-backed chair, thick headphones with viscous dark liquid (possibly blood) on earpiece.
  • Multiple Sony minidisc players—iconic in the “Armitage Library” fiction.
  • Barry plays a minidisc, hears “garbled audio nonsense … a bit unpleasant.”
  • Margot is cautious, photographing evidence and wants to keep searching for June.
  • Barry: “Is there enough to drip?” (regarding the liquid)—narrative tension with even mundane details.

5. Piecing Together Digital Evidence

Timestamp: 24:33–29:56

• Elodie uses tracking skills to dig up a possible phone number for Moldy Pencil Productions (not public-facing)—the number is not in service.
• On the laptop (password: “Armitage” with a 4):
  • Surges of online research about Moldy Pencil, secret addresses, audio distortions, a custom software called “Open Ear” for cleaning up audio.
  • June had downloaded and used a custom audio-cleanup program.
  • Margot: “There are coherent words coming out of the tracks … But I’m very concerned that if I listen to them too closely or too loudly and I kind of just gesture at the headphones as a case in point, that could be blood. This could be bad.”
  • Joke as the group (and Johnny the GM) explain minidiscs to “the youth.”
• The group debates if there’s a supernatural risk to the audio; references to horror tropes and past in-universe show episodes where “audio gets you.”

6. Cliffhanger: The Peril of Listening

Timestamp: 30:50–31:22

• The group debates what happened to June—a suggestion she was actively investigating some dangerous audio phenomena, perhaps paralleling events in the Armitage Library podcast itself.
• Alphonse (Ian) impulsively puts on the "bloody" headphones:
  • Johnny: “And we will find out what happens to Alphonse next episode. Thank you all very much for joining us …”
• Episode ends on "To be continued…" with mounting unease over the dangers of listening too closely or literally to horror stories—a classic Magnus Archives theme.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Meta-humor on horror podcast tropes:
  09:09 Margot: “The way they keep killing it off and bringing it back … it’s like it’s getting too obvious now, you know.”
• Relatable tabletop table-talk:
  13:00 Barry: “Oh, gosh. I don’t know if a natural 20 is a thing in this game, but I’ve rolled a full.”
• Group dynamics and genre awareness:
  16:44 Elodie: “I’m not sure if we’re breaking into a house…”
  Johnny: “Look, we’re checking up on a friend, that’s all.”
• Supernatural dread manifesting in everyday life:
  21:01 Elodie: “Everything in the world could be blood or not blood.”
• Paranoia over technological horror:
  30:33 Margot: “…I’m very concerned that if I listen to them too closely or too loudly … This could be bad.”
• Cliffhanger setup:
  31:12 Johnny: “Alphonse has put the headphones on. … And we will find out what Alphonse is next episode.”
  31:13 Barry: “The longer you stay alive, the longer you can enjoy Boost Mobile’s unlimited plan …”

Important Timestamps

• Main RP Session Begins: 05:42
• Recap & Characters Re-introduced: 06:20–08:15
• June’s Emergency Email: 10:20
• Arriving at June’s Flat: 13:27–15:00
• Flat Investigation: 15:00–24:33
• Laptop and Minidisc Investigation: 24:33–29:56
• Discussion of Audio Dangers: 30:33
• Cliffhanger – Headphones Put On: 31:09–31:22

Tone & Language

The episode blends tense, atmospheric horror with playful meta-references and collaborative storytelling. The tone is light and witty, with breaks for world-weary humor—and a constant underlying sense of dread, typical of The Magnus Archives.

Conclusion

Fans of fiction podcasts, horror TTRPGs, and meta-narratives will find “The Listening Club TTRPG Special – Episode 2” engaging and suspenseful. The interrupted ordinary lives of podcast fans, their investigative teamwork, and the looming threat hidden in audio echoes the core themes of The Magnus Archives while inviting listeners into the heart of a tabletop mystery.

Cliffhanger: What truly happened to June—and what will Alphonse hear (or experience) when he puts on the strange, stained headphones? Tune in next week to find out.