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Tales from the Sanctum

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The Sanctum Secorum podcast plumbs the depths of Appendix N as it applies to DCC RPG. Each show reviews one piece of Appendix N media — be it literature or film — and then discusses how to bring aspects of it to the table for your DCC game. We explore how the selected piece might already easily fit into particular modules and DCC settings, and we highlight one specific DCC module that really ties into the Appendix N material.

Enter the Sanctum Secorum… and be inspired.

Sanctum Secorum #40 – A Martian Odyssey

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Early in the 21st century, nearly twenty years after the invention of atomic power and ten years after the first lunar landing, the four-man crew of the Ares has landed on Mars in the Mare Cimmerium. A week after the landing, Dick Jarvis, the ship’s American chemist, sets out south in an auxiliary rocket to photograph the landscape. Eight hundred miles out, the engine on Jarvis’ rocket gives out, and he crash-lands into one of the Thyle regions. Rather than sit and wait for rescue, Jarvis decides to walk back north to the Ares.

Welcome to the Sanctum Secorum podcast. Tonight we turn our gaze to the red planet, Mars, while we discuss Stanley A. Weinbaum’s, A Martian Odyssey.

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Episode #10 – The Maker of Gargoyles

Written by Gatekeeper
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Episode #10 CoversThe third story in Clark Ashton Smith’s Averoigne cycle, the story takes place in the fictional French town of Averoigne. Much as Lovecraft based Arkham on Boston, Clark Ashton Smith’s Averoigne is based on the very real Auvergne region. Even more closely tying this story to our previous episode, H. P. Lovecraft wrote a story “Out of the Aeons” that also intertwines with this fictional province as have a number of other authors. Certainly this is a region filled with potential. All told Clark Ashton Smith left us with eighteen pieces, some incomplete, others mere outlines, of events transpiring in this area.

The story itself involves a stonecutter, shunned and feared by the people of the area, whose affections towards a local girl are spurned, if she recognizes he exists at all. Hired to create a pair of gargoyles for the new cathedral, he cuts two pieces of true masterwork but, in doing so, pours all of his negativity, hatred and lust into their creation. Infused with these black emotions, the gargoyles come to life and wreak havoc leaving death in their wake.

Welcome to the Sanctum Secorum podcast. In this episode we examine a work by famed author Clark Ashton Smith and match it Carnival of the Damned by the Sanctum’s own David Baity.

In addition, we have bonus content to bring to your game: magic items, weapons, and so much more…after the jump.

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Episode #09 – H. P. Lovecraft

Written by Gatekeeper
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Episode #09 CoversH. P. Lovecraft was a master of pulp horror and, love him or hate him, his influence on modern culture cannot be ignored. Name-dropped by such authors as Stephen King and Robert Bloch; referenced on such television programs as The Night Gallery, The Venture Brothers, and Supernatural; and influential in comics such as Bat-Man (yes, Arkham Asylum really was a nod to Lovecraft) Lovecraft’s reach is long indeed. His communication and collaboration with other greats such as Robert E Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, and the rest of the “Lovecraft Circle” have shaped fantasy and horror for generations.

Tonight we merely skim the surface, discussing two of Lovecraft’s works, delving into the squamous side of things we discuss Dagon and The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

 

Welcome to the Sanctum Secorum podcast. In this episode we examine two of the works by Appendix N author, and literary legend, H. P. Lovecraft and match them up with The Portsmouth Mermaid from Daniel J. Bishop and Purple Duck Games.

In addition, we have bonus content to bring to your game: magic items, weapons, and so much more…after the jump.

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Episode #02 – The Last Castle

Written by Gatekeeper
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Covers 02Most humans on Earth live in a small number of elaborate, high-tech castles as idle aristocrats primarily concerned with aesthetics, pastimes and questions of honor and etiquette. Only a small minority of humans live free lives outside of the castles, and are considered barbaric by the inhabitants of the castles. Various alien races serve the latter.

One day, one of those slave races, the Meks, revolt and start besieging the castles. One by one, the castles fall and their residents are killed, until only Castle Hagedorn is left. Most of the decadent castle denizens choose to ignore the danger. One of them, Xanten, decides to fight the Meks and searches for allies inside as well as outside the castle.

Welcome to the Sanctum Secorum podcast. In this episode we examine one of the works by renowned Appendix N author Jack Vance, with The Last Castle.

In addition, we have bonus content to bring to your game: classes,monsters, weapons, and more…after the jump

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