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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 #34 – The Face in the Frost

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  Prospero, a tall, skinny misfit of a wizard, lives in the South Kingdom—a patchwork of feuding duchies and small manors, all loosely loyal to one figurehead king. Along with his necromancer friend Roger Bacon, who has been on a quest to find a mysterious book, Prospero must flee his home to escape ominous pursuers. Thus begins an adventure that will lead him to a grove where his old rival, Melichus, is falsely rumored to be buried and to a less-than-hospitable inn in the town of Five Dials—and ultimately into a dangerous battle with origins in a magical glass paperweight.

Welcome to the Sanctum Secorum podcast. Tonight we look at a work by John Bellairs, The Face in the Frost and match it up with Michael Curtis’ Emirikol was Framed!

 

 

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Sanctum Secorum #29 – Creep, Shadow!

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Had the last King and Princess of wicked Ys, returned after three thousand years? Why were they creating an exact replica of Stonehenge on their New Jersey estate? What was the Mael Bennique, the Breaker of Chests? And what was the dread Gatherer in the Cairn? And can men and women really be turned into shadows and made the helpless slaves of the one who transformed them? Ethnologist Dr. Alan Caranac (who may just be the reincarnation of the Alain de Carnac who brought about the destruction of sinful Ys and its evil rulers) has to find out the answer, for one of his best friends has been killed, and perhaps transformed into a shadow, while his fiancee Helen, her brother, Bill, and the famed Dr. Lowell have already been marked for death or worse! But first Alan will have to enter the tower of the Demoiselle Dahut de Ys in New York and journey through it thousands of years into the past to her tower in the legendary city from which she draws her name. And then return, if he can!

Welcome to the Sanctum Secorum podcast. Tonight we return to the printed page as we discuss A Merritt’s Creep, Shadow! while pairing it up with a Harley Stroh classic, The Bride of the Black Manse.

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Sanctum Secorum #18 – The People of the Pit

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episode-18-covers“People of the Pit features a pair of prospectors, Starr Anderson and the narrator, Frank, who are exploring the North, looking for gold. There are hints of a backstory between the two men, painting them as more than mere prospectors and it creates an anticipation for oddness to come. We are then introduced to a secondary narrator. A man who, in classic fashion, crawls (near-dead) into the men’s camp. And the manner of his crawling is horrific in itself. This is no collapsing half-stagger, no dragging himself along the floor, but as the narrator says, ‘it was like a baby crawling upstairs. The forepaws lifted themselves in grotesquely infantile fashion’ . On top of this, he wears a band of gold round his waist, and a chain. Gold, of course, is what has brought the explorers to this place, but when they remove it, ‘it was like no gold I had ever handled. […]  it had an unclean, viscid life of its own. It clung to the file. […] It was – loathsome’ . Something is clearly not right when a man in search of gold actively throws it away.
The story then turns to the tale of the narrator, telling a story of a lost civilisation in the bottom of a ravine. Not any old ravine, however, but ‘Imagine the Grand Canyon five times as wide and with the bottom dropped out’. As one can expect, it gets a lot weirder from there…”

Welcome to the Sanctum Secorum podcast where even attending a convention cannot disrupt things. While the Keepers of Mysteries attend Gamehole Con I, the Gatekeeper of the Sanctum, bring you the latest episode. Tonight the Keepers discuss a story by Abraham Merritt and bring it to your DCC table!

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Episode #09 – H. P. Lovecraft

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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 #07 – Who Fears the Devil?

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CoversThere’s a traveling man the Carolina mountain folk call Silver John for the silver strings strung on his guitar. In his wanderings John encounters a parade of benighted forest creatures, mountain spirits, and shapeless horrors from the void of history with only his enduring spirit, playful wit, and the magic of his guitar to preserve him. Manly Wade Wellman’s Silver John is one of the most beloved figures in fantasy, a true American folk hero of the literary age.

Welcome to the Sanctum Secorum podcast. In this episode, we are joined by author Michael Curtis as we examine the stories that inspired an entire setting and boxed set for DCC RPG, and a legendary piece of Appendix N literature. There is so much to discuss that our format was literally bursting at the seams and so we present the episode with 10 extra minutes of content!

 

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

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Episode #03 – The Halloween Special

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Covers 03A special treat for Halloween: a pair of tales by Poe. Edgar Allan Poe was an America’s first master of the macabre. A poet, editor, and literary critic, he is best known for his tales of dark mystery and sinister goings on. Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story, and is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre.

Poe’s influence is felt, even today, in literature throughout the world, as well as in specialized fields, such as cosmology and cryptography. He inspired countless authors to follow (perhaps most notably H. P. Lovecraft) and the Mystery Writers of America present an annual award known as the Edgar Award for distinguished work in the mystery genre. Tonight we discuss two of Poe’s best-known thrillers.

Welcome to the Sanctum Secorum podcast. In this episode (as suggested by Joseph Goodman) we examine two of the works by Proto-Appendix N author Edgar Allen Poe, with The Cask of Amantillado and Masque of the Red Death, with our special guest host, Stephen Newton.

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

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