I’ve had the
Substack by on my regular reading list for quite some time. His website combines two of my favorite subjects (Rock Music and Table Top Role Playing Games) in a way that combines rich knowledge and insight with a refreshing lack of pretense. He knows the deep lore, but shares it cheerfully. His most recent article is a discussion of a project currently funding on Kickstarter that uses the 5e, Dungeon Crawl Classics, and Shadowdark systems as a foundation for a Clark Ashton Smith Zothique Role Playing Game. I 100% in favor of anything that gets more people to read Smith’s Zothique cycle.
A couple of weeks ago, I invited Matt to join me for a chat about the connection of music and role playing games, and really anything else that hit our fancy as we chatted. It was a wide ranging discussion that started with my Halloween music recommendations, during which I learned that the guitarist for Electric Frankenstein was a martial arts enthusiast, and included discussions of Michael Moorcock, Blue Öyster Cult, Fritz Leiber, DMR Books’ short story collections of Sword & Sorcery tales written by Metal Band Members, some of DMR’s other books that highlight classic Sword & Sorcery fiction, how D&D has changed over the years, and a lot more. I’ve included some links to a couple of the books and songs we specifically mentioned below (the books include affiliate links).
Watch the video. Download the podcast. Watch it on my YouTube channel. Join in the conversation.
Books
Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game
Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar Boxed Set
Corum: Prince in the Scarlet Robe by Michael Moorcock
Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock
Music
Led Zeppelin’s Fantasy Influences
Veteran of the Psychic Wars by Blue Öyster Cult
Astronomy by Blue Öyster Cult
EF Theme by Electric Frankenstein
Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath
