This Dungeon is Alive!

Gelatinous Cube is back in FULL EFFECT for a discussion of the pitfalls and potentials of living dungeons. Following a prompt from our lovely listener Jake Weaver, Adam leads us as we tour beastly bellies, disturb micro-ecologies, and welcome the grotesque.

Watch where you step dear listener, it's extremely squelchy in the dungeon this week. 

This Thing is Weird!

Hope you left some space guys, it's time for pudding!

We focus on the Weird in RPG's this week, as we contemplate Adam's bizarre chaos-demon confection The Whirlywhip. What makes a thing weird, and how can this quality enliven our games? 

Then we trip over to the lovely folks from the OSR RPG group on Facebook for more weird and wonderful happenings. 

Full encounter here!

We are once again heavily laden with references. Our Gelatinous Cube is sadly absent this week but here is a piece they wrote about the work of Jim Woodring.

This particular encounter brought to mind the excellent advice of Arnold K to "attack every part of the character sheet," and you can find some of his thoughts on the principle here.

And finally what's all this about Weird Materialism and the OSR? Here's Deep Under Stone on the subject. 

This Prize Pig Talks!

We're in double figures!

For Gelatinous Cube #10 we're e-i-e-i-o'ing our way through Adam's dark fairytale encounter "This Prize Pig Talks!"

We discuss why the weird is privileged over the uncanny in RPG creation, horror in the familiar, and motivating players through moral appeals. Plus over preparation and what do if your players sidestep an encounter than you've spent an age crafting.

Then we hurry over to a baleful dinner party, where the Gelatinous Cube is about to serve up a very talkative fish.

Full encounters here!

This Egg has a Fairy in it!

Time to take a trip back to Dolmenwood, as Adam unveils a very jaunty pub garden in "This Egg has a Fairy in it!"

We discuss whimsy in RPGs, micro-sandboxes, the magic of taverns and the pleasures and perils of roleplaying downtime.

And as for the cube? A merry little egg companion who may help or hinder, and a very mean birdwatcher to follow it. 

Full encounters here!

This Worm is Cosmic!

Obligatory Dune reference!




Episode 6 covers Adam's encounter "This Worm is Cosmic!" Get ready for monsters-as-traps, zero gravity made simple, and the expansive possibilities of prog rock fantasy.

And once we've finished covering worms in space we get to grips with worms in time, as the Gelatinous Cube presents a ride through psychedelic chronology.

Full encounters here!

This Backroom is a Trap!

What's behind door number 4?

Why, it's Adam's encounter, "This Backroom is a Trap!" For this unhomely exploration we discuss evil geometry, horror in TTRPG's, and some very nasty decor.

The Gelatinous Cube gets creepy too, presenting a scenario which weighs stunning revelations against the risk of becoming lost forever.

Not sufficiently unnerved? You can get stuck into the backrooms here, or take a turn through Charlotte Perkins Gilman's troubling short story The Yellow Wallpaper. 

Full encounters here!

This Daimon is Drunk!

For our second act we discuss Adam's encounter, "This Daimon is Drunk!" 

We talk daimons, decisions, and drunken quests, as we visits Necrotic Gnome's beautiful Dolmenwood setting and happen upon a very intoxicated guide. 

Then over to the Gelatinous Cube, who has a hell of an addition this week; with a huge, soul-puking, devil.   

Full encounters here!