Episode 16: Monsters, Monsters!

Welcome to the mash…the Monster Mash? Your trio of Halflings (with a surprise 4th joining the cast) delve into an unusual little RPG of the mid-1970s called Monsters! Monsters! by Ken St. Andre. The author of Tunnels & Trolls decided to give the enemies of heroic parties their own side of the game, and we give you the goods….and the bads, and the uglies!

No Crones were harmed in the making of this podcast, not even the young ones!

Links mentioned in this show:

Check This Artifact Kickstarter by Jim Wampler
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/checkthisartifact/check-this-artifact

Monsters! Monsters! at DTRPG
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/84227/MonstersMonsters

Monsters! Monsters! hardcopy at Flying Buffalo, Inc.
http://www.flyingbuffalo.com/mm.htm

Swords of Jordoba (Liz & Jim Actual Play)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLptTCxApuRIinLEHii08sDQxW-V2V3d4U

Don’t forget to drop us an email at saveforhalfpodcast(at)gmail.com to give your opinions of the show!

Be sure to check out our forums at:

Save for Half at Original D&D Forums
http://odd74.proboards.com/board/77/save-half-podcast

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http://www.osrgaming.org/forums/index.php?board=37.0

6 Responses to “Episode 16: Monsters, Monsters!”

  1. Ken St. Andre says:

    It’s always very entertaining to me to read or hear speculations about how and why certain things happened or were written in stuff I did over 40 years ago. Generally, I’m laughing because that’s simply not how it was or what was happening. For example, I meant the whole thing about monster attitudes toward doing things was meant to be taken as sarcasm and satire about the movies of the time. Dragons never abducted ugly women in the tales or movies. Still, by 1985 or so I would never have said 2/3 of the things I said back in 1976. All I can say is my attitudes were pretty normal for the time and nobody called me on them then, not even Liz. I have learned a lot and changed a lot since then.

  2. Jon Hancock says:

    Always good to hear one of Ken’s games being discussed; and while I could quibble over a few points here and there I thought you generally covered it pretty well. It is a game of its time in many ways, but on the other hand it plays perfectly well today: I ran a very enjoyable session a few years ago featuring a party made up of a Lamia, a goblin, a dark elf, a troll and a Shoggoth called Benny, the recording of which is in the Whartson Hall archives here https://tekeli.li/whartson-hall/navCabdis1/Whartstock_2011_Monsters_Monsters.mp3

    M!M! is based on an earlier version of T&T, so by the time the best known T&T rolled around in 1979/80 a few rules had changed. The monster charisma system was revised, so that monsters got a regular score like other PCs (with a minus denoting that they were potentially terrifying monsters). The missile combat rules were also updated.

    As for comparing it with first edition T&T, you might already know but you can buy that edition in PDF. It’s fun and different in some interesting ways.

  3. Doctor Obscure says:

    I’m happy to hear that Jim is back!

  4. Hello Ken! Glad to hear your opinions and maybe when we cover T&T you wouldn’t mind coming onto a half show to discuss your design theories. I hate speculating on intent for a given game/rule, but all too often the authors are either unavailable or have passed on; this is a great exception to that rule!

    DM Mike

  5. BTW Jon… After we recorded this show Liz and I ordered a hardcopy of the rules from FBI. Plus one of my gaming group is threatening to run a MM game at this year’s North TX RPG Con. I hope so, and if we get to play in it we’ll give a breakdown on later the show of how it played.

    DM Mike

  6. I never played Monsters Monsters but it sounds similar to Tunnels and Trolls, very much a wink. Tunnels and Trolls Solo adventures were a mainstay of role playing for me. I loved them. As a D&D DM I didn’t get to play so much myself so I had a lot of fun, Buffalo Castle, Deathtrap Equalizer, Beyond the Silvered Pane, simply awesome. Great text and artwork. Not only that but they were ironic, funny, and worth plumbing for game ideas. The content and humour really struck a chord, much like Tegel Manor because we didn’t play entirely “seriously”. We played kind of like each session was an episode of Monty Python, with orc slaying.

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