Episode 233: It’s Peter Framptons All the Way Down
March 17th, 2017 | Robin
The Gaming Hut goes abstract as we discuss metagaming.
At the behest of Patreon backer Vana Stillwater, the Food Hut hosts a look at culinary crimes and scams.
Then we paw through the contents of Ken’s Bookshelf, as acquired during his annual raid on the Bay Area.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Wish to introduce innocent children to the horror of the Mythos, while remaining on budget? Atlas Games is here to affordably twist young minds with a buy two, get one free deal on Ken’s Mini Mythos line of childrens’ book parodies: Where the Deep Ones Are, Goodnight Azathoth, Cliffourd the Big Red God, and Antarctic Express. 
Want to plunge headlong into Lovecraftian mystery, but lack a gaming group? Want to introduce a friend or loved one to the roleplaying hobby? GUMSHOE One-2-One has come to your rescue! Find this new system by some guy named Robin D. Laws, in the line’s flagship title, Cthulhu Confidential. Now pre-ordering at the Pelgrane Press store. 
Do intervals between episodes plunge you into Hite withdrawal? Never fear! his brilliant pieces on parasitic gaming, alternate Newtons, Dacian werewolves and more now lurk among the sparkling bounty of The Best of FENIX Volumes 1-3, from returning sponsors Askfageln. Yes, it’s Sweden’s favorite RPG magazine, now beautifully collected. Warning: not in Swedish. 
John Scott Tynes’ Puppetland is ready to knock the stuffing out of a game store near you in its gorgeous new full-color hardcover edition. Join the good folks at Arc Dream in battling the horrific forces of Punch the Maker-Killer! 
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Books on Ken’s shelf this time around:
The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon, by Stephanie Dalley
Hellenistic Science and Culture in the Last Three Centuries B.C., by George Sarton
Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean, by Edward Kritzler
Ada, the Enchantress of Numbers, by Betty Alexandra Toole
The Jesuit and the Skull: Teilhard de Chardin, Evolution, and the Search for Peking Man, by Amir D. Aczel
A Century Less a Dream: Selected Criticism on H.P. Lovecraft, ed by Scott Connors
The Face of the Earth and Other Imaginings, by Algernon Blackwood AND Incredible Adventures, by Algernon Blackwood
36 Faces: The History, Astrology, and Magic of the Decans, by Austin Coppock
Chinese Alchemy, by Jean Cooper
The Language of the Corpse, by Cody Dickerson
The Book of Grimoires: The Secret Grammar of Magic, by Claude Lecouteux
The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet, ed. by David Rankine
Long-Lost Friend by John Georg Hohman, Complete Annotated Edition by Daniel Harms
The Magical Battle of Britain: The War Letters of Dion Fortune, ed by Gareth Knight
Children of Cain: A Study of Modern Traditional Witches, by Michael Howard
Hi Ken,
The answer to the hanging gardens location on the Seven Wonders list may lie in the book The Seven Wonders of the World by John & Elizabeth Romer.
This cites Philo of Byzantium’s list of seven which includes the Walls of Babylon and Hanging Gardens with no specified location. Philo has no Pharos on his list. Romer argues how later chroniclers added the Pharos, then combined those two entries into the Hanging Gardens at Babylon.
All the best
Phil
Meta gaming replaces the terms min-maxing or “munchkin”. My definition is playing the game rather than your character.
“We all have our own chicken thresholds”. I need to find a way to turn that into a meme or something. 🙂