Tales From the Tavern Interview With Kalum
NOTE: the opinions expressed in interviews are those of the guests, not necessarily those of shadomain.com.
Today we talk with Kalum, Author of "Paris Gondo - The Life-Saving Magic of Inventorying" and "Rosewood Abbey". He is also the host/producer of multiple TTRPG podcasts under (proudly London-based) The Rolistes banner;
- The Rolistes Podcast
- Café Rolistes
- The Rolistes Present
- The RPG Academy Film Studies
You can find Kalum at:
https://twitter.com/rolistespo
https://www.facebook.com/Rolistespod
https://www.instagram.com/rolistespod
https://bsky.app/profile/rolistespod.bsky.social
https://dice.camp/@Rolistespod
Let's hear from Kalum!
What is your favorite type of music, or favorite group/artist?
I have rather eclectic tastes. I like to listen to music I'm not necessarily familiar with. I used to attend a music festival once a year (Werchter or Pukkelpop) to discover artists. Nowadays, I get this through musical podcasts like It Is What It Is, Beats in Space, or Kaorin. It results in rather chaotic playlists on my Spotify account. I should listen to more happens and do deep dives in individual artist discographies but I haven't gotten around to it.
If you created a TTRPG about anything, what would it be like?
I created two (three if you count the one page one that I haven't even playtested). Paris Gondo - The Life-Saving Magic of Inventorying: is what if Marie Kondo but for Murder Hoboes? It's more a story game than a TTRPG. I'm very proud about how well it works and how successful sessions I've run. Rosewood Abbey: this a monastic mysteries TTRPG set round the 11th and 12th century. It's inspired by The Name of the Rose novel and movie adaptation. The system is built on Brindlewood Bay. The one page RPG I haven't playtested yet is "Don't Call Me Angel!" It's a hack of Jason Statham's Big Vacation. You play the entourage of Ariana Grande who, after playing her first Vampire the Masquerade session, is convinced that David Boreanaz is a real vampire.
You can create a creature by making any real world object, plant, animal sentient. What would it be?
As I said above, I like my music listening being curated for me. A vinyl player who request albums based on the mood of people in the room could be fun.
Have you ever felt like an outsider in the TTRPG space? Describe if you can.
Like with my music taste, I'm quite a butterfly flying between things so I tend to have a taste of everything rather than stick around with specific niche/communities. I find this type of approach was made more alienating as broad social media and forum collapsed and are replaced by Discord servers. Discord servers tend IMO to be specialised and almost exclusive. Communities there aren't great unless you stick around and post there regularly.
Anything else you'd like us to know:
I just came back from a travel. I visited many historical museums and I find TTRPG doesn't engage enough with history beyond a couple of overexposed, yet poorly engaged with, periods. TTRPG is an interesting way to engage with history, artefacts and pieces of art found in museums and old cities. The French TTRPG Nephilim engaged a lot with this sort of things and remains one of my favourite settings.
Thanks, Kalum!
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