Author: STIMBOT5000

Made of biscuits and pills

Gamifying the Multiverse – Moorcock & RPGs Part IX

We’re talking RPGs again, this time in the company of Tanya Floaker (Mum Chums, Lo! Thy Dread Empire, Solstice, Be Seeing You, a|state).

Along the way we’ll get into Tanya’s history with Moorcock and genre fiction, gaming in Thatcher’s Scotland, first steps into game design and the pending launch of their new Kickstarter for The Thunder Perfect Mind, launching 1st February 2026. If you’re interested in reading more, and even getting a hold of early drafts, check out Tanya’s itch.io page.

We’ll also look into what Tanya would do around the gamification of Michael Moorcock’s Multiverse, the 12-part comic series. I like it. I like it a lot.

In addition, friend of the show and long-standing patron Randall Gatlin calls in to talk about all of this Moorcock malarkey and reveals what may possibly be the coolest interaction with Mike and Linda I’ve yet come across.

Join us!

The New Worlds Fair

Joe Banks braves the radioactive zone to join me on the Ferris Wheel and discuss the 1975 album by Michael Moorcock and The Deep Fix – The New Worlds Fair – the 50th anniversary edition of which is now available via thinklikeakey.com.

Joe’s latest book – ROCK and ROLE: The Visionary Songs of Peter Hammill and Van der Graaf Generator – is available now, as is his prior book – Hawkwind: Days of the Underground: Radical Escapism in the Age of Paranoia.

The Jade Man’s Eyes

Derek AKA Imrryr joins me in Derry and Toms as we take a look at the Elric tale, The Jade Man’s Eyes. Initially published in 1973 in Flashing Swords 2 and as a standalone novella by Unicorn Press, this story would later be heavily revised and repackaged as part of the fix-up novel The Sailor on the Seas of Fate.

So plenty to look at, including unpronounceable names and this story’s key place in Elric lore.

Check out Derek’s music in their guise as Imrryr over on Ampwall and Bandcamp and pre-order their upcoming release Carver 4 Mission Report.

The Warlord of the Air – Part One

We’re back… we’ve crawled out of the ruins of our Christmas and New Year bottles to witness the fantastic world of 1973 through the eyes of Oswald Bastable.

Robert MacMillan is my co-pilot for this journey as we have to look up what things are and marvel over Moorcock’s invention of a genre that these days seems largely about gluing cogs to pith helmets, tea duels and “chap-hop”.

OR IS IT?

I don’t know tbh.

But Bastable’s journey from dependable Man of Empire to temporal adventurer starts here.

JOIN US!

Birthday Special 2025

Another year, another Birthday Special… our sixth!

It’s Mike’s birthday… it’s Phil’s birthday… it’s the podcast’s official state birthday… so what better than a silly, hastily assembled drunken quiz?

A chance for Loz to close the gap on Phil’s epic quiz streak as well as to introduce a wild card in the shape of a third contestant!

OK, fine. This wasn’t the actual intent, but best laid plans and all that. Also, Simon Perrins drops in to elaborate on his frankly incontestable assertion regarding a British cultural icon and their place in the Multiverse.

Simon is also responsible for the magnificent art for this episode, which is a pretty big clue if you’re British and over a certain age.

MOOOOR COCK-COCK-COCK refrain is from The Dewey Decibel System by BlöödHag 

BEHOLD… The Carousel of Doom… or joy (luck dependent)

The Ice Schooner – Part One

Miles is back in Derry & Toms as we tackle another 60s Moorcock classic… The Ice Schooner. Lots to talk about here, and some pearls to clutch too, as we visit one of Mike’s sweatiest rime-encrusted tales that, one way or another, remind us of our hometowns.

And we talk about Doctor Who and Star Trek a bit too.

JOIN US!

(and listen to the Casual Trek Podcast)

Ice Schooner art by Simon Perrins.

Halloween Special 2025 – SLUGS by Shaun Hutson

As voted for by our dear patrons, the subject for this year’s Halloween Special is SLUGS!

Shaun Hutson’s breakthrough best seller has been on the poll list for three or four years, but 2025 was its year. So, join Graham, Phil and me as we evaluate Shaun Hutson’s entry into that classic and most pulpy of British horror traditions, the Killer Critter novel. Also, we mull over whether four clefts are just too many, and get disappointed by our initially impressive socialist hero’s basic levels of competence.

Image by Simon Perrins!

Immortality Inc. by Robert Sheckley

Author and game designer Tone Milazzo joins me in Derry & Toms as we look at another work by the late, great Robert Sheckley, his first novel Immortality Inc.

Last time we talked about Sheckley with Derek, I had the distinct sense that we would be going back for more… and this turned out to be an apt choice, with this podcast being released during October, because it’s a Halloween episode by stealth!

Tone’s website is tonemilazzo.com and you can find out more there about his novels, Picking Up the Ghost and The Faith Machine, and his RPG The King in Giallo.

Bryan Talbot Part Two

Bryan Talbot returns to Derry and Toms to talk to about Alice in Sunderland, Grandville and his upcoming release, The Casebook of Stamford Hawksmoor – and we get a special guest appearance from Dr Mary Talbot too!

Also, James Robertson calls in to talk about his two decades and more working on Bryan’s website, being green in an increasingly grey world and all sorts of other stuff along the way.

My co-host for this ep was Tom Murphy, and thank goodness for Tom as all of my technology had half a foot in Earth 749.