Gaming with The Box of Delights

·54 min·5 clips

Jim Moon reveals a new Box of Delights role-playing game, exploring how John Masefield's Christmas classic transforms into a tabletop adventure.

The episode begins with Jim Moon introducing the festive theme and announcing a review of The Box of Delights role-playing game. He explains that the game was released for the 40th anniversary of the BBC TV adaptation and is available in PDF, softcover, and hardback formats from DriveThruRPG. Moon describes the book's physical qualities, noting its full-color printing and luxurious feel. He discusses the artwork by Tony Hough, which draws on the original novel rather than the TV series, leading to different character portrayals like Chubby Joe with fair hair. The host then delves into the game's origins, tracing it back to author Jonathan Green's early work on Fighting Fantasy gamebooks in the 1990s. Green later created the Ace Gamebooks series, which includes titles like Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland and Twas the Krampus Night Before Christmas. Moon reads the back blurb of the Krampus gamebook, which involves saving Santa Claus from the Christmas devil. He notes that this gamebook inspired the Twas the Role-Playing Game Before Christmas, released in 2020. The episode details the Ace Gamebooks system, which uses attributes like Agility, Combat, and Endurance, and can be played with dice or playing cards. Moon explains that the Twas RPG features a scene-based adventure structure, breaking the story into individual encounters to allow player flexibility. He mentions that the Box of Delights RPG started as a supplement for the Twas RPG but became a standalone book due to the epic scope of Masefield's story. The host reads the game's description, which follows Kay Harker's battle against Abner Brown to protect the magical box. Moon shares praise for the game from scholar Dr. Philip W. Errington and actor Devin Stanfield, who played Kay Harker in the BBC series. He discusses the game's rules, character creation, and magic system, which includes spells like Snowball. Moon highlights how the book includes maps and extra details not in the original novel, such as Abner Brown's motivation. He concludes by recommending the game for festive play and mentions his Patreon playthrough of the Krampus gamebook.

As heard by us

A festive deep dive into a Box of Delights gamebook, with art history, design nerve, and seasonal affection.

Jim Moon settles into a festive, fireside mode, using a late-arriving Box of Delights gamebook to stretch a Christmas tradition that already includes the BBC serial and, often, Masefield's novel.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

For when you want your Christmas listening to come with Box of Delights lore and gamebook illustration talk.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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