I'm so unbelievably excited to announce I'm launching a new reader-funded, worker-owned TTRPG outlet with
@lincodega
and
@chasewrites
.
Please subscribe and support us so we can make this fever dream of sustainable TTRPG journalism a lasting reality
Hi, We’re Rascal, a new, independent, reader-supported, worker-owned outlet for journalism about TTRPGs, actual plays, and the people who make them.
We strive to sustainably publish compelling, deeply-reported, and fearlessly honest journalism
We’re also a little cheeky.
1st: Support Striking Actors and Writers
2nd: This show has brought me a lot of joy in a time when very little has been able to do that. To everyone at
@dimension20show
thank you for what you bring to the world
3rd: If you like queer Actual Play go watch
@TransplanarRPG
NOW
We're about to see a massive escalation of dehumanizing propoganda against Iranians (which has been around for decades).
Remember, people are not their governments. People all across the globe just want to enjoy their lives with people they care about.
D&D and actual play spurred an Iranian tabletop community. Journalist
@Nima_Dabirian
shows how Western influence and political tensions have produced a unique culture of play in Iran
I've updated this article to include
@dimension20show
's statement that they will opt out of dynamic pricing
This indicates a massive shift in the the live entertainment industry. Now its clear artists of ANY size can opt out Ticketmaster/Live Nation's predatory pricing structure
.
@dimension20show
's live show at
@TheGarden
is the latest event to encounter Ticketmaster's Dynamic Pricing, with some tickets reaching nearly $2500.
Can artists opt out of the predatory pricing model if they want access to the world's most famous venues?
Now more than ever, take care of the people in your community. Offer concrete financial support if you can, donate to community fridges and food pantries.
Even just having a real conversation. Houseless people are people and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect
BREAKING: The Supreme Court has just ruled 6-3 that it is legal to criminalize homelessness.
The Court sided with an Oregon town that made it illegal to camp in public, overturning a decades long precedent that says criminalizing homelessness is cruel and unusual punishment.
This is so fucked up.
Speaking as a Jew, a CRIT award nominee, and a human being — Zionism is a plague on all of our souls and this act of political intimidation is despicable.
Free Palestine until it's backwards.
This is extremely difficult on us, as we navigate the situation that we are finding ourselves in.
Updates as to what any physical event will look like will come at a later date, until then:
I got the chance to sit down with
@agbeardsley
about Fantasy High Junior Year, Chaotic Lesbian Representation™️, transitioning on camera, and if they've ever faked a roll on
@dimension20show
From Bisan on IG:
“I’ve spent my whole life in Gaza and I’ve never felt hope like now. Magical feelings running in my veins.”
Students - the whole world is watching. And you’re inspiring us all
Don’t stop. Never back down.
A
#FreePalestine
in our lifetime.
I got a chance to sit down with
@BrennanLM
to chat about
@dimension20show
's meta-coming of age story Fantasy High Junior Year, the evolution of actual play, and what his hopes for the future of the medium area
As an AP critic I'm living for this discussion
As a journalist, please for the love of god, link to the original story so my good man Charlie Hall can keep writing about stuff like this
SO glad to see that they made this statement, are maintaining their transparency, and are planning to stop dynamic pricing for this show and all future shows.
This is how you do it.
A thought I'm having Re: Dimension 20 D&D violence discourse
I wonder how much of the current movement away from fantasy violence stems from exponential rise in real world violence people are now being exposed to
In February, the organizer of Games for Gaza tweeted that they'd been ghosted by after raising $365K.
Speaking with a number of charity bundle organizers revealed this is a consistent pattern from the platform.
Fuck TERFS.
Fuck Transphobes.
Fuck Super Straight.
If you align yourself with any of these labels or beliefs, with as little respect possible, fuck right off my feed.
BREAKING: SAG-AFTRA members are about to vote on a Video Game strike authorization.
After a year of negotiation
@sagaftra
says the major video game companies have failed to address the needs of actors involved.
So they're calling for a second simultaneous strike.
The lack of clarity from Gen Con about whether or not they forced the CRIT awards to cancel their event and why is incredibly disheartening.
According to Omega Jones, their option was to step down voluntarily, or be banned from future Gen Cons.
Here's what we do know:
Monday June 24, the CRIT Awards announced they cancelled their ceremony at Gen Con due to "safety concerns" amid online harassment from Zionists. So far neither Gen Con or the CRIT Awards have offered definitive answers. Read for the full timeline:
(TW ED)
Neurodivergent friends,
Due to a number of factors I have a severe difficulty getting myself to eat at all. What are some low-effort, low-cost meals you would suggest? (I have no dietary restrictions aside from red meat)
Did a little write up about how this
@dimension20show
auction is different.
Corporations are bad, people can be good. Thank you
@dropout
and for being the kind of people you say you are.
And thank you
@RichardHPerry
for your lovely statement.
Ceasefire Now. Free Palestine.
Auctioning off minis for charity is nothing new for
@dimension20show
, but donating 100% of the profits to
@ThePCRF
is a massive difference from previous auctions.
Capitalism is the bad guy. But
@dropout
is proving that companies can do good.
We'll make a more official announcement next week, but the contracts have been signed, and I'm so excited to say that the
@rascal_news
team is expanding!
We've brought on Caelyn Ellis and Thomas Manuel (of
@yesindiedpod
) for a 3-Month Rascal Fellowship!
Also, trans and queer people, this goes for us too.
If you have an all trans or all queer game, that doesn't make it excusable to have an all white table. If anything it makes it MORE important to bring in QTBIPOC.
White queers don't get a pass. Do better.
Heads up. If you invite me to your AP, the first thing I always ask is "who else is playing?" If it's all white people, it's a no from me. It's the easiest thing to cultivate a diverse table, there are way too many talented BIPOC in the space for you to be asking me before them.
I'm (slowly) working on a piece rn about TTRPGs and Sex Work.
If you are in the TTRPG/AP space and do sex work (especially if they overlap) DM or email me!
Priority to sex workers of color and trans sex workers, though all experiences are valuable!
I got the opportunity to write about how TTRPGs can help us imagine new ways of being and relating to ourselves and each other
Thank you to
@byConnieChang
@jdragsky
@strautmask
and
@Dare2Dreamrpg
for your beautiful and thoughtful contributions
As we're preparing for Gen Con, a reminder about how Covid has impacted the TTRPG ecosystem and how precautions (or lack thereof) impact us all.
If you're going to Gen Con, please wear a mask.
If you were working with any of the WoTC offices in Brazil, please reach out. I'd love to know more about what your experience has been like as they cease operations
We are making the difficult decision to halt Portuguese product later this year.
We will continue to release D&D products in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish.
I got to chat with
@vornietom
about
@dimension20show
, the dedication to craft it takes to be a good actual play performer, and the importance of asking your friends for help
In case no one has told you yet today:
Your perspective is important.
That story you're telling? No one else can tell it but you.
You deserve to be heard, and even more, the world will be better for having listened.
So...
Due to matters I cannot legally speak on, I am currently looking for work.
Ethical writing jobs preferred, though those seem hard to come by these days.
Orion is such a brilliant person with such a unique perspective on this medium and this industry as a whole
It was genuinely such an honor to get to chat with them (via email)
A year after their departure from
@dimension20show
, former D20 Creative Director Orion D Black reflects on their work with the show, their influence on actual play, and whether they'll ever return to TTRPGs
Wonders of the First's AI art is only the tip of the iceberg. $1.25 million in funding, a Kickstarter cancellation, and likely brigading bans, all in the name of creating the collector’s perfect card game. Or so one Web3 evangelist says.
Hey friends.
While you're enjoying 4/20, remember the hundreds of thousands of people of color incarcerated for low-level cannabis crimes while rich white people make billions of dollars off of its newly legalized status in many states.
No one is free until we all are.
I wrote a 3500 report into what's going on with the
@dimension20show
Madison Square Garden live show, why tickets reached such astronomical prices, the history of
@Ticketmaster
and
@LiveNation
's monopoly over the live entertainment industry, and of course...The Discourse
.
@dimension20show
's live show at
@TheGarden
is the latest event to encounter Ticketmaster's Dynamic Pricing, with some tickets reaching nearly $2500.
Can artists opt out of the predatory pricing model if they want access to the world's most famous venues?
If any TTRPG companies want to help us add essential voices/perspectives to our contributorship, we are going to be launching sponsored fellowship programs to help foster the careers of new (BIPOC and non-western) journalists in the space
Hit us up if you want to be involved
@lilithttrpg
@rascal_news
Yes! This is actually something we're very specifically aware of and attempting to rectify as soon as we possibly can. (once we have funds) We have plans to foster a fellowship program and a contributor program where we are going to prioritize writers of color/non-US/EU writers
If you are a tabletop creator who is currently affected by the climate catastrophe in the US Southeast (or anywhere else in the world) please reach out
Not a joke: true accountability and restorative justice are genuinely the only path towards a world that isn't based in carceral, punitive violence.
If we can't do that, what exactly is it that we're fighting for? To make a new world that's exactly the same as the old one?
I'm doing so much work, and yet somehow it never feels like enough, so I tracked how many articles
@rascal_news
has published since we launched...
Between staff and contributors, we've published ~230 articles, and posted ~500 press releases, all in 7 and a half months
Unfortunately Bringing this back around as Milton now is set to make landfall.
Especially want to hear about people's experience of community and government support, or if you own a business impacted by the storms
If you are a tabletop creator who is currently affected by the climate catastrophe in the US Southeast (or anywhere else in the world) please reach out
Gonna be vulnerable on main: I constantly feel behind with everything going on in this space. As a journalist, I feel like I'll never be able to do anyone justice and as I continue to get more burnt out and fall further behind, I am just more likely to disappoint people
I really tried to like it. I really really tried.
This article is my first critique in which I feel like an old timey critic, smoking a cigarette and saying "Theatre's dead, kid."
Dungeons & Dragons' first off-Broadway show, The Twenty Sided Tavern, promises an interactive LARP and delivers an underwhelming and overstimulating escape room experience. With dice! And alcohol!
Okay folks, to distract me from the overwhelming and inescapable dread, pitch me why I should watch your actual play for some of my upcoming reviews/interviews
I'm really working to de-center North American/European voices in my Tabletop/Actual Play coverage! But I don't know what I don't know so...
If you are/know of artists, designers, shows, etc from other places around the globe, reply to this tweet or DM me!!
Had to switch to private cause a big "free speech" magazine made the Rascal piece about the Crit Awards the backbone of their own article reporting on "social justice" in the TTRPG space
With the season of ZineQuest coming to a close, hundreds—if not thousands—of new TTRPG projects are emerging into the world.
We made a (non-exhaustive) list of projects that would lend themselves well to being an actual play…
…or already have.
Well fuck me. After wearing a mask for 95% of the event, unmasking outdoors or to eat, & using a nasal spray multiple times a day I still got Covid. Round number 7/8.
This was inevitable I suppose for this event, but I wish it weren't.
If we spoke, you'll want to test.
Getting told by a PR person that I'm a "joy to work with" or having an interview subject say "that's a great question" is the journalistic equivalent of getting "pleasure to have in class" on a report card
I hope this article inspires more people from all over the world to pitch Rascal with stories about their local play culture.
I often question the value of writing about games during our current political moment, and then I read something like this and remember
D&D and actual play spurred an Iranian tabletop community. Journalist
@Nima_Dabirian
shows how Western influence and political tensions have produced a unique culture of play in Iran
Also, it's incredible to be getting responses to people trying to explain how I just don't understand Zionism. I am Jewish and was raised in the propoganda machine that Israel was my savior. I made an ISRAEL BOARD GAME as an assignment for school. I know what I'm talking about.
If you were introducing someone to Actual Play for the first time, and wanted to give them an entry point to the medium, would you show them?
Bonus points for one shots and stand-alone series (3-4 episodes max)
Oh Captain, My Captain! is
@adamsmedia
's new Descended from the Queen game, and the first standalone RPG published at
@simonschuster
@OneShotRPG
talks to Rascal about what traditional publishing could mean for the future of the tabletop industry
A UK Government-sponsored tabletop wargame predicted a second Trump Presidency would lead to World War III.
The game's design reveals that maybe the system they played has some fundamental flaws.
🧵On my biggest piece of developmental advice for authors:
To make your Big Payoff™️ feel earned, establish relevant elements in the beginning, and develop them throughout the middle.
Foreshadowing isn't "giving it away." It's setting groundwork for a satisfying resolution.
Also, if you're planning on producing an AP (preferably a limited series/one shot) or operate an AP network, DM me👀
I'm gonna be doing a bunch more reviews and AP crit in the new year to help our medium grow!!
Somehow, even with all the chaos that's happened in my life, I published 23 articles this year.
Next year, I'm gonna publish 10x that many.
Y'all aren't ready for what's about to happen
Voices in the Wood by
@TalesYetTold
is a surreal, fractured reflection of American violence at home and abroad.
Rascal
@RowanZeoli
explores the meaning of art and the importance of small, seemingly insignificant acts of personal rebellion.
If you haven't already, Now is the time to start finding the community mutual aid organizations in your neighborhood.
If things get really bad, community is the only way forward. It's the only way any of us will survive.
Federico is an incredible journalist doing some truly essential work covering the Latin American TTRPG community.
I'm so honored to call him a colleague and to help share the work he did last year investigating this program.
Read this y'all, it's a wild ride.
After D&D discontinued the Latin American Ambassadorship program, creators felt "exploited and used" by Wizards of the Coast.
The full interview with journalist
@FedericoMMuller
explains the entire situation with more depth:
Hey
#RevPit
friends! Just wanted to keep people updated.
Due to some personal life chaos and
@Write_Hive
prep, I won't be sending out requests until tomorrow.
You all have made my job so difficult in narrowing this down, and I honestly wish I could request everyone.
At
@rascal_news
we have a free to submit to, free to read public announcements section
It won't be enough to make up for the loss of Dicebreaker, but if you want to get the word out about your project email press
@rascal
.news
I encourage tabletop publishers to put in the work to reignite your relationships with our tabletop industry news sites. Those sites can only do much and if you aren't sending them their news or reaching out about coverage, they can only pull it from what you post. 4/6
I feel inspired to do TTRPG journalism - or news if you will - for the first time since being so forcefully disillusioned about the industry.
If you see some articles coming out soon about stuff that happened months ago, mind ya business.
Read them! But shhhh it's so timely
When I first saw this AP promoted, I figured there'd be nothing unique for me to write about.
2500 words later.
It's an ad for sure, but the creatives involves so clearly cared about making something worthwhile that questions what D&D and actual play can be for new audiences
THE LEGO D&D actual play special is exactly the crossover commercial you'd expect from the two toy companies.
The surprising part: it's actually really good.
Hello friends: I'm working on a piece for
@autostraddle
about gender and TTRPGs.
Tell me how TTRPGs helped you figure out your gender. Show me your favorite queer and trans designers and players. If there's a game where gender is a main aspect, point me to it!!!
Something I've been thinking about: How do we get money flowing into the AP space?
I have a few theories but I want to know what people's thoughts are. If you're an AP producer, how are you getting (or plan on getting) the cash in to make your program sustainable?
Getting to talk to Carlos about his Guiding Philosophies around
@dimension20show
has me really thinking about what the future of actual play can be for smaller creators
According to him, “It’s anyone's game right now.” And he's not wrong.
Rascal
@RowanZeoli
talks with
@Dimension20show
Creative Director
@CarlosCrits
about the future of actual play and how he's making sure D20 doesn’t “get lost in its own sauce" as it pushes the medium forward
Hey so uh, while I'm on lockdown because of a shitty centrist transphobe hit piece, it would be nice if you could tell me a piece of my writing that has impacted you or made a lasting impression would mean a lot right now
Alright, I'm still on hiatus with Rascal, but my brain will never stop.
If you consider yourself an AP reviewer/critic, DM me. I'm gonna be working on a piece and want some perspectives
With love, with kindness, with respect, the AP side of the industry is not going to evolve or improve unless we start welcoming outside reviews, critique and difficult conversations about what is and is not actually good, useful or entertaining to watch.
If there are any Haitian game designers or actual play performers out there, I'd love to a piece on you and your work to counter some of the bullshit, racist narratives going around
I'm so excited to be able to announce that I started today as a Staff Writer for
@watchtabletop
!!
I'm so excited to work with this incredible team to uplift the voices and art of marginalized folks within the community!
👀👀If I wasn't on your press list before...
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE if you produce an AP:
MAKE GOOD MEDIA KITS. It's the best way to get a journalist or critic to look at your work, because if the quality of the press release is this good, then the product itself is probably worth taking a look at
@RowanZeoli
@deadghostpro
I also put together media kits for the shows I make, so potential sponsors and advertisers have an easy way of understanding it.
Hi, We’re Rascal, a new, independent, reader-supported, worker-owned outlet for journalism about TTRPGs, actual plays, and the people who make them.
We strive to sustainably publish compelling, deeply-reported, and fearlessly honest journalism
We’re also a little cheeky.
From the moment Hamnah pitched this idea, I knew I wanted it on Rascal.
No other outlet would or could publish this piece, and I'm so honored to have facilitated a place for this type of radical thinking in our industry
Contributor
@lilithttrpg
explores the ways TTRPGs collide with the military industrial complex, even while tabletop positions itself as a vocally progressive industry
Voices in the Wood by
@TalesYetTold
is a surreal, fractured reflection of American violence at home and abroad.
Rascal
@RowanZeoli
explores the meaning of art and the importance of small, seemingly insignificant acts of personal rebellion.
Reading this article and currently being the starving 25-year-old really hit something deep
The people at
@dropout
and
@dimension20show
are the biggest inspiration out there for young creatives looking to change the world for the better.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
For the morning crew:
If you have raised money for a charitable cause through itch and have had complications in getting the money to the org, lack of communication, or other issues email me at Rowan
@rascal
.news or DM me for my Signal
The stories I'm hearing privately about other experiences with itch, itch's payout system, and itch charity payouts are really pissing me off. This is clearly a pattern and it's fucked up and people are understandably hesitant/unable to speak publicly about it.
What is your favorite actual play one shot?
I think self-contained stories are an easy way to introduce people to the form, and have a good range of tones and styles. They just usually get less attention in the AP media cycle
If anyone has an thoughts about how a small, four person, worker-owned, reader-funded outlet could ethically make money to pay ourselves a living wage....that would be super helpful right now
This is why you post links friends. It's not much compared to a site like Polygon's overall traffic, but click throughs say more to The People Who Make Decisions to justify this kind of writing than insular discourse
Support journalism! It's important!
As an AP critic I'm living for this discussion
As a journalist, please for the love of god, link to the original story so my good man Charlie Hall can keep writing about stuff like this
Sooo genuinely, getting genuinely engaged feedback on my AP criticism (even and especially with people who disagree) makes me so happy. Like wow, people want to think critically about the media they consume...it just gives me some hope