“People sometimes feel embarrassed of acting in Arabic, so they try to act in English. I'm trying to encourage them to roleplay in Arabic, but sometimes [even] I feel a little bit shy." Members of an Iraqi tabletop club discuss growing, teaching, and the oddities of RPG cultural barriers.

“In those days, the only way I had to work out the disagreement was to make a game where we could disagree." Emily Zhu (朱保敬) tells us about the cyberpunk wuxia of Ten Thousand Days For The Sword, and why genre alone fails to capture the RPG's belief that violence can be beautiful and liberatory.

“In those days, the only way I had to work out the disagreement was to make a game where we could disagree." Emily Zhu (朱保敬) tells us about the cyberpunk wuxia of Ten Thousand Days For The Sword, and why genre alone fails to capture the RPG's belief that violence can be beautiful and liberatory.

Today marks the publication of the final installment of the #Over/Under diaries. All 28 entries, recalling 30 days of an intense 24/7 emergent play-by-post @mothership.bsky.social-inspired larp laid over a megagame, is available to read, for free, on Rascal.

#over/under Day 30: Yesterday, Over/Under ended. Today we sign each other's yearbooks, open up AMAs, and many go to new play-by-post Discord games. All of us pull away, slowly, from the Dream. A bittersweet end to a game that became exactly what the players wanted it to be.

#over/under Day 29: The Dream comes to an end... after nearly 30 days of scheming, backstabbing, assassinations, cover-ups, and selling more sycorax than we knew what to do with, the game is over. The Discord shuts down. The channels go dark. And it ends, like all comedies, with a wedding.

“People sometimes feel embarrassed of acting in Arabic, so they try to act in English. I'm trying to encourage them to roleplay in Arabic, but sometimes [even] I feel a little bit shy." Members of an Iraqi tabletop club discuss growing, teaching, and the oddities of RPG cultural barriers.

This is hands down one of our funniest episodes, and it's because Thomas and Caelyn relentlessly hound me for over the littlest things (complimentary).

I wrote a thing for Rascal about YZE games. Came out pretty good I think!

Rascal Radio Hour brings back three members of the team to discuss licensed games, the Neopets RPG's seeming death, and ribald bits about a certain Nazi-killing Blazkowicz.

#over/under Day 28: Otso's scheming, prophesizing, and general meddling pays off: cybercowboy Big Dog Beefstink proposed to Solarian Church boss, Metropolitan Sampsa. The church begins one last big push for conversions as we near the end of the game, less than 24 hours away.

Curse of Strahd was published ten years ago, and I6: Ravenloft thirty-three years before that. Why is this classic adventure so influential, and why does it endure?

Contributor Paul Beakley takes the long view on the Year Zero Engine and RPGs that rest on the crossroads of resource management and pushing one's luck.

#over/under Day 27: The new Pontiff ruffles some feathers, but Otso and Sampsa keep everyone calm. Otso asks Beef is he wants to marry Metropolitan Sampsa in exchange for a cardinalship, and he says yes. But there's a complication: Beef already has a girlfriend.

Contributor Paul Beakley takes the long view on the Year Zero Engine and RPGs that rest on the crossroads of resource management and pushing one's luck.

#over/under Day 26: A new Pontiff is elected. The Dream Foundation is finally dissolved with the help of a cardinal who snuck out of conclave. And the Bratva is revealed to have been behind the death of Union Prez Sanyang, at Union Secretary Thatch's request.

Three stories of licensing media for tabletop RPGs -- and the people who make it happen -- shed light on this increasingly popular practice.

#over/under Day 25: After a successful Vote of No Confidence, eighteen cardinals head into conclave; a narrative sequestration where they must argue, bribe, and vote for the next Pontiff. The Dream Foundation is forcibly dismantled. Otso begins to hear wedding bells.

Hasbro's CEO seems allergic to mentioning Dungeons & Dragons in public unless it helps his brand or attracts outside studios. Forgotten or ignored, it leaves the venerable RPG difficult to discuss.

The latest episode of the Rascal Reading Club is now out! We round out our discussion of Apocalypse World with readers' responses and input from guests Lin Codega and Luke Jordan. www.rascal.news/talkback-apo...

Rebellion Unplugged is bringing one of the oldest RPGs bang up to date with Tunnels & Trolls: A New Age.

Our second crossword will wyrm its way into your brain. Stop dragon your feet, and get in here!

"Messy lesbians, toxic power dynamics, giant robots fighting eldritch horrors, oppression, and hard choices." Impressions of Isabelle Ruebsaat's Girl Frame, with some insights from the designer herself.

The Neopets Team claims Geekify Inc. broke the terms of its licensing agreement by publishing a public playtest document in February, which led to criticism, ridicule, and one internal allegation of payment problems on the design team.

Children of Time: The Roleplaying game, from @rowanrookanddecard.bsky.social, adapts @aptshadow.bsky.social's book series into a tabletop RPG spanning both tense moments and yawning eons. You won't have to include the uplifted spiders.

Children of Time: The Roleplaying game, from @rowanrookanddecard.bsky.social, adapts @aptshadow.bsky.social's book series into a tabletop RPG spanning both tense moments and yawning eons. You won't have to include the uplifted spiders.

The Neopets Team claims Geekify Inc. broke the terms of its licensing agreement by publishing a public playtest document in February, which led to criticism, ridicule, and one internal allegation of payment problems on the design team.

"Messy lesbians, toxic power dynamics, giant robots fighting eldritch horrors, oppression, and hard choices." Impressions of Isabelle Ruebsaat's Girl Frame, with some insights from the designer herself.

Our second crossword will wyrm its way into your brain. Stop dragon your feet, and get in here!

The crew is joined on the podcast by @joeparlock.bsky.social from new TCG website @boosterpacksite.bsky.social. They talk about the cardboard-exclusive side of the tabletop hobby. There's plenty discussion of the week's news and what's hit our table recently, as well!

An update on where Rascal stands regarding finances, site redesign, the next zine, and more as the team heads into year three.

#over/under Day 24: The cardinals of the Solarian Church issue a Vote of No Confidence against Pontiff Kuutar. As Stratemeyer is disassembled (again) Otso prepares for the Conclave, where 18 cardinals will be narratively sequestered to one Discord Channel until they elect a new pope.

Wizards of the Coast has officially settled on 5.5e as the name for the 2024 update of Dungeons & Dragons, as it updates labels on D&D Beyond for clarity. Caelyn shares her thoughts on the change and why it took so long.

#over/under Day 23: The Jovankabots reveal their evil plans, and Otso finally gives in and agrees to an assassination -- the only time in the game when he agrees to have a player be forcibly deoxed. Beef starts a campaign for Cardinal, but he doesn't realize what it will cost him.

“First off, I don’t know what a ‘Nintendo’ is." The creator of Pokémon-meets-OSR game, Into the Oddish, is serious about parody and won't let legal threats cramp creativity.

#over/under Day 22: Jovanka Diouf, former CEO of the Stratemeyer Syndicate comes back with a vengeance, blurring narrative and mechanic as she attempts to revive her faction with new branding and under the control of the AI-hivemind, Monarch. Otso sighs. Leaving enemies alive is a delaying tactic.

More than just a collection of tools and advice, How to GM Romance tackles the perennial (and often taboo) issue of flirting, dating, and sex at the RPG table.

For the tabletop folks, designers and publishers, especially if you're not based in the US - do you have thoughts about attending Gen Con later in July/Aug, given the state of geopolitical affairs? Would you be attending, or would you be giving it a miss? Let me know! [email protected]

#over/under Day 18: In a desperate bid to prevent war, the military leader of the Bratva, Vor Veljko Tamunafili, elects to die in ritual combat. Otso arrives in the shestroyka to witness the death of the man he loves. He becomes the only man to leave the shestroyka twice.

Crossposted from our friends at @boardgamewire.bsky.social: Ryan Dancey's comments about AI's potential in board games cost him his job and fits into a longer history of the former Alderac COO shooting from the proverbial hip.

Four members of @kickstarterunited.org who played an active role in the November 2025 labor strike have been laid off, with one member forced out of the bargaining unit. The union has filed unfair labor practice charges against Kickstarter, alleging anti-union retaliation.

#over/under Day 17: The union president is killed in what the Dream is told was an "internal dispute." Veljko remains at the sanctuary for a few more hours before the conflict between Tempest and the Bratva pulls him away. Otso gets Beef stupid high while the Dream teeters on the brink of war.

A little late, but D&D Beyond's team makes good on promises of increased transparency with a development roadmap and reprioritization.

#over/under Day 16: After a whirlwind of activity yesterday, denizens of the Dream attempt to find peace, stability, solid ground. Hard to find on a space station, but in the Church's garden, Otso reunites with an old flame. Too bad he's a violent cyber-Orlok with a penchant for suicidal ideation.

Defending everything you love from a kaiju incursion is more fun and dramatic with a plus one. Home - Mech x Kaiju's interesting dramatic engine falls a little flat in solo play.

Explore the art and artists that created Trudvang — from the children's illustrations of John Bauer, one of Sweden's most recognizable painters, to the work of modern fantasy icon, Paul Bonner. www.rascal.news/the-dark-art-of-dragonbane-trudvang/

#over/under Day 15: The game leans heavy on roleplaying as tensions heat between the Union and the Mob. Otso has conversations that create ripple effects throughout the game, and the game ramifications of story coalesce around a throwaway line in a background barfight between NPCs.

Explore the art and artists that created Trudvang — from the children's illustrations of John Bauer, one of Sweden's most recognizable painters, to the work of modern fantasy icon, Paul Bonner. www.rascal.news/the-dark-art-of-dragonbane-trudvang/

#over/under Day 14: A calm day on the Dream meant the Bosses got to have some fun. For some of us - Otso, Sampsa, Sylvana - that meant going to a gallery opening and blowing absurd amounts of money on mustachioed paintings. For the Union, it meant plotting to undermine our new, tentative peace.

In the latest Rascal 7 series, Luke Jordan talks about their new game — a Hadestown-inspired mythohistorical drama. www.rascal.news/heaven-in-the-dust-sees-greek-gods-suffer-very-human-tragedies/