Rascal.News

We are Rascal, an independent outlet dedicated to journalism focused on tabletop roleplaying games and the creators behind them. We are reader-supported and owned by our team, ensuring that our content reflects the interests of our community.

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Evil Hat announces crowdfunding plans for Blades in the Dark expansion

1 week ago | rascal.news | Lin Codega

tabletop — 5 min read This post is for paying subscribers only
Small tabletop creators already feeling squeezed by the Tariff Era

1 week ago | rascal.news | Chase Carter

culture — 6 min read Michael Addison felt like he dodged a bullet by 48 hours. The game designer and owner of Nerdy Pup Games had been waiting for multiple lines of tabletop games to process after sitting in US Customs for two weeks. He originally estimated paying $5,000 just to receive his games, using the (now obsolete) April 4th tariff affecting goods from China, but the chaotic implementation of Trump’s flailing economic demands worked in Addison’s favor. This time.
The Trans Rights TTRPG Bundle is about more than just the money

1 week ago | rascal.news | Lin Codega

Every year since 2022, game designer Rue Dickey has organized TTRPGS for Trans Rights, a charity drive that supports various state organizations working to advance transgender rights and provide safe spaces for queer folks. Working with Rina Amaranthine, a cultural consultant and mentorship program chair for the Rose Gauntlet Foundation, the two organizers collect donated games from designers and publishers, bundle (most of) them on itch.io, and sell them starting at $5.
The question of children in actual play

1 week ago | rascal.news | Adam Vitcavage

actual play — 6 min read The rise of social media influencers and content creators has opened new paths for people to express themselves and find new ways to connect with their communities. Many parents have gotten in on the action to create content that involves the whole family. A recent New York Times investigation by Jennifer Valentino-DeVries and Michael H.
Trauma Bonded By The Electric State

2 weeks ago | rascal.news | Chase Carter |Rowan Zeoli

culture — 8 min read Early in The Electric State’s runtime, Chris Pratt’s John D. Keats points to all of the food squirreled away in his desert bunker that isn’t fit to eat — the Masters of the Universe tie-in Zagnuts (in the original packaging), tidy rows of SPAM cans, carefully wrapped candy bars. His character, a smuggler for nostalgic commercial goods from some vague '90s The Never Was, refuses to sacrifice potential profit to nourish his own body.
Grave Trigger is live on Gamefound

2 weeks ago | rascal.news | Alex Cheng

This is a community submitted press release. GRAVE TRIGGER is a solo-developed game where you control humans terminally-bound to Animus Reactors—sentient, biomech armor that feeds off its human host in exchange for reality-warping power. Gameplay features diceless combat, measureless movement, terrain creation and destruction, and choices matter gameplay in single skirmishes or across a sprawling narrative campaign with multiple story-paths.
My RPG group mercy killed our last campaign

2 weeks ago | rascal.news | Chase Carter

tabletop — 4 min read Misreading rules is an indelible part of tabletop games. My weekly board game group would fill the group chat with post-game realizations, in the vein of “so, I double-checked that ruling” and “okay so my winning strategy shouldn’t have worked like that.” But board games are machines of tight clockwork, whereas an RPG’s rules can feel more like suggestions or guardrails.
Rascal goes full limey

2 weeks ago | rascal.news | Chase Carter

— 4 min read This post is for subscribers only
Tabletop publishers believe RPG books are exempt from Trump tariffs, for now

3 weeks ago | rascal.news | Chase Carter

culture — 4 min read If President Donald Trump’s most recent round of so-called reciprocal tariffs actually sticks around, April 2 will likely be seen as the beginning of the end for countless businesses and swaths of entire industries. His capricious economic scythe hit international countries that are currently vital to the manufacturing and production of tabletop games, from China (54%) and Vietnam (46%) to most of the European market and Canada (25%).
Ojisan TCG is the pinnacle of card games

3 weeks ago | rascal.news | Chase Carter

culture — 3 min read I was standing in the parking lot of a rural gas station when the magic of trading card games found me. The Pokémon Trading Card Game had lit my elementary school ablaze, and my poor mother was already indulging my demands for booster packs. A honk from behind drew my attention to an SUV crawling down the country road, my best friend pressing a Gastly card against the window for me to witness. His shit-eating grin is seared into my gray matter like a brand.