Suffuse with expected ribaldry is the only way to discuss this episode, where Thomas and Caelyn join Chase to create a Rascal trifecta. The news? Discussed. The Question Dungeon? Delved. Tangents and meanderings? Absolutely assured. From the cancelled Neopets RPGs to pedantic arguing over the definition of a licensed RPG, the crew cover all expected bases.

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Hosted by Chase Taylor-Carter (@chasecarter.bsky.social).

Featuring Thomas Manuel (@newmadras.bsky.social) and Caelyn Ellis (@caelyn.bsky.social).

Theme song by People Need Goals.

Cover art logo by Johan Nohr (@johannohr.bsky.social).

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Games we discuss:

Girl Frame

Children of Time: The Roleplaying Game

(Cancelled) Neopets RPG

Esoteric Ebb [video game]

Tacklebox

City of Winter

Pendragon

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Chris Cocks in full cosplay during an Exodus actual play episode

Former Neopets RPG worker alleges payment problems and other issues within Geekify

This is the talkback episode for our Rascal Reading Club about the MC section of Apocalypse World. Listeners wrote in with responses to the discussion questions. As usual, there was a range of responses: people agreeing, disagreeing, finding stuff I didn't see, telling me about stuff I didn't know. Today, I'm joined by my colleague and journalist Lin Codega as well as game designer Luke Jordan. Check it out!

Show Notes:

Games mentioned: Harvest, Grand Guignol, The King is Dead, The Emperor is Undead, Sorceror.

Vincent Baker article about What is PbtA? and the one about Narrativism

My review of Harvest by Luke Jordan

The music used for this show is by Nihilore and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. The opening track is So Does Hope and the closing track is Something Beautiful Is Going To Happen.

For more from us, visit Rascal News.

Despite what Chase says in the intro, this is the 32nd episode of the Rascal Radio Hour. He and Thomas welcome Joe Parlcok, editor-in-chief at new TCG website Booster Pack, to talk about tabletop's most vibrant and financially dubious product category.

Later, the crew discuss alleged unfair labor practice against members of Kickstarter's union, a final look at how Dungeons & Dragons will be releasing books and supporting the RPG in 2026, and a discussion of what we've been playing recently.

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Hosted by Chase Taylor-Carter (@chasecarter.bsky.social).

Featuring Thomas Manuel (@newmadras.bsky.social) and Joe Parlock (@joeparlock.bsky.social).

Support independent TCG journalism at Booster Pack.

Theme song by People Need Goals.

Cover art logo by Johan Nohr (@johannohr.bsky.social).

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Games we discuss:

Pokémon Trading Card Game

Magic: The Gathering

One Piece Card Game

Dungeons & Dragons

Coriolis: The Great Dark

Kala Mandala

Book club episode! We discuss Apocalypse World 2nd edition. To participate in the talkback episode, either post in the discord thread associated with this podcast or write to [email protected].

Discussion Questions

1. What do you think of Apocalypse World? What do you think of the MC section? 2. What do you think about the game's statement: "follow these as rules"? Do you think that sentence makes its MC section different from other games? 3. What does "play to find out" mean to you? Do you think its a universal aspect of games? 4. What is your favorite or least favorite principle and why? 5. What was your first reaction to the idea of GM moves? What do you think about it now?

Show Notes:

The Daily Apocalypse blog

Don't Prep Plots on The Alexandrian (blog)

Vincent Baker on the philosophy of PbtA (blog)

Transcript for the episode

The music used for this show is by Nihilore and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. The opening track is So Does Hope and the closing track is Something Beautiful Is Going To Happen.

For more from us, visit Rascal News.

Chase is joined by writer and television critic Joshua Rivera to discuss what we should expect from HBO's upcoming Baldur's Gate 3 television series. The pair discuss showrunner Craig Mazin's history with both Dungeons & Dragons and adaptation, how the series may diverge from The Last of Us, and what fandom means for this property to take another stab at going transmedia.

Later, Chase runs down some of the bigger news pieces and essays on Rascal along with what he's been playing recently. He also gives a little preview of our State of the Rascal article coming towards the end of the month.

Speaking of, you can still subscribe during our anniversary pledge drive with a 20% discount on the first six months by following this link. Thank you for making two years of Rascal possible, and here's to another two. (or five, or even ten??)

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Hosted by Chase Taylor-Carter (@chasecarter.bsky.social).

Featuring Joshua Rivera (@jmrivera.bsky.social).

Read more of Joshua's writing on Aftermath.

Theme song by People Need Goals.

Cover art logo by Johan Nohr (@johannohr.bsky.social).

-- Games we mentioned:

Dungeons & Dragons

Magic: The Gathering

The Last of Us

HOME - Mech x Kaiju

Dispatch

It's a shopping episode! As part of Rascal's second anniversary celebration, Thomas and Chase jumped on a call to spend their professional development money on a whole mess of games. Come along for the audio version of their journey, wherein they discuss their choices and banter about each other's RPG proclivities.

If you're interested in the video version, head over to Rascal's YouTube channel to watch them emote at various webstore pages. Subscribe and all that other business while you're there; why not?

Interested in also donating to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota and snagging a bunch of cool games? Check out the No ICE in Minnesota bundle currently running on itch.io.

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Games we purchased/mentioned:

Chase

• 52 Realms
• Dragon Reactor
• Before the Storm
• A Land Once Magic
• CBR+PNK: Augmented
• Lighthouse at the End of the World
• Exclusion Zone Botanist
• Glatisant
• Soul Cemetery
• The Magus
• A Mending

Thomas

• Tacklebox
• The Yellow Curtain
• The Invisible Labyrinth
• The Sun's Ransom
• They Came to Play Ball
• The God of Spite and Violence
• Our Time on Earth
• Cain
• Rules of Law
• Oathbreakers
• Dragon Braggin'
• An Infinity of Ships
• Menagerie of Unbearable Things

This is the talkback episode for our Rascal Reading Club about the Warden's Operations Manual. Listeners wrote in with responses to the discussion questions. There was a range of responses: people agreeing, disagreeing, finding stuff I didn't see, telling me about stuff I didn't know. It's pretty great. It led to some thoughts and ideas that tumbled out rough in the moment but I am excited to polish into a shine in the future.

Show Notes:

Why I Like Binary Resolution (blog post)

Games mentioned: Blades in the Dark (and Deep Cuts), Vagabond, Honey Heist, Lancer, Salvage Union, Call of Cthulhu, Alien, The Nightmares Underneath, Spacewyrm vs Moonicorn

Adventures mentioned: Terminal Delays at Anarene's Folly (Ian Yusem's 0e pamphlet module) and Vontrey Colony 17 (Alan Gerding's contribution to Dissident Whispers), VR_Dead, Yonkers Fleshless Love

Types of GM Materials (blog post)

John Harper explains the rhythm of the action roll (video)

Transcript for the episode

The music used for this show is by Nihilore and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. The opening track is So Does Hope and the closing track is Something Beautiful Is Going To Happen.

For more from us, visit Rascal News.

Rascal's article about the fate of Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, and that of its creators, sparked a significant amount of interest, questions, and criticism. The team decided to dedicate this week's podcast episode to a larger and more casual conversation tackling those inquiries. Thomas and Chase start by discussing the reporting process and the limitations this article faced, paired with frustrations regarding how tabletop news is discussed online. In the second half, the pair tackle some direct questions and criticism sent in by readers.

It's a long episode, and maybe not as fun as our normal fare. But if you're curious about how Rascal does journalism then this will hopefully be an insightful listen. Regular programming resumes next week!

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Hosted by Chase Taylor-Carter (@chasecarter.bsky.social).

Featuring Thomas Manuel (@newmadras.bsky.social).

Theme song by People Need Goals.

Cover art logo by Johan Nohr (@johannohr.bsky.social).

-- Games we mentioned:

Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast

Today, we're launching a new podcast. The host, Thomas Manuel, talks about Warden's Operations Manual from Tuesday Knight Games, as a part of the Rascal Reading Club.

If you'd like to participate in the discussion, you can respond to Thomas via email [email protected] or on the official Rascal discord before Feb 3rd 2026. If you're a member of the Party Member tier, you can nominate a book to be next in this series, where we look at how books talk about GM advice.

Discussion Questions

1. Do you have thoughts about the Warden's Operations Manual? Do you have a favorite part that I didn't mention?
2. Do you think that the Mothership GM guide should have more advice about running pre-written adventures? If so, is there something you would cut from the existing manual to keep it to 60 pages?
3. Do you think there is a line where advice becomes so critical to the vision of play that it should be incorporated into the rules design at some point? What do you think about my statement that the core mechanic of the game is "underdesigned"?
4. Are there Mothership adventure that plays with horror that feels "real" but isn't economic horror? More gendered or racialized horror, maybe?
5. If the rules of Mothership point towards one question, is it "are you dead yet"?

Show Notes Alfred Valley's Mothership in One Rule

The OSR dreams of having it all, my article about OSR sandbox design

Chris McDowall's ICI Doctrine

A Pound of Flesh

The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman

The music used for this show is by Nihilore and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. The opening track is So Does Hope and the closing track is Something Beautiful Is Going To Happen.

For more from us, visit Rascal News.

The Rascal crew are joined this week by Maddy Myers and Zoë Hannah of the recently launched Mothership Dot Blog (and you definitely pronounce the "dot"). The former Polygon editors discuss their website's goal of publishing smart and inclusive writing about games from a feminist angle and talking about media in ways that corporate journalism just cannot, or will not, support.

Later, everyone discusses Wizards of the Coast's video games, Games Workshop's proud ignorance towards generative AI, whether the Decemberists' front man designed Illimat, and why romancing Shadowheart is not a basic take.

You should subscribe to Mothership, where they're offering a lifetime 15% discount until January 26th. Follow Mothership on Bluesky, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.

Hosted by Chase Taylor- Carter (@chasecarter.bsky.social).

Featuring Caelyn Ellis (@caelyn.bsky.social), with special guests Maddy Myers (@midimyers.com) and Zoë Hannah (@zoehhannah.com).

Theme song by People Need Goals.

Cover art logo by Johan Nohr (@johannohr.bsky.social).

-- Games we mentioned:

• Runecairn
• Lancer
• Magic: The Gathering
• Illimat
• The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy
• Mario and Rabbids: Sparks of Hope