about us
We’re Rascal, a new, independent, reader-supported, worker-owned outlet for journalism about tabletop roleplaying games and the people who make them.
Rascal was co-founded by Lin Codega, Rowan Zeoli, and Chase Carter, writers and critics you might already know from other websites such as Gizmodo, Dicebreaker, Polygon, and elsewhere. We wanted to continue the vital work of investigating this industry while also building space for criticism, culture reporting and lighthearted blogs that wouldn't survive anywhere else.
As tens of thousands of journalism jobs at every level vanish alongside entire outlets and verticals, news as an industry is threatened by venture capitalists and billionaires who only see newspapers as capital investments and not avenues for public service. Specialized news struggles under the thumb of ad-supported models while social media continues to burn down around our heads. We've been laid off, pushed out, sidelined, and watched as sustainable jobs disappeared in favor of exploitative, underpaid content mills. We decided to build our own future. We adopted a motto. Part threat, part encouragement, pure conviction.
Write free or die.
How are we gonna do this?
We want to cover every facet of the TTRPG ecosystem—from highlighting the work of small indie projects and reporting on community organizing efforts like labor actions and fundraising drives to investigating both bad actors and the (Dungeons &) Dragons in the room. As we become sustainable, we hope to establish a fellowship program for marginalized writers alongside building out a robust contributor program to create a platform where journalists can hone their craft – and pay their rent while doing so.
Interesting, tell me more
Rascal subscribers will be directly investing in an independent, audience-focused, writer-owned and writer-led outlet. Your subscriptions will support and preserve a space where rigorous, passionate, ethical journalism can survive and earnest critique can thrive.
We also offer bulk subscriptions for corporations, co-ops, and publishers. If you would like to contact us about these bulk subscription options, you can reach us at info@rascal.news.
Additionally, if you want to make a one-time donation to Rascal, you can do that here.
Reach out, we won't bite
We’re always looking for larger cultural stories that tie together multiple threads and perspectives. We’re open to receiving tips and pitches which center experts and influential figures in the TTRPG ecosystem. You can send these to info@rascal.news.
(However, we are currently running on a shoestring budget of Nothing Dollars, Hopes, and Dreams. We hope to be able to solicit freelance contributor pitches within three to six months.)
Save what matters
Our site is drawing on not only our own experiences, but the collective knowledge of the TTRPG scene, which for three decades has relied on bloggers, list serves, and forums to distribute information, talk shop, and game game theory. (Not a typo.) Journalists at traditional outlets have been influential and we respect the contributions of longstanding writers at Polygon and elsewhere, but these traditional writers are few and far between. We are working towards developing a model that works in between these two forces—old school news/shop/design blogs and legacy media.
Our goal is always to deliver important, relevant, interesting articles to our audience. We are driven by our own curiosity as much as the industry and the many winding courses it has plotted through the years. Rascal will add to the public record of an oft overlooked hobby while also serving as a bastion for open discussion our own weird opinions.
Rolling the dice with us
The three of us—Lin, Rowan, and Chase—are just three disaffected, deeply passionate, bardpunk journos looking to make some change and a living at the same time. Thanks for reading, and maybe, if you think we're doing something worthwhile, toss a coin our way.
If you have any questions... we're around.