Rascal News asked for help, and y’all delivered
Future: secured. Plans: cooking. Games: Playing.
August was something of an emotional roller coaster for Rascal News HQ. We began the month unsure of the website’s short term future, crunching the numbers on months of survival while watching subscription churn eat away at our foundation. We decided to hold a month-long pledge event — not so much a drive as an invitation — asking our readers and the community to fund our continued survival. It was one of the more unsexy requests we’ve made, a real something-for-nothing investment in independent tabletop journalism. Such are the times.
And yet, y’all showed up. We are genuinely floored by the support that flowed in the wake of our slightly chagrined petition, both immediately following the State of the Rascal article and consistently over the proceeding four weeks. Folks not only took advantage of the discount on annual subscriptions but also upgraded their existing one. More donated additional funds by dropping cumulative thousands of dollars in our Tip Jar or purchasing gift subscriptions, often for complete strangers. Plenty others evangelized Rascal News on social media, which warmed our cynical newshound hearts every day.
Rascal News now sports 2,430 paying members and 7,200 free members. We’ve nearly clawed back every bit of churn from the last seven months and are again seeing that growth line tick upwards (if only slightly). We’re out of the woods for the moment, and finding a chance to breathe, reassess, and plan for a more optimistic future has made a world of difference. As Thomas said on a recent podcast episode, we’re no longer distracted by the shadow of failure ceaselessly looming over our shoulders. Adrenaline and fear work as creative fuel in a pinch, but it burns dirty. We’re now back to writing for ourselves, and for you — not for sheer survival.
Some announcements you might have missed over the last few weeks include the launch of the Rascal News YouTube channel, where we will be slowly uploading our podcast archives. You can go listen to the entire first season of Rascal Reading Club, which focused on GM and facilitator advice, before jumping directly into the just launched second season! Thomas will be exploring RPG settings via several different games, but he’s started with a banger: Blades in the Dark and Doskvol.
We wanted to announce this during August but couldn’t get our ducks in a row fast enough: there’s a new volume of the Rascal anthology out. You can read the best of Rascal News Year Two in a physical book! The cover art by Rossy Does Drawings features some knights (because everyone's got Mythic Bastionland on the brain) facing off against our ankle-biting, trashy mascot. We’ve also restocked the first volume of the annual Rascal Anthology digest over at Heart of the Deernicorn. There aren’t a lot of copies left, so if you missed a chance to purchase one last year, I’ll just say now is a great time to grab a physical copy of our inaugural collection of essays.
We’re working hard behind-the-scenes on some projects to ensure sustainability for both the website and team. Regardless, I am endlessly proud that we have remained fully independent and reader-supported from day one, and everyone who contributed throughout August ensured a future for that mission. One more time, but every time: thank you so much. We don’t just do it for our readers; we do it alongside y’all.
