Rascal News – Details, episodes & analysis

Rascal News has a podcast! In our first episode, the crew talks about the wild tribulations of World of Game Design, German tabletop RPG The Dark Eye, and Chase's ambivalence regarding the future of Magic: The Gathering. We also discuss DriveThruRPG's new levers for filtering AI-generated content and the multivarious games the team has been playing lately.

Is our audio still pretty wonky? Yes (sorry, we're working on it). But the camaraderie and vibes are immaculate from the jump. And we keep it to a tight 60 minutes! Believe me; no need to confirm the runtime at all!

https://www.rascal.news/

https://www.rascal.news/scrying-on-irans-tabletop-scene/

--

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

Featuring Rowan Zeoli (@rowanzeoli.bsky.social), Thomas Manuel (@newmadras.bsky.social), and Caelyn Ellis (@caelyn.bsky.social).

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

Chase, Rowan, and Caelyn gather around microphone once again to chat about trench demons, legal threats against Dropout TV, and a very suspicious email in the Rascal inbox.

Also, Chase talks with fellow tabletop journalist and Dungeons & Dragons expert, Christian Hoffer, about the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide. How does it hold up against the admittedly shaky version from 2014? What are the best bew additions? What's the deal with Bastions?

https://www.rascal.news/

https://www.rascal.news/building-fun-not-worlds-with-the-new-2024-dungeon-masters-guide/

https://www.rascal.news/going-over-the-top-with-trench-crusades-mike-franchina-and-toumas-pirinen/

https://www.rascal.news/rascal-receives-solicitation-from-suspicious-email-after-tabletop-union-declares-potential-strike/

--

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

Featuring Rowan Zeoli (@rowanzeoli.bsky.social) and Caelyn Ellis (@caelyn.bsky.social).

Special Guest is Christian Hoffer (@choffercbus.bsky.social). Check out Above the Table on YouTube!

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

Chase, Caelyn, and Thomas belly up to the podcasting table for a heaping helping of tabletop RPG industry news. What's going on with new EU trade regulations? Why is everyone mad at an OSR YouTuber? Why is the Battersea Transformers store so shit? All of these answers and more lie within the Rascal Radio Hour

By the way, Rascal is hosting a couple of holiday subscription deals for our Friendly NPC tier. Sign up at this link and get your first two months of access for a whopping $1 per month - that's an 80% discount on full access to the site, an invitation to our subscriber-only Discord channel, among other benefits. You can also purchase a gift subscription here and present your friends and loved one with a little worker-owned journalism.

https://www.rascal.news/

https://www.rascal.news/new-legislation-impacts-games-sales-to-the-european-union/

https://www.rascal.news/no-politics-is-always-a-red-flag-even-when-defending-your-tabletop-business/

https://www.rascal.news/digital-commander-would-make-hasbro-a-ton-of-money-and-be-objectively-terrible/

--

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

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

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

Chase and Caelyn tackle the podcast beast as an adventuring duo this week. They weather a flurry of news about Funko accidentally taking down itch.io, union wins within New York City game stores, and another corporate media company feeding its writers' work into the mouth of a generative AI grist mill. Elsewhere, MTG renames a world, a board game company gets screwed by Meta, and tariffs continue to loom.

Rascal is still hosting a couple of holiday subscription deals for our Friendly NPC tier. Sign up at this link and get your first two months of access for a whopping $1 per month - that's an 80% discount on full access to the site, an invitation to our subscriber-only Discord channel, among other benefits. You can also purchase a gift subscription here and present your friends and loved one with a little worker-owned journalism.

https://www.rascal.news/

https://www.rascal.news/funko-inadvertently-disables-itch-ios-whole-website-blames-third-party-brand-protection/

https://www.rascal.news/tabletop-workers-united-secures-key-non-economic-demands-after-a-year-of-fraught-negotiations/

https://www.rascal.news/future-fed-my-work-into-the-content-machine/

--

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

Featuring Caelyn Ellis (@caelyn.bsky.social).

Theme song by People Need Goals.

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

The entire Rascal crew celebrate their first holiday season together by recording what might be their most chaotic episode yet. Chase jokes too close to the edge about kinks, Thomas digs up a piece of his mysterious pre-Rascal backstory, and Caelyn introduces everyone to Big Divorced Energy. Everyone waxes passionate about the website's first year, and then we plunge into what is eventually dubbed The Question Dungeon.

Rascal is still hosting a couple of holiday subscription deals for our Friendly NPC tier. Sign up at this link and get your first two months of access for a whopping $1 per month - that's an 80% discount on full access to the site, an invitation to our subscriber-only Discord channel, among other benefits. You can also purchase a gift subscription here and present your friends and loved one with a little worker-owned journalism.

https://www.rascal.news/

--

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

Featuring Caelyn Ellis (@caelyn.bsky.social), Rowan Zeoli (@rowanzeoli.bsky.social), Thomas Manuel (@newmadras.bsky.social), and a guest appearance by Lin Codega (@lincodega.bsky.social).

Theme song by People Need Goals.

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

The crew gather for the first Rascal Radio Hour episode of 2025, and they somehow manage to keep it under two hours. Please clap. Caelyn regales us with her time as a gym leader while Thomas and Chase keep accidentally reinventing video games. Meanwhile, Rowan is--as the title suggests--hungover on a Thursday. We talk through our recent industry-focused article, along with its clarifying followup. Rowan and Caelyn apparently have friends to play a ton of games with, and our latest delve into the Question Dungeon proves fruitful.

Rascal is gearing up for a pledge drive to celebrate its first birthday! Plans are firming up, but expect to hear more as we get closer to February. In the meantime, you can purchase a gift subscription here for the people in your life who would appreciate some worker-owned tabletop journalism.

https://www.rascal.news/

--

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

Featuring Caelyn Ellis (@caelyn.bsky.social), Rowan Zeoli (@rowanzeoli.bsky.social), and Thomas Manuel (@newmadras.bsky.social).

Theme song by People Need Goals.

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

Most of the crew huddle against the dark winds of reality, their only light and warmth a microphone and news from the tabletop industry that they must share with you. After expunging a bit of the poison they've absorbed over one hellish week, Rascal's intrepid journalists talk about a fairly beefy news section that includes AI guidelines, weird rules about Warhammer parades, and hobby subreddits ousting Twitter. Plus, questions and what we've been playing lately. 

Rascal is gearing up for a pledge drive to celebrate its first birthday! Plans are firming up, but expect to hear more as we get cdeeper into February. In the meantime, you can purchase a gift subscription here for the people in your life who would appreciate some worker-owned tabletop journalism.

https://www.rascal.news/

--

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

Featuring Caelyn Ellis (@caelyn.bsky.social) and Rowan Zeoli (@rowanzeoli.bsky.social).

Theme song by People Need Goals.

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

Buckle up for a genuinely unhinged episode, y'all. Rowan and Chase are left alone to nurse their emotional wounds, inflicted by the fascistic psychosis blanketing the United States. The antidote? A lot of weighty sighs and really terrible jokes. Rowan recounts her followup conversation with the creators behind January 6th insurrection-based wargame Fight for America! and the disappointment it fostered. Chase explains the wall and the hard place that Asmodee finds itself. Then, they delve into the Question Dungeon (whether they remember to call it that or not).

Rascal is running a First Anniversary Pledge Drive through the end of February! If you want to support another year of independent, audience-funded tabletop journalism, this is the best time to show it. We have subscription goals, special programming, and our very own zine! Go check it out and spread the word -- our readership only grows through good work and word of mouth.

https://www.rascal.news/

--

Games mentioned:

Fight For America!

Fukuzatsu+

Deathmatch Island

--

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

Featuring Rowan Zeoli (@rowanzeoli.bsky.social).

Theme song by People Need Goals.

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

Welcome to a special episode of the Rascal Radio Hour! Chase sat down with Remap Radio's Cado Contreras to talk about something near and dear to her heart -- Android: Netrunner. Fans of Remap and Cado especially will know this is something they have been threatening for years, and we made it happen to promote Rascal's First Anniversary Pledge Drive.

The pair discuss the winding history of this TCG-turned-LCG-turned-something else entirely, and how a concerted fan effort not only gave it a third chance at success but set Netrunner up to become something of an outlier within the card game space. From its radically permissable business and tournament model to the accessibility-focused efforts of the volunteer designers, Android: Netrunner is the most interesting card game you're probably not playing.

But maybe you should?

--

https://www.rascal.news/

https://remapradio.com/

--

Cado's recommended Netrunner beginner resources:

https://www.nearearthhub.net/

https://nullsignal.games/players/around-the-world/

DEFINITELY NOT Jinteki Dot Net

--

Where to find Cado:

Bluesky

Remap Radio

A More Civilized Age

Ever wondered what a tabletop RPG version of Catan would look like? Of course you haven't because that's a silly thought exercise, but that didn't stop the Rascal crew from indulging. Thomas and Caelyn join Chase as he returns from the 2025 GAMA trade show to discuss tariffs, distribution, and all the fantastic stories he missed while knocking back Old Fashions in Kentucy.

The trio also discuss the new D&D beginner set, licensed RPGs for both Invincible and Terraforming Mars, Paizo and R. Talsorian's search for smaller designers, South Korean gaming communities and wee tiny rank-and-flank wargames. No Question Dungeon this time because the team has been playing a veritable heap of games since we last met.

https://www.rascal.news/

--

Games mentioned:

Daggerheart

Age of Sigmar

Magewinds

Hearts of Wulin

Delta Green

--

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

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

Theme song by People Need Goals.

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