iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin))

Camilla Zamboni 🔜 Metatopia @czamboni.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Playtest Material @playtestmaterial.bsky.social Issue 1 is out, and it's freely available online. But if you can, also consider subscribing - it's a great way to support this kind of great projects! playtestmaterial.org Thank you @laurieoc.bsky.social for creating this resource!

playtestmaterial.org

Playtest Material

publishing critical writing about roleplaying games

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Reposted by Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin))

jay Dragon is unstoppable @jdragsky.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

hey im having a horrendous day/week, if you wanna support my work it might be a good time to back my patreon and be nice to me patreon.com/possumcreek

patreon.com

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Reposted by Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin))

Nicholas Orvis @nsorvis.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This seems like an amazing issue that I can't wait to dive into. I'm honored to be included!

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Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin)) @laurieoc.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

rare vulnerable moment: the release of this magazine is a huge deal for me and the culmination of hundreds of hours of quiet and often pretty gruelling effort. Having moved to another country weeks ago I have nobody to celebrate it with but I am exceptionally proud of it as a curated piece of work.

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Playtest Material Magazine @playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

So many people have put so much effort into Issue One of Playtest Material. It releases today online, with complete open access, at 20:00 UTC. playtestmaterial.org/playtest-mat...

playtestmaterial.org

Playtest Material’s First Subscription Drive - A Resounding Success

Last week, we launched a subscription drive for the inaugural issue of Playtest Material. Our aim was to meet a target of 75, which would allow our magazine to break even after paying contributors’ ...

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Reposted by Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin))

tor, mud skeleton @toothandshore.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Kraldum: a solo fantasy mudlarking RPG is live on Gamefound! create your mudlark, descend to the foreshore, uncover treasures & ancient mysteries, & do your best to survive. here begins a megathread where i go on about this thing until all targets are obliterated 💙 gamefound.com/en/projects/...

gamefound.com

Kraldum: Solo Fantasy Mudlarking RPG by tooth & shore - Gamefound

Go down to the shore below the city. Collect what you can. Survive what lurks there and beat the rising waters to make it home.

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Reposted by Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin))

Frederic Walker @fwalkerrpgdev.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I am returning to roleplay in the Late Bronze Age Collapse with a new TTRPG, designed for both solo journaling and GMless group play: None Could Stand Before Them A Roleplaying Game about the Sea Peoples of the Late Bronze Age Collapse Coming later this year. www.kickstarter.com/projects/fwa...

kickstarter.com

Coming soon: None Could Stand Before Them TTRPG

A GMless and solo journaling TTRPG about the Sea Peoples of the Late Bronze Age Collapse

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Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin)) @laurieoc.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

saying that a game is "good" or "bad" only works as a method of determining value if we assume that most games are the same tropey slop that you can just put on a scale of quality, and at a certain point you're just judging the art

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tor, mud skeleton @toothandshore.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

can't believe it's tomorrow 😱 excited and nervousssssss

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tor, mud skeleton @toothandshore.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

go! go! go!

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Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin)) @laurieoc.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Progress towards my birthday goals (November 20) Paid members: 10/20 Free members: 72/100

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Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin)) @laurieoc.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

a solo memory game I initially made for an exhibition about medieval life. It never made it into the actual exhibition due to practical concerns (a custom card deck just wasn't going to work) but at least I can share it here. www.patreon.com/posts/170660...

patreon.com

The Herbalist's Garden: A Repurposed Game for Historic Learning | Laurie O'Connel

Many months ago, I worked on an exhibition at the Bonington Gallery in Nottingham entitled "Weird Hope Engines." The exhibition was about r

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Playtest Material Magazine @playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

“If we interpret a 'traditional' GM’s authority over storytelling as being similar to that of a Rakugoka to their 'banashi', then perhaps we can consider the traditional Rakugoka’s structured training in empathy to be a useful lens through which to understand safety in TTRPGs.”

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Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin)) @laurieoc.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

google search , how to stop my gen z housemates from using chatgpt to calculate their kingmaker battle odds instead of simply mathematically expanding the odds table to accomodate our larger forces

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Reposted by Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin))

🪼Ghost Jellyfishlines 🔜 PaxU🪼 @jellyfishlines.itch.io · 25/09/2026

WE BEAT 75 AND I KNOW WE CAN HIT 100!!! KEEP THIS DRIVE GOIN FOLKS!

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Reposted by Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin))

James @ Unknown Dungeon @unknowndungeon.itch.io · 25/09/2026

Super excited for this. I've just subscribed to the print edition.

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Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin)) @laurieoc.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

1) since everything is ready, I am offically on holiday until playtest material issue one releases on tuesday. 2) patreon supporters, some very fun posts should be scheduled for over the weekend. 3) the playtest material subscription drive will continue til MONDAY, but I won't be updating so often.

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Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin)) @laurieoc.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Even before tori emailed offering to produce a piece for the magazine, I had already envisioned their art on the cover. I just knew it would be perfect for the magazine. If I could have only them do the covers forever, I would. They have a project on at the moment so take a look at their profile.

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🪼Ghost Jellyfishlines 🔜 PaxU🪼 @jellyfishlines.itch.io · 23/09/2026

We are at 66/75!! Thank yall that have subscribed so far! We still have a little to go and even shorter time to meet subscription goal, so please, share with friends and family tell them to pass it along too!

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Nicholas Orvis @nsorvis.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

My latest essay is up on Playtest Material! Looking at the points of contact between theater and RPGs. If you want a sense of this "gameful theater" thing I've been banging on about, I get into a bit of that near the end!

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Nicholas Orvis @nsorvis.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Many thanks to @laurieoc.bsky.social and the @playtestmaterial.bsky.social team for helping out this together! It was a pleasure! ❤️

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Reposted by Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin))

The Stillfleet Studio ☉ more than play 🇵🇸 @stillfleet.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

TTRPG designers, players, readers, and commentators: the new journal of RPG studies, Playtest Material, is seeking subscribers to help grow and sustain itself. PM is something special. The caliber of writing has been incredible from the start.

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Reposted by Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin))

🪼Ghost Jellyfishlines 🔜 PaxU🪼 @jellyfishlines.itch.io · 21/09/2026

I have a piece in here on lyric games, interpretation of others words, how we build canon in our games with only a loose sense of what exists there, reading as a form of play, and where what may be next with ttrpgs & an interview on site with @liz-shrikestudio.bsky.social abt lyric games and YWDITP!

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Reposted by Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin))

Nicholas Orvis @nsorvis.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I've got an essay on theater, TTRPGs, and critical spectatorship in the inaugural issue of Playtest Material, a new quarterly journal of serious RPG criticism. And they're having a subscription drive right now! If RPG crit interests you, check out some of the previews and consider a sub.

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Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin)) @laurieoc.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

it's going so well! love to see a plan come together and all that

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John Lee Brougher @johnbrougher.com · 20/09/2026

Please support new TTRPG magazine Playtest Material if you can! I have an article in the inaugural issue, as do folks like @jellyfishlines.itch.io and others!

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Reposted by Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin))

tor, mud skeleton @toothandshore.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

pretty cool cover art too (i did it)

paper collage made up partly of colourful textured squares and partly more organic shapes and cut-out images including gems, etched artefacts, tabletop minis and a hand doing shadow-play. there are snippets of text which read: roll up a character / ancient puzzle / new thrills / useful or unusual forms

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Juhana Pettersson @juhanaonparas.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

This looks cool, I subscribed.

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Sean Tibbitts Is Submitting to Sprigs & Kindling! @pizzoc.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I believe what Playtest Material is doing is important. If you agree, and you are able, please subscribe—either to the print version, or as a supporter. If you can't do either, please help by sharing the post below!

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Reposted by Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin))

Hags @h4gs.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

UK folks you should do this! a quarterly journal ran by the Most Highly Sound Laurie O'Connel. great way to bring the conversation forward

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1000000 years witch curse unbreakable @selenedijon.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

playtest material has already given so many people, including me, the chance to be heard in ways we otherwise wouldn't. if you're serious about wanting the medium to be better then you can subscribe. it's quarterly, and you get to look fancy about your hobby of pretending to be a little guy

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Reposted by Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin))

CLAYMORE @claymorerpgs.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

this looks cool asf and absolutely worth subscribing to!!

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Richard August @rpgaugust.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

TTRPGs needs a genuine and discerning critical apparatus. I can’t practice this sort of criticism of TTRPGs. I’m too embedded in the guts of it all to find perspective - I’m glad someone as discerning as @laurieoc.bsky.social and the writers here are leading that work, and I’m happy to support it!

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Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin)) @laurieoc.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Hello, this is a big deal! And the culmination of a lot of very hard work by people that have amazing stuff to say about TTRPGs. And so I am politely asking my more famous friends and mutuals to repost.

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Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin)) @laurieoc.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Reposting for the morning crowd since yes... this was posted at 3.30 am

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Reposted by Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin))

Playtest Material Magazine @playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Oh dear... is that somebody leaking (part of) the table of contents for issue one of playtest material? Thank goodness we were able to contain it before they managed to launch a subscription drive.

Regular table of contents
Editorials & Thematic Essays
David Blandy–Laurie O’Connel–Karen David
Storytelling and the Stage
Kayla Dice–Nicholas Orvis–D. “Zhen” C.
Reviews & Case Studies
Stephen Wilds–Luka Brave –Miriam Jackel-Dewhurst–Philippa Mort
Experimental Writing & Art

Tori Truslow–Anna Simpson–Milo Cassidy
Playing With Words

Irving Benitez–Benjamin Klug–Amelia Stephen–Noa Chazan
Opinion & Events

Evan Torner–Ian Badcoe–Iain McAllister–John Lee Brougher

ToC: Storytelling and the stage

Sitting Down and Telling Stories: learning TTRPG skills from Rakugo
D. “Zhen” C.
Pages 11-23

Determining a Melodramatic Sensibility in Tabletop Role-playing Games
Kayla Dice
Pages 24-29
Spectating play: theatre, rpgs and critical spectatorship
Nicholas Orvis

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Iain McAllister @giantbrain.co.uk · 19/09/2026

I've written a piece for the forthcoming debut issue of @playtestmaterial.bsky.social. You can get a sense of what is coming here! playtestmaterial.org/role-playing...

playtestmaterial.org

Role-playing Games Are Raucous and Transformative

Introductions from the editors to the first issue of Playtest Material.

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Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin)) @laurieoc.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

advance warning: playtest material is starting a subscription drive tomorrow. I will be messaging and emailing people to ask for boosts apologies in advance

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Muff diving in the bush of ghosts @moonglummedia.com · 18/09/2026

Really excited to read the first issue of @playtestmaterial.bsky.social in full, and to be a part of it! I'm already fucking with and learning from the preview essays by Kayla Dice and Luka Brave.

playtestmaterial.org

Role-playing Games Are Raucous and Transformative

Introductions from the editors to the first issue of Playtest Material.

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Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin)) @laurieoc.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I spent a long time thinking through the best way to write this editorial. I think that what I landed on *is* worth your reading time, at least, and would be grateful to hear if anything resonated with you.

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Laurie O'Connel (is looking for ttrpg work (in Dublin)) @laurieoc.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Had a call with a friend in the scene the other day and he said "your name is really helpful, people trust you". Frankly a terrifying thing to say since I'm not actually a writer but a character created by a low level Vice producer before the site went bust

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Playtest Material Magazine @playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

New on the website: "Determining a Melodramatic Sensibility in Tabletop Role-playing Games" by writer Kayla Dice. Dice presents an analysis based on based on the presence of heightened emotionality, pathos, and meaningful dichotomies in various TTRPGs.

Two dueling sailors make meaningful eye contact, highlighted in the colours red and blue, with the caption of the article "determining a melodramatic sensibility in roleplaying games"

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