iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Kevin Olmstead @oasisob1.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

How have I never connected these two things I like?!

Playtest Material Magazine @playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Today is the last day of our "official" subscription drive. It's been a resounding success - but we still have further to go. Currently we have 89 subscribers. Reaching 100 would be a huge milestone for us. playtestmaterial.org/playtest-mat...

playtestmaterial.org

Playtest Material launches its first ever subscription drive

Playtest Material needs 75 subscribers to break even — one of those could be you.

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C is for Crombil @zhenwa40.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I am grateful for the opportunity as a humble fan of TTRPGs to write for @playtestmaterial.bsky.social. I went into this writing with serious academic rigour, and the editing experience was really helpful in trying to make is parseable. It’s also just fun to be able to use quotes like this:

The audience for this game was a single session game (a “oneshot”) featuring players who had never played the game before. A feature of Mythic Bastionland is the “weirdness” of the setting and open interpretation of the gameworld. This is exemplified, for example, by the entry of the Screaming Seer, whose details are replaced with “RAAAAAARGH!” and “YAAAAAAAAAARRRHG!!” respectively, a reading which can be comic or tragic depending on specific interpretation by the GM and players.

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alex v @alexvalente.fyi · 26/09/2026

i got to read this one in the editing stage, and it's a really intriguing mapping that zhen does of the two modes of storytelling!

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

wouldn't it be fun if we can get to 100 by the time we go to print?

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

thank you so much for the support so far! our subscription drive is still ongoing, and we go to print on TUESDAY.

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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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Rowan Mysel Zeoli @rowanzeoli.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I love to see more critical writing (and print media!!) in the TTRPG space, definitely support them if you have the means

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Playtest Material Magazine @playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Playtest Material is at 71/75 subscribers. This is genuinely amazing; thank you to everyone. I think we'll pass 75, and will keep the drive going! The bigger our base is, the more we can support everyone involved with the magazine *and* think about lowering the cost of future issues.

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Playtest Material Magazine @playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

New article by @nsorvis.bsky.social Theatre is an art of re-presentation, of displaying a world... for a spectator; RPGs are about inhabiting one. By disentangling the way the two forms are like and unlike, we can expand the horizons of possibility for both." playtestmaterial.org/spectating-p...

playtestmaterial.org

Spectating Play: Theatre, RPGs, and Critical Spectatorship

Nicholas Orvis discusses the links between theatre and role-playing; what it means to perform and to watch others performing.

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Personable | Markus @personable.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

If I wasn't recently unemployed, I would be super keen on this. I'd love for enough folks to sign up that it's still around when I get more disposable income again.

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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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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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Playtest Material Magazine @playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Thank you all so much for such an impressive subscription drive so far! We are at 49/75 subs: Nearly two thirds of the way to what we need, and we've more than quadrupled our original subcriber base in less than 24 hours.

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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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🪼Jellyfishlines 🔜 PaxU🪼 @jellyfishlines.itch.io · 20/09/2026

Shoutout to @selenedijon.bsky.social (aka @pelagicshardgames.bsky.social), she made a game for this magazine and I’m super excited to read it when the issue drops. If you wanna read and maybe even play her game, go grab a print subscription for Playtest Material today!

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

Thank you so much to everyone who has shared or supported so far; we are nearly halfway towards our goal!

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

this looks cool asf and absolutely worth subscribing to!!

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Chris Totten - Little Nemo and the Nightmare Fiends @totter87.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Well this looks cool…

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Steph @fistfulofcrits.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Subbed for a print edition. Fingers crossed you get what you need to keep it sustainable 🙏

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tor-in-the-mud @toothandshore.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

this magazine is going to be really good & valuable & interesting & fun! u should subscribe!!

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Plus One Exp @ 🔜 Metatopia @plusoneexp.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Subbed.

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🪼Jellyfishlines 🔜 PaxU🪼 @jellyfishlines.itch.io · 20/09/2026

Please support Playtest Material folks! We need places and publications like this in TTRPGs.

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

A serious one today. "This is a call to our readers and future readers: please, consider before scrolling away, if you think our magazine is worth £18+postage. It is not just an investment in a bundle of paper, but in meaningful critique in the ttrpg space." playtestmaterial.org/playtest-mat...

playtestmaterial.org

Playtest Material launches its first ever subscription drive

Playtest Material needs 75 subscribers to break even — one of those could be you.

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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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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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🪼Jellyfishlines 🔜 PaxU🪼 @jellyfishlines.itch.io · 18/09/2026

There's so many articles in here I'm looking forward to on October 1st. If you are at all interested in supporting TTRPG design and research that is so necessary for this space to continue to grow and change, consider getting a print copy. Better yet, a print subscription. Thank you.

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Playtest Material Magazine @playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

New on the site: "From itchio to Paizo, you can feel cultures of play changing, people poking at the edges of things, tuning engines, hacking codes, patching broken hardware and seeing what this baby can do" @davidblandyrpgs.bsky.social @laurieoc.bsky.social 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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Sam Armstrong is 4 Goblins in a Tuxedo @samarmstronggames.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Hey, I recognise that picture! Really great article by Kayla here, and I am thrilled to have Spectral Sea listed alongside such great games.

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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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Playtest Material Magazine @playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Our next look into Issue One is a piece by Luka Brave ( @psychhound.bsky.social ) He writes about Apocalypse Keys' monstrous PCs, disability, and dignity. Apocalypse Keys is written by Rae Nedjadi and published by Evil Hat ( @evilhat.bsky.social ).

A screenshot of an article featuring an illustration of three human-looking figures, each with a different mutation. Caption:

Disablity, Dignity and Hope in Apocalypse Keys
Luka Brave writes about Apocalypse Keys' monstrous PCs as a metaphor for the disability community, and hones in on Robert Perske's concept of "dignity of risk," which states that vulnerable groups, should be allowed the freedom to weigh the potential risks of a choice for themselves.

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Playtest Material Magazine @playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Our next first look into the pages of Playtest Material 1 is from Benjamin Klug ( @silkandstone.itch.io ). Mimesis and diegesis may be fairly trod ground, but Klug takes us back to their classical routes and argues for the pursuite of a linguistic turn in RPGs. playtestmaterial.org/polyhedral-d...

playtestmaterial.org

Polyhedral Diegesis: Mimicry, Narration, and the Linguistic Turn in TTRPGs

Benjamin Klug writes about classical concepts of mimesis and diegesis, applying them to analyse the language games played during a TTRPG.

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Playtest Material Magazine @playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

This interview, which we will publish an extract of in our first issue, was conducted by Irving Benitez. Irving interviewed Elizabeth Little, for a piece on hermit crab literature and lyric games (coming in the magazine in October) Thank you to @jellyfishlines.itch.io @liz-shrikestudio.bsky.social

A screenshot of an article titled First Look: Writing the Strange: An Interview with Elizabeth LIttle.

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Playtest Material Magazine @playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

hello proofreaders, early readers and artists. We are putting the final touches on issue one in the next two weeks. If anybody would like to spare some time to proofread or early read a few articles, or provide an editorial illustration, we are looking for volunteers. Please get in touch!

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Iain McAllister @giantbrain.co.uk · 04/09/2026

This weekend I'll be posting a lot about Tabletop Scotland but before we get there I wanted to tell you about @playtestmaterial.bsky.social a new magazine that I've written a piece for coming out in October. RPG focused magazine and subscriptions are open now! playtestmaterial.org

playtestmaterial.org

Playtest Material

publishing critical writing about roleplaying games

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Playtest Material Magazine @playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

One of our First Look articles is Someplace Between There and Here by Dr Karen David. This literary essay uses the '80s D&D cartoon as a starting point to explore the relationship between fantasy and the physical world.

A screenshot of an article entitled First Look: Someplace Between There and Here. Below it is a still from the opening scene of the D&D cartoon.

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Playtest Material Magazine @playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Playtest Material has relaunched our website and is now open for subscriptions! You can: 1) Sign up to our FREE digital tier to receive the magazine. 2) Join as a print subscriber to get the mag sent to you each quarter. 3) Join as a supporter for comment access and perks. playtestmaterial.org

playtestmaterial.org

Playtest Material

publishing critical writing about roleplaying games

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Playtest Material Magazine @playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

we've still got space! have a jam you'd like to report on or something else relevant? write to us! 50-100 words :)

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Playtest Material Magazine @playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

playtest material has space for a few event reports its first issue. We aren't that interested in convention reports, but if you know of a game design event, workshop, talk or jam that you think produced work or opinions which would be of interest to the mag, please send us a 400-600 word summary!

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Playtest Material Magazine @playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

oh and by the way! the closing date for submissions is TOMORROW. Have an article you're working on? get on that google doc, stat :)

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Elizabeth Little @liz-shrikestudio.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

I just did an interview with @jellyfishlines.itch.io about lyric games and hermit crab fiction. I think we had quite a good discussion, so I'm excited to see the finished article.

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