iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Getting my preorders of Arcana Unleashed and Stonetop on the same day does sort of seem to reveal just how much my usual joke about paying my TTRPG Indulgences isn't actually *totally* a joke, lmao.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

I ADORE Vinni-Pukh, if y'all haven't seen these before you should definitely get on that.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

I've got complicated feelings about PAX U Houston. Traveling to TX for trans friends is a rough ask, but also I know what a boon that will be for the local community that now WON'T have to travel to attend a con. And TX is not the pure red hellhole some northerners think, nor is the south broadly.

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megan lee beeees @meganleebees.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

It's my birthday! I wrote a book about a woman made of spiders! You could buy it. For my birthday? Let me share these spiders with you i have so many bookshop.org/p/books/one-...

bookshop.org

One Hundred Thousand Lives After Death

The human Tillie may have died a decade ago, but the spiders that inhabit her bones have only just started living.If their roles had been reversed, she did not know if she could have found his courage...

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Dr. Emily Friedman @ecfriedman.com · 19/08/2026

Anyone who says with their full chest that Actual Play is one thing is going to be working from a false first premise. It’s shoddy, cheap thinking, & it isn’t helpful to our understanding either of AP or of its (debatable) impact on people’s play.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

I quick search of the original posts here supporting Cleves and time after time, the person making the post is an academic. Meanwhile, the comics community responded largely with silence. Or worse, by attacking Tillie! Without reading EITHER BOOK! We REALLY blew it here.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Gonna make an effort to be on this site a little bit more I think, as much as my instincts are to remain in my little discord-based hole. Reckon keeping up on things is easier with at least an eye peeking around the corner.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Me: I've spent enough money in the past month on non essentials, I should slow my roll Side Quest Books and Game: We're having a 25% sale Me: Me: Me: I should buy more ttrpgs, and also maybe another shelf at this point

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

well, now I've gotten in the weeds nosing around the The Strong Museum of Play's archival records, as you do.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

I was enjoying this tremendously from the academic and fan side of things, but then I got SUCKER PUNCHED by an unfulfillable craving for kolaches.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

I find a lot of the arguments between different sorts of ttrpg fans and systems mostly tedious and offputting, but seeing someone say "the rules don't matter!" as a positive DID make me feel like I had been punched in the kidneys. So there's that.

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Hexed Electron is flinging raccoons into a haunted house @hecticelectron.com · 02/07/2026

Rae Nedjadi is a brilliant designer and a dear friend. Help him recover! Grab this bundle on DriveThru. $25 gives you over $280 worth of games—including Defy the Gods and Raccoon Sky Pirates! www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...

Rae Nedjadi recovery bundle, including Apocalypse Keys, Our Haunt, Once More into the Void, and many more titles

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Alexander Chee @alexanderchee.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

'She also documented how few women were in federally sponsored clinical trials for AIDS drugs... That was significant, she told The San Francisco Chronicle, because “the clinical trials are the only way you can get treatment.”' Long helped save so many lives.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

I always forget post-event depression is a thing until I'm in the thick of it. NYCC was my sign post for months, time doesn't feel real anymore, and my friends are no longer a room away. :(

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

neon night #criticalrolefanart My half of an art collab with the incredible @colealexart.bsky.social! Cole did the lines and I did the colors on this one.

Shoulder up illustration of Imogen Temult wearing a cowboy hat and smoking a cigarette in a dark room. She is backlit by the neon glow of a bar sign and has scars across her right eye.

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Grant Howitt @gshowitt.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

Writing a GM section is hard. So instead I wrote down every role I could imagine that a GM might play and instructed the reader to kind of figure it out themselves as they go

WHAT DOES BEING A GAMESMASTER INVOLVE?
As Gamesmaster, you’ll have a lot of different roles to play. Here are some of them in no particular order; you’ll adopt all, some, more, or none of these during every single session.

You don’t have to be all of these things all at once, nor do you have to do all of them yourself - when you’re starting out, as long as players are getting the chance to roll dice and mess around they’ll probably still have fun. As you play more, you’ll find which ones you enjoy and which ones you don’t, and you’ll find your style.

FUN ADMINISTRATOR
If it wasn’t for you, this game would never happen. You arranged a time and date. You reserved the back room in the pub to play. You helped everyone make their characters. You’re the first person they talk to if they can’t make it to a game, and you’re the final judge as to whether a session goes ahead as planned or must be rescheduled. You’re taking responsibility for all the background details that let the foreground details - the game - work.

PETTY GOD
This is your world. We just described it in loose terms - it’s coming out of your mouth, and you’re making all the decisions. You can adjust numerical values up and down as you wish. You can wipe cities, countries, concepts off the map entirely if you don’t like them. You alone determine whether things are possible or impossible, and you can dictate how dangerous a given task is with ease. Nothing happens unless you want it to. The player characters are scrubbing about in this world of yours, and you graciously let them do so, because they’re having fun. And so are you; you call the shots, you set the boundaries, you show them the fantastic world you’ve dreamed into being.

ORACLE
You are the sole focus of interaction that the players have with the game. In one direction, you are the source of all information about the fiction at the table: so if they want to know what colour a non-player character’s eyes are, they have to ask you and you’re beholden to tell them, or tell them how their characters could find out. In the other direction, you are the fuzzy authority that stands between every player and us, the designers of the game, and therefore the interpreter of the rules. All fictional and mechanical action goes through you.

A CAST OF THOUSANDS
You are everyone else in the world that isn’t a player character. You invent and then adopt their mannerisms, you spin together obvious motivations and secret desires, and you flip between your charges with ease. Sure: many of their voices might sound …

TOUR GUIDE
We’ve written a guidebook for a world that doesn’t exist, and you’re the tour guide who’s leading slack-jawed holidaymakers around that world. You know everything there is to know about the game world - and if you don’t know, you can make it up, and that’s just as good. You’re relentlessly enthusiastic, you give evocative descriptions, and you clue the players into what’s interesting or important - and you know all the best places to take them, too, so they’ll experience the world as best they can.

WET COMPUTER
At the core of every roleplaying game is a set of rules that power the experience, and you are the fallible, non-silicate computer on which these rules run. You know the rules, you enforce them (or ignore them, as you see fit), and you remind players of how best to interact with them. Players might use some bits themselves - rolling to hit, for example, or keeping track of their character’s health - but you’re the ultimate authority on what rule to use when.

CON ARTIST
Players? Bunch of feckless rubes. Look at them, wide-eyed and open-mouthed: they think this is a living, breathing world. They think that you’ve got this all written down, like some kind of Tolkien; they couldn’t be more wrong. You’re just making it up on the fly. There’s nothing behind the curtain, no master plan, no wheels within wheels: just you, regurgitating some half-remembered details about Bloodborne and talking about bones breaking a lot because that makes them wince. They’ll buy anything you sell ‘em.

WORKSHOP LEADER
You don’t have all the answers, but you know where to find them: inside the players’ heads. You ask them questions like “Who are we meeting here?” “What’s the most dangerous thing that awaits you on your journey?” “Which one of you does this guy hate the most?” and then you listen to the answers and incorporate them into the story. You love it - it saves work, saves time, and means that the players are more involved and engaged than ever. Involved and enga…

DRUMMER
The drummer sets the pace. In a band, they dictate the song’s tempo. In a regiment, they dictate the marching speed. (In a marching band they do both, presumably.) You’re in charge of saying when things begin and end, how long a scene takes to play out, how long a non-player character waffles on about their problems, how descriptive an average description is, and so on. You can cut away from situations and cut back later, you can put the pressure on players to make a decision, or you can leave them to chat to one another unobstructed as the hours roll by.

ABSOLUTE BASTARD
You’re going to kill them. You’ve trapped them in your lair. They dared to step up and try to defeat your monsters, overthrow your villains, and now they’re on the back foot. Smash them to fucking bits. Throw ‘em through a window, rip off arms and legs, take grim pleasure when their luck turns against them. No-one gets anywhere by being nice all the time - and the players don’t want you to be nice all the time. They want their characters to get beaten up, humiliated, murdered, hung-drawn-and-quartered. You know that this is a masochistic endeavour and you are happy to indulge them.

TORTURED ARTIST
You always wanted to be creative, and this is your outlet. You’ve spun a world of torment and tragedy (or light-hearted slapstick, depending on the game) for your players to explore - or crafted a complex story within someone else’s, full of betrayals and comeuppances and juicy details. You’ve taken the time to make something clever and you can’t wait for your friends to admire it; what matters most is getting the artistic intent of your world across to the players so they can react appropriately.

OBSESSIVE FAN
Oh my god. You love the player characters so much. Like your favourite character in your favourite TV show, you’re fascinated to see what they’ll do next - and you can probably take a good guess at what it’ll be, because you know them so well. You get a bit sad when bad things happen to…

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Time to bother my previous landlord about getting me my deposit back so I can sign up for some events myself without it being fully irresponsible lmaoooo. Looking at you warrenguard and yazeba's and dread and GOD is the side quest calendar truly an embarrassment of riches always.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Ok I DID laugh aloud when I saw @sidequestbooks.bsky.social's "Tusk Love" release is a DONUT party. Excellent salute to @laurabaileyvo.bsky.social, well played.

Screenshot of an eventbrite listing from Side Quest Books & Games with an image of the book Tusk Love amidst donuts. The text reads: Book Launch Pajama + Donut Party for "Tusk Love" @SQBG. Wed, Jul 2 7 pm, from $11.49

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Joseph Fink, we're going to win @planetoffinks.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

1 in 12 Americans live in California. 1 in 35 Americans live in LA County. LA is America

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Something that excites me about #Daggerheart is the Macmillan distribution deal. Being in Barnes and Noble,etc, being very beginner friendly, and shouting out game influences early, in narrative flow, could leverage that CR money and pull to potentially bring total newbies into the TTRPG space.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

This is so completely my shit it's not even funny, I have homebrewed SO many similar sort of things. 😂 I love a mechanical way to battle bond characters. #daggerheart

Daggerheart card for the level 10 Codex spell "Transcendent Union" with the text "Once per long rest, spend 5 Hope to cast this spell on two or more willing creatures. Until your next rest, when a creature connected by this union would mark Stress or Hit Points, the connected creatures choose who marks it." Art is by Bear Frymire.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Pack a bunch of this and haul some of them to the new place --> promptly start flaring, need to take at least 12 hours to recover, rinse, repeat. Looooove to have chronic pain while moving. -_-

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

mmm, I mostly originally made this account to follow fanartists but like. what if I actually became active on social media for real though. A concept.

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Omen Archive @omenarchive.com · 20/04/2025

Ever wonder what the top spell cast during @criticalrole.bsky.social's Campaign 3 was? What about who rolled the most nat 20s, how many healing potions got used, or how long Bells Hells were adventuring for? At long last, we are thrilled to share C3 AT A GLANCE! #CriticalRole

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

This is no lie the main source of my FOMO over my decision not to attend C2E2 after the liveshow hahaha. GOD, that Imogen print.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 12/04/2025

I think the liveshow cured my art block? (disclaimer: this is not spoiler art) #criticalrolefanart

Screenshot of Clip Studio featuring Laudna crouched in her Form of dream with long spidery arms and her Hound of Ill Omen emerging from her dripping mouth

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Anyway you know what's neat? Kennings.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Today in "everywhere I go I see her face," I was reading about Ogham script, saw the letter ruis meant "red," poked further and learned the Gaulish word for red was roudos, and had to laugh about @matthewmercer.bsky.social basically popping up over my shoulder even when I wasn't actively CR brained.

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Atlas | COMMS CLOSED @atlas-basil.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

“something so storybook and beautiful” #CriticalRole #CriticalRoleFanArt

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

Finally finished coloring my piece for the Southern Gothic Creative Exchange! My prompt was "Imogen teaching Laudna how to ride." #criticalrolefanart #criticalrole #imodna #imogentemult #laudna

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Oh this is SO fucking good, once I heard "I know I am an animal/cuz I have seen my cage/and I have teeth" the chills started, and they did NOT stop. Fucking fantastic encapsulation of the nuance of Fearnie, whose depth get elided over sometimes.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

Gonna be real interesting to see how I, a person who has trouble being mean in video games, manage to play To Serve Her Wintry Hunger this evening. I'm very excited about it; I like a game that forces me to step outside my comfort zone by baking it into the mechanics and conceit, every now and then.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Well now I'm relistening to Laudna's Lullaby and I need to just. Lay down. God. GOD. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZVF...

youtube.com

Laudna's Lullaby (A Critical Role Inspired Tribute)

YouTube video by R. Morgan Slade - Topic

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

GOD I'm gonna miss the hell out of the Hells. Dunno if I'll finish my piece for the finale in time because I have been, and continue to be, annoyingly ill and dizzy, but some old stuff, reposted:

Lineless art of Imogen smiling, eyes closed and hand on Laudna's arm as Laudna puts a hand up to her own smiling face, looking at Imogen tenderly. Pate flies over her shoulder and the background is autumn leaves, a color palette reflected throughout the piece.

Imogen Temult, eyes white and skin red and cut through with lightning, reaches toward the viewer with reddish lightning in her palm, holding on to Laudna is a tree-based form of dread, her hands wrapped around Imogen's head, a flat red moon behind them.

Black and white illustration of a grackle standing on Laudna's head, pulling at her hair. Laudna looks bloodied and is wearing an approximation Vex's shoulder fur. In the upper right is the text "So now she had hope, even if it was a frail and rudderless hope, and a bird astride her head. Given the circumstances, this was absolutely an improvement. What Doesn't Break, page 25"

An illustration of Imogen and Laudna from Critical Role, almost completely red. Imogen's eyes and scars glow as she floats in the air, clinging to Laudna, one arm around her neck and the other clutching her hand. Laudna's face is lit up by Imogen's eyes, and she looks on with alarm, the hand Imogen is not holding around her waist. The red light from below them casts smearing dark purple shadows, blurring up towards the top of the image, and there are rocks also levitating in the air around them

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

This is the thing that actually started my tears going about the finale. GORGEOUS, cole, oh god I will miss them so.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Somebody make sure @laurabaileyvo.bsky.social sees just how utterly she wrecked shop, my LORD.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

You know this was my first like, proper Critical Role fanart. I feel like maybe I need to draw the spiritual successor, after 120.

A simple illustration where lightning bolt splits the sun tree as a small silhouette of Imogen reaches towards it, the bright light making her shadow dramatic and wide. In the center of the bolt is the silhouette of Laudna, with a white heart in her chest, the purple leaving it. The piece is in black and white and makes use of screentones and speedlines.

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Omen Archive @omenarchive.com · 23/01/2025

We didn't expect to be writing a level-up analysis mid-fight, or for two levels at once, but Bell's Hells have so many cool new feats and features that we couldn't resist. Check it out at www.omenarchive.com/articles/lev.... #CriticalRole

omenarchive.com

Temporary level 16 and 17 analysis — The Omen Archive

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

Finally getting around to finishing these leather dice trays I tooled forever ago. Looking p good so far.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

I just love Bell's Hells. So much. Man. This plan is just too perfect, I am so fucking jazzed.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 12/01/2025

This is such a small thing to offer, but if you have a young kiddo that is trying to understand the fire and evacuation, "Simone" by Viet Thanh Nguyen and Minnie Phan is a lovely picture book about a young girl evacuating and taking shelter with her mom. It also explains incarcerated fire fighters.

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Well_dipper (C2E2 L-10) @welldipper.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

"In a time of warlords and kings..." #xena

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

Spent the episode giggling because I love the drama and drawing this scene from last episode: #criticalrolefanart

Laudna crashing into Imogen from behind as they slide down the myceit tunnel at high speeds. Imogen looks alarmed and is clutching Laudna's legs; Laudna's limbs are all akimbo.

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Rach (she/they) @wampishing.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

Fuck it, who knows how long til I finish the whole comic if ever, here's a page of Imodna's first kiss that I finished months and months and months ago, happy goddamn new year. #criticalrolefanart

A color comic page with three, no-border panels, first with Imogen's hand reaching out, then with her drawing Laudna in by the back of the neck as they look at each other's lips, then on them kissing, with the words in white "Then...I will. I do. I do."

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