Interview: Sarah Carapace and Emily Allen Talk Disaster Lesbians in Dungeon Bitches

Interview: Sarah Carapace and Emily Allen Talk Disaster Lesbians in Dungeon Bitches

Released by Dying Stylishly Games in 2021 after a successful Kickstarter campaign, Dungeon Bitches is a queer TTRPG that drops players into a harsh world where just about everything is out to kill you. You’ll quickly find that you need to band together with other queer women in order to make a place for yourself in the unforgiving setting—dealing with trauma and finding community along the way.

Here, two members of the Dying Stylishly Games team behind Dungeon Bitches, designer and author Emily F. Allen and artist and graphic designer Sarah Carapace, chat with us about the game, the creation process, and some of the inspiration behind it.

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Let Me Tell You About My OC(s): Tabletop RPGs as Disempowerment Fantasies

Let Me Tell You About My OC(s): Tabletop RPGs as Disempowerment Fantasies

Late last year, I suddenly felt like I needed a break. Not a little one, either—I felt overwhelmed with responsibility for everything from taking care of my pets and family to texting friends to ask when everybody was available for our next D&D session.

All this happened alongside discussions in therapy about my intense need to be strong and capable and weather the world without asking for help. It’s a story I’d told myself and everybody else since I was a kid—that I was responsible for my own wellbeing and if I felt like I needed assistance, I was wrong and should just become stronger. You can imagine that, after 33 years, this story’s gotten a little old. (more…)

5 TTRPGs to Scratch That Anime Itch

5 TTRPGs to Scratch That Anime Itch

The ongoing pandemic has me, like everyone else, watching a lot of anime, and while it’s always fun to be taken along on the ride, sometimes a person wants to help direct the story. While I don’t have the hookup to any studios (or the skill, or the time), I do have a big ol’ mental rolodex of tabletop roleplaying games, and I’m here to share the wealth so you too can triumph through the power of friendship. (more…)

Pathfinder Second Edition Lost Omens: World Guide

Pathfinder Second Edition Lost Omens: World Guide

As I’ve said before, the world of Golarion is the reason I truly fell in love with Pathfinder. It’s a vast and expansive campaign setting, with options for almost any type of fantasy game that you would want to play in or run. Do you want a horror campaign? The eerie, vaguely Eastern European marshes and forests of Ustalav are right up your alley. Political intrigue? Cheliax and Taldor are perfect settings. Epic fantasy can be found in the Saga Lands of Varisia and Irrisen. Pirates can be found in the Shackles. Whatever the flavor of your intended game, there is somewhere on Golarion where you can make the game fit, and the Lost Omens: World Guide is the tool to help you find where.

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Digital Spaces for Digital Games: How BostonFIG Fest Virtual 2020 Brought a Show Online

Digital Spaces for Digital Games: How BostonFIG Fest Virtual 2020 Brought a Show Online

Like the Game Devs of Color Expo, the BostonFIG Fest was one of many events that had to adapt and change their show in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

In typical circumstances, the annual games event is hosted around the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus, as noted in my recap of a previous year’s Fest. But because a pandemic simply does not magically disappear into the transition of a new year, the BostonFIG Fest went virtual in 2021, hosting its festivities on Gather. (more…)