An international network of researchers into all aspects of role-playing games
David Millians, Editor
Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA
millians.david@paideiaschool.org
ARTICLES
CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES
Mike and Amber Tresca will be at Gen Con 2026 as Mal and Tal Enterprises, LLC.
Friday, July 31
2:00 PM: Write for RPGs Professionally | Stadium: Meeting Room 12 (ID: SEM26ND302377)
4:00 PM: Launch Your Own Podcast | Westin: Senate II (ID: SEM26ND302374)
7:00 PM: Launch Your Own RPG Company | Westin: Senate II (ID: SEM26ND302384)
Saturday, August 1
2:00 PM: Run an RPG Campaign Online | Stadium: Meeting Room 10 (ID: SEM26ND302398)
3:00 PM: The Art of the Interview | Stadium: Meeting Room 10 (ID: SEM26ND302394)
Locations: All events are in the Indiana Convention Center, Lucas Oil Stadium, or surrounding downtown hotels. Seats are limited to 30 people per session.
NEW MATERIAL
This is a compilation of articles and other resources that have come to the editor’s attention over the last month. Everyone is welcome to send bibliographic information about anything you discover that fits the mission of CAR-PGa and this newsletter.
Acosta, Ema (2026 Jul 19) Awards & Immigrations. https://ttrpg.in/2026/07/19/140193805. Intersecting design, awards, and deportation.
Campbell, Stephanie (2026 Jul 9) TTRPGkids recap of Origins 2026. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2026/07/09/ttrpgkids-recap-of-origins-2026. Many exciting aspects of the convention, including the Game-Based Education and Therapy Conference (GBET), other panels, Kid’s Room, and games old and new.
Campbell, Stephanie (2026 Jul 14) Review of Tales of Aetheria: An Unexpected Quest. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2026/07/14/review-of-tales-of-aetheria-an-unexpected-quest. Cozy picture book introduction to RPG play.
Campbell, Stephanie (2026 Jul 28) Interview with Omnis about running a youth D&D program. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2026/07/28/interview-with-kris-omnis-s-about-running-a-youth-dd-program. From parents and scheduling to embracing the role of GM.
Carra, Mallory (2026 Jul 16) D&D players raise millions in real-life campaign against ‘corporate elite’. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/16/dungeons-dragons-tabletop-games-politics. Los Angeles candidate event demonstrates the political opportunities in RPG play.
Carter, Chase (2026 Jul 30) Mischief Toy Store takes home the 2026 Diana Jones Award. https://www.rascal.news/mischief-toy-store-takes-home-the-2026-diana-jones-award. Working within their community to organize and resist with kindness.
Chan, Khee Hoon (2026 Jul 30) Adobe InDesign’s generative AI feature is a sneaky, unhelpful mess, says tabletop designers. https://www.rascal.news/adobe-indesigns-generative-ai-feature-is-a-sneaky-unhelpful-mess-says-tabletop-designers. Unannounced AI tools turned on by default.
Codega, Lin (2026 Jul 17) Cut funds, support, put PAX diversity spaces in danger. https://www.rascal.news/cut-funds-support-put-pax-diversity-spaces-in-danger. Creating and maintaining support for identity and games.
Codega, Lin (2026 Jul 31) Daggerheart and Crooked Moon won big at the 2026 ENNIE Awards. https://www.rascal.news/daggerheart-crooked-moon-won-big-at-the-2026-ennie-awards. Fan and judge acclaimed products and projects from the past year.
Davenport, Lily (2026 Jul 15) Rolling with it: Dungeons & Dragons & the University Honors Program. https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2026/07/university-honors-program-offers-community-connection-and-service-through-dungeons–dragons.html. University of Cincinnati’s RPG programs, including Tales of Resilience and Ethics & Dragons course.
Didymus-True, Mike (2026 Jul 17) Solo play is now one of board gaming’s defining mechanisms, university research of 104,000 titles finds. https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2026/07/17/solo-play-is-now-one-of-board-gamings-defining-mechanisms-analysis-of-104000-titles-finds. A growing design trend across gaming.
Ennies (2026) 2026 Nominees. https://ennie-awards.com/2026-nominees. Celebrating excellence in a host of areas of RPG production.
Evans, Alex (2026 Jul 7) D&D rival Chaosium removes AI errors added to new game “without our knowledge”. https://www.wargamer.com/time-without-tide/dnd-rival-chaosium-removes-rogue-ai-descriptions. Automatic GenAI image descriptions slip into product.
Girdwood, Andrew (2026 Jul 4) Dragons, lasers, and the Round Table: Reassessing Britain’s forgotten 1980s fantasy boom. https://www.geeknative.com/239226/dragons-lasers-and-the-round-table-reassessing-britains-forgotten-1980s-fantasy-boom. Fantasy and creativity in another era.
Girdwood, Andrew (2026 Jul 3) Paizo warns Discord users about new looking for game art scams. https://www.geeknative.com/239161/paizo-warns-discord-users-about-new-looking-for-game-art-scams. Scammers deploying AI to emulate artists and swindle players.
Girdwood, Andrew (2026 Jul 8) First issue of White Dwarf magazine available to read on Internet Archive. https://www.geeknative.com/239471/first-issue-of-white-dwarf-magazine-available-to-read-on-internet-archive. Historic magazine issues 1 to 93 online in full.
Girdwood, Andrew (2026 Jul 9) Trading card game comedy A Fairy Fail wraps filming in local game shop. https://www.geeknative.com/239491/trading-card-game-comedy-a-fairy-fail-wraps-filming-in-local-game-shop. Filmed at the Twenty Sided Store in Brooklyn.
Girdwood, Andrew (2026 Jul 9) Ennies Emporium 2026 launches on BackerKit as independent publishers pioneer curated tabletop marketplaces. https://www.geeknative.com/239525/ennies-emporium-2026-launches-on-backerkit-as-independent-publishers-pioneer-curated-tabletop-marketplaces. Promoting acclaimed games from small publishers.
Girdwood, Andrew (2026 Jul 22) Dungeons and Shakespeare: Bringing tabletop roleplaying to the Edinburgh Fringe. https://www.geeknative.com/240313/dungeons-and-shakespeare-bringing-tabletop-roleplaying-to-the-edinburgh-fringe. Interview with creator, performer, and Dungeon Master Shelby Bond.
Hutton, Christopher (2026 Jul 12) Q&A with Queercraft About Serving LGBTQ Gaming Needs. https://www.ttrpginsider.news/p/news-roundup-d-d-to-take-over-gencon-2026#qa-w-queercraft. Queer hand-crafted game accessories.
Ionita, Serban (2026 Jul 10) Race-as-Class and the Quiet Death of a Design Idea. https://therpggazette.wordpress.com/2026/07/10/race-as-class-and-the-quiet-death-of-a-design-idea. Framing character concepts over time.
Koo, Gene (2026 Jul 15) Can AI play journaling games?. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBEp-HWVTps. Not like a human does.
Larson, Lauren (2026 Jun) Don’t Mess With These Steel Magnolias. https://www.texasmonthly.com/culture/dallas-mythics-buhurt-armored-medieval-combat. The Dallas Mythics, the top women’s medieval-combat team in the nation, continue their fight.
Logan Legendmaker (2026 Jul) What 20 actual-play Shorts reveal about editing table comedy. https://legendmaker-free-gm-tools.legendmaker-games.chatgpt.site/research. Data on humor in actual play.
MacDougall, Nico (2026 Jul 25) June 2026 TTRPG Crowdfunding Retrospective. https://ttrpg-spider.blogspot.com/2026/07/june-2026-ttrpg-crowdfunding.html. Possible leveling off in fundraising and the effects of marquee IP games.
Manuel, Thomas (2026 Jul 14) Finland recognizes roleplaying as living heritage and culture worth preserving. https://www.rascal.news/finland-recognizes-roleplaying-as-living-heritage-and-culture-worth-preserving. History and discussion of RPGs in Finland.
McCay, James (2025 May 24) The Tabletop Gamer’s Guide to Home and Contents Insurance. https://www.comparethemarket.com.au/home-contents-insurance/features/the-tabletop-gamers-survey. Survey of adults in Australia, Canada, and USA show the popularity of RPGs and the investment by their players.
O’Connel, Laurie (2026 Jul 24) Samuel Beckett and the inherent absurdity of solo journaling. https://www.patreon.com/TwelvePinsPress/posts/rpg-book-club-of-164724556. Rhythm and repetition in play.
riwhi (2026 Jul 3) TTRPGs Are Just a Pōwhiri. https://www.kiwirpg.com/blog/2026/07/03/ttrpgs-are-just-a-powhiri. Insights from Māori traditions about creating stories that come alive.
Seattle Mariners (2026) Pathfinder: Operation Salmon Run Day. https://www.mlb.com/mariners/tickets/specials/pathfinder. Sponsored special tickets for August 9, 2026, comes with dice and a donation to Gamers Engaged.
Simmons, Taj (2026 Jul 30) Lake Geneva historian exhibits local legacy of Dungeons & Dragons creator Gary Gygax. https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/in-your-community/walworth-county/lake-geneva-historian-exhibits-local-legacy-of-dungeons-dragons-creator-gary-gygax. Museum exhibit and other recognitions around Lake Geneva.
Smith, Quintin (2026 Jul 8) Why We’re Doing Journalism Differently: The Future isn’t Games, it’s Play – PMG | Guadalindie 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4Xm4sC1ZAg. Play before game, genre breaking, and design possibilities.
Velocitree (2026 Jun 30) My Children’s Appendix N: a fantasy book list. https://dreamshrike.blogspot.com/2026/06/my-childrens-appendix-n-fantasy-book.html. Curated reading and read-aloud book lists.
© Copyright 2026 by the Committee for the Advancement of Role-Playing Games (CAR-PGa), ISSN 1071 7129. The CAR-PGa Newsletter is a monthly publication. For more information contact David Millians, Editor, Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA, phone (404) 808-1070, fax (404) 377-3491, email millians.david@paideiaschool.org. Back issues are available. Contributions of material from the membership are urged, and the byline is responsible for content. Deadline is the last weekday of the month, email preferred. Permission is granted to copy anything in the Newsletter, provided we get a credit line in the publication copying it, and it doesn’t have someone else’s copyright on it. Information, including details on joining CAR-PGa, can be obtained on the Internet at car-pga.org.