Wherefore Magazine?

A few weeks ago I sort of bullied myself into launching a TTRPG magazine in 2025. In fairness it’s something I’ve had on my mind for years, but it wasn’t until that ill-fated social media post that things sort of gelled around the idea, and it shifted from something I could do to something I had to do.

Since deciding to go ahead I’ve thrown myself into planning and research, mapping a bit of the path ahead. And through it all I come back to the fundamental question.

Why? Why a TTRPG magazine?

Tangent time! My favourite sci-fi show of all time is Babylon 5. Not only does it hold up every time I watch it, but it was responsible for helping build my personal ethics and philosophy as an adult. One of the guiding themes of the show can be summarized as, “why you do a thing is as important as what you do.” An altruistic act for selfish reasons is doomed to fail eventually, it has no foundation to support it.

I ask myself whenever I embark on a new project, why am I doing this? Are my motives only personal and selfish? Why do I want this thing out in the world beyond “hey, look at this cool thing I made!” Does it benefit anyone else besides me? This is not to say doing something beneficial to oneself is inherently selfish. But I think if that is the only motive, if that’s the driving reason I’m doing a thing, then that has the biggest potential to be harmful in the long run.

(As a related aside, I think we can all call to mind one project (maybe more) in the TTRPG space ruined by the selfishness of the project leads? Apotheosis Studios ring any (alarm) bells for anyone?)

So, why?

Right up front, yes, I see benefits to me. I get to throw myself into a project I’ve wanted to do for a while, which ain’t nothing. Along the way I’ll have the opportunity to learn and develop skills that I think will help me explore future publishing projects for myself through Prairie Dragon Press. And long term, maybe there’s some financial benefit down the road that will allow me to shift to making a living from TTRPGs.

But those are secondary benefits, dependent on a number of factors outside my control right now.

I want [redacted] Magazine to be a hub of TTRPG discussion, ideas, and advice that embraces the exciting diversity of our hobby. I want to create a publication that adds an avenue for creators and gamers from all over the world to show off what they love best about this hobby. I want this magazine to, at all times and to the best of its ability, support diversity and accessibility. I want as many different voices in every issue as I can manage and I want as many folks as possible to be able to hear those voices.

Okay, but why a magazine?

I think we’ve all seen how social media is starting to fail us as a method of disseminating and discussing ideas; I feel like a return to something akin to BBSs and forums is needed but that’s a discussion for another time. But social media is crumbling at the edges, and frankly has never been good as a repository for information. I can post a long thread on a topic, have folks engage with it for a day maybe two, and then it is gone, churned over in the wake of other social media posts. Websites are a bit more solid in this regard, which is why I’ve tried to post any longer thoughts I’ve had here rather than on socials. But even a website is temporary feeling, mutable. I can come in and edit this at any time, after all, and unless you happen to screenshot my previous version you and future readers would have no way of knowing.

There’s a solidity, I guess, to publishing articles in a magazine as opposed to a website. For myself at least there’s a feeling that, once we’ve locked those words down in an issue, they are more solid and the writer and the editor and myself as the publisher have to stand by them. That issue is out in the world and for weal or woe so are the words and ideas inside. I think that gives everyone involved an obligation to make sure that what we publish is the best it can be. Not just from a technical and craft standpoint, but also ethically.

I have read and gone back to re-read a great number of the TTRPG magazines from my time in the hobby. Sometimes it’s delightful but sometimes? Hoo boy, sometimes it’s painful to read what people thought was a good and defensible stance. So every time I think about what our publishing guidelines will be, what ethics are we (am I) building into the publication, I think “am I going to proud or ashamed if someone picks up and reads a copy of [redacted] Magazine Issue #48 in X years time?” That question is probably my main driver for this project.

In the meantime, planning, planning, planning, research, research, research. If I do screw something up I can’t fall back on “I didn’t know!” as an excuse; I’m putting too much effort into trying to know that I wouldn’t be able to look at myself in the mirror. I get one chance to launch the best magazine I can. While I will always work to make every issue better, there’s only going to be one [redacted] Magazine #1, and I want everyone involved to proud of it for years.