Rach (she/they)
LightNews LightNews
banner
rachandroll.bsky.social
Rach (she/they)
@rachandroll.bsky.social
300 followers 240 following 74 posts
doodler and librarian, 30s, mostly nerding out about tabletop games rn. formerly @dadrielle
Posts Replies Media Videos
rachandroll.bsky.social
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. :(
October 14, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Reposted by Rach (she/they)
chron.com
"This is the heartbeat of our LGBTQIA+ community in Houston."
‘Overreach at its worst’: Houston leaders rally for rainbow crosswalks
"This is the heartbeat of our LGBTQIA+ community in Houston."
bit.ly
October 14, 2025 at 8:20 PM
rachandroll.bsky.social
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.
September 3, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Reposted by Rach (she/they)
gshowitt.bsky.social
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…
August 26, 2025 at 5:28 PM
rachandroll.bsky.social
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.
June 11, 2025 at 11:54 PM
rachandroll.bsky.social
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
June 11, 2025 at 11:50 PM
rachandroll.bsky.social
miriamposner.com Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · Jun 8
You *must* swallow your impulse to parse and nitpick and find fault with protestors’ actions right now. We need solidarity so badly. It’s literally all we have. I am begging you, as a mother of 2 kids who is terrified of martial law, to find it in yourself to support the protestors. We need you.
June 9, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Reposted by Rach (she/they)
voiceofobrien.bsky.social
Know your rights.
June 8, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Reposted by Rach (she/they)
planetoffinks.bsky.social
1 in 12 Americans live in California.

1 in 35 Americans live in LA County.

LA is America
douglasmack.bsky.social Doug Mack @douglasmack.bsky.social · Jun 8
not the main issue here but i'd really appreciate it if democratic politicians spoke out in support of big-city life and culture with the same energy and reverence that all politicians have for small towns

los angeles is "real america" and so are all the other big cities the president hates
June 9, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Reposted by Rach (she/they)
aliettedebodard.com
👇
jmrivera.bsky.social Joshua Rivera @jmrivera.bsky.social · May 25
a terrible thing about the last ten or twenty years of comics is seeing how many massive talents are still with us and in poor health, dying young, forever freelancers that gave their physical health to make things that now fuel the biggest blockbusters ever. It’s not right.
May 25, 2025 at 9:50 PM
rachandroll.bsky.social
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.
May 21, 2025 at 5:23 PM
rachandroll.bsky.social
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.
May 20, 2025 at 9:52 PM
rachandroll.bsky.social
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. -_-
May 20, 2025 at 6:26 PM
rachandroll.bsky.social
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.
May 8, 2025 at 3:51 AM
rachandroll.bsky.social
You know I been dadrielle on the internet since like, 2013ish? But I think I want to move to a less specific-fandom-centric name, so we're gonna try rachandroll on for size here for a bit, see how it feels.
April 21, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Reposted by Rach (she/they)
omenarchive.com
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
April 20, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Reposted by Rach (she/they)
akanelogics.bsky.social
Sapphic Saturday!

The best ones 💜❤️

#criticalrole #criticalrolefanart
April 19, 2025 at 9:06 PM
rachandroll.bsky.social
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.
klimtsonian.bsky.social adelle k. 🫀🪡 @klimtsonian.bsky.social · Apr 9
If you’re at C2E2 this weekend, you can get a print of this piece (along with other amazing goodies!!) as part of the Critical Role Stamp Rally prize package!! 💕
April 13, 2025 at 2:20 AM
rachandroll.bsky.social
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
April 12, 2025 at 7:59 PM
rachandroll.bsky.social
Anyway you know what's neat? Kennings.
March 26, 2025 at 2:58 PM
rachandroll.bsky.social
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.
March 26, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Reposted by Rach (she/they)
voiceofobrien.bsky.social
It’s Thursday.
omenarchive.com Omen Archive @omenarchive.com · Mar 13
Happy 10th anniversary to our friends at @criticalrole.bsky.social. Ten years, three campaigns, a whole lot of one-shots, and a total of 1,633 hours, 24 minutes, and 41 seconds in Exandria. That's about 68 days, or 2.24 months. Here's to day 69 and everything else yet to come! #CriticalRole
A chibi-ish style drawing of the eight founding members of Critical Role. Matt is in the center holding a glowing map with the CR logo on the back. The rest of the cast stands around him looking excited. Sam is holding up a cat mask. Matt is wearing a brown vest over a maroon shirt. Liam is wearing a dark blue henley. Travis is wearing a mostly-obscured Strongjaw Ale shirt. Laura is wearing a white cardigan with chunky flower on it. Marisha is wearing a mostly-obscured Sleeves Are Bullshit shirt. Taliesin is wearing a purple Morningwitch button-down. Ashley is wearing a blue "Daddy" button-down.
March 13, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Rach (she/they)
atlas-basil.bsky.social
“something so storybook and beautiful”

#CriticalRole #CriticalRoleFanArt
Imogen and laudna surrounded by flowers
March 3, 2025 at 8:28 PM
rachandroll.bsky.social
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
illustration of Imogen and Laudna riding; Imogen is on a white horse and in profile as she reaches to cup Laudna's face while she smiles. Laudna is riding a mule and smiling while looking more unsure. The lighting is a saturated purple and gold of sunset. Imogen is wearing the denim shirt merchandise, as well as her bloodwell vial and yellow scarf. Laudna is wearing a wide brimmed floppy black hat, a ruffley sleeveless black shirt and high wasted maroon pants. Her snake ring is visible on her finger. The background is of a field with a couple trees silhouetted in the distance.
March 2, 2025 at 7:54 PM
rachandroll.bsky.social
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.
lillifurfaro.bsky.social lilli furfaro @lillifurfaro.bsky.social · Feb 23
hi ashley johnson! i wrote a song for fearne! sometimes you’ll do anything when you want the world — especially when your world turns out to be everyone you love in particular.
#CriticalRole #EXU

youtu.be/5oMwWlb_sgg?...
everything — fearne’s song
YouTube video by Lilli Furfaro
youtu.be
February 23, 2025 at 12:33 AM