Episode 114: Geek Interview: Changing the Tabletop Games Narrative with Kate Bullock
Tabletop RPGs are historically the territory of cis, white men, full of the types of issues that cause concern to many groups of people. That’s why it’s time to change the narrative surrounding these games, making them a more welcoming, acceptable, and inclusive environment. We’re joined by community and convention organisaer, Kate Bullock, who talks about how she’s creating safer spaces within the TTRPG community.
About Kate Bullock
Kate Bullock is a community and convention organizer with a passion for creating safer and more inclusive spaces within the TTRPG community. She’s one of the main organizers of Breakout Gaming Convention, community manager for Magpie Games, co-owner of Unicorn Motorcycle Games, and the outgoing president of the Indie Game Developer Network.
You can find her blog, Bluestocking’s Organic Gaming, filled with in depth analyses of the gaming community and what we can do to make it better. Kate is a consultant for safety and inclusion in the RPG world, as well as a content editor for RPGs to ensure they meet industry standards around inclusion and safety. You can find her games Crossroads Carnival, Savior, Remember Me, and more on drivethru, or see her work in Atlas Animalia, Flames of Freedom, and After the War.
About Changing the Tabletop Narrative
Kate Bullock joins us to talk about her work in changing the common racist and misogynistic narratives that are so often found in tabletop roleplaying games. This is a challenging, male-dominated industry to work in, yet alone make substantial changes in, but Kate’s certainly making the changes she’s set out to do.
Kate explains why this change is so gradual: for an industry with so much general interest, the net profit margins are slim, making significantly less than the video game industry.
But Kate doesn’t let this deter her mission and works full-time in the industry, dedicated to change. Unfortunately, since she’s now creating the games, she doesn’t get to play as often as she’d like to.
Kate’s also a committed community manager. She strives to ensure the communities she manages are inclusive and safe for everyone, especially marginalised groups of people. She’s recommended some great books, too, if you’re interested in inclusive community management:
- I Hope We Choose Love by Kai Cheng Thom
- Are We Done Fighting? by Matthew Legge
- Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg
- Conflict is Not Abuse by Sarah Schulman
And Just a Few TTRPG Resources Kate Mentioned:
Find Kate Bullock Online
You can find Kate Bullock Online and Twitter
Fine Unicorn Motorcycle Games Online
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If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others!
- Episode 95: Geek Interview: Redefining Genres with New York Times Bestselling Author Madeleine Roux
- Episode 105: Geek Discussion: Why Geek Community Matters
- Episode 107: Geek Interview: Creating Feminist Characters with Game Developers Genese Davis and Seb Le Touze
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