Rising Tides & Strange Centers: PTRPGs & the Myth of One Space

One of the most prevalent (and damaging) myths that creators, publishers, and participants within our industry spaces perpetuate is that there is only one big space, that everyone is a member of one huge family, and that there's only ever one voice for anything: Indie Games, Queer Games, BIMPOC Games. In this panel, designers and community organizers from the Philippines will talk about our own scene — one that's actually about as old as Dungeons & Dragons!: why RPGSEA does things the way it does, what inclusivity, diversity, and intersectionality mean for us, and ways by which everyone can change their language, mindset, and actions in order to decenter our spaces.

• Mari Ko (she/her) has been a TRPG event organizer from the Philippines for the past 2 years. Her days are filled playing TRPGs almost everyday of the week, when she isn't playing video games.


• momatoes (she/her) is one of the many designers from the explosive SE Asian TTRPG scene. Her latest work, ARC, swiftly surpassed its crowdfunding goals in July thanks to the support of over 2,200 backers around the globe. But her passions remain rooted in community and development. She built and maintains the Across RPGSEA website, aiming to connect and promote indie works by SE Asians, and counts her 7+ years experience working with NGOs and development organizations as her proudest milestone.


• Pammu (she/they) is a queer Filipina based in Manila. Beyond her community work handling local ttrpgs and geek scenes in her city, promoting #RPGSEA (Roleplaying Games from Southeast Asia) and working as an admin team member for Asians Represent, she does game design, editing, sensitivity reading, and cultural consultancy. Her personal works focus on the fringe, redefinitions of the familiar, intimacy and darkness within and without. Some of her professional work includes The Islands of Sina Una: A Guide to Ancestry and Culture for D&D 5E, Thirsty Sword Lesbians, and Spire: Shadow Operations.


• Sinta Posadas (diwata) (they/them) is a game designer, layout artist and illustrator from #RPGSEA that has been doing several freelance work under projects such as Sina Una and Orbital Blues, among others. They've also been publishing their games and art packs on itch.io and patreon with plentiful community copies available for anyone to grab. Their games like to focus on stories about racing against the apocalypse, queerness, self-discovery, and community-building.