[#TabletopThursdays]: 28.05.26 - ISC Blog/Podcast Topic Previews, May 2026.
Like any good BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy), I’ve been slowly plottin’ and schemin’ in the background. I can’t with any confidence say I’ve moved much further on my ‘Clocks’ where actually operationalising a lot of this stuff is concerned. Music press keeps us readily at busy, and administrative duties are taking up a fair portion of the lion’s share I’d previously have divested out across our hobby-related topical domains.
Fear not, weary Internet-traveller, for I’ve got an interesting one for you tonight. I’d like to reveal a whole heap of potential topics (both currently-relevant and ‘evergreen’) for potential publication either here on the blog, and/or the Inner-Strength Check Podcast.
This is by NO means an exhaustive list, and quite a lot of these ideas have some research and drafting behind them. If you’d like a greater say in which topics make it to the table, suggest/submit your own and otherwise be closely involved with myself & The Inner-Strength Check Team, our Patreon (link down below) is where I intend on creating user/community-driven content. More importantly, though, the Riff-Nerds’ area is where you’ll also get access to additional behind-the-scenes and bonus content - bonus/full-length podcast episodes unavailable elsewhere, additional articles + other goodies.
Have a gander, but also don’t feel completely pay-walled out of it either. I mean yeesh, it’s not like we’re owned by Hasbro or anything (I’d have been up for performance review by now, if so).
As always, feel free to reach out on our social media links up top/down below or email us at innerstrengthcheckmedia@gmail.com if any of these topics sound like something you’d like explored sooner rather than later, and/or you want to contribute your say. This is your platform too, ya know?!
Lastly - I’m always keen to be doing more industry-related/hobbyist interviews. Whether you’re lore-dumping Dark Souls (shoutout to ISC-friend Luna for the great article AND her free Dark Souls rules-adaptation), effectively whinging about why an RPG does a much better job of storytelling than a franchise’s TV adaptation (that’s me, whoops) or just want to school me on/discuss a current/ongoing hyperfixation - I’m all ears! If you’re a bit gun-shy with video, I’m also happy to either make Interviews audio-only or even do email/document-based Q and A interviews.
At the risk of flooding my already-beleaguered Gmail inbox even further - I heartily encourage y’all to get in touch!
As Always,
Peace, Love and d6-based-Grindcore,
Brady.
This Evening’s Muh-ADHD-Medication-Wore-Off Stimming-Assistants Are:
Dorehedoro - The first anime-anything I’ve watched in a very long time that isn’t just my yearly(ish?) Neon Genesis Evangelion series/movie re-watch. I only really vibe with anime as a medium when it’s either super-grimdark or has a nice post-apocalyptic or psychedelic bent to it - this show’s got all that. It’s a trip! Violence? Gore?! Weird Mutant Year Zero /Biker Mice From Mars meets Shadowrun visuals/vibes? Hell yeah.
Kowloon Walled City (Oakland, USA) - Piecework (2021): A fantastic slice of minimalist post-metal/sludge. This band get lots of airplay when I need both focus and crushing, meditative riffing. Link to album order via KWC Bandcamp; see below for the title-track music video via Neurot Recordings).
Last but not least - Butters! Come on, how can you not feel your neurons tame a little with this widdle guy around. We love you, Butters!
Inner-Strength Check - Tabletop content/topic previewS:
The May 2026/Please God Stop Announcing Tours Everyone So I Can Geek Out A Bit More Edition.
Once again, by no means an exclusive list - Patreon folks, you’re about to cop a whole bunch more in the near future. Plus, get at me with your ideas and feedback!
Oh and where you see Riffs - broken record, assumptions = ass-you-and-i, etc, this is our catchall moniker for any non-Review related short/long-form content.
Thought/opinion pieces, essays, reflections etc. All that great stuff.
Alrighty, here’s the list:
I: Tabletop & The Biopsychosocial Model + Benefits/Risks:
Riff/Podcast: ‘The Biopsychosocial Model of Health, Hobbies And You/Me/Us’:
Introduction to the biopsychosocial model of health, the social determinants of health and how both of these can be studied, assessed, improved or otherwise impacted by: tabletop, board gaming and other hobbies (video gaming, etc).
Note: I can physically feel your eyes glazing over with this one. Promise the topics are nowhere near as boring as the models might suggest. In essence = playing TTRPGs/engaging in hobbies benefits and impacts us all differently depending on our own physical/brain makeup, who we interact with/how, and our internal thought-world. There’s a lot to it! No…? Okay, fair, I’ve got heaps more.
Podcast: ‘What the Research Really Says About TTRPGs and Mental Health (and what it doesn’t)’:
An exploration into some recent large-scale studies (literature review/s; qualitative interview studies with game-masters and players; the Bodhana Group CBT/TTRPG study [great video in that link on this whole topic]; specific studies exploring mental-state/symptom improvements via TTRPG participation, etc), frameworks for TTRPG-based clinical/community interventions (NIMH, etc).
Note: A pretty research-heavy and intensive topic, which I’ll do my absolute best to keep my usual hyperlexic/jargony clinician-hat out of as much as I can, to ELI5 (Explain Like I’m Five) instead. Treat this one as an evergreen ‘hydra’ of a topic - the more we dive into it, the more that comes up in terms of topic breadth/scope!
Riff/Podcast: ‘Rolling Initiative Against Depression: Why Some of Us Need Game Night.’:
Some personal/peer reflections (feel free to submit your own - can be de-identified/anonymous and confidential if you’d like) around mood disorder and how the TTRPG/board gaming/similar hobbies have helped/help. Alongside these reflections, discussing some survey data which shows players report lower depression/anxiety and see games as coping tools, as well as an Australian wellness paper focusing on TTRPGs improving social skills and quality of life for this with depression/social anxiety (JCU Study).
Note: Obvious care needs to be taken around my own disclosure and that of anyone whom feels comfortable sharing- treat this one as a more targeted, specific discussion around mental health pertaining to depression/anxiety/social anxiety specifically. It’s very likely this one will be expanded on and reinforced with more content post-publishing, too. There’s a LOT of research, data and peer experiences on the subject, so be warned - it’s a rabbithole!
Podcast: ‘When the Dungeon Becomes a Grindstone: The Shadow Side of Tabletop.’
Prep/running campaigns and perfectionism is something I’ve explored more ad-hoc throughout various articles/episodes on the blog and podcast. It’s a pretty common pitfall in the tabletop hobby, especially so for both Dungeon Masters/game-masters and game designers, but also players/consumers too. I’d like to explore this with personal/anecdotal reflections and some publicly available discourse/feedback (once again, offer to pitch in your two cents if you feel comfortable doing so/can be de-identified if desired).
Exploring the changing nature of ‘meta’ attitudes towards prep, i.e., trending away from longer and more intensive preparation towards flexibility, adaptability, accessibility etc.
Some light discussion around social dynamics and potential pitfalls - exclusion, non-consent, residual judgements towards the hobby in mainstream society, etc. A less-nice inverse of the prior idea, then.
Time/energy debts accrued from elsewhere aside from the hobby, particularly with respect to our cost of living crisis, geopolitical and macroeconomic reality, etc.
Note: This one could get dense and complex. Like any of these, there’s a lot of potential to splinter off into certain directions, hence the dot-points!
There’s a lot of spinoff material I’m thinking of doing under this banner, too, like T6/Snook/Your Fave Youtuber-Reads-XYZ-Here styled narration of… sigh… /r/rpghorrorstories, among others (obvious Content Warning on that link! It can get pretty grimdark). Both as Preview/Bonus episodes and full-length Podcast stuff.
Riff/Podcast: ‘Initiative Order: What TTRPGS Can Teach You/Taught Me About Identity’:
Discussion about the exploration of personal identity through the medium via TTRPGs. Personal/anedcotal experiences from myself and others wanting to share their stories. Augmenting that with data from studies showing TTRPGs support social skills, identity exploration, and self‑efficacy. There’s quite a lot of case studies and quantitative work on social skills, identity, and wellness improvements via TTRPG, so it’s another wellspring-topic that is rapidly evolving!
Note: Of ANY topic on here? This one is the one I’d most love to have folks on the Podcast/submitting their own experiences for. Especially experiences and reflections from which I’m not a participant, as a cishet Caucasian Aussie bloke (LGBTIQA+, First Nations, Bilingual+, Disability, etc).
Riff/Podcast: 'Game Therapy as Intervention - A Legit Practice? Or A Fancy Word For 'Games Night?’":
Captain Obvious points out that some form of introducing and defining Game Therapy/Tabletop Therapy and, more broadly Play Therapy is needed here! In addition, looking at how these are framed in different contexts (e.g. internationally vs in Australia, clinical vs community vs NDIS, etc). Harrisburg Uni have done some great analyses on the spectral range from informal “therapeutic” groups to formal CBT-based TTRPG programs.
Finally, having a look into some specific examples of said programs from my own perspective (e.g. UniSA collaborations, Minds At Play, Australian D&D/RPG social-skills/therapy groups, “It’s More Than Therapy” programs funded under NDIS categories/changes to these slated via legislation).
Note: Interviews are SO on the cards for this one. They’re soooo happening! It’s a big topic that crosses quite a few health/allied health disciplines, as does every point here. Hence, if you’re active in this space? Get at me and I’ll put my mental health/social work cap firmly on! Also very keen to talk to any community leaders organising/part of bottom-up led groups and tabletop initiatives in this space. As per before - get at me!
Pictured: Writer John Farrel of GamingTrends at The Bodhana Group’s info-stall. Link to Image Source/editorial on TBG and Game Therapy here.
Upcoming Previews (Preview-Previews?!):
What I’ll for future Tabletop / Tabletop Thursdays / Dicey News articles, is start previewing more of these potential episodes, banked ideas and current brainstorming. Keep up with the blog here/via our social media for more scoops and snoops!
Theme: Future Directions - Where research is going
(Methodological Issues and Directions, Pilot Studies, etc)
Theme: Industry, Economics and Tabletop
(The indie TTRPG ecosystem vs WotC/Hasbro; Punk as a Distribution Model: How Indie TTRPGs Share Power; Macroeconomics - tariffs, shipping, and fragile supply chains; etc)
And a WHOLE heap more - Actual Plays, Let’s Plays, Reviews etc etc etc!
inner-strength check - links:
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Peace, Love and Grindcore - Brady & The ISC Team.