Welcome to Roll Initiative

I have always had a deep love of wargaming, boardgames, and tabletop RPGs. I struggle to think of a hobby that can appeal to so many people or does more to stir the imagination of those who engage with it. When in need of quiet time and effective meditation, you can sit and snip plastic parts from a sprue, assemble models, or paint. You can dive into a new short story or world-building session or plan the next epic adventure for your regular DnD party. You can build new decks in your favorite card game or open a multitude of different programs and create anything you want in your favorite worlds. 

Then, when the time comes to be social, you meet with friends or strangers and just enjoy the game, telling each other stories in imaginary worlds and sharing the love that we all feel. 

Over the last few years, I have seen both the gaming space and online publishing enter a state of flux. Things are changing, and it’s not always easy to see where we will end up. No matter what might be on the horizon, I believe that passionate people exploring the hobby space in ways that appeal to them is vital for the health of the space.

I have been at the forefront of a growing community through my YouTube channel, and I have seen how important it is to receive the right attention at the right time for creatives seeking to find an audience for their work. For that type of attention to be generated means that a multitude of websites, YouTube channels, TikToks, and Facebook groups must exist.

That said, my first love has always been websites. It was the early days of the internet that opened up the true scale of the hobby to me. Being able to dive into other people’s virtual hobby spaces and see them painting, playing, and modeling truly brought things to life for me. I want to build something that is informed by all those people and their efforts in those wonderful early days of the internet.

With Roll Initiative, I hope to build something that becomes another thread in the rich tapestry that is the online gaming space. I will experiment with coverage, I will seek out news, and I will aim to talk to people in the industry about what they make and why. Hopefully, I’ll show you a game you might not otherwise have heard of or introduce you to a book you might otherwise have missed. 

I’ve loved and appreciated every site I have written for over the years, but it has rarely been about the thing I love the most, which is this hobby. I’ve always wanted to start a site like this and wasted a lot of effort sitting and wondering what I would do if I ever found the time. Over the last year, it has really been driven home for me that nothing happens until the first day of effort. You can talk, plot, and plan, but ultimately, you have to do. 

So, welcome to day one. Now, roll initiative.

– Aidan O’Brien, Founding Editor