#zinemonth

[summoningcirclepress]

Splat 5: Golden is Live on Kickstarter

The year 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons* and more excitingly, 50 years of TTRPGs as we know them! To celebrate we are looking back through time to bring you handpicked thoughts about evolutions in labour conditions, the indie scene, Powered by the Apocalypse, and RPG SEA. *Dragons sold separately.

WHAT'S INSIDE THE ZINE?

Interview with Meguey & Vincent Baker (Apocalypse World) in conversation with Rae Nedjadi (Apocalypse Keys) @temporalhiccup about designing the apocalypse over the years.

Interview with Waks Saavedra (Gubat Banwa) @makapatag and momatoes (ARC: Doom) about the rise of the TTRPG industry and culture in SouthEast Asia known as RPG SEA.

Interview with Jay Dragon (Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast) @jdragsky and Orion D Black (WotC & Dimension 20, freelance writer) about labour conditions and being indie in a corporate dragon world.

Back us between Feb 6 11:00am-Feb 7th 11:00am 2024 for an EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT

We're Kickstarting until Feb 20th 9pm EST

#indie ttrpg #ttrpg #zine #zine month #zimo #zinemonth #zinequest

[plotbunnygames]

Crowdfunding coming up for ZineMonth!

You have set out together to hunt the monster and end its existence once and for all.

"Against the Monster" is a story game about a monster hunt, the good of the monster, and the monstrosity of the hunters. Whether it's a dragon, vampire, tentacle monster, or artificial intelligence — you'll decide in which setting you'll hunt which monster.

When the monster faces you in the end: Do you really attack it?

"Against the Monster" is a GM-less Descended from the Queen story game (you may know the mechanics from "For the Queen" or our previous project "Viva la QueerBar") for 2-6 players and a flexible play time of about 1-4 hours.

After successful funding, the game will be published as a 24-page A5-sized zine and as screenreader-ready PDF, in both English and German. It will get evocative original artwork on every page (100% human-made, of course).

Game Design: Jasmin Neitzel and Andrea Rick Illustrations & Layout: Andrea Rick

Sign up to be notified when we launch on Kickstarter!

#against the monster #indie ttrpg #zinemonth #ttrpg #descended from the queen #gegen das monster #zinequest

[chiakiakito]

The Magus & The Oracle

or, my yearly ZineMonth breakdown waiting to happen

Here we are! I can finally spill the beans on what I'm working on for ZineMonth 2024. This year NessunDove is joining forces with award-winning designer @momatoes for the first-ever English print of The Magus, the solo ttrpg about pathos, arcana, calamity, and the infinite loneliness of power... Plus a brand-new addition in the form of The Oracle: a 78-card inspiration deck designed to provide visual and storytelling prompts for The Magus, ttrpg systems, and all acts of storytelling.

I was overjoyed to work on the Italian edition of Magus back in 2021, and it was the first ever print run of the game. Now it's time for a new and improved English edition, with a new layout and updated rules that keep The Magus's narrative-driven crunch intact but supplement it with a new source of endless inspiration.

If you're in the mood to tell the tragic story of a sorcerer's quest for arcane mastery, do follow the pre-launch page on Kickstarter and help keep my anxiety at bay by making number go up.

#indie ttrpg #ttrpg #momatoes #solo rpg #journaling game #the magus #the oracle #zinequest #zinemonth

[breathing-stories]

I know I've heard people wonder what it might be like to play a ttrpg where your character sheet starts blank, and you learn and build their stats as you go.

Well Lethe by @crlegge IS THAT GAME, literally, and it's crowdfunding right now! https://crowdfundr.com/Lethettrpg

#ttrpgs #indie ttrpg #indie ttrpgs #ttrpg #crowdfunding #zinemonth #it's a cool concept that i've been hearing about for ages #but i think this is the first one i've seen actually do it

[arsene-inc]

Oh god, Zinequest and Zinemonth, what are you doing to me

#ttrpg #tabletop rpg #indie ttrpg #ttrpgs #indie rpgs #zine #zinequest #zine month #zinemonth #zine quest

[cloudcuriogames]

Cloud Curio's first ever crowdfunding campaign is live until March 12th! We're creating 2 home-brew ready, system-neutral ttrpg adventure zines.

Broken Heart of the Castle is a gothic fantasy steeped in mystery, romance, & tragedy. Sleeping Heart of the Garden is a a pastoral fantasy filled w ith exploration, discovery, & ritual.

We've already fully funded so we are ready to get these pdfs completed and zines printed! We have only 2 stretch goals and we're coming up on the first one soon! We're a tiny company of only 4 people so it would be wonderful to get more eyes on our first big project.

#ttrpg #zine #zinemonth #indiettrpgs #smallbusiness #small publishers #system neutral #system agnostic #studio ghibili #ghibli aesthetic #ryuutama #dungeons and dungeons #dnd #adventures #modules

[crowdfundr]

Tabletop Nonstop

Zine Month has officially started! Check out these awesome TTRPG projects on Crowdfundr and support your favorites: https://crowdfundr.com/spotlight/tabletop-nonstop/

Meanwhile, let's take a look at the campaigns that haven't launched yet. Hit the button "Subscribe" on each campaign page to get notified when they launch!

CONTACT by J Strautman, an alien communication TTRPG. Interpret messages from outer space. Find patterns and new meaning in songs you’ve heard a thousand times. Communicate with the Messengers.

S.A.D. Zines Volume 2 by @breathing-stories. S.A.D. (small and delightful) Zines are tiny games that connect you to yourself and the place around you through the lens of everyday objects and natural features. They are an invitation to slow down, look around, look inside, and see and feel things in a gentle and held way. What mundane joy might you find, in the ordinary magic around you?

Dead Letter Society by Montford Tales, a two-player RPG of vampires, letters, and a secret society. Take on the roles of vampires exchanging letters via a secret society, pursue your ambitions, and delve deep into the world you create together. It can be played together or apart, in a single session, episodically, or asynchronously.

The Beast Within TTRPG by Valiant Dorian, a multiplayer, narrative-focused tabletop roleplaying game where players play as humanoids with the ability to shift into were-beasts. Unleash your wrath upon your adversaries with dynamic abilities as a humanoid and as a beast. What will you choose: your humanity or the power of the beast within? 

Stay tuned for the updates and don't forget to support these projects!

#zinemonth #indie ttrpg #ttrpg community #ttrpg design

[thelostbaystudio]

2 days before Launch

Get ready for The Fear Bundle! It's packed with 11 tabletop RPG horror zines/pamphlets/accessories by a roster of international designers

Preorders open January 31

Discount + Goodies in the first 48 hours

Subscribe to be notified

Take a sneak peek at the contents --->

Metroskate Bloodbath, roller-skating chaos, pamphlet 

Sodastone, music horror adventure, gatefold pamphlet

Unit DH-23, suburban horror minidungeon, A5 mini-zine

The Vanished, corporate horror dungeon, A3 foldable map/dungeon

Liminal Colossus, kaiju-infested setting, A5 concertina

Inventory Card System, A5 cards and character sheets

Click Clack + Gushing Graveler, wicked NPCs, card

The True Church, evil cult generator, A5 leaflet

It adapts to your breathing, doppelgänger horror adventure, pamphlet

Breathless, zombie survival rules-lite game, bifold

Exclusion Zone Botanist, vegetal horror solo drawing game, pamphlet

Liminal Horror, contemporary cosmic horror game, PDF only

#ttrpg #tabletoprpg #horrorrpgs #dungeon23 #horror23 #horror #zinemonth #horrorart #zinemonth2023 #zine #zines #smallpublishing #zinedesign #zombies #kaijus #carrie #thething #apocalypse

[zebraradar]

Excited to participate in this with @elisebernalart & @krustywheatfield! Thank you Brianna! “🚨fun virtual event 🚨 this Tuesday, July 26th at 4pm PST - check out a presentation and participate in a live Q&A with these amazing zine makers / artistssssss!!!! This virtual session is all ages; share widely; the link to sign up will be in my bio and in the stories that I will possssssst.” - @meltbrianna 💓 #zine #zines #zinemakers #zinepresentation #zinemonth #zinepanel https://www.instagram.com/p/CgcXcpkJ2DG/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#zine #zines #zinemakers #zinepresentation #zinemonth #zinepanel

[indiepressrevolution]

It's officially #zinemonth, and that means there are a ton of incredible TTRPG projects funding right now. We want to feature as many of these projects as possible in our February newsletter, so if you're running a project or know of a cool one (this part is a trick, they're all cool) please promote it here and/or email us about it, [email protected]

#zinemonth2024 #indie ttrpgs #indie ttrpg #IPR Remarks

[sohkrates]

Coming Soon: FEALTY

Coming to Kickstarter February 1st, FEALTY is a ttrpg about commoners steering an ill-humoured monarch and managing the resources of a unique fantasy nation.

It is a collaboration between Galen Pejeau (CRASH//CART, The Facility, artist with too many indie rpgs to count) which is honestly a career-long dream for me.

Excited to share more over the next month, please follow the project to know as soon as it goes live and to ease our anxiety by letting us see number go up.

#indie ttrpg #ttrpg #crowdfunding #rpg #zinequest

[plotbunnygames]

Wouldst thou liketh to ponder some monsters? Perchance a sharp-fanged vampire under a pale moon? A strong-armed kraken from the endless depth of the ocean? A furry creature with claws and glowing eyes who haunts the forest at night?

Behold! This story-making game has many a monster for you to ponder.

Some are drawn in black coal*. Some are sketched in sparse words. All of them may fill your mind with questions about the monster you are hunting.

Questions like:

What sound tells you the monster is near?

What particular strength do you have? What about it is disturbing?

How is the monster beautiful?

And finally:

When the monster faces you in the end: do you really attack it?

(*Well, technically, they are drawn by a human moving a plastic pencil across a computing machine, but let's go with the vibe here.)

Alas! This assortment of monstrous art and questions and a simple explanation for how to play the game can only become a reality if we gather the coins to make it so.

If thou wouldst liketh to be a part of this collective collecting effort, you must maketh your way to the place called "Kicke-Starter" where you may pledge your coins until the first day of March.

We shall await you there under the banner that proclaims "Against the Monster!" Which should not lead you astray in thinking that we are not still a friend to monsters. Well, some of them.

(Artwork by Andrea Rick @this-curiouscat)

#behold my inability to stick to a consistent old-timey language #dammit jim i'm a game designer and illustrator not a linguist #ttrpg #indie ttrpg #zinemonth #zinemonth2024 #zinequest

[chiakiakito]

It's live! The quest of the lonely wizard has begun. Come join The Magus on its quest for power, and pray that The Oracle will save you from the dangers of ambition.

The Magus is a solo journaling RPG by momatoes about pathos, arcana, calamity, and the infinite loneliness of power. You use dice and pen to write the unique history of your character's quest for arcane mastery. You will navigate strange encounters and confront complex opportunities for learning spells—or cultivating tenuous bonds. Along your journey, you will be guided by the Oracle: a companion deck of cards that reveal parts of a spell's true name alongside images and keyphrases that incite layers of meaning for your story. As well as meetings with unlikely creatures that may just leave their mark on the solitary heart of your Magus. If that intrigues you, you can find out more (including a full quickstart of the game!) on the campaign page.

Care to join our journey?

#indie ttrpg #zinequest #solo rpg #zinemonth #ttrpg

[this-curiouscat]

Actual Play: Against the Monster (One-shot)

A story game about a monster hunt, the good of the monster, and the monstrosity of the hunters (currently crowdfunding for ZineMonth on Kickstarter!).

In this one, we hunt a ghost in a desert and muse about loss, rage, and memory.

(Played with folks from the Open Hearth Gaming Community @open-hearth-rpg)

#ttrpg #my games #actual play #against the monster #Youtube

[indierpgnewsletter]

Cool RPG Links and Media 30/01/2023

Media of the Week

AA Voigt takes a look at my humble solo game of crime and revolt, The Spider and the City.

Matt Colville makes a nice comparison between forming a band in your garage and gaming groups.

Plus One Exp are organizing a number of workshops ahead of ZineMonth, aimed at new creators. There’s one about art direction and public domain art and aother about crowdfunding and how to budget for it.

Links of the Week

Articles

The story of Sworld World, one of the most popular RPGs in Japan, often credited with a revival in fantasy tabletop gaming.

Monte Cook on why he’s tired of “designing for assholes”.

Two examples of love letters from Judd Karlman’s game of Apocalypse World: Burned Over.

Tabletop crowdfunding on Kickstarter was down by 33 million dollars. While there was definitely less money being spent generally, the article fails to mention the company torching their goodwill.

Lowell Francis’s epic chronology of post-apocalyptic games has now reached it’s 23rd instalment.

Gabriel Caetano maintains a list of free TTRPG mechanics on itch.io and welcomes people to use them in games.

European RPG publishers are forming an association for self-protection - misleadingly titled a union. Another knock-on effect of threatening the OGL, it seems.

Reviews

A review of The Bloody Handed Name of Bronze, a bronze age game of myth and power, by Joshua Newman.

A review of Rolemaster Unified

A review of City of Mist, the baroque PbtA game of noir-ish urban fantasy.

#indie rpg #ttrpg #rpg #goncharov #worldbuilding #ttrpg community #ttrpgsolidarity #ttrpg design

[gigantic-spider]

Currently 28% funded after 2 days of the campaign! I feel good about the pace so far, and to hopefully keep things going I wanted to highlight an experiment I'm doing for this ZineMonth 2024 project: community physical copies.

Community copies obviously have a long legacy in indie ttrpgs, but I want to use this campaign in the spirit of ZineMonth to get physical copies to people who might not be able to afford them. Anyone who backs at a digital-only tier (hardship or regular) is entered in a raffle.

People who back at higher levels donate a physical copy to this raffle, and if we fund I'll select winners to receive a free physical copy of the zine (shipping covered by me). And should I end up with more donated copies than possible recipients? I'll figure it out lol

This experiment could certainly blow up in my face, but it's an explosion I'm willing to risk. I also plan to offer digital community copies when all is said and done, so it doesn't matter if I perhaps pay a little more money to get the game to people who want it.

If you want to get in on this experiment and want to infuse some Hyde Park goodness into your Victorian monster-hunting escapades, check out The Hauntings of Hyde Park on @crowdfundr:

#ttrpg #ttrpg stuff #indie ttrpg #tabletop roleplaying #tabletop role playing game #ttrpg design #gigantic spider designs #hauntings of hyde park #crowdfunding #crowdfundr #zine month 2024 #zine #zine month #zimo 2024 #zimo24 #zimo