Today we are proud to announce our next crowdfunding campaign. Award-winning historian @shannonappelcline.bsky.social examines the roots, artwork, and lore behind each and every product released by TSR for OD&D, AD&D 1e, and Basic D&D with his latest effort, Designers & Dragons: Origins. 1/3

Also don't worry, I kept the "you might explode" special rules.

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i reference Dream Askew / Dream Apart SO frequently when editing, giving design feedback, etc. & it's such a shame how few have played it relative to other indie games. it's such a groundbreaking set of systems & is upstream of basically every narrative TTRPG since it released. you GOTTA know it.

Sooooooo excited for this!!!

“Once you use ChatGPT, you don’t want to think for yourself anymore” that, in a nutshell, is why I avoid these things because no matter how convinced you are that it isn’t happening to you, it is happening to you these machines will suck your creativity dry and you’ll thank them for it

i think a lot of conversations about whether or not a game "is safe" would be more productively shaped by: - how risky is this game - are players aware of and consenting to this risk - what are tools players can use to mitigate risk

fundamentally, i come from the assumption that any game can be played safely, that any kind of bleed can be managed at the right table, and that we shouldn't be making games for the least safe, least discursive tables.

Aaaaaaa I can't wait to listen to this episode!!!!!!

This hex as a cool dungeon in some caves, a god-tree sapling, strange dreams, and a bunch of new NPCs even. Check it out!

OMG WHAT

And with that, WE'RE ON VACATION for a few weeks! We'll be back SUNDAY, 9/14, with our season premiere, APOCALYPSE KEYS (@temporalhiccup.bsky.social @evilhat.bsky.social) with special guest @kierongillen.bsky.social!

Earnestly I think that body diversity is something that doesn't even come to mind for many artists. It's literally so fucking important to give your setting any sort of cohesion

Before you make your next #TTRPG, check out my free font Polymath, which lets you create a bunch of different dice types in an accessible way: hedgemazepress.itch.io/polymath-dic...

✨ The Indie RPG Newsletter celebrates 5 years this month. I started in August 2020 trying to build a habit of regularly writing every week. And now we're here: 250 issues, 7000 subscribers, thousands of games and articles shared.

I want all of you dunking on this to imagine living somewhere where a USD2.99 itch game is more expensive than your lunch. “There’s no barrier to entry except pen and paper”. You forgot the requirement of being fluent in English, which is often a class and income marker.

Fight with Spirit is on bundle of holding for the next 7 days! You can get this SXSW Sydney award-winning game in digital form for 60% off aw yeh 😁 bundleofholding.com/presents/Fig... bundleofholding.com/presents/Fig...

The 12th annual international Gender Census 2025 is now open until at least 30th August 2025! survey.gendercensus.com It's for anyone whose gender (or lack thereof) isn't described by the M/F binary. It's short and easy, and results are useful in academia, business and self-advocacy.

Josh makes very very VERY cool stuff!!!

If you're familiar with @temporalhiccup.bsky.social's work, you're probably also a fan of Balikbayan, a magic-cyberpunk hybrid that includes recently-freed elementals who have a chance of returning magic to the earth, if they can outrun the corpos long enough.

#mintrecommends: Cyberpunk! You've probably head of CBR+PNK and CY_Borg, but there's a lot more out there when it comes to Cyberpunk, and that's what I'm jazzed about today! Let's take a look at some of my lesser-known loves. #ttrpg

Apocalypse Keys (2023) by @temporalhiccup.bsky.social

I still think about this art all the time!!!!!! Jaen is available for work!!!

I've worked with jaen several times and I've always loved her work!!! Absolutely stunning art, great handle on diverse bodies, otherworldly sensuality and transcendental detail.

Defy the Gods was so much fun to playtest and consult for, I'm really looking forward to this game!

One of the games I am most excited about funding (and maybe shipping this year???) is @hecticelectron.bsky.social's Defy The Gods. Chris is a tremendous talent who brought you Raccoon Sky Pirates & has now turned their attention to PBTA swords and sorcery. 1/x www.kickstarter.com/projects/hec...

This is so cool!! Love the vibes 👀🍬✨

We begin to see that the passionate, talented people all around us are, in fact, passionate and talented! They are then place under inhuman, demeaning, and actively cruel working conditions that burn through their bodies, minds, and souls. We can choose to design systems that aren't horrid on ppl.

Holy cow the new art looks so good!!! And of course, I made the trans playbook so 😌💕 based on the tarot card that used to be the bane of my existence haha

Happy 2025! I hope the new year brings you wonder! Molotov College has been updated with new character portraits by the amazing @sweetcyanide.bsky.social! 🔥 We have @veilsedgegames.bsky.social's The Magician, a hero whose will can create wonder! ✨ aryl-ether.itch.io/molotov-coll...

This is sooooo good 😤 I had no idea gear slot mechanics could be so sexy until Josh made em haha

Later today!! Just have some final checks and tweaks and it'll be good to go. Also shout out to @temporalhiccup.bsky.social for doing some much needed proofreading lol

btw if you have a little discord server where you gather with the girlies and discuss the bad take de jour and work yourselves into a tizzy about it, you should probably not then go commit stochastic terrorism about it

having made going rogue *before* Andor came out, extrapolating outward from the themes of Rogue One, this itch review today calling it an "oracle" with regards to Andor is absolutely making my week, omg

(also, for those unfamiliar, going rogue 2e is my Belonging Outside Belonging GMless TTRPG about space rebels fated to give their lives for the cause, and you can find it on itch!) jumpgategames.itch.io/going-rogue

if you haven't clicked the link yet you should! I'm pretty happy with how the site turned out. the rules are free and fully available online: no downloads, no pdfs, it's all there on the site

for day 4 of #12daysofItchmas, I bring you the STUNNING visuals that accompany @temporalhiccup.bsky.social 's COZYTOWN. It's a great, cozy, creative romp through a place of your creation, influenced by Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, and other just-as-cozy media. temporalhiccup.itch.io/cozy-town

I'm reading my copy of @temporalhiccup.bsky.social's Once More Into The Void right now and I'm desperate to bring it to the table with my group

Mentions by someone with a big following are awesome, but don't underestimate the impact anyone can have by sharing a thing they love. Whatever modicum of success Ironsworn has had, I can trace back to a very kind Reddit post in 2018. My web visits went from ~10/day to hundreds and thousands.

At the start of the pandemic, I got more serious about accessibility design. Now, with the limited (but valuable) things I've learned—a new Explorers Design article. What is accessibility design in a tabletop design practice? Free checklist in replies 👇🧵 www.explorersdesign.com/accessibilit...

Had so much fun playing this!! Highly recommend Community Radio for folks looking for a Welcome to Nightvale game-esque light game with really engaging twists and improv mechanics. This is a blast! Will definitely play again.

Reminder to myself and all the other indie TTRPG creators out there.

Elemi used the Apocalypse Keys palette in such a dreamy and foreboding way, and the art is gorgeous!!

The work @newmadras.bsky.social is doing is really special, and the Indie RPG Newsletter is part of that!

Even better if you also post your review as a comment so more people can see it. Because reviews attached to ratings are only visible to the creator (who won't get notified) and your iwn Itch followers. Comments show up on the game page for everyone.

Has anyone done like a "RPG skills to develop as a player / PC" series or post? I feel like I see a ton of talk about GM advice and design thoughts, but little about the player side outside of individual game books.

-shows up wearing ceasefire pin -talks about how the art and magic of games comes from the creatives and devs -denounces the games made for quotas and in boardrooms -takes a shot at TGA about giving proper airtime to creatives -doesnt name drop any celebs forget the awards, this guy wins hearts man

Hey Folks! Bluesky has a "Hide for Me" option on each post, so reblog yourself as often as you like! Anyone can simply opt not to see it anymore if they feel they are seeing it too much! Meanwhile you can make sure new eyes get on it :)

THIS! There is *nothing* cheaper or easier than an idea. Any morning—and I’m not *that* wildly creative—I get half a dozen ideas for novels before I’ve even had my tea. But the novel comes of the work of distilling an idea up through your brain, in *your unique voice.* Not some answering machine’s.

💖 2,000 FOLLOWERS GIVEAWAY 💖 Prize: one (1) fictional news article about your character or party! 💫 To enter: Follow and repost 💫 Bonus entry: Tag a friend in the replies 💫 Ends 12/12 at 11:59 pm ET 💫 Full rules and more prize examples: sebastianyue.ca/2024giveaway