Awards Submission
Welcome to Explorers Design!
I'm Clayton Notestine, and this is Explorers Design—my virtual design studio and label for all things game, product, and graphic design. This page is a curation of my website's best work. Thanks for reading!
Design Education
Explorateur - Explorers Design
Bespoke discoveries, tools, and resources for tabletop rpg designers.
A monthly newsletter that curates links from rpg designers for rpg designers.
Grid System 101: A Beginner’s Glossary
A not so short tour of your rpg’s layout, its different parts, and how to use them.
Clayton Notestine
Tabletop Accessibility Checklist
A forever-unfinished list of guidelines for making analog games more accessible.
Clayton Notestine
How to Design Signals in Books
User-friendly definitions, tips, and tricks for tabletop rpg designers.
Clayton Notestine
How to Promote Your Work
How to reach out to blogs, pods, and media outlets, and the 5 things creators can do to promote their work in a more community-minded way.
Clayton Notestine
Game Design
The 1 HP Dragon
Combat as puzzles. A hack on the 16 HP dragon from Dungeon World.
Clayton Notestine
My Bloggie-winning article about combat without hit points.
The Jackian Magic System
Experimental mechanics that combine Mausritter inventory, Tetris, and engine-building into an alternative Vancian magic system.
Clayton Notestine
Designing Lore Blocks
An alternative to stat blocks designed for The 1 HP Dragon.
Clayton Notestine
Design Your Locks With More Keys
Every adventure’s puzzle should have multiple solutions. In this article, we figure out how to give all of our metaphorical locks a ring of keys.
Clayton Notestine
Against Dominant Mechanics
Rules form relationships with each other. Some share play. Some hog it.
Clayton Notestine
Community Projects
The Bloggies 2026
A yearly celebration of blogging in tabletop roleplaying games.
Clayton Notestine
Explorers Design hosted this year's Bloggies, a fan-led blogging award show.
The Awards Debrief
A 4-part series on rpg awards, how they’re designed, and what they mean for the rpg industry with a behind-the-scenes breakdown and critique of the Ennies.
Clayton Notestine
Critmas Gift Guide 2025
The 3 gifts every game designer wants (and a holiday party idea).
Clayton Notestine
How Do We Design a Gaming Community?
Do we have good communities, how can we build better ones, and what role do award shows have in community-building?
Clayton Notestine
Classic Explorer Template
A time-slaying layout template for classic fantasy. | $20.00
Clayton Notestine
Game Critique
Stop Hiding the Apes in Your RPG
How to show the cool and important parts of your game without muddling the work, burying the lede, and creating more noise.
Clayton Notestine
An essay about the importance of showing off your creativity early.
Mörk Borg (Layout Exhibit)
The doom metal roleplaying game with a masterclass layout.
Clayton Notestine
The Art of the RPG Cover
How to make your roleplaying game’s cover stand out (with examples).
Clayton Notestine
Dare to Play it Straight
The rarest tabletop genre is the simplest one. A call for more anti-mashups.
Clayton Notestine
The Awards Debrief
A 4-part series on rpg awards, how they’re designed, and what they mean for the rpg industry with a behind-the-scenes breakdown and critique of the Ennies.
Clayton Notestine
If you'd like to see the full website, head to the homepage.