The Explorateur: Issue #10
Monthly design discoveries for tabletop rpg designers including jams, critique, theory, and tools. Vetted. Looted. Curated.
Latest
Invaders of Atlantis
A coral-encrusted pulp-fantasy adventure. Designed for Cairn 2E. | PWYW
How to Become an Ennies Judge
How to apply, what to expect, and everything else you need to know from one judge to another.
The Explorateur: Issue #9
Monthly design discoveries for tabletop rpg designers including jams, critique, theory, and tools. Vetted. Looted. Curated.
10 Budget-Friendly Typeface Resources for RPG Designers
Tired of using free fonts? Here are 10 foundries and type designers who make and sell quality typefaces and fonts for indie-level budgets.
The Explorateur: Issue #8
Monthly design discoveries for tabletop rpg designers including jams, critique, theory, and tools. Vetted. Looted. Curated.
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.
Exploring The Royal Art Gallery Heist
A design delve into the adventure, The Royal Art Gallery Heist, and how its brevity gives it certain advantages.
How to Roleplay Without Accents
Can't do an accent? Join the club. Here's how I roleplay without them.
What's Under the Pope's Hat?
A d66 table of things you might find under the pope's hat. A blogclave post with links to other blogging cardinals.
Exploring Rumored Lands
A design delve into three zine-sized settings and their use of risograph printing.
The Explorateur: Issue #7
Monthly design discoveries for tabletop rpg designers including jams, critique, theory, and tools. Vetted. Looted. Curated.
Theory
Haus Rules for Mausritter
My house rules and mouse-sized hacks for the sword-and-whiskers roleplaying game, Mausritter.
Theory
False Dichotomies of RPG Design
Tabletop rpg design is plagued with either-or fallacies. "A book can be usable at the table, or it can be fun to read," is just one of them.
Education
Designing a logo for Carouse, Carouse!
How I made the branding for Carouse, Carouse! A monthly party of an rpg newsletter full of rpg links, ideas, and gameable content.
Explorateur
The Explorateur: Issue #6
Monthly design discoveries for tabletop rpg designers including jams, critique, theory, and tools. Vetted. Looted. Curated.
Education
An RPG's Guide to Surviving Shipping
Which rpgs survive the journey to my house? It depends on the packaging.
Theory
Why Combat Is a Fail State
Revisiting the old-school maxim "Combat is a fail state" and redefining what it means at my table and as a design theory for the OSR.
Explorateur
The Explorateur: Issue #5
Monthly design discoveries for tabletop rpg designers including jams, critique, theory, and tools. Vetted. Looted. Curated.
Theory
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?
Explorateur
The Explorateur: Issue #4
Monthly design discoveries for tabletop rpg designers including jams, critique, theory, and tools. Vetted. Looted. Curated.
Vote in the Bloggies
The Bloggies 2025 are almost over. Read my synopsis on the nominees. Mark your calendars. And celebrate rpg blogging!
Theory
The Meta-First Way
An alternative (and experimental) approach to roleplaying games that does what fiction-first systems cannot.
Education
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.