The Explorateur: Issue #10
Monthly design discoveries for tabletop rpg designers including jams, critique, theory, and tools. Vetted. Looted. Curated.
Conventions, awards, and ephemera.
When this newsletter goes out, I'll be at Gen Con drinking coffee in the flattest city on Earth, the hot, very midwestern city of Indianapolis. Are there places flatter? Perhaps. But not in spirit.
If you're at Gen Con, pay me a visit. I'll be at the ENNIEs booth #114 Friday and Saturday from 1 PM to 3 PM. You'll find me there, sweating through my linen shirt, talking about why the cover of an rpg is conceptually interesting, or how the use of a typeface reinforces its voice and tone. I might even mention the mechanics, but surely no one cares about those as much as the color palette?
The convention will mark a moment of change for me. One, it'll be a chance to finally meet other rpg people in person, converting this esoteric hobby of parasocial relationships into real ones. Two, it'll be the start of my "physicality" era, where I focus on publishing adventures and tools and less on social media. Three, it'll officially be the end of my ENNIEs judging duties—and therefore my chance to talk more freely about games in general.
I'm very much looking forward to that. In the meantime, I've made a short (early access) version of a Cairn adventure for the APPX. N Jam. The name I drew, as part of the competition, was "Invaders of Atlantis." This early version is Pay-What-You-Want and available everywhere adventures are sold. Paying subscribers already have immediate and permanent access on Explorers Design.
Clayton Notestine
Let's get on to last month's discoveries...
Quest Givers
This section shares any game jams, contests, and collaborations. If you want to share a community event, jam, or project message me on Bluesky.
- Mythic Bastionland Jam. Sharpen your swords and sand your mail (or have your squire do it). Make custom knights, strange myths, deadly dungeons, cursed realms, odd relics, and more. Jam ends August 15th. (A short one!)
- FIST: Anniversary Jam. The moment Fist: Ultra Edition came out, it filled everyone's table with high-camp, cigar-chomping, gun-blazing action. This jam is a casual one. Make something for FIST before September 1st.
- Blogwagon: Appendix N. On September 8th, a bunch of us bloggers are going to post our versions of the "Appendix N." A list of influences that have wormed their way into our games, play, and work. So, what's yours?
- Cassette Case Game Jam. You can fit quite a bit into a standard cassette case, so why not pack a whole game into one? This jam, like many others, is all about brevity, form factor, and a can-do attitude. Jam ends September 30th.
- Summer LEGO RPG Jam II. The LEGO Jam is back. The only design challenge where you turn LEGO sets (and pieces) into rpg bric-a-brac. This time submissions can go even weirder. Jam ends August 29th.
- Mecha Mini-Games/Firebrands Game Jam. If you don't know the game, Firebrands, it's Meguey and Vincent Baker’s family of mini games with big-ass robots and human-sized pilots. The jam runs Sept 1st - December 16th.
Reviews & Exhibits
Critique and examinations of tabletop rpgs, adventures, and more. I try to share exhibits with something to say other than the usual, "Is this worth buying?"
- Mythic Bastionland by Quinns Quest. Video. Odds are you've probably seen this review already, but just in case, here it is: Quinns falls in love with a fantasy rpg—and it's a good one to fall for. Mythic Bastionland.
- The One Ring: Fear of Tolkien by Technical Grimoire. This review makes me want to toke on my pipe and sing a song, unlike The One Ring RPG. In this, Technical Grimoire perfectly unpacks the challenge of adapting IP.
- Seven Part Pact Part 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 by Knight at the Opera. Seven Part Pact by Jay Dragon is, well, probably going to be a masterpiece. When Dwiz writes 5 blogposts about it, that's your canary in the coal mine.
- The Last Caravan Has a Friction Problem by Hendrik Ten Napel. The Last Caravan strips down the rules of Blades in the Dark and puts it into an entirely different structure. A structure that maybe lacks what Blades demands.
- Mouth Brood Review by Idle Cartulary. In this review, prolific blogger, Nova, examines the adventure module Mouth Brood by Amanda Lee Franck. It's a gorgeous book with some great innovations, but what does Nova think?
- You Discovered A Mighty Tome... by Alfred Valley. I never would have expected Shut Up & Sit Down to team up with Alfred Valley, but I'm glad it happened. This quick "review" of Dungeon Crawl Classics is a lot of fun.
Rumors & Best-iary
The never-sponsored section of the newsletter. These links are anything I think are worth exploring, but might not fit in any of the other categories.
- The APPX N Jam Entries. Last Explorateur, I shared the Appendix N jam—a month-long challenge to make a 4-page adventure rooted in the same influences that influenced AD&D. The results are a murderers row of goodies.
- Vaults of Vaarn 2E Launch Interview by OSR Rocks! Designer and writer, Leo Hunt, talks about the launch of his psychedelic game's newest edition, which is currently crowdfunding on Backerkit.
- Color Me Purple by Glyphtide Games. This short interview about Glyphtide's upcoming game Chain×Link covers all the things I like—collaboration, creative process, art, and—of course—layout. And just to be clear: the results look great.
- Liminal Horror Writing Seminar by The Weekly Scroll. Video. In this two-part series, the Weekly Scroll and the Liminal Horror writing team discuss tips and tricks for writing, adapting, and designing horror modules.
Theory & Advice
Any ideas, guidance, and tools that make playing and creating in the tabletop space more engaging, meaningful, and rewarding. This is the catch-all section.
- Information Architecture in Non-RPG Books by Rise Up Comus. It's a habit that never gets old: looking at non-rpg books for layout inspiration. If you're making a more technically-minded book, copy from old wheels.
- Should Your Module Be System Agnostic? by Idle Cartulary. What really is agnostic? And why do some adventure designers pick agnosticism over a specific (likely impactful) system? Nova makes a noble attempt at taxonomy.
- Language and Frictionless Design by Grinning Rat Newsletter. This article is studded with excellent citations—my favorite kind of blogpost—a rabbit hole. It's about languagse but more specifically friction in play.
- Can Your Players Plan their Turns? by Skeleton Code Machine. Board games are packed with ideas. In this issue of Skeleton Code Machine, Exeunt Press showcases how different game states change how players strategize.
- Writing RPG Adventures: Interactivity by Joseph R. Lewis. Video. Joesph's been making all kinds of videos since the last Explorateur, but this is one of the best topics to date. When writing rpgs, interactivity is king.
- Diegetic Rules v. Hypo-Diegetic Rules by Sam Sorensen. These two excellent d20 tables showcase the difference between diegetic rules v hypo-diegetic rules. If you're writing an adventure or setting, it should have both.
- Advantage by Default by Prismatic Wasteland. The bird continues to design in the multicolored wasteland. This time it's about inventories and how players always get advantage by default when they manage it. Clever.
- Why the Fuck Am I Reading RPG PDFs on My Computer? by Dice Goblin. PDFs were never meant to be the defacto method for reading books on our devices, so what does a digital-native publication look like?
Design Lore
Design inspiration from beyond tabletop rpgs. I share them when I find them.
- The Artist's Guide to Illustration Agents by True Grit. If you're an artist, agents can sometimes be the cheat code to better clients and publisher connections. If you're not an illustrator, well, look at the pretty pictures.
- The Graphic Design of Mario Kart World by Elliotisacoolguy. Video. Over 60 fake brands are plastered over Mario Kart World, and some of them are very, very good—borderline iconic.
- Gone Medieval: Dragons. Podcast. With the recent (and well deserved) outpouring for Mythic Bastionland, it's time to brush up on our medieval history. For that, I recommend this excellent educational podcast.
- Old-school Periodicals in the Internet Archive. Canada's Internet Archive has added some Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Fandom periodicals (published 1940 to 1980) to its collection. Check out the vintage geekery.
- Studio Showcase: We Three Club. This wife and husband duo has designed (literally) hundreds of gig posters, record covers, and brand identities for bands, bars, and restaurants. Check out their gig posters under work.
- Artist Showcase: Ryan Lynch. You might know Ryan Lynch by his creative label Outrider and its game Perils & Princesses, if you don't, you're in for a treat. Check out his Instagram for some awesome illustration inspiration.
Design Archive
Sometimes I miss something or want to bring it back from the dead.
- Can We Make this an Image? by Failure Tolerated. Ah, the nostalgia. In this blogpost, Sean McCoy shows his work on Mothership 0E, and how he's trying to make tables into an image—he has no idea how well he pulls it off.
- How I Write and Plan RPG Books by Coins and Scrolls. An oldie but a goodie. This article has lots of great. tips that are still relevant to fantasy adventure design 6 years later.
Missed the last issue? Read it here.
Clayton Notestine
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