The Explorateur: Issue #4
Monthly design discoveries for tabletop rpg designers including jams, critique, theory, and tools. Vetted. Looted. Curated.

The one belief every creator needs.
It was hammered into me early in branding, design, and advertising. A very simple belief that I've found surprisingly important to remind myself when trying to make games. So, here it is.
You're always going to have more ideas.
Don't bother saving them. Or protecting them. If someone asks you if you can come up with another one, the answer is yes. This is especially true with clients, where half the work is laying down track while riding the train. The next idea buys you time. But in roleplaying games, the next idea is an excuse to do anything with the ideas you have right now. Write about them in a blog post, throw them into a google doc, playtest them, publish them—whatever. There's no reason to be precious with them, because you'll have the next idea (and it'll probably be better.)
Why am I bringing this up? Because I'm making stuff, and it's like dancing on a stairmaster. Exhausting. I knew writing adventures was hard. It's somehow harder. The only thing that makes it easier is showing the small steps. The little ideas that make up the big ideas—and I can't share those unless I believe one thing:
I will always have more ideas.
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.
- Apply to the 2025 Ennie Awards. The deadline is fast approaching. March 31st. If you're submitting physical copies, ship it early.
- ZiMo/ZineQuest 2025. If you're funding, godspeed. Check out the discord. If you're not funding, I challenge you to share one project that excites you.
- The Nameless Scriptures Jam. Tell stories and lies in the loud and dark world of Mörk Borg. There's only one rule: no mechanics. Jam ends March 1st.
- The Electrum Archive (TEA) Jam. This Morrowind-inspired science-fantasy game has a world begging for more stuff. Jam runs from Feb 7-28th.
- Below a Bad Moon Jam. If you love an absurd limitation, this one's got it. Fuck up the moon, and put a labyrinth under a castle. Jam ends April 1st.
- #TittyRPG Jam. Stick it to the bigots and fascists by making an 18+, NSFW, queer-as-hell piece of rpg art. Make it loud and proud. Jam ends March 15th.
- Forever Open Source 2025. Throw gas on the DIY fire by contributing to the creative commons. (Check out previous years!) This jam lasts all year.
- Enter the Zungeon. Kludge together a fast and weird zungeon zine. Oh, you don't know what a Zungeon is? Check out the Zungeon Manifesto.
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?"
- Introductory Extravaganza. Idle Cartulary kicked off another year of reviews with a series on introductory adventures. Has anyone ever nailed their intro?
- Monster, Maiden, Madonna, Medusa. D&D 5.5's Monster Manual is contending with its history of gender politics. Prismatic walks us through it.
- Arthurian Mysticism and Violence. Mythic Bastionland is not a bog standard fantasy game. Not even close. Amanda P shows us why.
- Realis First Impressions. The new game by Austin Walker is already making waves with its sentences-as-mechanics. This first look by Semitext games is a great primer.
- The Weekly Scroll reviews Swyvers. Video. Hunter and Ryan walkthrough a richly illustrated, wittily written scoundrels game that is painfully British.
- The Horrendous Hounds of Hendenburgh. Podcast. The Between Two Cairns co-hosts rarely find unanimous agreement. This is one instance.
Rumors & Bestiary
The never-sponsored section of the newsletter. These links are the treasures I found while wandering the internet wilderness.
- The Bloggies 2025. 65 blog posts go in. 4 come out. This year had four categories and one bonus competition for the best debut blog. Every submission is worth a read so go check them out. Here are the winners:
- Theory: The 1 HP Dragon by Explorers Design (yay!)
- Gameable: Overloading the Random Encounter Table by Prismatic Wasteland
- Advice: On People-Centered Adventure Design by Amanda P
- Review: Deep Dive: Stonetop by Indie RPG Reading Club
- Debut Blog: MURKMAIL by Murkdice
- Bundle of Holding: Punch Nazis! Raise money for the Center for Constitutional Rights and get games like Apocalypse Frame, Going Rogue, and Eat the Reich.
- Bring on the Discourse. Social media is a lot of things, but an online community isn't one of them. For that, Yochai proposes a familiar alternative...
- Designer Interviews with La Esquina Del Rol. Ever wanted to ask other designers how they do it? Mario did. Check out: Jason Tocci, Ennio, and others.
- Art by Nohr by Ramanan. Johan Nohr has an art book. It's made for coffee tables with an ash tray or for pairing with heavy metal. Ramanan says more.
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.
- Writing a TTRPG Adventure. Video. This video series has actionable advice for OSR adventures from Joseph R. Lewis, author of Nightmare Over Ragged Hallow.
- Designing Dungeons. A knowledge base and crash course for designing a dungeon from scratch. Written by designers Rise Up Comus and Warren D.
- Defeat, Not Death. This article by Dwiz details the old OSR maxim by turning it on its head. Sure, death is a possibility, but what's more interesting than death? Defeat.
- Writing Rooms in Pairs. Sean McCoy has an elegant solution for making the rooms in a dungeon or spaceship more interesting—make them related.
- Infinite Counterplay. In wargames, hard counters are often unsatisfying, but in RPGs, they take on a second life. I love when Chris McDowall pulls from wargames.
- Learning from Children's Books (w/ Meguey Baker). Podcast. Thomas interviews the forever-influential Meguey Baker on his podcast, Yes Indie'd.
Design Lore
Design inspiration from beyond tabletop rpgs. I share them when I find them.
- Logo System. A massive logo design library filled with real and fictional design logos. It gets bonus points for sorting them by animated/static.
- Public Domain Image Archive. This colossal database pulls public domain images from museums and archives before tagging and cataloging them.
- Public Domain Day 2025. Every year a wave of creative work enters the public domain—this year, that includes characters like the original Tintin.
- Outrider Creative Illustration. Do you love illustration? Do you wish you knew famous artists by name? The designer of Perils & Princesses has videos for that.
- Haunted Walrus Unpacks Board Games. I'm a huge fan of stealing from board games, and Adam Bell's new blog launched with two in-depth examples.
Design Archive
Sometimes I miss something or want to bring it back from the dead.
- Baseline Worldbuilding. The narrative fiction is a house of cards. The version we can understand and picture is the baseline. A great article on cognitive load.
- A Rule is an Answer. What is a rule? What is the purpose of a rule? When is it good or bad? I find this metaphor to provides compelling answers.
Missed the last issue? Read it here.

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