The Explorateur: Year 3!

This is the 24th issue of The Explorateur, which makes next month's issue the start of its third year. As is tradition, here are a few updates and improvements.

• New title system. This issue is the first one with the month and year in its title. This will make it easier to know which issue is the newest at a glance.
• Keeping to the niche. In case it isn't obvious, The Explorateur is limited to design-focused links and resources. If it doesn't help rpg designers, it isn't here.
• 1,363 subscribers. That's a +300 increase from the previous year. There were no spikes in subscriptions. Slow and steady. Despite award nominations.
• Awarded Best Kisser. None of this year's nominations landed The Explorateur a gold or silver Ennie or Crit, which means I did all that kissing and bribing just for the thrill of it. (I should have boasted "Best Dressed.")

Explorers' Loot

• Great Covers: September '26. I returned this month with five more covers I love. The secret theme for this last spotlight: guts. These covers have them.
• Shelfie #001 - Clayton. Jonas started a new blog where guests show off their rpg shelves, and I was the first tribute guest. Alas, I forgot to display Scarface.
• Design Hireling: Pricing Models. In real life, you don't have to worry about gelatinous cubes. Instead, you worry about how you're going to get paid.

Quests & Rumors

Game jams, contests, and opportunities. Drop me a line on Bluesky.

• Folklore Jam '26. Make an rpg, larp, or boardgame inspired by folklore from your culture. It can be a spooky, cozy, or anything really. Jam ends Oct 31st.
• Orctober OSR Jam. Make orc thing. Get orc thing judged. All orcs welcome. Playable orc thing? Good. Unplayable orc thing? Bad. Orc jam end Orc 31st.
• B.C. Compliant Primitive Jam. Make something for the game, Year 100 Million BC. Great for designers who love hitting things with rocks real good.
• ❤️ Baseball Jam '26. Regular readers of Explorers Design know this is my kind of jam. Make something baseball-related for ttrpgs. Jam ends Nov 1st.
• Norman Mailer Game Jam. Here's a weird one: Make something rpg-related based on the life and writings of Norman Mailer. Jam ends Nov 11th.
• DURF Jam 6! The Annual Durf Jam is back. This year's theme: Lost & Found. Make an adventure or expansion for the game, DURF. Jam ends Nov 14th.
• Minimalist TTRPG Jam 5. A jam all about primal, elemental, close-to-the-metal TTRPG creation! No pictures, no layout, all killer, no filler. Ends Nov 1st.
• Noir-Vember TTRPG Jam. Make a game, module, or supplement for the black and white world of gumshoes, derringers, and crime. Jam ends Nov 30th.
• Make Moves Jam. Create or share singular Moves using Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) design philosophies. Jam lasts all year. Ends Dec 31st.

Reviews & Critique

Critique and examinations of tabletop rpgs, adventures, and more.

• I Kind of Hate Treasure? by Murk Mail. "[It's] pretty central to old-school play in its ‘textbook’ form. But, I’ve got a confession. I kind of hate treasure."
• Bathtub Review: The Doom of the Dark by Idle Cartulary. Patrick Stuart's latest adventure (for Tunnels & Trolls, no less) isn't like his others.
• Wolves Along the Coast by Twilight Dreams. Every time a game gets reviewed, I get to discover and appreciate it again. This is one of those reviews.
• Shadowrun Review by Among Cats and Books. Better late than never! Elmcat returns to Shadowrun to finally figure out: What the hell is it?

Spotlight & Best-iary

The spotlight section showcases interviews, design examples, and projects.

• Knock! Bundle of Holding. Normally I wouldn't promote a product, but this latest bundle is 100% this newsletter's special interest. Blogs immortalized!
• How Deadly is the OSR Actually? by Valeria Loves. Are OSR games universally short and deadly? Valeria is on the case. (The answer is no.)
• Workflow Eats Features For Breakfast by Bastionland. Chris, designer of Mythic Bastionland, talks about how his game "runs itself" via workflows.
• Mothership Month Returns! This November: A new Warden's Program, Writers' Grants, and Mothership Select—a hall of fame for 3rd party products.
• 📺 How I Make a Living as a Full-time Indie RPG Designer by Cezar Capacle. Cezar's been on my bookshelf for years, so this was a fun watch.

Theory & Craft

Design tools, resources, theory, and advice for rpg designers from rpg designers.

• ❤️ The Keys to My Heart by New School Revolution. Loved this one. It explores different styles of keying found in different adventures. What's yours?
• ❤️ Signposting, Signseeking, and Agency Spirals by Atmospheric Underworld. This is long toothsome read about incentives, railroading, etc.
• Three-Sentence Hexes by Idraluna Archives. This is a follow-up to Idraluna's defense of empty hexes. An argument for less-is-more.
• The (Implied) Author of this Game Hates You by Skeleton Code Machine. Exploring the concept of antagonistic game design as a technique.
• Do Not Overthink the City by Pool Time. "Have you ever lived in a city? Think back and you will notice: your experience was mainly a series of rooms."
• The Elemental Level of Megadungeon Construction by Rise Up Comus. A fun article about how Megadungeons are made up of parts within parts.
• 🎙️ Making & Breaking Genre by The Indie Game Talk Club. Paul and Dusey talk about onboarding, monetizing, and the power and limits of genre.

Inspiring & Non-roleplaying

Design tools, theory, and inspiration from the world beyond tabletop rpgs.

• 💡 Book Covers of Note Sept. 2026 by Casual Optimist. This month revealed an amazing crop of book covers from the literary space.
• ❤️ Why All of Our Games Look like Crap by The Bottom Feeder. "...why do my games look the way they do, when other more fancy, more expensive art styles are available?
• 🗄️ Annual Report Archive. Before mankind was cursed with PowerPoint, companies used to design annual reports—a lost art of layout, data, and design.
• 🗄️ 50 Watts Archive. "A growing archive of weird and wonderful visual ephemera from around the world." A great collection of illustrations.
• Bezier Game. If you're trying to learn the pen tool in Affinity or Illustrator, this browser game will help! I wish it had the solutions to some of these.

Design Archive

Old, missed, famous, and overlooked articles for the newsletter.

• Negotiating with Monsters by Dungeon Fantastic. There's something illuminating here about designing NPCs, especially for psycho PC interactions.
• The Cowardice of Incremental Modifiers by Was It Likely? The increments are boring. They're inert. They betray play for vanity. Boo! Hiss!

Missed the last issue? Read it here.

The Explorateur: Issue #23

Monthly jams, critique, theory, and resources for rpg designers.

Explorers DesignClayton Notestine

This newsletter uses the occasional affiliate link to support Explorers Design. If you notice any broken links, mistakes, or bad actors, please let me know.

Explorers Design is a production of Clayton Notestine. If you liked this issue, please consider liking, sharing, and subscribing.