Heaps of zine-making resources

Hey Bayers! Before we dive in, here are a couple of quick store updates.

Our 10% discount on all physical orders to the US is still valid. Say no to tariffs, yes to zines! The discount is applied automatically on checkout.

A few exclusives from The Lost Bay Studio or in-house productions are 15% off

Letters from Valley mini bundle, a collection of mini games by Alfred Valley

Campaign Notebook Redux, note-taking and campaign sparking tool by Perplexing Ruins + Iko

Thousand Empty Light Solo MoSh module/game also by Alfred Valley

Browse our Weekend Promo

Build a Better World

Start building a better world

We are only one day away from the launch of the Build a Better World TTRPG jam! Close to 100 people have already joined the jam! That is HUGE! and to me it’s a clear sign that this kind of community-focused and uplifting event was much needed. I know it was for me. It feels good to see folks already jamming in the server and exchanging game design ideas.

“We live in capitalism,” said Le Guin, “Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings.” It’s up to us, as games makers, to help people envision alternatives to how we live now, how we can build a better world.

Anybody can participate in the jam, from first-time to savvy designers. If you’re looking for tips and resources to start building your RPG zine check below! The community at The Lost Bay server and the jam mods,

Chris Air

,

Peter Eijk

, David Blandy from

Copy/Paste Co-Op

and Amze Emmons, have curated a list of tutorials, videos, blogposts and SRDs that can help get you started.

Zine-making resources

SRDs

System Reference Documents AKA cool games you can hack. Ideal if you want to build a new game, but don’t feel like designing the ruleset. You can use or hack the ruleset of an existing public and open SRD.

• https://tunnelgoons.com/srd Tunnel Goons is a simple tabletop roleplaying game. It's a lightweight 2d6 system that can be applied to many different genres and settings.

• https://fari-rpgs.itch.io/breathless-srd The Breathless SRD is a creation toolkit that helps you design a game where every mechanic ever-increasingly rises the tension until the characters are forced to suffer dangerous consequences.

• PUSH SRD https://capacle.itch.io/push A story-driven, stat-free system for games that want lots of action without a lot of number crunching. Built on an easy to grasp push-your-luck mechanism.

• CHARGE SRD https://fari-rpgs.itch.io/charge-srd What if Forged in The Dark was super lightweight? You’d get something that looks like this. Players can explore and challenge an existing world, instead of building one around themselves.

• Second Guess SRD https://gamenomicon.itch.io/second-guess-system-srd If you have 1d20, 1d6, and want to write a profoundly weird one-page solo game, the Second Guess system was written for you.

• Caltrop Core https://titanomachyrpg.itch.io/caltropcore When you need bare-bones elegance, it doesn’t get more condensed than “roll 1d4 to determine degrees of success and failure.”

• A more complex version of Caltrop Core: https://titanomachyrpg.itch.io/ccex

• PASSKEY SRD https://penflower-ink.itch.io/passkey-srd This system allows players to choose between spending points and testing their luck to achieve varying degrees of success. Great for strictly narrative games. (Known for Stravagante!)

Making Zines: how-tos & tutorials

• Making An RPG Zine Start To Finish By the great Nate Treme (Highland Paranormal Society). This fantastic video covers the basis of zine-making in under five minutes!

• There are three issues of PIY (Print it yourself) available for free, and all three are extremely relevant to zine-making. This one happens to have “zine” in the title. All three are linked on this page. https://shoutingcrow.itch.io/make-your-own-zine

• How to photobash art for your zines:

• Free art for your zines:

• Dungeon Mapping in Procreate Dungeon Mapping in Procreate

• Making an HTML Dungeon (and upload it to itch) Making an HTML Dungeon

Free zine-making app

This is a must-check. A free app to make zines powered by the spirit of digital punkish copy and and paste. It’s impossible to fully describe yet absolutely astonishing.

• Electric Zine Maker https://alienmelon.itch.io/electric-zine-maker

Writing roleplaying games

• https://the-lost-bay.itch.io/make-accessible-ttrpgs A guide to making accessible tabletop roleplaying games

• https://exeuntpress.itch.io/adventure Written by the author of Skeleton Code Machine, ADVENTURE! covers the essential TTRPG adventure-making elements such as hooks, encounters, maps, and NPCs.

• Designing Dungeons Course https://dungeons.hismajestytheworm.games/

Solarpunk and Climate Games

While the Build a Better World TTRPG jam is not limited to solarpunk, it’s clearly a genre that fits the theme of the jam, and Pawel 'alxd' has put together a ton of links to build your environmental rebellion game or module::

• https://alxd.org/notes-towards-a-solarpunk-game-design-overview.html - analysis of climate games in TTRPG, video, card and board games

• https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aBx1_jj-aVBcID0X1ouqQz8RuopNVvx8GSpXsg63cq8/edit?usp=sharing alxd’s main resource doc

• https://podcast.tomasino.org/@SolarpunkPrompts - a podcast for writers and game designers with realistic and positive climate stories, 15 minutes episodes, with a community and a tension already set up.

That’s all I have for you today.

Take care.

Iko <3.