Spencer Campbell's zines promo week!
And a lots of cool news and stuff
TLDR:
SPENCER CAMPBELL/GilaRPGs Zines — promo week
Wicked Wanderers Winter Bundle back in stock
Dungeon23 Jam and cool projects
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Before we start, dear readers, let me wish a happy new year to you and your loved ones, a 2023 filled with a lot of wonderful games. At The Lost Bay Studio, we’re scheming a lot of things for the months to come: more special bundles, the release of Skyrealms, free podcasting coaching opportunities, and The Lost Bay game! (Finally.) I’ll tell you more about all this in future newsletters, but today, let’s focus on one of the most creative and productive designers of the indie scene.
GilaRPGs — PROMO WEEK
Looking for a solo game inspired by the soulslike genre of video games, including Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring? Got an itch for piloting exosuits, exploring the dark ruins of old Earth, and smashing enemies in epic fights? Or maybe you’d like to hunt monsters in a dark and ever-changing haunted city?
We got GilaRPGs (aka Spencer Campbell) games for you. For one week only, preorder Spencer’s games at −15% and get flat shipping rates. All zines include digital versions. We’re talking about games nominated multiple times at the Ennies, folks!
Featured games:
Rune: exploration and combat solo RPG.
Nova: rules-light exosuit power.
Slayers: Award-winning monster hunting game.
Slayers Almanac: more districts, more monsters for Slayers.
WICKED AGAIN
The Wicked Wanderers Winter Bundle, a collection of Mörk Borg compatible zines, is back! Next shipping window: February. Copies are very limited. Get yours before the blizzard blows it away.
DUNGEON23
You’ve probably heard of the Dungeon23 challenge that was sparked by Sean McCoy, designer of the sci-fi horror TTRPG Mothership: for one year, every day, write a dungeon room and build a mega dungeon. Pretty easy, right? A gazillion designers have jumped into the arena and started writing, drawing, mapping. We’re overwhelmed by creativity, and honestly, that feels good.
In an effort to keep track of all that TTRPG goodness, I’ve put together a few resources:
The Dungeon23 Jam on itchio. Creators have already submitted a lot of cool projects, and if you are looking for a place to host yours, itch is pretty handy; it allows you to publish regular devlogs (updates), which is useful for folks like me who don’t have a blog! Join the jam here: https://itch.io/jam/dungeon23.
The Dungeon23 tracker, a simple survey and spreadsheet to catalog project URLs, blogs, web sites, etc.… You can add your project via this online form: https://forms.gle/3onENXjkvsgmF46p8
And see all the projects here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DFM40agQXOrbVhjUoxdbu9NaXcIm6f8Ay52uDWKB...
COOL MEGA-DUNGEONS
And here are a few projects I’ve been keeping an eye on:
Zedeck Siew, who you might know for the zine series A Thousand Thousand Islands, is writing about pirate ports, celestial princesses, and wizards. Look at this!
David Garret is designing CRAWLSPACE, an urban horror megadungeon, with a lot of crawling involved, yes, crawling in tight spaces, pretty scary, right?
If you’re into contemporary horror, you can also check The Lost Bay Field Guide — a ’90s horror megasuburb by myself. I’ve just finished the first minidungeon: UNIT DH-23, just a regular suburban prefab house, don’t believe the rumors, nothing weird happens in it. No, no, don’t look at the bright lights, turn away.
NEWSLETTER RING
The Lost Bay Studio is a member of the Newsletter Ring — a support network aimed at building bridges between RPG enthusiasts and creators.
Today we give space to in*die zine:
The in*die zine microgrant programme is open now for any and all TTRPG creators. You (singular or plural) can apply for up to $250 to help make your Zine Month 2023 crowdfunding campaign sing. Maybe you need it to get that bit of art which will make all the difference, or pay a voice actor to do the voiceover on your video, or get an editor to do a pass on your pre-release document. Or maybe you need a software license or some equipment. Whatever you need it for, we're here to help. Drop your application here and we'll let you know at the start of February if your application has been successful. The committee will be prioritising marginalised voices in the space, but once again any and all TTRPG creators, individuals or collectives, are eligible for funding. Good luck!
That’s all for today. I’ve got a new bundle to prepare. Be ready to be scared.
Iko