Check out the latest on the TTRPGkids works in progress to stay up to date on upcoming releases! This Dev Log will cover the latest status for the StoryGuider project, my November convention plans, and what it’s like being an indie TTRPG creator going into the holidays.

Jump to: 

• StoryGuider
• Conventions
• New games
• Games going to libraries
• Holidays x indie TTRPG businesses

StoryGuider art and writing progress

The TTRPGkids StoryGuider campaign on Backerkit finished at the very end of September, and since then, art has been kicked off, the first of the new trilogies has been drafted, and the new book-style layout template has been finalized.

To start us off, here’s a peek at the new concept art for Sandy the Dragon, being illustrated by Soren!

For the overall timeline status….

COMPLETED:

• Oct – campaign funds released from Backerkit
• Oct – send contracts for funded art to artists
• Oct – draft the Tome Traveller Trilogy (part of the Heroes series)

NEXT STEPS:

• Oct → Nov – collect first round of art from early artist kick-offs (from itchio and ko-fi prefunds)
• Nov – reformat the Heroes series
• Nov – artists working on Heroes series
• Dec – Heroes series art due
• Dec – Heroes series goes in for test prints
• Jan – reformat the Friends series
• Jan – artists working on Friends series
• Feb – Friends series art due
• Feb – Friends series goes in for test prints
• Feb – Heroes series prints arrive, complete physical copy reviews
• Mar – reformat the Dragon series
• Mar – artists working on Dragon series
• Apr – Friends series prints arrive, complete physical copy reviews
• Apr – fulfill Heroes and Friends series for backers
• Apr – Dragon series art due
• Apr – Dragon series goes in for test prints
• May – start weekly releases of a la carte trilogies for public on DTRPG
• May – Friends series prints arrive, complete physical copy reviews
• June – fulfill Friends series for backers

There was a very small delay in art submission for some of the pre-funded project (funded through itchio and ko-fi before the campaign started), but the schedule was built to absorb it, and that art has started to come in now, so it won’t cause a delay to the project or the other art that’s being worked on. 

For this month, artists are at work on the Heroes series, and I’ll be reformatting them to the new book-style templates while tweaking some of the writing – it won’t change the content, but I’ve learned a bit about writing since originally releasing these as digital only, and I want that gained XP to be part of this re-release.

With all the conventions I have going on this month, that reformatting may drift a little into December, but I think it will still be on track for submitting the test prints before the end of 2025 so long as the art submission targets are met as well. 

AND… if you missed the campaign…

November convention travel – U-Con and Pax Unplugged

This month, I have two back-to-back conventions that I’ll be attending (and am looking forward to seeing some folks from the indie TTRPG and TTRPGkids communities at)!

First up is U-Con, located in Ypsilanti, MI, where I’ll be boothing as TTRPGkids.  You’ll be able to get some of my books and games on discount without having to pay shipping, and I’m also just really excited to chat with everyone about the games they’ve been playing.  

This is also one of my favorite cons to booth at because, here, folks that swing by the booth tend to take a little more time, and they usually have some pretty awesome stories about how their kids started playing TTRPGs or how they’ve started a D&D group at their library or how they’re glad to see fliers for LARP groups up at the high school they teach at, and it’s pretty uplifting.  

As soon as U-Con is done, I’m packing up and heading out to Pax Unplugged in PA!

While there, I’m going to be running games, giving talks, and hosting an indie TTRPG creator meet up… and am part of the press!  I’ll also be meeting with friends and browsing the vendor hall both for keeping up to date on the all-ages TTRPGs scene… and doing a bit of holiday shopping.  

Here’s my full schedule at PAX U, and I’m excited to be going!

While I’m excited to be part of the events, I also know I scheduled two back-to-back cons right before a holiday weekend that will likely involve a lot of socializing as well, and… we will see how my system handles that.  It’s physically tough (I’m driving several hundred miles between all this, and there’s a lot of active work) in addition to needing to be “on” at the con for extended periods of time… and in addition to having limited capacity to write and handle clerical things just due to that time going into travel and in-person existence at events. 

It’s all good and I have strategies to manage this, but… the point of these posts is also to talk about the work in the background and how things overlap and interact with each other work-wise, so I thought it would be good to share this part of the planning and considerations as well. 

New games by TTRPGkids!

In between my larger projects, I often get the urge to just start and finish something, which helps me keep motivated when facing some of the longer deadlines or perceived pressure on something that’s 300+ pages plus formal editing, layout, printing, fulfillment, etc. 

They give me a little chance to refresh my headspace… and it makes some new fun thing that I can still share with folks while also getting practice using different styles and ideas for other projects!

The past month or so, I released two new games, both about Celtic folklore and/or how Celtic legends changed with historical events, and I have another one on the way for November.  These are all little brochure games that are meant to teach about a subject and then invite the player to interact with it via adjusting the map.  

As a sneak peek for the November one, this will be about The Hill of Tara, a key site for Irish legends, religious and historical events, and archeology.  For these three brochure games (Wolf Woods, Giant’s Causeway, and Hill of Tara), they’re broken into three sections that progress from one to the other.  How you roll to alter the map in part 1 will impact things in parts 2 and 3, kind of like how legends of old influence how we see things today.  

While not exactly a typical role-playing game, and maybe a little closer to a board game and also not 100% in on the TTRPGs for really young kids that I typically make,  I think these were good exercises for me to make something different. 

I got to play with mechanics a little more, and I got to write about topics that I have been really interested in doing a little more research on and sharing with others.  I also got to experiment with some differences in layout, and it was kind of fun trying to fit so much onto one page while keeping the font size legible.  I had to really parse down the mechanics, make sure my graphics were very clear, and not get too wordy in the lore parts of the game.

Anyway, it was a good dabble into something a bit off my path, and it sparked a whole bunch of new ideas for other games like this.  So, keep an eye out for the Hill of Tara game, coming out very soon, and give yourself a break for something that’s not on a deadline or big plan sometimes.

International Games Month – books and games sent to libraries!

This month is the American Library Association’s Games and Gaming Roundtable’s International Games Month!  So, that’s ALA’s GameRT’s IGM!

I’m one of the event sponsors, which means I’m sending physical copies of A Construct’s Nature and Bakers, Charge! along with digital copies of Making a Tabletop RPG for YOUR Particular Kid to libraries so they can build up their gaming collections. 

Physical copies came from YOUR contributions to the TTRPGkids crowdfunding campaigns the past year+, and I’ve already gotten some wonderful responses from the librarians who are receiving materials.

Thank you all for contributing to the Library Donation tiers on my campaigns. 

Thank you to GameRT for running the event. 

And thank you librarians for all that you’re doing and letting me know what these books mean for your libraries. 

I’m glad to know that there’s that much more accessibility to the material and that folks who may not have found these books/games otherwise will be able to interact with them.  I hope these make for a good addition to all the collections at these libraries, and I’m already looking forward to IGM 2026!

Approaching the holidays as a TTRPG indie creator

So… it is still early/mid November, and we haven’t decorated for the winter holidays yet, but being in the indie TTRPG business, this is the time I have to make sure that things are set up for folks looking for books, games, etc this time of year. 

I don’t keep a lot of stock due to lack of storage space and limited funds that prevent doing large print runs, but I have a booth coming up at U-Con, a couple distributors have asked for more copies, and I’m hoping some folks will find my “from TTRPGkids” shop too.

There was a little bit of prep the past few weeks in making sure I had enough games/books for getting through to the end of the year, and then, there’s advertising. 

I don’t buy ads on social media platforms, so all my advertising is on my own or through newsletter shares.  I planned a bit extra for that this month to try to draw attention to where my books are stocked, and I’m hoping they help direct people to other indie creators too. 

Particularly with recent events, I want to try to buy holiday gifts from my FLGS or platforms that support indie creators (like Indie Press Revolution and Tabletop Bookshelf) where it’s applicable.  I think it helps the community as a whole, and I know from when I’ve gotten a small block of sales come through, how awesome it is to not only have a little extra in funding to work with but to know that someone may be giving it as a gift (which itself is a cool chain of connections). 

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Thank you for checking out this update and just kind of being interested in what TTRPGkids is doing! I hope it helps with seeing some of the self-pub, crowdfunding, and blog writing process for anyone who is thinking of getting into that themselves!

Until next time…. happy gaming!

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