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I. The IGDN Indie Groundbreaker Awards
Dungeon Delve was created as a round-up of various developments across the indie tabletop RPG community, and its fitting to cover some of its biggest developments, and its celebrations!
←←←←The biggest piece of news this week:→→→→
IGDN has announced the winners of the Indie Groundbreaker Awards!
The awards recognize games and designers creating new and exciting experiences that push the boundaries of what it means to be indie. Truly innovative, inclusive, and clever friends and their creations!
Quick list of the winners from this past year:
MOST INNOVATIVE: Last Train to Bremen
Caro Asercion (game design, layout and art direction), Conner Fawcett (illustration and layout development) and Weaver Walker (dramaturgy and editing)
BEST ART: May You Fish in Interesting Times
Carol Wu (illustration) and W. H. Arthur (game design, writing and layout)
BEST GRAPHIC DESIGN: Deadly Weapons
Adira Slattery (game and words) and Fen Slattery (art and layout)
BEST RULES: Revolt!
Jason Price (writing and game design), Juan Ochoa (artwork), Chaim Holtjer (cartography), Vee Hendro (layout and graphic design), and Will Jobst (editing)
BEST SETTING: Viva La QueerBar
Sandra Dahlhoff and Andrea Rick (writers and game designers), Hannah van den Höövel (cover illustrator), and Andrea Rick (interior art and layout)
GAME OF THE YEAR: Triangle Agency
Caleb Zane Huett (lead designer), Sean Ireland (designer), Ryan Kingdom (art director), Ben Mansky and Michael Shillingburg (layout artists), Kanesha Bryant, Corviday, G. C. Houle, Kodasea, and Nathan Rhodes (artists)
The awards ceremony is free to watch using the link below:
Also, don’t forget to check out the IGDN (Indie Game Developer Network)!Check out this link to see how they were chosen, and the other nominees!
II. Looting The Room
RPG Sales and Deals
The sci-fi horror TTRPG from Free League Publishing, ALIEN: The Roleplaying Game is on sale for less than half the price, including the core rulebook and everything you need to play in-person or online!
$84.97$32.98One more week to support the Baltimore Street Medic Collective with this bundle of 34 games, and help provide medic training in the community. Every party needs a healer, after all!
The battle for Trans Rights continues! The TTRPGs for Trans Rights Bundle is a collection of 400+ games to support the fight against anti-trans legislation in the state of Ohio.
In eastern Spain, a terrible storm devastated the Valencian countryside! The Love for Valencia (Amor per Valencia) Bundle of 770+ items seeks to help those struck by this tragedy recover, in whatever small way they can!
Free Stuff:
Modiphius is releasing a TTRPG on the famed video game series, Heroes of Might and Magic. This free quickstart guide helps immerse new players into a world of champions, warring nations, exploration, and leading armies into strategic battles!
III. Markings on the Wall
Latest rumors, discoveries, and puzzling finds in the RPG world and beyond!
NEW Crowdfunding Projects
Goblins and Galaxies Magazine - A brand new magazine for Sword and Sorcery, Dark Fantasy, Science Fiction short stories and art! Focused on great story-telling, diversity, and a fully human literary experience (no AI)!
The Secret of the Night Market - The first adventure zine for the TTRPG Perils and Princesses (here), set within a fae market filled with mystical items, and mysteries abound! Get ready for a shopping spree beyond your wildest dreams!
TTRPG News and Finds
Just this week, Stonemaier Games, creator of board gaming experiences like Wingspan, Scythe, Tokaido and many more, have announced that they are suing the President of the United States over damages caused by recent tariffs, and is inviting others game publishers to join the suit!
Also in response to tariffs, a collaboration of angry writers and TTRPG creators have assembled together to announce Start the Fire, A Digital TTRPG Anthology and collection of adventures, subsystems, and odds-n-ends for games like DnD 5E, Mythcraft, and more! … Going live in 7 days!
Gameable Advice
Lions, and tigers, and bears? Dice Goblin takes the age-old advice “Just Use Bears”, and expands upon it with a list of animals and common creatures to throw at your party given the right circumstances!
Theory and Design Advice
If you find yourself teaching others about TTRPG design (or wanting to learn), the Alexandrian has an essential reading list for games that teach the history of tabletop roleplay, and chronicle the development of game theory
Long-time blog, Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque, published an Adventure Design Checklist filled with questions meant to define and target the scope of your adventure, its materials, goals, players, and the stakes!
Daily Adventure Prompts suggests an overhaul to how hit-points are assigned to characters in Dungeons and Dragons to better accommodate high-level play at tables.
A Maniacs Insight (Where I quote an adjacent Substack blog)
When we plan our sessions, we usually jump straight to mechanics. We plan monster stats, map out puzzles, and diagram intricate plot threads.
But what if we’re approaching it backwards?
What if the real secret to a memorable game lies not in the details of what happens, but in the energy and raw emotion of how it feels?
V. Treasure Chest (Sponsored Ads)
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