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  "description": "Monthly design jams, critique, theory, and inspiration for tabletop rpg designers by rpg designers. Vetted. Looted. Curated. ",
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  "publishedAt": "2026-05-01T19:59:41.000Z",
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  "tags": [
    "What Cookbooks Can Learn from RPGs.",
    "5 RPG Ideas from Urban Design.",
    "Reviewing Rise of the Blood Olms.",
    "Bluesky",
    "The Awards Submissions.",
    "Crit Awards Submissions.",
    "Sci-Fi One-Shot Jam.",
    "Old-School Essentials Month.",
    "Islands!! Islands!! Islands!!! Jam",
    "You Cannot Play This TTRPG Jam",
    "Make Moves Jam.",
    "Mothership: A Useful Economic Baseline",
    "Fatherfog: Flip Through",
    "Echo Brine",
    "Dungeon Inc.",
    "The Monster's Overhaul",
    "Kala Mandala Zines",
    "Map Blog Bandwagon",
    "Lore: A Lord of the Rings Adventure Game Retroclone",
    "Fatherfog OE Out Now.",
    "Vaults of Vaarn 2E: Public Preview.",
    "Interview with Stonetop Creators",
    "Adapting the Nemesis System",
    "Module Writing Tips",
    "Writing Modules for Cairn",
    "Perils & Princesses Creation Guide",
    "Elements of a Key 4: Rules for Key-Writing",
    "Designing Pamphlet Games (with Shitty Printers in Mind)",
    "How to Talk About Difficulty",
    "You Should Publish That",
    "Fullstack Refereeing",
    "The Fundamentals of RPG Layout w/ Lone Archivist",
    "Fleurons, Mother of all Bullets",
    "Why So Many Control Rooms Were Seafoam Green",
    "Dargon by Anne-Dauphine “Ando” Borione",
    "Velvetyne",
    "State of Abandoned.",
    "Vintage Milwaukee Bus Passes",
    "The Vault of the Atomic Space Age.",
    "Calendar Design in the Archive.",
    "Juicy Worms",
    "The Explorateur: Issue #18Monthly design jams, critique, theory, and inspiration for tabletop rpg designers by rpg designers. Vetted. Looted. Curated.Explorers DesignClayton Notestine",
    "Explorers Design"
  ],
  "textContent": "✋\n\n****Did you know this post gets updated?**** Sometimes I miss something and add it later. Don't forget to check out the web version for the latest treasure trove of links.\n\n# Where'd the time go?\n\nI have no tips or updates this month. It's a miracle I got anything done. So, without further ado, here are my favorite design links from April.\n\nA word from the author...\n\nIf you like Explorers Design, become a member! It's free, easy, and sends articles right to your inbox. Paying members get everything I've ever made for cheap—a small thank you for your help.\n\nSign Up Now\n\n### Explorers' Loot\n\n  * What Cookbooks Can Learn from RPGs.**** For April Fools, I decided to flip the script and explore what cookbooks can learn from RPGs (a lot actually).\n  * 5 RPG Ideas from Urban Design.**** The art and science of spaces and communities is (not surprisingly) immediately applicable to fictional ones.\n  * Reviewing Rise of the Blood Olms. Yes, this is satire. The past year gave us a lot of great critique, but this glowing review pokes fun at the fumbles.\n\n\n\n### Quests & Rumors\n\nGame jams, contests, and opportunities. Drop me a line on Bluesky.\n\n  * The Awards Submissions.**** Tabletop's show for weird indie shit is back. If you have a small game or module, submissions are live until May 31st.\n  * Crit Awards Submissions.**** If you're a content creator, technician, or actual play actor, this award show is geared specifically towards you. Closes May 31st.\n  * Sci-Fi One-Shot Jam.**** The theme this year is: \"Side Effects May Include...\" You can make adventures for any system you like. The jam ends May 31st.\n  * Old-School Essentials Month.**** Prepare your spirit for a collab project led by Exalted Funeral and Necrotic Gnome on Backerkit. May 5th – June 6th.\n  * Islands!! Islands!! Islands!!! Jam**.** Design weird islands for the game _Islands of Weirdhope_ , a standalone expansion to Eco Mofos!! Ends June 1st.\n  * You Cannot Play This TTRPG Jam**.** This is a game jam for games that do not exist. They won't ever exist. They will never be playable.**** Ends June 21st.\n  * Make Moves Jam.**** Create or share singular Moves using Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) design philosophies. Jam lasts all year. Ends Dec 31st.\n\n\n\n### Reviews & Critique\n\nCritique and examinations of tabletop rpgs, adventures, and more.\n\n  * Mothership: A Useful Economic Baseline****_by Injector Seat._ A quick look at how the economy in Mothership's anti-canon grounds its horror themes.\n  * Fatherfog: Flip Through****_by The Dolent Chronicle._ Mothership's newest sibling from Tuesday Knight Games is a fairytale horror with its own style.\n  * Echo Brine****_by Idle Cartulary._ The _Shadowdark_ community is productive and remarkably consistent with its visual design. This review covers a standout.\n  * Dungeon Inc.****_by Patchwork Paladin._ Another Mushmen production. This review is a first look. The game's premise, \"What if the PCs ran the dungeon?\"\n  * The Monster's Overhaul****_by Seed of Worlds._ This review cuts to the chase: It's good. Get it. Few books have this much content organized so well.\n  * 📺**** Kala Mandala Zines****_by Questing Beast._ Munkao is a gifted artist, worldbuilder, and writer. Ben from Questing Beast gives a glowing walkthrough.\n\n\n\n### Design Examples & Best-iary\n\nThe spotlight section of the newsletter full of showcases and projects.\n\n  * Map Blog Bandwagon****_by Prismatic Wasteland._ The latest blog theme was maps! Over 50 different blogs participated with theory, advice, and more.\n  * Lore: A Lord of the Rings Adventure Game Retroclone_._ This is a staggeringly large project paired with Rise Up Comus's Middle Earth Hexcrawl.\n  * Fatherfog OE Out Now.**** Tuesday Knight Games, publisher of Mothership, has a new Fairytale Horror Game. You can snag the pdf for free right now.\n  * Vaults of Vaarn 2E: Public Preview.**** Over 60+ pages of updated rules, options, and more. It's surprisingly polished for being a work-in-progress.\n  * 🔒**** Interview with Stonetop Creators****_by Chase at Rascal News._ Jason Lutes and Jeremy Strandberg talk Stonetop and its many design and production insights.\n  * ⚙️ Adapting the Nemesis System****_by Dice Goblin. \"_ A proposed method to simulate that very addicting gameplay loop from a certain Lord of the Rings game.\"\n\n\n\n### Theory & Craft\n\nDesign tools, resources, theory, and advice for rpg designers from rpg designers.\n\n  * Module Writing Tips****_by New School Revolution._ I like a good list and this one spares your work from simple technical mistakes. Clear. Functional. Good.\n  * Writing Modules for Cairn****_by New School Revolution._ Oh? You want more tips but for Cairn specifically? Good on you. Here they are. I'd read both.\n  * Perils & Princesses Creation Guide****_by Ryan Lynch._ This official guide provides guidelines, design principles, and materials for 3rd party work!\n  * Elements of a Key 4: Rules for Key-Writing****_by BAATAG._ Misha's 4-part deep dive on keys and key writing concludes with this post of actionable steps.\n  * Designing Pamphlet Games (with Shitty Printers in Mind)****_by Crow's Corner._ Make your fans' lives easier and give them something printer friendly.\n  * How to Talk About Difficulty****_by Knight at the Opera._ What do we mean when we say a game is hard? Dwiz mines video games and more for the answer.\n  * You Should Publish That****_by Hilander RPGs._ Solid advice for getting rpg stuff onto the page. \"Write the shittiest version first. Make it better later.\"\n  * Fullstack Refereeing****_by Among Cats and Books._ Normally I don't share GMing advice, but there's some design inspiration lurking in this post.\n  * 🎙️ The Fundamentals of RPG Layout w/ Lone Archivist****_by Talk of the Table._ Friend of the blog, Lone Archivist knows their stuff. Check it out.\n\n\n\n### Inspiring & Non-roleplaying\n\nDesign tools, theory, and inspiration from the world beyond tabletop rpgs.\n\n  * Fleurons, Mother of all Bullets****_by The Play Reports._ Bullet points, like a lot of things in modern design, can be blamed on Microsoft. Some history...\n  * Why So Many Control Rooms Were Seafoam Green****_by Beth Matthews._ Color theory might be 1 part science and 2 parts occultism, but I love its work.\n  * Dargon by Anne-Dauphine “Ando” Borione_from TypeTogether._ Fans of Velvetyne will recognize this type designer's pro-grade, RPG-inspired fonts.\n  * 💡 State of Abandoned.**** Explore forgotten places from all over America with photography of crumbling and decaying factories, prisons, schools, and houses.\n  * **💡** Vintage Milwaukee Bus Passes. The collection features bus passes from 1930 to 1979. After which, I assume Milwaukee became forgettably drab.\n  * 💡 The Vault of the Atomic Space Age.**** Everything from boxy robots to groovy UFO-shaped houses. This would be good fodder for a sci-fi game.\n  * 💡 Calendar Design in the Archive.**** Letterform Archive has a stellar collection of design ephemera, this latest curation is just another on the pile.\n\n\n\n### Design Archive\n\nOld articles, missed articles, famous or overlooked, resurfaced for the newsletter.\n\n  * Juicy Worms****_by Idle Cartulary._ What motivates players to not only engage with an adventure, but engage with it in natural, diegetic ways? A new classic.\n\n\n\n* * *\n\n### Missed the last issue? Read it here.\n\nThe Explorateur: Issue #18Monthly design jams, critique, theory, and inspiration for tabletop rpg designers by rpg designers. Vetted. Looted. Curated.Explorers DesignClayton Notestine\n\n* * *\n\n_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._\n\n* * *\n\nExplorers Design_is a production of Clayton Notestine. If you liked this issue, please consider liking, sharing, and subscribing._",
  "title": "The Explorateur: Issue #19",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-04T17:34:19.620Z"
}