Welcome back to the Damsels & Dice newsletter! I’m committing to writing these monthly from now on, as well as with every release or announcement, so you can consider this the July 2025 newsletter. Let’s get straight into this month’s updates…

Upcoming Game Jams

First, a section dedicated to my favourite (and least favourite) part of being a TTRPG creator! I’ve compiled the jams I intend to take part in, as well as a few other ones for TTRPGs that I spotted while looking through itch.io. I really wish people put something in their title to indicate when a jam is for tabletop games instead of video games ☹️ There must be so many cool jams that I miss out on, or that fly under the radar completely. Not to mention all the time I waste looking at game jams that are just for video games.

One-Page RPG Jam 2025

This game jam is one of the ones I’m actually taking part in! I’ll talk a bit about my project in the next section, but for now, what is this all about? Any new, fully-playable one page RPG can be submitted to this game jam! You can even add bonus content on the back or additional pages, as long as it’s playable with only one side of paper. It also has the optional theme of Growth, which I used for my game, and is completely anti-AI.

The One-Page RPG Jam ends on August 17th at 11:00PM. You can check it out here.

Eternal TTRPG Jam: August 2025

A classic part of the TTRPG community, the Eternal TTRPG Jam is one I’ve never managed to take part in before. I’m hoping that I can actually make it into the August entry, however, as the theme is Monster Hunt. That’s so my kind of topic for a game! It’s also got the monthly challenge of making a game that distributes game management to the players instead of the GM — a concept I love as a forever GM. Games for this jam should be short & simple, developed during the jam, and lacking in AI content.

This edition of the Eternal TTRPG Jam ends on September 1st at 7:59AM. But you can always try next month! Find the jam here.

Other Game Jams

The above are the only two game jams I’m joining this month, but there are two more that I’ve found online you might be interested in. Some details of those are included here!

The Rider-Waiteless Oracle Jam is about creating TTRPGs that use oracle decks other than the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck! I’m very tempted to join, but wouldn’t be able to fit the creation of a new game into my schedule ☹️ It ends in October — specifically, October 1st 2025, at 4:59AM.

The Mystic Bastionland TTRPG Jam is a very different jam, about creating content for a specific TTRPG. But if you’re a fan of Mystic Bastionland, or just looking for something other than making a full game… it seems good? I have no knowledge about the game, to be honest. The jam ends on August 15th, also 4:00PM.

The Revenge of the Mixtape jam is another jam for making content for a specific game. In this case, Playlist Dungeon. A really cool looking game that uses a playlist to create the content for your TTRPG. This one I am… rather considering working on, as the game concept looks really cool. If you agree, the jam ends on September 27th at 7:32PM!

Projects in the Pipeline

a most devouring kind

One of the two games I have completed and waiting for playtesting & release, a most devouring kind is my entry for the One-Page RPG Jam! It’s a solo journaling game, using the Second Guess System. But more importantly, it takes the theme of growth, and my love for plant-based body horror (in games like BLOOM), and combines them with some classic fanfiction tropes to create a story about secrets that fill your veins with flowers.

It was an absolute nightmare to format this game, due to the need to fit 20 prompts and an aesthetic image on a single side of A4. But I love the aesthetic the game has ended up with, and the abridged versions of prompts don’t cause the game to lack particularly much. It’s just a very fun little journaling game, to be honest. I’m excited to play it myself!

Tales from the Hearth

This is my other completed game. Unlike a most devouring kind, it’s not based on any sort of game jam! Instead, it was born out of my return to game writing corresponding with a new fascination with healthy cooking. Tales from the Hearth is a solo (or multiplayer) game, intended to encourage the players to think about what they’re eating. It includes worldbuilding elements, creating a city and its people, as well as the personal story of one tavern owner with that city. As you might be able to tell, it’s a rules-lite game.

I’m unsure how this game will be received, but I really enjoyed creating and formatting it. Tales from the Hearth and a most devouring kind are both far prettier games that most of those I’ve created before now. I just hope people will enjoy playing it as well as looking at it — I’ve been told it seems like a good for folks with ADHD, which was my intention!

‘til it kills us: the bound & the lovesick

This one isn’t a game exactly, but it’s two new playbooks for our old favourite game: ‘til it kills us. Specifically, it’s the expansion playbooks I promised as part of the sale I made for the game’s new edition. They’re two ideas I’ve had for ages, intended to provide more horror-focused playbooks that also fill niches in the emotions the playbooks represent.

The bound is a playbook focused on loyalty and obligation, with powers and abilities themed around the “elemental” magic of bone. Think halfway between a classic necromancer and the bodyguard romances that the internet is obsessed with lately.

The lovesick is a playbook focused on love and obsession, essentially stalkers and romantics that power themselves with flesh magic. They spawned from the image of a character who was so obsessed with someone that they would literally pull out their heart and hand it over. Something the lovesick very much could achieve if they wanted!

Other Upcoming Projects

In the background, I’m working on a few other things too. An old project intended to be played asynchronously (to avoid pesky scheduling), and a solo TTRPG about monsters as a metaphor for transgender identities. As well as updates on some old games, like ‘til it kills us formatting and expanded content for The Monster Must Be Fed. But nothing particularly exciting or noteworthy, so it’s just a footnote to be mentioned here.

Places to Buy My Games

You’re probably aware of the new policy at itch.io if you’re reading this newsletter. If not, the summary: new limitations from payment processors have caused itch.io to shadow ban content deemed adult, mature or otherwise NSFW. This has naturally included a lot of minorities, especially queer people and especially trans women. Of course 🙄

Unfortunately, I can’t completely separate myself from itch.io as a platform, as it’s where most indie RPGs, game jams and other content exists. But I can refer you to this post about further action, by the incredible anim-ttrpgs. And I can start to diversify the locations where my games can be found — so you can pick which sites to use or avoid.

As well as on itch.io, you can also find some of my games on my DriveThruRPG account. Or, if you want to save me from USD-to-GBP conversion fees, I’ve started listing games on my Ko-fi storefront as well! I’m also looking into other ways of hosting my games, as those sites have similar rules/guidelines to itch.io as far as I can tell. Will keep you updated on what happens in that department!

Most importantly, please check out other indie TTRPG creators more than ever — especially ones who make the content effected by these changes!

Tangential Thoughts

1. This month I discovered the existence of the Dungeon Master University, a bafflingly expensive and limited course about improving your DMing skills. There’s a tumblr post with more of my thoughts about it, but please don’t pay $900+ to establish skills that are best improved with practice. And don’t assume that you need a certain skill level to run D&D 5e or any other game system.

2. I also watched a whole bunch of wonderful stuff — most prominently, K-Pop Demon Hunters, a film that has re-ignited my love for movies. And maybe given me a few ideas for what to do for the Eternal TTRPG Jam…

3. I’ve also been thinking a lot lately about how I could use more TTRPG and board game friends in my area, so any UK-based nerds should let me know! I’ll be at a couple tabletop events this year and would love to meet some folks. I might even be running ‘til it kills us at a convention, if we’re lucky!

4. And finally, I’ve been thinking about offering a discount code for those who read this newsletter — it’ll probably be in the next issue, as part of my birthday celebrations for Damsels & Dice. So stay tuned if you’re interested in that.

Thanks for Reading

And… we’re finally done. Thanks to anyone who read this newsletter at all, but particular thanks to those who checked out any of the links (or read the Tangential Thoughts ramble!). Please get involved with the itch.io censorship issue where you can.

And, if you’ve liked this newsletter, subscribe and share if you haven’t already!