About a week ago Professor DM, of the YouTube channel Dungeon Craft, proposed the idea of making July “Independent TTRPG Month.” He invited YouTubers to spend this month talking about TTRPGs which don’t benefit from the massive marketing budget enjoyed by the World’s Oldest Commercially Available RPG. As my channel is dedicated to celebrating a variety of games, I’m only too happy to jump on board.
We are living in a time of fantastic growth in the Tabletop Roleplaying Game hobby-space. Companies like Monte Cook Games, Green Ronin Press, Wet Ink Games, Pinnacle Entertainment Group, Magpie Games, Goodman Games, and Arcane Library are doing fantastic work expanding the hobby.
Nor is this expansion limited to North America! Free League Publishing has created a phenomenal slate of games and, as Doug Shute pointed out on my live stream the other day, Italian Game developers like 2 Little Mice are creating some amazing games poised to explode on to the international scene. Australia and South America are also part of this movement–Pickpocket Press and Gavriel Quiroga are doing some excellent work.
So if you’re a TTRPG content creator, why not take this month to highlight some of these amazing game developers? Read a new book, write or record a review, invite an author to do an interview, or maybe even stream an actual play using some of the fantastic systems being published right now. Who knows? Maybe you’ll help some folks find some new ways to have fun with this wonderful hobby!
DM Tales already had a scheduled hiatus for the first part of July when Professor DM made his invitation, so I’m inviting you to check out my Review Playlist for my takes on a variety of independent TTRPGs. Also, check out my videos from PAX Unplugged where I talk with a number of Independent Creators. Finally, check out my reflections on running Shadowdark and my interview with the creators of Blood and Doom. I’ve been enjoying my dives into independent gaming, and I hope they might inspire you to go exploring on your own!
Happy Independent TTRPG month, folks. Let’s make it awesome. And if you’re participating don’t forget to tag your content with #indieTTRPGmonth!
