This Year's Theme Is...

You are not the hero

The Challenge

Create the most complete tabletop Role-Playing Game you can in just 48 hours!

Who is this for?

Anyone who has ever wanted to make their own tabletop RPG! Whether you're a seasoned RPG writer or even someone who has never heard of an RPG before, you're encouraged to participate.

What do I need to know?

• The jam starts on September 27th at 10:00 PM (UTC) and lasts for 48 hours. 
• You have until September 29th at 10:00 PM (UTC) to submit your Mega RPG. At that time, you can begin voting on all of the entries. All participants who submitted an entry have the opportunity to vote.
• Voting lasts until October 21st at 1:00 PM (UTC), at which time the winners will be declared.
• You may team up with as many people as you like (or work solo).
• All entries must be submitted in .pdf format. Video game submissions are not allowed.
• The jam revolves around a theme chosen by the community. You can help by voting on a theme here.
• You have until September 16th at 2:00 PM (UTC) to suggest a theme. Afterwards, you'll have the opportunity to vote on all of the themes and choose one that will be used for the jam. (More details can be found in the "How is the theme chosen?" section below).
• The winning theme will be posted to the top of this page ~5 minutes before the jam starts.
• See below for more details!

What's a "Mega" RPG?

Good question! In this case, it's just a finished tabletop RPG product that you could release into the wild. Something you could sell at a store or be proud to have on your bookshelf. Whatever an RPG means to you, make it the biggest, baddest, boldest version of that!

I've included a list of ideas in the below section to help get you started.

What makes a "Complete" RPG?

This is ultimately up to you as well, but I have a few recommendations:

1. Create something that readers can use to role-play.
2. Try to make your final product aesthetically pleasing and easy to read.
3. Attempt to incorporate the theme in some way.

If you're looking for ideas to get you going, I've included some here:

• Rules for resolving conflict
• A detailed Story/Setting
• Character creation tools
• Starting characters
• Dungeon maps
• A list of monsters
• Random event tables
• Examples of play
• Introductory scenarios to get players started

By no means are you limited to just the items presented above! What your Mega RPG contains is totally up to you!

Who decides the winners?

Voting on entries is entirely done by the community!

Every person who submits an RPG to the jam (including any teammates/contributors) has the opportunity to vote on each entry. At the end of the voting period, itch.io will automatically tally all of the votes and rank each submission accordingly. The Top 10 will then be announced on the Community page. At that time, the full list of rankings will be made available on this page under the Results section.

Voting begins on September 29th at 10:00 PM (UTC) immediately after the jam deadline. Voting will remain open until October 21st at 2:00 PM (UTC) which is when itch.io will calculate the results.

The voting criteria is as follows:

• Mechanics
• Overall Appearance
• Quality of Writing
• Use of Theme

Each entry will also automatically be given an overall score (based on their rankings in the above categories) when itch.io tabulates the results.

How is the theme chosen?

The theme is also chosen by the community! The Final Round of Theme Voting has ended and you can view the results here. (You will need a Google account to use the voting form). This year's theme is You are not the hero.

There will be four rounds of voting to determine the theme for the jam. During the first three rounds, you'll have the opportunity to vote on all of the themes that were suggested. The top 5 themes from each round will advance to the fourth and final round. The top voted theme from the final round will be the one used for the jam.

Below is the calendar of dates for each round of theme voting:

• Round 1
  • September 16th - September 18th @ 11:59 PM (UTC)
• Round 2
  • September 19th - September 21st @ 11:59 PM (UTC)
• Round 3
  • September 22nd - September 24th @ 11:59 PM (UTC)
• Round 4 - Final Round
  • September 25th - September 27th @ 9:30 PM (UTC)

Details on when each round of Theme Voting starts will be posted both here and on the Community page. If you signed up for the jam, you'll be emailed a link to where you can vote each time a voting round starts.

The winning theme will be kept secret until ~5 minutes before the jam starts. When it is time for it to be revealed, the theme will be posted to the top of this page as well as the Community page.

FAQ

• So, I've clicked "Join Jam" at the top of the page. What happens next?
  • You'll receive any important updates about the jam via the email you used to register for your itch.io account. 
  • In the meanwhile: 
    • Feel free to help pick out a theme for the jam (see the theme voting section above).
    • Feel free to post on our Community page.
• Why do the times at the top of the page not match the ones listed in the descriptions?
  • The times listed around the "Join Jam" button are put there automatically by itch.io and reflect your local time. They're the best indicator for you of when jam-related events are about to start/end. The rest of the times listed are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
• Do I have to incorporate the theme into my RPG? 
  • You are NOT required to incorporate the theme. That being said, it is one of the voting categories and itch.io does not make it possible to opt out of them.
• Can I write a Live Action Role-Playing Game? 
  • Absolutely!
• Is it OK if my entry is text-only or ends up being mostly just art? 
  • Definitely!
• Are there any limits on how I can customize my game's page?
  • Feel free to customize your game's page to your liking!
• Are there any other guidelines that I should be aware of?
• Be sure to check out itch.io's Community Rules and Quality Guidelines if you're new to the site.
• I'm worried about experiencing burnout during the jam.
  • Your mental and physical well-being always come first! Here's a post from the Global Game Jam that goes over various things you can do to stay cool (and sane) during a jam.
• Wait, this seems familiar... 
  • That's because this jam is the successor to The Micro-RPG Jam.
• Who's behind all this? 
  • Ian Magenta, that's who!
• Who designed the font? 
  • The font used for both logos is Black Castle which was designed by Richard William Mueller. Black Castle's design was likely inspired by the Blackmoor font.
• What about the color scheme? 
  • All of the colors used come from the Matriax8c color palette by Davit Masia.
• What if I have additional questions?
  • Feel free to post any other questions you may have to the Welcome / Questions thread on the Community page.

Thanks for making it this far down the page and reading everything! I hope you enjoy the jam!