A special interest is a very focused interest in a particular topic. We all have at least one, that one topic you could give a 5 hour presentation about. Whether it's dice, trains, horses, a tv show, movie, or some niche topic (For me it's tea, Bronze Age Crete, and Doctor Who). This jam invites you to make something based on your special interest. Make a TTRPG about trains, a zine about geology, a supplement inspired by 2012 era Tumblr, a monster based on that niche tv show no one else seems to take notice of! I truly believe we shine the brightest when allowed to go full special interest on a topic and I want to see what inspiration you can gleam from the topic that motivates you the most!
So whether you're a game designer or someone who's just wanting to give it a go, explore the depths of your special interest, find the parts that inspire you the most and make something, transform it into something new! Resources can be found further down with SRDs and places to find art. If anyone has any questions, or wants advice on making games, please reach out to me on Bluesky or at InnocentgoblinTTRPG@gmail.com.
This jam isn't ranked but at the end, I'll be happily reading through every entry and adding a rate on their page for each one! Additionally, if anyone wants more significant feedback at the end of the jam, I'll be happy to give more comprehensive notes!
Physical Games Only: This jam is specifically for tabletop games and games that use the physical games category on Itch. Your game can be a TTRPG, a hack of an existing game, a supplement or homebrew of an existing game, a zine, card game, board game, tools and information for integrating into a game or anything else connected to tabletop gaming.
No AI: It should go without saying but any submission containing AI generated material will be disqualified and the submission deleted. This jam is about exploring the thing you are most interested in and transforming it, if you cop out by using AI then you are only cheating yourself.
No bigotry: Talking about things that should be obvious - any promotion of hateful speech against any marginalised groups will be automatically removed and reported. This jam has a zero tolerance policy against against hate speech.
Multiple Submissions are Allowed: We know exploring a special interest can given pretty strong inspiration so multiple submissions are absolutely allowed and encouraged. As long as the submissions are complete and playable.
Free Copies: While paid entries are allowed, we do ask if your submission isn't free, you add enough free copies for everyone in the jam.
Context: When submitting your entry, you will be asked to tell us what the special interest is. The box is there for you to write as much or as little as you like about your special interest, what you love about it, your favourite aspect of it, as much or as little as you would like to share!
The following is a non-extensive list of different resources you can use to make your vision!
SRD's and Game Systems
Breathless: A system that makes games where tensions rise with every action.
Caltrop Core: A simple and bare bones system built so that anyone can make a game with it, regardless of experience level
Carta : A card-based SRD for creating games that tell stories about solitary discovery
Crafted in a Shell: A system for making solo and two player journaling games that uses your character's emotional state as the guiding force for their journey.
Dice Goblin: A chaotic system, allowing dice lovers to use a theoretically infinite amount of dice.
Motif: A D6 based oracle system built for solo oracles and game systems.
Wretched & Alone : A system for solo journaling games about struggling in the face of insurmountable odds to survive, or to achieve
Art
The following are websites that collate public domain, stock, and licence free art. Be careful when using these sites, AI art seems to get everywhere these days!
https://pdimagearchive.org/galleries/all/random/desc
https://www.oldbookillustrations.com/
https://www.nga.gov/open-access-images.html
https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/policies-and-documents/open-access
