So many TTRPG creators are doing awesome things thanks to #ZineMonth2022, #ZineQuest, and other organized creative activities! However, both creators and supporters would value from a badge that indicates their project works across all systems. Let's come together to create a badge/logo that they can use on their projects!

Introduction

Hey friends, foes, and all living, dead, and undead creatures between! Have you ever been looking at an itch.io project, a Kickstarter, a blog, DriveThruRPG project, etc., and saw a logo that said "5E Compatible", "Compatible with MÖRK BORG", or "Compatible with DCC RPG"? Well, of course you have. But have you ever seen one that had a badge or logo that said "I don't give a hoot what system you're using, my creation is SYSTEM NEUTRAL!" Well, of course you haven't.

That changes TODAY! We need a way for creators to communicate to us that their project is:

• system neutral
• system agnostic
• system free
• system portable
• cross-system (x-system)
• works in any system
• system inclusive
• whatever in the world the cool kids say to mean "I don't give a hoot what system you're using"

This came about because I asked on the Facebook RPG Zines group if anyone has seen such a logo, and the response was a hard "not really I don't think so but kinda a good idea and we need this". A mysterious and wise character named Reilly Qyote of afterthought.games posited that an Itch Jam may be a good way to get this project going. Many curious minds came to bear on the question, giving feedback about whether they liked "system neutral" or "system agnostic", Rick Hershey of Fat Goblin Games fame created a candidate badge for "RPG ZINE" that looks dope AF, and the people rejoiced. But the problem still lingers on, and we now go on an adventure as a community to discover the never-before-seen "system neutral" badge the world is waiting for!

Please note: This is my first time using itch.io, and I am not an expert. I will be taking advice from the community on the details of this process and updating accordingly. Go easy on me! And feel free to provide some feedback on what I could do differently to ensure the success of this project!

Voting and Judging

I am currently of the mindset that voting should be left to the public, but open-minded to the possibility that it is best left in the hands of judges in order to sidestep nefarious tomfoolery. That panel of judges, in my mind, would be a mix of creators (who would actually use the badge) and RPG Zine Facebook group members (who are frequent backers of projects). This would give us a nice mix of people on both sides of the aisle. This is TBD (to be decided) at the moment, and subject to change.

The voting criteria is as follows:

• Look and feel. Does this design look awesome and make you feel feelings real hard?
• Readability. Are you able to make out any visible words, letters, and symbols?
• Understandability. How clearly does this logo indicate that it means "System Agnostic/System Neutral"?
• Bonus: Sizzle. Is this design hot fire?

Contributing

Some general things you should know before submitting:

• All submissions, including the voted winner, will belong in the Public Domain, free to use and modify for commercial and non-commercial purposes. We are following in the footsteps of the commonly used OSR logo by m.s.jackson.
• The primary goal of this jam is to decide as a community on a badge that we think will help creators indicate to potential customers that their offering works across all table-top role-playing game systems, i.e. you can use their product with 5e, DCC RPG, Pathfinder, Troika!, Warlock!, MÖRK BORG, Tunnel Goons, D20 Modern (really reaching here), and any other system you love, have loved, or will love.
• The secondary goal is to get this right so that we have a long-lasting badge that creators can depend on, and that the community will understand, so that we don't have to change it too much! Nonetheless, individual creators and companies may create adaptations of this badge that match the style of their own project but capture its likeness - and that is tubular.
• Finally, there are a lot of different flavors of TTRPGs out there, such as horror, medieval fantasy, high fantasy, low fantasy, sci-fi, weird fantasy, genres you never heard of because they don't exist, and genres you never heard of because the internet is too big to know everything. That being noted, let us try to create something that "works" for all the different genres and flavors out there, so that creators are happy to see it alongside their projects.

Leading by Example

I am by no means a graphic designer or visual artist of note, but in the spirit of contribution, I created a few "examples" that may serve as inspiration, guidance, or an efficient mechanism for making me the laughing stock of the art community :D