Roleplay Friday - Let’s Look At Zine Quest 2021
The roleplaying world is becoming more and more accessible, but many gamers still maintain an outdated view of how much investment is required to try out roleplaying. It’s very likely that, with the many thematic board games that have come out in recent years, most of the tabletop community has roleplayed to some extent even if they weren’t aware of it.
The third annual Zine Quest is active right now on Kickstarter, which enables indie RPG creators and publishers to showcase their passion projects and immersive TTRPG narratives.
Creators are challenged to bring to life new worlds and adventures for backers. Throughout the month of February, backers will be able to explore and support two-week campaigns comprised of single-color unbound, folded, stapled, or saddle-stitched RPG zines on A5 or smaller paper.
The platform is going to be promoting different projects, but feel free to wade into the deep end and explore all of the live campaigns on your own.
Here are some of the most appealing to me so far!
“The Shimmer is full of dangers, from great hairy spider-things and earth-shaking borer worms to armies of tiny fungoid spores but there is also potential to find great treasures, succulent nectar, long lost artifacts and glory in the pulsating, phosphorescent depths.”
“[The heroes of the story] fly the bucket of bolts—the outworn, patched-up junker held together with hope, prayers and duct tape.”
“Foul monsters and gleaming treasures await the courageous or foolhardy. Many will perish, but some cunning and lucky souls will rise to greatness. What adventure will you pursue?”
“Karth is a tiny mesa studded moon on the galaxy’s edge. The only way down is an antique space elevator to the lawless boomtown of Larstown; a place surrounded by even greater danger and strangeness in the wastes beyond. Survival or salvation is not guaranteed, partner.
Harvest ossified coral corpses to live forever. Become an involuntary organ donor. Dodge ancient orbital defenses. Explore sand blown ruins. Hunt the fearsome sandsquid. Ride camels through the dunes. Drink whisky until you’ve forgotten your own name.”
Be sure to keep digging, though, because there are a ton of great projects out there and anyone can find something to love.
Before I leave, though, I have one last project to plug. The MFA-heart in me started thumping when I saw this and I really want it to fully fund so that I can sit down and enjoy reading it one day in the future.
NERVES is a TTRPG magazine that will be full of critical writing pieces—articles, essays, editorials, and more. It will feature underrepresented voices in the industry and it’s going to study roleplaying and tabletop gaming as art.
The magazine will not focus on anything like mechanics or strategy guides, but instead probe and discuss the hobby with the seriousness of other mediums like film, television, or literature.
So be sure to go check out the project link above. I’m sure it will be an insightful and absorbing read from the diverse panel of writers that will feature in the magazine.
Other than that, start looking to find the RPG experience that works for you!
What RPGs in Zine Quest have you backed? Any that you’re interested in? Let me know in the comments!