Guides hub
Practical guides for RPG zines
Desk notes you can skim before a jam deadline—or hand to a co-editor.
Track page count, credit completeness, and print-file risks like hit points—they decide whether the issue ships.
Jam zero
Agree page budget, license, and credit rules before art starts. Write them down.
Page budgets and pacing the making
Scope to what you can finish. Cap optional spreads that delay the export.
Credit and print notes that stay small
One credit block, one bleed/font checklist, one distro plan—dated for collaborators.
Teaching readers without a lecture
Put procedures in the layout. Hand a one-line how-to-play; skip the manifesto monologue.
Good zine culture comes from shared credit and honest page budgets, not hoarding every PDF template.
For one issue: one constraint from the jam brief, one playable procedure, one honest credit block.
Prefer jam briefs, designer diaries, and encyclopedia craft pages over anonymous “how to get rich on itch” threads.
If a prop or motif fights the fiction, reassign it. Coherent play beats unboxing pressure.
Credit theft is not a vibe. Separate layout critique from pile-ons. Escalate to mods.
Related desks in this neighborhood
OSR and Borg crates are natural neighbors when your staples bind doom or dungeon procedures.