Swan and Raven Studio

Some lessons from an indie TTRPG zine fundraiser I printed an indie TTRPG zine! And raised $3,600 for legal aid with it. Here are some takeaways about running such a project, with an emphas...

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People are much more willing to help you for free if it's for a good cause, so make sure it's clear that it's not for your personal enrichment.

Marketing matters! Tell people what's happening, both online and in the real world. Good graphics matter. If you don't have a good eye for design, find someone who does. Give presentations about your project at events if someone lets you. If it makes sense for you, buy advertising.

Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude.
Highlight people's contributions to the project. Compliment them. Thank people both publicly and privately (if both are possible).

Deadlines matter!
Tell people they matter, then make them matter. No one gets anything done otherwise. Sometimes, people still won't get things done. Still, you have to have those pesky deadlines.

Set a concrete, ambitious but achievable number to work towards.
People are more likely to give and will give higher amounts when there is a concrete goal to reach. How big of a goal should you set? Depends on the structure of your fundraiser.

I printed a TTRPG zine last summer and raised $3,600 for legal aid with it! Looking back, here are some of my takeaways about running such a project, with an emphasis on fundraising and project management:

Someone make me do more drawing in 2026. I never draw

I made a lil design for my online shop and its..... actually so cute

Wow, thanks! Great to know

#rpg #osr #ttrpg #rpgsea #indie #ttrpgs

Weather Worm Adventure I: A review of Deluge at Drizzle Distillery Happy New Year, everyone! As a yearly wrap-up, the Vienna Supergroup put together a Review Round Robin, where we each reviewed a game or adv...

tricks-tales.blogspot.com/2025/12/weat...

I reviewed one of the two Usurper Worm God Causing Flooding adventures I've read as part of the Vienna GM Supergroup's year-end review round robin. @munkao.bsky.social has produced a gorgeous adventure!

Some More Small Gods of the Old Forest This post is for Glogmas ‘25 and is in response to Loch Eil’s post from October 2022 called Small Gods of the Old Forest . Merry Christmas!...

tricks-tales.blogspot.com/2025/12/some...

it's glogmas 25! there are new gods!

#ttrpg #osr #dnd #diyrpg #glog

#osr #gamedesign #nsr #sunshineblogger #ttrpg #ttrpgs

Sunshine Blogger Award I have been very kindly granted the Sunshine Blogger Award by my good pal xaosseed of the excellent  Seed of Worlds  blog. This is an award ...

tricks-tales.blogspot.com/2025/12/suns...

@xaosseed.bsky.social very kindly nominated me for the Sunshine Blogger Award! I have answered his interview questions, and in reply I have nominated @jubalbarca.bsky.social, @mixuppixels.bsky.social, @eeldip.bsky.social, and @sonofsuntzu.bsky.social

#ttrpg #worldbuilding #dnd

Kazar, City of Dreams Collage by me. Kazar (2025) City of Dreams Welcome to Kazar, the westernmost city of the Rumpizh Desert. It's known as the City of Dreams ...

new blog post about a fantasy desert city with dream magic, pilgrimages, and golems!

tricks-tales.blogspot.com/2025/11/kaza...

Seven Part Pact: An Extremely Complicated Game about Extremely Complicated Men This is a session write up and review of the work-in-progress GM-full game Seven Part Pact by Jay Dragon . Jay describes it thusly, " The s...

This is a really great write-up of the Seven Part Pact game I was in earlier this year! @jdragsky.bsky.social's game is complex but so evocative.

"Seven Part Pact: An Extremely Complicated Game about Extremely Complicated Men" by @swanandravenstudio.com

tricks-tales.blogspot.com/2025/11/seve...

Para reportar actividad de la Migra/ ICE: Por favor llama al 704-740-7737 y envíanos fotos, detalles como la hora, fecha, ciudad, estado, y intercesión donde está la migra.

To report ICE activity, please call 794-740-7737 and send photos, details about time, date, city, state, and the intersection where ICE is.

...something greater than ourselves. Never forget that.

Special thank you to the team that made this happen, including Adéla Liskova, Alex Marinkovich-Josey, Meghan Grant, Sage Mackenzie, Tall Bird, Wassily Bartuska, Igor Bodrov, Elizabeth Fortson, Win Augustine, and everyone else. I'm so grateful.

And we did it!! We raised $21,134.55 for legal aid in Virginia, more than double our initial goal. I'm so thrilled. Let this be a reminder that we are not powerless in the face of the horrors of the world. Action *is* possible. We make real impact in the world when we come together and fight for...

Late post because I needed to rest after the fundraiser but I wanted to stop and take a moment to thank everyone for their help on this project. Back in April, I didn't expect just how much of a lift this would be and how much impact it would have. But I'm so grateful for everyone's support.

🌈🎲The HELLO//GOODBYE charity bundle contains 203 games for only $12 and is available on itch for 7 more hours!

🦀Rockpool - a tiny RPG about tiny Rockpool creatures. Will you build yourselves a tower to watch the sea, hunt periwinkle shells, face off against the monstrous power of a shore crab, or learn magic from the grief-tossed Driftwood Hag and the mysterious Watcher in Seaglass? The choice is yours!

🏛️Bandageless by @gwannon.com -  Bandageless is a mini-setting for the Breathless system about Egyptian mummies trying to escape from a museum!

🎭Unnameable Cults of Gog by @dadostostados.bsky.social - a cursed masquerade for Pirate Borg. The characters must discover the True Name of the cults inside the Count's masquerade and call upon their destruction before the night ends!

🪶it is a beautiful day on the marae and you are a baby pūkeko by @takataapui.bsky.social - a solo-journaling game about being small, hopeful, and belonging to something

💬I Don't Speak French, But They Do! by @magikyastudios.bsky.social - in this game, you write up dialogues between you and a puppet. However, there's a tiny detail: your puppet doesn't speak the same language as you.

To close things out on our final day of the bundle, here are some personal picks of my favorite games from the entire bundle. Thank you all so much to all for contributing and supporting these two wonderful nonprofits!