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A one-page dungeon or business card RPG can be a short version with just the right length to see if your layout is too weird.same entry game jam– A timed game design competition usually hosted on itch.io, an indie game marketplace. If you still design a less accessible rulebook after this trial run, don’t worry: you can always publish another version.
The case for multiple rule books
The two-edition version has several names: Seger refers to it as a print friendly/art book file. TTRPG accessibility consultant Yubi describes them as simplistic/stylized. Regardless of the name, releasing experimental and more accessible versions gives designers and players the best of both worlds. It also sets a precedent for republishing accessible text, which can motivate publishers to look back on rule books from years ago and do better post-launch (similar to how video games are tinkered for accessibility, balance, and community feedback). Ashley Warren, principal of Storytelling Collective, an online program teaching TTRPG design through the RPG Writer Workshop, has seen the industry turn around. For the best examples of accessible design, as well as trendsetting designers, she recommends using the online indie creator as the North Star.
“I really think a lot of the best accessibility work happens in the indie publishing community, with a lot of TTRPG creators publishing accessibility modules to itch.io,” Warren said. “Those are the factors that are affecting changes across the industry. Since the start of 2018, at least 6,000 people have taken the RPG Writer Workshop’s accessibility classes, and their Discord channels are full of designers checking each other’s accessibility designs. Things like “How will screen readers handle Roman numerals?” ” or “Can we swap the alt text for our battle map and see if we can recreate it from the description? ” Add GIFs and words of encouragement to the chat.
When I sat down to envision my TTRPG rulebook, I knew I wanted a magazine-like rough PDF filled with distorted text, decorative borders, and cartoons that had entered the public domain in the 1950s. The plans are overwhelming, let alone read as a player. But equally overwhelming are my questions about accessibility: Are my design attempts enough? Are there two releases that let players check either high-profile magazines or humble listings? Am I thinking about every accessibility issue? Thankfully, the indie accessibility scene is a lot more forgiving than I thought.
“There will never be one document that will be accessible to all. It can’t be. You can never plan for every accessibility issue — accessibility issues we don’t think about today will be in six months, a year, Five, 10 years later it becomes very important,” Yubi explained – suggesting a move to new technology, even long-term symptoms of COVID, such as memory and attention problems. “Just being able to offer options, offer options, I think is really powerful.”
Like many of the consultants and pundits I interviewed, Yubi reiterated “don’t let perfect get in the way of beauty” and acknowledged that game designers were doing their best at launch. As TTRPG designers forge closer ties, often through online indie worlds, they can hold each other to a higher standard.I thought my magazine color scheme was perfect until a designer contacted me A web accessibility tool Check the text contrast on the background color and its readability. I went back to the drawing board, but I learned something along the way. More accessibility resources like this are released each year, and more consultants are taking the call to ensure the game reaches the widest possible audience.
Sometimes the required accessibility fixes can surprise everyone involved. Part of Joe DeSimo’s job at game-based consulting firm The Academy of Games is hosting TTRPG events, such as corporate team building events. In the spring of 2020, he ran a team-building Dungeons & Dragons event that got everyone on the adventure team excited for every adventure—except one player. DeSimo could see she wanted to be interested, but “the materials, the playstyle, even the traditional character sheets just didn’t work for them,” he said. He suspects it’s because D&D has a 300-page rule book, and the kind of people who want to know the whole book — even if their adventures only apply to a few pages.So instead of playing D&D, DeSimo started having a solo session with her, they tried honey robbery, a TTRPG about being a bear and stealing.
“She looked at the PDF and said ‘I can do it,'” DeSimo said. “It was day and night.” She began to play, visibly more comfortable now, and soon returned to the core lessons. For this new player, she’s not concerned with the graphic design of the rule book, but the scale of information looming in the book. TTRPG’s reach can expand as more empathetic game gurus and designers take notice of issues like hers and address them with tabbed PDFs, easy-to-read tables, and welcome text and art to millions of new players.
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