Thank you for your interest in collaborating on some Science Fantasy backgrounds for Cairn! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me here or on discord as Ded Zeppelin. 

One of the amazing features of Cairn, particularly in the 2nd Edition, is how much of a shared fiction is conveyed through the background tables. Just two rolls do a great job rooting new players in the forest fantasy setting built into the base game. With a set of different backgrounds, players and Wardens can jump into a whole new world.

The goal of this project is to create as many strange, inspiring, and gameable backgrounds as possible. If you have little experience, not to worry! Yochai Gal himself created a great writeup on how to create new backgrounds for free on the Cairn site. I will then pay an artist to illustrate the backgrounds created and format the sheets into a PDF on itch, with each contributor credited.

Media to aid in Inspiration

• Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolf
• Caves of Qud by Freehold Studios
• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Studio Ghibli
  
• The Barsoom Series by Edgar Rice Burrows
• The Edge Chronicles by Paul Steward & Chris Riddell
• The art of Mœbius and Bruce Pennington

Existing RPG Products with ‘Similar Vibes’

• Vaults of Vaarn by Leo Hunt
• The Electrum Archive by Emeil Boven & Ava Islam
• Cloud Empress by watt
• Archon Ruins by Gnarled Monster
• Crystal Frontier by Ratking Productions
• Hill Cantons by Chris Kutalik

Some Example Background Ideas

- Arcology Dweller
- Sellsword
- Astro-Navigator
- Mechanist Priest
- Autamata
- Sky Pirate
- Pit Fighter
- Water Merchant
- Village Heptman
- Merchant Aeronaut
- Librarian-Knight
- Moon Priest

If you would like to work in affinity, I also uploaded a template for use in Affinity, but feel free to submit your jam in whatever file format you like.