Update: the next jam is the 2025 Sci-Fi Derelict Jam.  

Want to make cool sci-fi one-shot modules for your favorite tabletop RPG? You’re in the right place. 

This jam is for making sci-fi modules for tabletop roleplaying games (not video games) based on a common theme.

Check out all the previous years' entries in this collection.

This year’s theme: “adaptation”

ad-ap-ta-tion, noun.

1: adjustment to environmental conditions.

EX: growing insulating fur to survive in colder climates.

2: a composition rewritten into a new form.

EX: Treasure Planet (a sci-fi animated adaptation of the book Treasure Island) or Outland (a sci-fi adaptation of the western High Noon).

The Rules

1. Write a sci-fi one-shot adventure module (not just a new ruleset - save that for the One Page RPG Jam).
   1. Can be system-agnostic or for a specific RPG.
   2. If you do include a stand-alone ruleset, keep it to a single one-sided page. Lasers and Feelings, Cthulhu Dark, or any of the One Page RPG Jam entries are good candidates for condensed one-page rules to use.
2. Write the submission during the jam. No pre-existing one-shots.
3. The submission must use  this year's theme of "adaptation."
4. No AI text or images.
5. No bigoted submissions.

You are free to submit as many adventures as you want and charge whatever you want for them, as long as they each follow the above rules.

Hard Mode

Looking for an extra challenge? Here are some additional rules:

• Limit the submission to a single sheet (two A4/letter pages).
• Use any of the secondary themes:
  • Deep under the ice...
  • The last line of defense.
  • Are You Smarter Than A Megacorp Executive?
  • System failure aboard a space station.
  • This Drone War is Fucked, Man.
• No images or diagrams, only text (ASCII art is allowed).
• Make it system-agnostic.

Does [X] count as sci-fi?

Probably.  Sci-fi is incredibly broad and diverse, and soft sci-fi shares a very thin border with fantasy (via Space Fantasy and Science Fantasy). We trust your judgement. Just remember to put the "science" in your sci-fi one-shot.

Community

This jam is sponsored by the Sci-Fi RPG Collective, a Discord server dedicated to being a welcoming safe space to discuss, play, and make cool stuff for sci-fi TTRPGs. If you want to chat about the jam or sci-fi RPGs in general, join the server here: https://discord.gg/yxzfhaPf34

Previous Year's Entries

If you're looking for inspiration, check out entries from 2024, 2023, or 2022. Or browse all the entries in this collection.

Useful Resources

• Our community thread with resources. What other adventure writers found useful.
• Itch Game Page Image Guide & Template by Star West - Helps you create itch.io project pages and properly-sized images for them.
• Sci-fi character portraits project by Ashen Victor - 100 free, Creative Commons-NonCommercial portraits. Ashen has a second and third collection (paid) with additional portraits.
• NASA Images - The US's National Aeronautics and Space Association has a bunch of images in the public domain. Double-check with their guidelines before using any of their images.
• OpenGameArt.org - massive repository of artwork with a variety of licenses.
• TTRPG Pamphlet Template by Hugh Lashbrooke - Free templates in Google Docs, Canva, and Microsoft Word.
• WTF Pamphlet RPG Template by Wizardthieffighter. Free pamphlet template for Affinity Publisher (the pay-once alternative to Adobe InDesign).
• Mothership Third Party Publishing Guide - If you want your submission to be Mothership-compatible, you need to fill this out and get approval. It usually takes a week, but can take longer.

Icon/banner credit: Spiral Galaxy M106, NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), and R. Gendler (for the Hubble Heritage Team); Acknowledgment: J. GaBany