This Tech Jam's theme is lifepaths! Traditionally, a lifepath system sketches out a character's history and family tree. How far can we take this concept? How do characters age, and how do generations play out? How do we sketch the personal histories of our people, places, and things?  Stretch the definition of lifepath as far as you want! 

Artists have art packs. Graphic designers have texture packs. Game designers? We have tech packs.

What’s Tech? Tech: a mechanic, a rule, a piece of game. A cool dice mechanic. Pieces of a progression system. Rules for holding hands. 

What’s a Tech Pack? Tech packs are a resource for game designers, made by game designers. The goal of Tech Jam is to establish tech packs as something like an artist's sketchbook, to provide insight into the designer's process, to inspire others, or to make concrete what might just live on Twitter. 

Not every mechanic makes it into a game. Some rules shine in isolation. 

A tech pack must contain one or more pieces of tech and a creative commons license. We suggest you use a CC BY license, which “lets others distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials.” We suggest adding a text file of your tech pack as a downloadable file. 

No matter your medium: lyric, old school, story, board, card, digital, playground, drop your tech pack.

Pricing 

We recommend you sell your tech packs for money, especially if you make the tech available for other designers to use in games. However, if want to provide tech for free, consider a pay-what-you-want option so designers can still tip you for your cool ideas. Pricing is a personal decision and we’re cool with whatever approach you choose to take here!

If you read something you like and decide to make a game that integrates the tech, be sure to come back and tip the creative behind it.

Tagging 

We want to make sure tech packs are searchable on itch.io! Please tag your tech pack with #techpack. We also suggest adding tags from the following categories: what does this need (2d6, tarot cards, custom hex map) and what does this do (social combat, metacurrency, nuanced resolution). Additionally, use whatever tags you feel are most appropriate for your tech. 

More tech jams?  

If the response is positive, I’ll run a monthly jam with themes revolving around particular tools (d4s, cards, sand timers), particular themes (being alone in a space station), or metamechanics (passion, careers). Tech jams will have a separate area for designers to post games made using tech packs. 

Made a game using a piece of tech from a Tech Pack? Rad! If this takes off, we’ll hold jams for games using pieces of tech from tech packs!

Where’d this come from? 

We (Adam Vass and Will Jobst) came up with the Tech Pack jam on the April 6th episode of the Brain Trust podcast. Check it out here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/brain-trust/id1473715893?i=1000515985261

Find Adam on Twitter at @wcgameco and Will at @will_jobst.

Thanks to Kristen Dabney and Taylor Skelton Smith for metadata advice and help with tags.