TripTech³

While the theme of this Jam must be used in your entry, the Focus is an added parameter that you can choose to engage with or not. For this jam, the focus is "A Sol of our own" because we are offering a chance to place your modules in a solar system that we the community collaborate on. What's the system's name? How many habitable planets are there? What factions move freely while others lurk in the shadows...

Join us in the "Sol of our own" thread on our discord channel and put your mark amongst the stars!

NOTE: please read this jam page
carefully as things change from jam to jam!

RULES

DURATION & JUDGING

This Jam will run for 3 weeks, from Saturday April 18th to Saturday May 9th, and then will be judged over the following week by those of us in the Jam as well as a panel of Judges (made of winners from the previous Jam) who will award Seals of Excellence to a handful of modules.

By signing up to be a part of this jam, in addition to your submission, you are committing to reading and reviewing a minimum of 5 other submissions (the minimum requirement to get past the rating queue at which point you can rate whatever interests you the most!).

Peer Judging will be based on the following criteria:

ART — How good is the art/graphic design?
WRITING — How does this read? does it emanate with horror, humor, drama...?
GAME DESIGN — How good is the game balance or the concepts there in? are there any interesting or inspiring mechanisms?
THEME — How well is the theme used? is it used in a particularly interesting way?
LAYOUT — How well does the module get across information? How clear is everything?
UTILITY — Does this module intrigue you enough to engage with it? Or does it feel like it would be very pick-up-and-play?
FAVORABILITY — How much do you personally like the submission?

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

All entries must be submitted as a digital Tri-Fold (or Bifold) PDF that is a single page (front and back) and US Letter or A4 in Size. It is highly recommended to format to US letter to match TKG's modules; If however, you choose A4 instead, please mark it as such on your itch page. While supplemental material is allowed; the module must be completely playable/useable on its own.

Your submission MUST be marked as "Restricted" (under Visibility & Access as you create your itch page) and kept from the public until after the judging is completed AND you have received full approval from TKG. This will allow you to submit to the jam by the deadline and then reach out to TKG for approval, as it keeps the module out of actual publication until the jam has finished and you have successfully gained TKG approval (read more in Approval & Licensing below). As each submission is restricted it will require a password to be viewed. After you have submitted your entry to the jam you must come to the Lionhearth Discordand post your password in the #Passwords thread. For ease of those searching, please format your post as follows: ENTRY NAME by LEAD DESIGNER: PASSWORD

During the Jam you may list your game as Free or open to Donations. Submitters and judges who download from the submissions tab instead of the individual pages will be able to download as if it is free. No participant should feel inclined to donate simply to be a part of the Judging process.

APPROVAL & LICENSING

All entries must be either submitted to TKG for approval or written to be completely system agnostic. The process of approval can take a little time to clear, and as stated earlier, in an effort to make the end of the Jam run smoothly, all submissions must be Restricted for the duration of the Jam and Judging (even if you have received TKG Approval) and only published after the Jam provided they have TKG Approval (or are system agnostic). Getting TKG Approval might necessitate text or layout changes, all of which must be made before publishing your module after the Jam's Judging has been completed.

VALID ENTRY TYPES

ADVENTURES — Everything a Warden needs to run a solid One Shot (or Two Shot if your players are anything like mine!)
TOOLSETS — New Mechanisms or Rulesets that can be added to a Warden's arsenal for a specific event or special action.
SETTING GUIDES — Fantastic lands, Horrific Creatures, Mind Breaking Realities... Give us a Vibe and let us run with it!

ASSETS

All assets used must be either made by you, legally obtained/licensed, or in the public domaine/Royalty Free; and must be properly credited on both the Submission Page and the Submission itself.

AI

The point of this Jam is to foster growth as an artist. Absolutely no use of AI is permitted in any capacity (including stock images that have been created or altered by AI) If there is an aspect of development you are less confident in find a collaborator who can help you!

(also its worth noting that Mothership RPG will not approve your module if it has AI generated content and will ban you from submitting future projects if you are found to have done so... So just don't use AI!)

TEAMS

You may make a submission Solo or in Teams, and teams are not limited in the number of people involved so long as they are all credited. When a team submits an entry, it does so under a single itch page. The individual who submits the entry is considered the "lead designer" for the sake of future jam judging (the Judges of each Jam are selected from the top scoring modules of the previous jam).

CONTENT WARNINGS

On your itch.io submission page please list any relevant Content Warnings for what the submission will contain. While Mothership is a Horror RPG and some NSFW material may be allowed/necessary, bigotry; including but not limited to discrimination or hate speech based on race, gender, sexuality, religion, disability, or any other attacks on one’s personhood, will not be tolerated.

RESOURCES

To find fellow collaborators, ask for advice, or promote your post Jam version of your submission Join the LIONHEARTH DISCORD (Host of the TripTech Game Jam). Additionally you can talk all things Mothership on the MOTHERSHIP DISCORD or post on the r/MothershipRPG Reddit.

First time writing a Tri-fold? HERE is an article I wrote breaking down everything I learned while analyzing some other great Tri-folds! Additionally if you would like this article and would like to support me as I continue to run these Jams, you can buy my Pamphlet THE BREAKDOWN which contains the article with some added thoughts on a more standardized approach to location layout, an "Adventure Writing Checklist", as well as a US Letter Tri-Fold Template for Affinity Publisher. Need some recommendations on good tri-folds to read? HERE is a 6 part article on the Alexandrian that suggests several.

Or maybe you'd like some "Free" tri-folds to read to get in the right headspace? there was a great thread on reddit all about free zines (many of which are Tri-folds, most are free or have a "Community Copy" available for free.) you can find it HERE. Or you can check out previous TripTech Game Jams (Jam 1 & Jam 2) as some entries are still listed as free!

Similarly, you can download my previous Jam entries Children of Eden, Unfathomable, and Neon Dream Girl for $3 but there are community copies available if you can’t afford it. Additionally for anyone who buys a module from me and tips an additional $1 I will add a community copy to the shared pool so that others can partake in the adventure based on your generosity!

Need assets? there are many places where you can find Royalty Free Assets - Attribution (typically) Required.
Pexels (Royalty Free Stock Images)
Pixabay (Royalty Free Stock Images)
Game-Icons (Minimalist Game Icons)
Made by Humans- A Minimalist Asset Pack (Pay what you want) to mark your project as AI Free (not required).
And more resources and assets can be found on the Lionhearth Discord!

Additionally, some have voiced an interest in having a shared Game Jam logo to place on their module to show it was made as part of this Jam. Either version below is usable and may be re-colored as needed. (SVG's can be sent on request. Find me on Discord or Reddit) Note: this is not a requirement of the jam, just a "Badge of honor" that you participated if you so desire!

Credits:

Logo - Graham T Richardson
Arcade (Font) - Jakob Fischer
CC Ultimatum (Font) - John Roshell

Photobashed Background Image
Minimalist Solar System Generator by Robotic Topologist
Star Chart by u/remuladgryta
Contour Map by u/grelfdotnet

Icons Courtesy of Game-Icons.Net
Lorc, Delapouite, and Sbed