The One-Page RPG Jam Returns!

The biggest TTRPG jam on Itch is back for 2024

I’m very excited to announce that the One-Page RPG Jam is coming back for its fifth year running this month. It’s been amazing watching the jam grow from it’s first, impromptu iteration, to being the biggest tabletop RPG game jam. Not only has the jam been growing, but the community around it has grown too, going from 440 participants in 2020 to over 1300 last year. During the jam it’s always great to see the conversations that pop up in the Discord server, as well as the support it’s received from Reddit.

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This year the jam will run from 22nd July to 25th August, and will follow the same rules as previous years; games must be tabletop roleplaying games that fit onto a single sheet of A4 or US Letter-sized paper. 

Every year questions pop up about both of the elements in the sentence above. While I try to answer those questions as best I can, and update the FAQ where possible, I wanted to take some time to clarify both the rules and philosophy of the jam as I see them.

What Is a TTRPG?

This is a question that could take up its own blog post, or probably even a whole book. For the purposes of this jam, I’ve tried in the past not to be too prescriptive in the definition and let people make up their own mind about what qualifies. A game that is focused on combat with a GM or referee will look and feel wildly different to a collaborative story game, but both of these could fall under the TTRPG umbrella. This is reflected in the wider TTRPG hobby, where games like Pathfinder and Lancer coexist alongside Paranormal Inc., The Quiet Year, and Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast. 

I’ve always felt that the restriction imposed by being a single sheet was enough, without dictating a single vision of what a TTRPG is. The aim of the jam is to give people an opportunity to be creative; I want the constraints of the jam to inspire people, not hinder their experimentation. That said, that very restriction is going to prevent entries wildly out of the scope.

Ultimately, I think it’s a case of ‘you know one when you see one’, or perhaps more accurately, ‘you know it’s not a TTRPG when you see it’. If you’re unsure if your submission is suitable, either at the ideas stage or after you’ve been iterating on it, feel free to pop into the Discord and get some opinions. Then decide if you still want to submit it.

Of course, I can - and do - go through entries and remove ones that clearly don’t belong. Mostly these are video games or comics, TTRPGs that are obviously bigger than a page, or projects published before the jam started.

Does It Have to Be a Single Page?

Ah, a question a bit more concrete to answer. Of course, we wouldn’t be here if it was simple. As per the FAQ, the most important thing to remember is that a group of players should be able to pick up a single page, read it through, then start playing the game. That is, all of the rules to run the game fit on a single side of paper. The size of the paper should be no bigger than A4 or US-Letter, although you can fold the sheet or use a smaller size if you want to. 

You can also include things on the back of the sheet for ancillary content like GM-centric advice or random tables, and extra sheets for a cover page (no rules text) as well as a character sheet or pay aids. If you really want to challenge yourself, you can also include a short module or adventure, although anything substantial is beyond the scope of the jam and should perhaps be its own project. 

Remember though, that nothing on these additional pages should be required to play the game. If the GM cannot run the game without the reverse side, then that content should be on the front. Likewise, character sheets should not have extra player-facing content not found in the main rules, such as special abilities or PbtA-style moves, equipment lists, etc. However, reprinting things from the main rules on character sheets as a reminder is totally okay.

As a real world example, let’s look at the ever-popular Honey Heist. Above you can see Grant Howitt’s original, hand-written, version on the left, and the nicer formatted ‘remaster’ on the right. The original has everything on a single side of A4. Perfect. The remaster splits that same content out across two sheets. The ‘front’ page contains an explanation of what the game is about, character creation, and all the rules needed to play. The ‘back’ page is just for the GM and includes only random tables to help them run the game (and the image of a panda in a crown eating honey; not pictured). The GM could run the game without the back page by inventing those details themself. So both of these version of Honey Heist fit within the rules of the jam.

Here we have two extra pages, a character sheet on the left, and a disguise tracker on the right. The character sheet does include tables and rules text, but they are repeated from the main rules page seen above, so that sheet would also be acceptable. That means the remaster of Honey Heist and its character sheet - a total of three pages - still fits within the ‘one page’ rule.

Compare that character sheet to the disguise tracker on the right. This introduces a new rule not included in the main sheet, as well as new tables for players to roll on. Obviously this means, to play with this sheet, players would need more than just the single page of rules to be able to play. That makes this sheet not appropriate for inclusion in the jam.

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What Now?

I hope that clarifies what sort of projects can be entered into the jam when submissions go live, but please do drop into the Discord and ask if you’re still not sure. The jam page is now live, so you can go and register your interest and be notified when the jam goes live. The jam page also includes the full list of rules, and the Community tab contains the FAQ.

I plan to drop another couple of blog posts about the jam before it ends, so feel free to subscribe and get notified when those go up. When the date of the jam arrives, this year’s optional theme will be revealed and I’ll be looking at the theme in more detail.