Last fall, I released a game called Voidlight, and one thing that has been very cool is seeing how well it has been received by the community. The game has been viewed almost 10,000 times, and there are even members of the community currently working on VTT tooling to support it.
It’s funny, because when I worked on Voidlight, I got really passionate really fast; the game transformed from a one-page RPG to two pages, then to about 80 pages of rules, guidelines, a bestiary of 36 creatures, and a bunch of rolling tables 😅
But one thing has always bothered me a bit every time I’ve made and released a new TTRPG: not everyone can afford it, and I like my games being accessible.
At the same time, I think there is real value in finished products. If a creator spends a lot of time making a game, paying for fonts, art, layout, editing, and everything else, and publishes that finished product, it’s important to value that work. I don’t want to diminish other people’s work by making a big game I’ve worked on free for everyone, even though I want the game to be accessible to as many people as possible.
Which is also why I release so many of my games under open licenses, but in the case of Voidlight that wasn’t enough. I wanted it to be even more accessible.
And I I think I’ve found a pretty good middle ground: keep the fully laid out game as a paid, premium product that people can buy, and release a free web-based version of the game, which I’m calling Voidlight Terminal Edition.
It’s has the exact same content as the PDF, but instead of being laid out inside a PDF, it’s an interactive web page you can access on my website.
I also embedded it on itch.io for those who prefer to view it there. It includes the same rules, all the setting details and lore, the guidelines, the example of play, the solo directives, all the default backgrounds, the 36 creatures, and the reference sheets. Everything is the same!
Where it gets interesting is that, since this is posted on a website and I’m a web software engineer, I got to have a little bit of fun. All the rolling tables are interactive: click on one and it will roll and give you a random result. The creatures in the bestiary use a custom component that lets you download an image version of a creature, and there’s a little pen icon you can click to customize an existing creature, or make your own and publish it freely on the web for others to use.
Everything in the Terminal Edition is free, and I’m super happy with how it came out. I hope you like the game, and if you want to support Voidlight and my work, please consider buying the PDF. I’m super proud of this game, and I’m beyond happy that it can now be even more accessible.
► Read the free terminal edition at https://farirpgs.com/voidlight/terminal-edition/welcome/
► Buy the PDF at https://farirpgs.com/voidlight/
Any chance of a print of demand version? Lulu or DTRPG?
How cool is this? Defo gonna have a look on that 🙌