Hello TIN friends! (Tinners? Tinnies? Let’s not.) I’m Michael, here with the second issue of the London Tabletop Industry Network’s monthly newsletter.
It’s been a good month, with April’s meetup at Hackney Den probably our most attended of the year, and our hosts doing a wonderful job of making us feel welcome! Unfortunately we won’t be back, as the venue is closing down. Bugger. The search for a new home continues.
We’re still just starting with this newsletter, so if you like what you see here, please do subscribe or forward it onto someone else who might be interested. And if you’d like one of your games/shows/whatever to feature in future issues of the newsletter, please do let us know! You can contact us through our socials. Reviews of other creators’ products are especially welcome.
Meetups & Events
The next London Tabletop Industry Networking Meetup is this Thursday 4th April, at the Loading Bar Stoke Newington, from 7pm. Again, this is a first for TIN (I think?), so come join us so you can judge if it works as our new home. Or be part of the curse that closes down another bar. Hopefully the former.
The following meetup is on Thursday 1st June, at Escape Bar Stratford, from 7pm. I’ll be setting up TIN’s stall at the UK Games Expo that night, so we’re just keeping it at our traditional venue for simplicity.
After that, the following meetup is on Thursday 6th July, at a venue TBC. (Currently we’re thinking the Royal Albert pub in New Cross.)
Interactive Soup is back in June - and applications are open for pitches! £200-£250 will be available to support interactive performance projects and makers. So far they’ve helped fund tech for shows and free tickets for tours - if you’re doing anything with interactive performance that could benefit from extra cash, they want to hear from you.
Soups are social, community fundraising events where everyone's ticket money goes into a communal pot; 4-5 people pitch for how to spend the money and everyone present votes where it goes! Applying is a matter of filling out a short, simple form and Soups are a great way to get your ideas in front of people that want to support and help out.
The deadline for submitting your application is 11.59pm on 15th May. Whilst projects/makers don't have to be London-based, anyone pitching does need to be able to do so in-person at the London event. https://forms.gle/HrKwgZ5vV4rQzSc99
This year, we have booked a stand at UK Games Expo, to promote the group and sell our creators’ products. Technically it’s not until next month (2nd-4th June), but consider this a reminder to think about sorting out accommodation or tickets.
Next month’s newsletter will be a little different, as it will preview some of the games and other products we’ll be selling at the con. Hopefully we’ll get a lot of new sign-ups to the newsletter from the stand!
If you’re going to the UK’s biggest tabletop gaming convention, please do stop by and say hi.
New & Recent Releases
The zine edition of Molotov College by W.H. Arthur is now live! Molotov College is a TTRPG of super-powered drama, using the Belonging Outside Belonging system. Inspired by superhero media like The Umbrella Academy, X-Men and Titans, you play as the alumni of a superhero school. The heroes have to deal with villains, ghosts, the authorities and the impending apocalypse, while having to confront their past trauma and overcome their differences. Right now it’s available at a steep discount as part of the Arthur quit his job sale!
The digital version of Salvage Union from Leyline Press is now complete, and folks who pre-order a physical version of the game receive a PDF copy immediately. Salvage Union is a post-apocalyptic Mech TTRPG with easy to learn mechanics, powered by the Quest RPG. If you’re on the fence, start by checking out the beta Quickstart, which you can download for free.
Bundles, Crowdfunding, & Subscriptions
What Am I Rolling? is a twice-monthly RPG one-shot podcast, hosted by gamemaster, Fiona. Every month, Fiona takes a brand new group of players and runs them through a one-shot adventure, testing out a different RPG game style or system. In the most recent episodes, guest GM and Gauntlet superstar Jason Cordova ran a session of his new game, The Between, which is definitely worth a listen. Be sure to check out their sister podcast The DM’s Book Club as well!
…and if you want to here more from the folks who played The Between in the episodes mentioned above, Nat, Strat and Helen are regulars at Merely Roleplayers, an improvised ensemble audiodrama. They tell a lot of different stories, with one thing in common: they’re always chasing maximum drama. Start with Act One, Any Act One, to catch up with a 5-Act miniseries of your choice.
Guest Review
This month’s guest review is from Kat of Never Mind the Dice Rolls, of a product that featured in last month’s newsletter - Ash Nocktem's Travelling Companions.
Idea decks of cards are not a new concept in TTRPGs but they are great if you want inspiration in a quick way or if you want help in creating a campaign and need characters to help populate your storylines. Which is why I jumped at the chance to try out and review this deck. Good quality inspiration decks like this are hard to find, often they can be just very rough guides but this one differs and jumps its way up to the top tier. This deck is perfect for any fantasy game as is, and if you are playing something else then you can easily take the bones of each and weave them to fit your game no matter the genre.
You can find the full review of Mikhail’s deck in Never Mind the Dice Rolls issue #20.