Programs

What Programs To Use?

There are a ton of fantastic programs one can use when writing and designing games. Below are what I used to make Liminal Horror.

Markdown

I’ve found myself writing my games using markdown (an easy to use computer language) that can be used with a variety of different programs, and allows you to output in multiple formats (pdf, epub, html). This increases your ability to create dynamic and accessible products down the line.

Using Markdown and Pandoc to Make RPG Documents for Free by Luke Gearing is a fantastic step by step guide on how to write in markdown and then publish the results in multiple formats.
Typora is a super easy to learn writing program that I use regualrly. When paired with pandoc it gives you a lot of built in output options as well. It is what I used to write and publish the Liminal Horror epub (with some minor backend editing in calibre).
Zine Month 2022 Contribution - How to use Markdown and Pandoc to publish zines. is a fantastic guide in how to use markdown (and the pandoc extension) to publish your zines. The end result is a printable booklet ready to be made into a zine (and a format that can easily be exported to epub).
Making an HTML Dungeon by Nate Treme is a great overview of the type of unique projects that are possible with markdown. An HTML dungeon that you can post right onto itch.io!
Spongedown is a wraps of markdown that allows you to integrate interesting diagrams, shapes, graphs, flowcharts, comics into your work.
Svgbob is a diagramming model that lets you create shaped in your markdown files.
mermaid - Markdownish syntax for generating flowcharts, sequence diagrams, class diagrams, gantt charts and git graphs.

A Note About This Website

Launching this site was one of the first things I did after writing Liminal Horror. I used the framework created by Yochai Gal for his Cairn website as the bones to build my own (much like the original system). Long before I bought a domain, or really knew how to do it, I followed how-tos and looked at free resources to figure out how to edit and launch my own. A quick overview of Github/Jekyll Sites:

To do it I made a copy of the Cairn site and edited it to have the Liminal Horror info, but used/referred to Yochai’s build to help guide my work.

Where my github lives: [https://github.com/GoblinArchives/LiminalHorror])(https://github.com/GoblinArchives/LiminalHorror)
Editing Code: I use atom. It has sunset but works super well for editing my markdown pages. I use an old version (1.49.0) - https://atom-editor.cc/
Pushing updates: Initially I had to use a gitbash terminal, but after transitioning to a different computer I found that using github desktop works great for pushing updates. https://github.com/apps/desktop
The website template I use is JusttheDocs.

This is just one method you can use to host a website for your game. There are many out there. Some resources I’ve found also helpful are:

Website-building resources

Tutorials

The Quick ‘n’ Dirty Guide to Making a Website (2022)
neocities - A classic for a reason.
Bear Blog - A free blogging platform that could be adapted to host your ttrpg.
Zonelets - Another free blogging platform that can be used to make your own website.

Articles on why websites matter, now more than ever as a means of archiving work:

Rediscovering the Small Web by Parimal Satyal
Plain old webpages still matter by Felix Plesoianu
Cyber Mauseoleums (Or the Argument Against Deletion) by neonaut
Every site needs a Links Page / Why linking matters by Daniel/Melon

Create your own SRD

Creating your own online SRD is not only a way to present your work (creating a free web based, public facing document that allows for collaboration and growth) but can help structure the writing and end product.

A Step-by-Step Guide to creating a TTRPG SRD by Desolate Drifter @GulluthGultch is a comprehensve guide to creating your very ownn TTRPG SRD (that is also free).

Character Sheets

How to Design TTRPG Sheets with Google Sheets by Momatoes is their guide on how to create a phenomenal and unique character sheet with google sheets.
Slide Deck: Google Sheets for fun, design, and games by Momatoes is the slide deck that was used in the stream and acts as a great reference.

Word Processors/File Organization

Markdown based programs such as typora or ghostwriter are great options. I would highly recommend taking a little bit of time to learn about this option since it can really open up some opportunities at the end of your project.
Google Drive for file organization & management. Jalopy Design: Itchfunding & Gdocs by David Schirduan (Technical Grimoire) goes into detail about how one can leverage google docs to create a finished ttrpg. It presents what went well using gdocs, and what the drawbacks were.
Google Docs for writing the base text of Limnial Horror. This also allowed me to share the document and recieve notes/feedback.

Layout

Affinity Publisher. This is an affordable, single purchase program.
Canva is a free website that really scaffolds small scale design in a way that allows anyone to create professional products. It is used a ton in teaching and other fields. A great overview by Jeeyon Shim, on how to use it in ttrpg spaces, can be found here
Top 15 Tutorials. Affinity has a bunch of helpful tutorials to lower the learning curve and this had some good ones included.
Tips for adding interactivity to your digital publications

Image Editing & Creation

Affinity Phto and Designer. This is an affordable, single purchase program.
Jalopy Design: Cleaning up Public Domain Art by David Schirduan (Technical Grimoire) does another fantastic entry that goes through how to edit and leverage Public Domain Art in your works.
Noise Dystopia Machine by Chaoclypse is a collection of Photoshop actions that lets you turn existing images into xerox’d, messed up, straight up fucked black and white copies with just a click or two!
GIMP is a free, open source image editor. While I do own Affinity Designer and Photo, I still primarily use this to edit the images I used in Liminal Horror.
PIXLR X Is a free browser based photo editor. Described as an easy-to-use photo editor (with help of templates)
PIXLR E Is a free browser based, powerful photo editor. Described as an advanced editor for pros.
Dither Me This is a tool you can use to dither images.
Inkscape is a free vector graphic program.
Krita is a free open source painting program.

Here is a list of alternatives to Adobe programs created by xdaniel Art (they require a regular subscription that is predatory and if you don’t pay you often get hit with massive hidden fees and lose access to things you have made/bought)

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