Welcome to the second Dice Exploder game jam!

What is Dice Exploder? Each week, Sam Dunnewold and a rotating cohost break down one tabletop RPG mechanic as deep as they possibly can.

For the duration of the fourth season, we're running a game jam inspired by the podcast's premise. You can join the DE Discord , where there's a channel for this game jam, to discuss your submission with other participants and fans of the show.

This jam's theme is Pregenerated Characters.

We aren't talking pregens as in the kind of character you're handed at a convention table for a trad game, or something out of a beginner's box. We're talking about specificity: games that have a stable of characters for players to pick up because the links between the characters are essential to the game, or maybe the game doesn't care who these people are at all and wants to eschew character creation in the traditional sense, instead giving players a quick menu of characters to choose from.

Because this jam is about pregens, we ask that you not include character creation in the traditional sense! It's okay if players are asked to customize their characters a little, but they shouldn't be making them from scratch.

Want to write a self-enclosed module? Go for it. A full fantasy heartbreaker? Also fine. A one-shot or solo play game? Sounds great! Are you an artist who wants to just do portraits? Awesome! Whatever you choose, there's really only one major requirement: Your submission must use pregenerated characters. We've included a list of suggested names as a jumping off point:

Sam Wunnedold
Agatha Hornby
Bahiro
F. Campbell
Wen Jiabao
Bablu Rakesh
Raimon Adorado
Gil Merenthi
William Rusk
Satusaki Saki
Hex
Law Swee Keat
Emberly Woe
Onopresio Oladapo
Mimosa
Dahlia Green
Esteban Dido
B. T. Vice
Slater von Thurman
Tampopo Li
Manu Prato Perez

Thanks to Harker, Shaina, Robyn, the Nairaland forums, and Imp for help filling out this name list.

Not looking to design a game? Take a stab at creating an art pack of these characters! Interpret them as you will. We ask that you let folks participating in the jam use that art in their games.

Q: Do I have to spell these names just like this?
A: No.

Q: Can I only make pregens using these names?
A: No, you can use whatever other names for pregens you like!

Q: What's the point of everyone using the same name list?
A: To see how these names can evolve into different characters in the hands of different designers.

Take these as examples of the possibilities:

Seco Creek Vigilance Committee by Keith Stetson

You play one of the five members of the posse that has captured the three outlaws. You decide if you want to do what the law says, what the people want, or what your gut thinks is right. You make choices and deal with their consequences. Seco Creek was designed to emphasize these choices. We’re not concerned with if a character can do something, but rather with what they’re willing to endure in order to see it done.

Eat the Reich by Rowan, Rook, and Decard

This over-the-top, ultraviolent game is designed to be played from beginning to end in one to three sessions of carnage, blood magic, meaningful flashbacks and hundreds upon hundreds of extremely dead fascists. It tells one story, it tells it loud, and it tells it brilliantly.

Lady Blackbird by John Harper

Lady Blackbird is on the run from an arranged marriage to Count Carlowe. She hired a smuggler skyship, The Owl, to take her from her palace on the Imperial world of Ilysium to the far reaches of the Remnants, so she could be with her once secret lover: the pirate king Uriah Flint.

Our Traveling Home by Ash Kreider

Our Traveling Home is a game about queer romance, found family, and finding healing through belonging, as inspired by the works of Studio Ghibli, and particularly Howl's Moving Castle. During play, you will tell stories about a collection of oddballs and misfits trying to make their new chosen family work in the face of opposition from the Outside World that is trying to tear them apart. But while the stakes are high, this game will always have a happy ending.

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Guidelines and Best Practices

You MUST use pregenerated characters as a primary mechanic or focus of your submission.
This jam is intended for analog (tabletop/pen and paper) games but if you wanna give making a video for it a shot, go for it!
No AI writing or art is allowed in the submissions for this jam.
Credit your inspirations and all artwork appropriately.
When you submit your work, please indicate whether or not you're comfortable with Sam potentially discussing it in an episode of Dice Exploder.
There is no length requirement or limit, but to quote Sam, "I love minimalism and think most games are too big"