Chicagoland librarians (and NU Tabletop Club) present

Illustration of three kids playing a Tabletop game.

Resources!

A mighty hoard of links and resources that might be helpful in the quest to bring TTRPGs to your library - or level up the existing ttrpg programming!

Resource Links!

An illustration of a tabletop game in progress, with figurines - three heroes confronting a red dragon.

Running Games

Intro Guides

Dungeon Mastering Advice

General Resources, Advice, and Toolkits

Game Tools

Illustration of three kids playing a Tabletop game.

Marketplaces

Game Tools

Worldbuilding

Game Recs

These games range from free downloads to a couple bucks for a PDF to a $25+ book (which could maybe even come out of your collections budget instead of programming budget)!Things in bold are explicitly-kid friendly, everything else is up to your discretion and/or may require some modifications.Some of the games are more mature and best enjoyed with a group of fellow adults (but can still provide some neat insights and experiences that you can apply to any ttrpg)

Lesser-Known Game Systems

  • HeroKids - fantasy RPG specifically designed for ages 4-10

  • Magical Kitties - you're magical kitties, helping humans solve problems!

  • Glitter Hearts - an inclusive Magical Team RPG (Sailor Moon, Power Rangers, etc)

  • Critical Core - designed as an alternative to traditional social skills training programs for autistic people, a great general intro to TTRPGs for anyone

  • Color My Quest - color & cut fantasy roleplaying for kids as young as 4

  • Kids on Bikes - strange tales in small towns à la Stranger Things or IT

  • Coyote and Crow - a science fantasy set in an uncolonized future

  • MonsterHearts - the messy lives of teenage monsters (NOT kid-friendly)

  • Brindlewood Bay - old ladies solving murder mysteries

  • Root - woodland creatures, fighting for freedom & justice

  • Masks: A New Generation - teenage superheroes, fighting crime (and drama)

  • Into the Mother Lands RPG - epic space odyssey (by an all BIPOC team)

  • Casket Land - occult western with incredibly stylish art

  • Fifth Season TTRPG - upcoming TTRPG based on NK Jemison's Broken Earth series

One-Page Games & Other Simple Games

  • Honey Heist - you're bears trying do a heist

  • Crash Pandas - you're a bunch of raccoons trying to drive a single car

  • Lasers and Feelings - Star Trek style space shenanigans

  • Dread - simple horror game with Jenga instead of dice - knock it down and you die (or worse...)

  • Abort, Retry, Fail - you're all malfunctioning subroutines of a killer robot

  • Fiasco - GMless game for tales of small time capers gone disastrously wrong

  • Across the Endless Sea- GMless, inspired by Voyage of the Dawn Treader & Earthsea

5e Adventures for Kids (with minimal modification)

Thanks for coming!

If you came to either/both Dungeon Academy Panel(s) and want to get in touch with any/all of the panelists, contact info can be found below! We're happy to field questions

Izabel Gronsky she/herChildren's Librarian[email protected]
Martha Sullivan she/herAdult and Teen Services Manager[email protected]
Krista Hutley she/herTeen and Adult Librarian[email protected]
Kristin Lansdown she/herLibrarian & Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Accessibility Coordinator[email protected]
Evan Mather he/himTeen Librarian[email protected]
Rae MacCarthy they/themNorthwestern Tabletop Club Co-President[email protected]
Kabeer Kishore he/himNorthwestern Tabletop Club Co-President[email protected]