Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Tabletop Arts Fund

@tabletopartsfund.org

1.1K followers 23 following 180 posts

Celebrating outstanding independent TTRPG and actual play creators through professional development, networking opportunities, and charitable grants. Learn more at https://www.tabletopartsfund.org. Reach out via email at [email protected].

www.tabletopartsfund.org.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · 8d

Previous winners have received more than 100 nominations and three dozen awards at festivals on four continents. Now it's your turn! The Tabletop Arts Fund is proud to announce our 2026 Actual Play Grants.

📅 Submissions close October 31, 2025.
👉 Apply now: apply.tabletoparts.fund/ActualPlay2026

2 100 130

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · 6d

Love to see our grant winners pulling in the nominations! Good luck to everyone!

NZ Web Fest @nzwebfest.co.nz · 6d

All this month, we’ll be pumping out posts to celebrate our awards finalists. First out of the traps … the nominees for Best Host in our two Actual Play/TTRPG Podcast categories.
Good luck to all of them!
See all our nominees at nzwebfest.co.nz/finalists-2025
😁🤞💡🤞😁

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · 8d

2 100 130

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jul 1

TONIGHT! 🕯️😱

Join us for a chilling one-shot of "The Worst Days" where our incredible cast will form meaningful friendships fast…and fall apart faster. All in support of the Tabletop Arts Fund! 🎲🩸

🕕 6p PDT | 🕗 8p CDT | 🕘 9p EDT
📺 twitch.tv/TABLETOP_AF

12 21

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 16

All of it well deserved! Congratulations!

1 1

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

Ah! A very happy birthday to you! Glad we could help celebrate!

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

Don't stop here! Swing by our feed to learn more about each of this year's selections, the designers, and select commentary from our judges on what makes these games special.

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

The 2025 Tabletop Arts Fund TTRPG Grant Winners!

We Wander Through Radiant Lights - @percypropa.bsky.social
Source of Dreams - Sekayi Edwards
Runecycle - @hiskih.fi
Legend of the Hidden Folk - @lucienneimpala.bsky.social
Why We Fight - @laurieblake.bsky.social

#TTRPG #IndieTTRPG #TTRPGCommunity

A promotional banner for the 2025 Tabletop Arts Fund TTRPG Grant Recipients. The title reads "2025 Tabletop Arts Fund TTRPG Grant Recipients" in bold blue text on a parchment-textured background. Below the title are five featured games, each with its name and cover art:

1. *We Wander Beneath Radiant Lights* – Black and white art of a figure walking down a stark alley under a full moon.
2. *Source of Dreams* – A photo of a tabletop playtest setup, including hex tiles, cards, and a clipboard.
3. *Runecycle* – Stylized art featuring a minimalist monolith in a desert, overlaid with concentric rune circles.
4. *Legend of the Hidden Folk* – A monochrome illustration of a dense forest and mountain landscape with hand-drawn text.
5. *Why We Fight* – Comic-style art of a determined woman drawing a bow, with helicopters and a cityscape in the background.

Each game title is displayed in stylized font above its corresponding artwork.

1 11

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

Find more about Laurie and their work here:
www.sdrgames.studio

Stop, Drop & Roll!

The website and online store of Stop, Drop & Roll.

www.sdrgames.studio

1 4

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

"The tone balances sincerity and joy in a way I found compelling, and the design nudges players to bring vulnerability to the table without demanding trauma as spectacle. It does more with emotional stakes than some prestige games do with 300 pages of rules.”

1 5

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

"The Situation Builder is a narrative scaffolding tool of real quality—it offers enough structure to resist floundering, while being flexible enough to support emergent stories. I think this could work exceptionally well in mixed-media or asynchronous play."

1 4

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

Comments From Our Judges:
"This is the kind of debut game I wish I had made: unflinching but hopeful, clear in voice, and not trying to please everyone. The ‘Personality and Hardship’ discoveries are exactly the kind of low-prep, high-payoff mechanics I love."

1 2 4

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

Why we fight by @laurieblake.bsky.social is a game about resistance, memory, and radical hope. You play partisans fighting fascism—not with brute force alone, but through solidarity, sacrifice, and care. Advance not by violence, but by building bonds strong enough to carry a revolution.

Promotional graphic for Why We Fight, a tabletop RPG by Laurie Blake of Stop, Drop and Roll Games. The background features a parchment texture with bold navy and red framing. The title appears at the top in all-caps navy text, with the creator’s name and studio listed below.

Two images are featured side by side:

On the left: the cover art for Why We Fight. It shows a determined woman with braided hair drawing a bow against a backdrop of city skyline and helicopters. Her stance is focused and fierce, evoking resistance and survival. The title is rendered in a distressed white font.

On the right: a photo of three smiling individuals standing in front of a booth for “Pugs in Mugs.” One has bright blue hair, one has long red hair, and one is bald with a goatee. All three wear lanyards and appear to be at a convention, radiating joy and camaraderie.

1 4 12

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

Find more of Lucienne and their work at:
lucienneimpala.itch.io

Lucienne Impala

lucienneimpala.itch.io

2 4

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

"Let’s be honest: most ‘play yourself’ games either collapse under their own sincerity or drift into shallow novelty. This one doesn’t. It earns the conceit by backing it with real narrative and mechanical stakes. Asking "When do you stop being human, and does it matter?" is quietly haunting."

1 1 6

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

"I'm impressed by how this game understands tone at a granular level. It allows crazy goblin fun and profound tenderness to coexist without breaking immersion. That tonal elasticity is an underappreciated skill, and I think this game nails it."

1 1 2

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

Comments From Our Judges:
"The act of transmuting personal memories into in-world magic—and having that come at a cost—is both thematically resonant and mechanically consequential. It's a rare thing for a game to attempt emotional fluency without ever becoming clinical or preachy."

1 1 3

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

Legend of the Hidden Folk by @lucienneimpala.bsky.social is a rules-lite exploration of a magical fae world -- and themselves. Drawing on the power of oral storytelling, players wield the power of human memory to stop the encroaching Shadow Realm from unraveling the world of the Hidden Folk.

Promotional graphic for Legend of the Hidden Folk, a tabletop RPG by Lucienne Impala. The background features a parchment texture with navy and red trim. The title appears at the top in bold navy text, with the creator’s name below in a lighter blue.

Two images are featured side by side:

On the left: the cover of Legend of the Hidden Folk, a black-and-white line illustration of a dense forest landscape. It shows trees, rocky cliffs, and a waterfall, evoking a sense of Nordic or Appalachian wilderness. The title is written in elegant script across the top of the image.

On the right: a color photo of Lucienne Impala smiling warmly at the camera. She has long auburn hair and wears a striped top. The background includes bookshelves and posters, giving a cozy, creative feel.

1 5 17

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

Find more of Hiski and his work at:
games.hiskih.fi

HiskiH

games.hiskih.fi

1 2

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

"What struck me is how the system design reflects the cosmology. The death mechanic is dramaturgically powerful, turning reincarnation into something personal, mythic, and mechanical all at once. It's one of the rare games where the death rules feel emotional."

1 1

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

"The structure gives GMs room to breathe and players license to be poetic, without losing coherence. There's something profoundly hopeful about its vision of death, magic, and memory . . . and that feels vital right now."

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

Comments From Our Judges:
"Unlike many trad-fantasy heartbreakers, it actually makes magic feel magical—loose where it should be, tight where it counts. It models what modern heroic fantasy can look like when it trusts its players to build meaning, not just character builds."

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

Runecycle by @hiskih.fi blends OSR minimalism with modern narrative design, casting the player as the wielder of a Rune. This fragment of creation can defy fate -- use it to explore Monumnents in search of a way to break the cycle in this fast, melancholic journey inspired by GRIS and Neva.

Promotional graphic for Runecycle, a tabletop RPG by Hiski Huovila. The background is parchment-textured with red and navy borders. The game title appears at the top in bold navy text, with the creator’s name beneath it.

Two images are shown side by side:

On the left: the Runecycle cover art. A surreal, minimalist landscape features tall, stone-like monoliths set in a desert beneath a pale sun or moon. Concentric runic circles overlay the structure, with the title RUNECYCLE centered across them. A tiny figure stands in the foreground, emphasizing the scale and mystery of the setting.

On the right: a close-up photo of Hiski Huovila wearing a khaki hat labeled “Designer.” Colorful sticky notes are taped to the top, with one reading “GAME,” forming a playful DIY crown. Only the person’s eyes and the top of their face are visible.

1 3 8

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

You can find more of Sekayi and his work at:
www.hiddenquesttherapy.com
www.instagram.com/hiddenquestt...

HOME | Hidden Quest Therapy

Therapy for geeks & gamers, creatives & artists, and spiritual seekers living in California

www.hiddenquesttherapy.com

1 4

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

"There’s immense potential her!It feels less like a ‘story game’ in the traditional sense and more like an interactive life practice. Wildly refreshing! I can't wait to see more!"

1 3

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

"What stands out is how it honors the whole person. In most games, ‘relationships’ or ‘balance’ are flavor. Here, they’re mechanics. That re-centers the conversation: what if a game wasn’t about becoming more powerful, but more whole?"

1 3

Tabletop Arts Fund @tabletopartsfund.org · Jun 15

Comments From Our Judges:
"The designer has a clearly articulated philosophy of play that challenges players to bring intention, not just imagination. I see deep potential here, well outside traditional TTRPG audiences."

1 3