lifeseries-ttrpg

[lifeseries-ttrpg]

is a more cartoonish (like, very cartoonish) style okay for character artists? it’s very stylised and usually ttrpgs are very detailed in their designs

another thing, what skill level are you expecting for art - would beginner/newer artists be accepted along with more experienced people?

thanks! <3

We're looking for a variety of artstyles for the project - so having a cartoony artstyle doesn't mean you don't have a chance to get in. Looking through our current applications, we've got a mix of cartoonish, stylized and semi realistic artstyles, and they all look great ❤️

As for the skill level - it's hard to guess art based just on approximate level, without any examples. We'd love to see as many options as possible, and one's skill level is not the most important factor in judging who gets into the project. We want to get a feel of your artstyle and your possible role on the team. That being said, we can imagine taking a few more beginner artists into the project, alongside some more experienced one, so that we can all work and learn from each other ^^

[lifeseries-ttrpg]

What are you looking for with the item art portfolio? Should it be all Minecraft stuff or more specifically from the life series?

You're free to include pretty much any kind of art in your portfolio - but if you have any kind of object study, and especially drawings of Minecraft objects, we'd love to see them. We mostly just want to get a feeling of your artstyle, so any art that relates to a specific role is a big bonus :3

[lifeseries-ttrpg]

how long should art portfolios be?

3-5 artwork of yours is all you need. You won't be disqualified if you include more, of course, but it makes it easier for us, mods, to look through all of your portfolios.

Also, another reminder to everyone to remember grant us access to your portfolios! Like I said previously, people will inaccessible portfolios before the end of the application period will have to be disqualified, as we will not be able to look at your work.

[lifeseries-ttrpg]

in terms of writer applications, could we include things like our own ttrpg character backstories and homebrew items in our portfolio?

Absolutely! We'd love to see your TTRPG work, as well as any Life series work (ideally, a healthy balance of both, but if you have only work of one of these, that's fine with us too). We've seen a few people already submitting their homebrews and custom scenarios and they're incredibly impressive!

[lifeseries-ttrpg]

Are we allowed to change our portfolio (within the time period given to submit applications) after we've already given you access? Like if I apply tomorrow but do a piece I'm really proud of on the 20th, can I still change my portfolio?

Sure, changing your portfolio is no big deal to us, especially if it's meant to show your art/writing progress and abilities.

The only point we'd like to add is that because each mod will look through the application at their own time, we cannot guarantee that all of us will see both versions of your portfolio. But even with that, we'll do our best to evaluate each portfolio as fairly as possible.

[lifeseries-ttrpg]

I've counted down the days waiting for the applications to open and now that they are I'm so sick that I can't look at a screen for more that a few minutes I am truly cursed

(the second I get better that application is getting filled!!!)

Oh gosh, hope you feel better soon! We'll be waiting for your application! As long as you submit it before the 22nd, you're all good ^^

[lifeseries-ttrpg]

me before apps open: oh i am so ready for this

me when apps open: oh gosh oh frick my portfolio looks so bad i am so worthless no one will ever want me on this project no no no no

Don't worry about that, so far all the portfolios we're received look great! We're looking for a variety of artstyles for the project, so you have a real chance of getting into the project. We love all of your creativity and skill and we're really looking forward to working with as many of you as possible! ❤️

[lifeseries-ttrpg]

24 hours into the contributor application period!

Heya guys, Admin Excel here! Yesterday was a big day for us, with the long awaited opening of out contributor applications. If you haven't had a chance to sign up yet, now's your chance!

In these 24h, we've received 13 applications so far - most of them for primarily artists positions. So, if you're hesitant whether you should join - you definitely should! We need a lot more people to get this project going. We've received some very valuable insight from you, and some ideas we'd love to implement :3

Also, here's an important reminder if you've already applied - make sure that your portfolio folder is accessible to us. So far, we've received two applications in which we can't access your portfolios. If they remain inaccessible until the end of the application period, we'll have no choice but to disqualify you from the project, as we'll have no insight as to how your work looks like.

We really hope to see more of you in the coming days! We'll make a few reminder posts in the meantime, so look out for that as well! ^^

[lifeseries-ttrpg]

When will the discord be open?

Once we wrap up the contributor applications, all participants that got in will get a link to our Discord server. Which means people will start getting in around the beginning of March, most likely ^^

[lifeseries-ttrpg]

Today's the day!

Ladies, gentleman and all the blorbos, it's the day you've all been waiting for - the contributor applications for the 3rd Life TTRPG project open today!

(announcement graphic courtesy of Mod Mich)

As mentioned previously, this form will be opened until February 22nd, so you have exactly two weeks to put in your application.

We don't know the exact date when we'll reach out to you, it will mostly depend on how many application we'll receive. We're estimating that to be around the beginning of March - we'll make an announcement post when the time comes.

Good luck to you all! Can't wait to see your amazing applications and meet so many wonderful people!

@mcytblrsource @zinetown @open-zines

[lifeseries-ttrpg]

What *is* a TTRPG? How does one write for that?

That's a very good question - what is a TTRPG?

TTRPG stands for tabletop role-playing game and is a kind of game where the players take on roles of made up characters and play out different scenarios by narrating their actions, which are often determined by rolling dice. In contrast to many other types of games (including video game RPGs), the rules are usually pretty lenient and most of the game is based on improvising - which is almost like a conversation, or a group storytelling between the players and the game master. I sometimes like to say that TTRPGs are just a game of pretend but made to sound more serious (/j).

And how does one write for that?

Well, despite the rules not being as strict as in other types of games, there have to be some to determine how the game is played. Our writers will work on things like figuring out the rules, the worldbuilding of the game (which will be, obviously, based on the worldbuilding of 3rd Life, but adapted to make it work in a non-video game enviroment), the possible scenarios the players can play out, the characterization of the NPCs (Lifers), balancing the mechanics etc. Like with many TTRPG manuals, the rules are more so just a suggestion for players to add their own ideas.

It's not an easy thing to explain what exactly TTRPGs are - it's the type of thing you have to experience to fully grasp. Still, it's a type of game that is closely related to all the roleplaying that happened on the server, and will give people a chance to either play out their own adventures in the world of the game, or get engaged in scenarios based on actual events. It might seem like a very straightforward thing, but believe me, there is a lot of things to be worked on to get this manual going. Which mades us, the mod team, very excited to gather a group of participants and get this party started :>

[lifeseries-ttrpg]

1 day until contributor applications open!

Hey hey! The big day's tomorrow! Remember to get your portfolios done and dusted and your pencils and keyboards ready! This is gonna be an amazing project thanks to all of you guys!

[lifeseries-ttrpg]

Could you elaborate on the difference between Illustration, design and character artist? I thought character artists did the design for the characters and the illustrators then did the end piece but maybe I'm completely off here

Sure thing!

A character artist will be in charge of creating a character design for an assigned NPC - Lifer or a different type of character (like an important animal character). Their designs will be used consistently between the different parts of the manual, with them being personally responsible for making artwork for Lifer character cards.

An illustration artist will be tasked with creating an illustration that will be used as both a decorative and immersive piece of art for the manual. They will utilize the designs of Lifers that our character artists come up with. Their illustrations will mostly be used to mark and represent important parts of the manual - for example, we envision each scenario to be assigned at least one illustration, and we also want a thematic illustraions to be used for different sections. So you could say that the character artist have a more 'utilitarian' role (not derogatory in any way), while the illustraion artists will be more closely tied to the aesthetics part of the manual.

A design artist is a small role which focuses on the overall shape of the manual. As the head admin, I'm also the design mod, so the design artists will help me with putting the manual together - by formatting the text, helping with the layout, designing elements such as character cards and NPC cards etc. This is less of an artistic role and more so a graphic design-oriented role.

I hope this clears things up! The application form will have all of the roles throughly explained, so I hope it's clear and understandable for anyone who participates.

[lifeseries-ttrpg]

Will it matter how close to the application release date I send in my application? Will I have less of a chance if I send it in towards the end of the time apps are open? I just am trying to finish an artwork for my portfolio right now and it's gonna take longer than 2 days to complete haha

No worries, it doesn't matter when you'll submit the portfolio, as long as it is within the given time period! It's not a first come, first serve type of project - we'll look at every application on their own and consider them on equal grounds.

The application form will close on the 22nd of February, so the mod team will be looking through it both while the form is opened and after it closes. We expect to send out acceptance and rejection emails at the beginning of March, but the exact date will be announced on our social media.

[lifeseries-ttrpg]

Not to good at writing games, but I am good at accidentally breaking them. Do y'all need play testers?

Absolutely! Once we get somewhere with the creation process of the game, there will be an additional application form specifically for beta testers. You don't have to be a participant to beta test the game. You will be provided with the current ruleset of the game and given a time window to organize a campaign - and afterwards, you'll be asked ro fill out a form to let us know how it went - if you liked it, what worked, what didn't work and what you'd change.

When the form comes out, we will definitely post about it here, so follow us for more updates!

[lifeseries-ttrpg]

Will you be allowed to apply for multiple roles when the application form comes out?

On the application form, you will choose the main role you'd most likely want to fill in a team, called a primary role. When we look through your portfolio, we will keep that role in mind to see whether you fit the criteria and whether we can take you in as a participant. However, on the form, you will also choose roles that you could optionally fill, in case you can't be selected for your preferred role.

For example, if you want to be primarily a character artist and this role gets fully filled in, but we like your application enough to still want you on the team, you may be selected for another role you select, like an illustration artist or a design artist.

Long story short, your application will mostly be looked at through the lens of your preferred role, but you might be chosen for a different one you're okay with filling in.

Also, you will be able fill out both a writer and an artist application at the same time, but you will most likely be chosen for only one of those roles.

Also also, no matter what your role is, we encourage helping people with different roles by offering feedback, brainstorming or collabbing!

[lifeseries-ttrpg]

2 days until contributor applications open!

Heya, Admin Excel here! The form opens the day after tomorrow, and I couldn't be more excited for that!

We don't have any special trivia to share with you today, so how about this - how about you share this project with your friends instead? Maybe they'd be interested in joining, or later in beta testing the game? That'd be awesome!

Also, today evening (at least for my timezone, CEST) the interest check closes! Thank you all SO much for such an overwhelmingly positive response to it, we've gathered a ton of valuable information which will help us make the project the best it can be!