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Turtlebun

@turtlebun.com.bsky.social

We're Hannah and Evan. We design ttrpgs and zines, and host Design Doc, a podcast about making games. This account is for news and updates. Personal accounts at adrawnnovel.bsky.social and hanbandit.bsky.social

94 Followers  |  76 Following  |  16 Posts  |  Joined: 29.12.2024  |  1.8105

Latest posts by turtlebun.com on Bluesky

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We brought Wonderland to a real-life theme park! In the latest episode of Design Doc, we talked about how to take tabletop rules off the table. What needs to be simplified, what can be dropped, and what should we wear?

25.07.2025 14:08 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Catpuccino Sanctuary Relief Bundle by Volvodja Press and 13 others Catpuccino Sanctuary Relief Bundle: up to 22 items starting at $15.00

my friend @nynphaiel.bsky.social has been taking in stray cats, but they're struggling to get the money together to care for, and feed them. as a recent immigrant they're not able to work, so this kind act is costing them dearly.

so, we've put together an @itch.io bundle. love cats? check it out.

22.07.2025 10:25 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 20    ๐Ÿ” 20    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Another good example of this is Enter the Orb by @turtlebun.com which has you all watch the trippy 1990s 3D animation video together and then play to create more. The shared context, as they say, is built in.

20.07.2025 10:24 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thank you! Sometimes a game is just an excuse to impose the context :)

25.07.2025 13:58 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thank you so much for this wonderful review! ๐ŸŒŸ And sorry to have missed it until now!

16.07.2025 15:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Roleplaying in the Park Listen to Roleplaying in the Park from Design Doc wherever you get your podcasts!

New Design Doc out today! This one is about our attempt to plan a game of Escape from Wonderland at Six Flags, and whether itโ€™s actually possible to LARP on a roller coaster. Probably one of my favorite recent episodes. ๐Ÿ˜„

episodes.fm/1298080097/e...

16.07.2025 14:13 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The Rules Tell a Story Design Doc ยท Episode

New Design Doc today! In the episode @adrawnnovel.bsky.social and I talk about how even the ToC of a roleplaying game can help tell the gameโ€™s story and set the tone.

open.spotify.com/episode/3Sfs...

04.06.2025 14:17 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 11    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Design Doc Podcast Hosted by the ONE SHOT Podcast Network, Design Doc is our monthly podcast about the process of designing Questlandia 2. We talk about all the little details of making a game, including the emotional p...

We do our best to answer some of these questions for Escape from Wonderland, and discuss how we've addressed them in our previous games.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts! Or right on our website:

turtlebun.com/pages/design...

28.05.2025 16:55 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The latest Design Doc is about epilogues!

How do you end a game on the best possible note, while also letting the players pick the tune?

Is it unbearable to introduce new rules at the end of a long session?

Why do games need to end, anyway??

28.05.2025 16:55 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 6    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The latest episode of Design Doc is about how mechanics can swing from one extreme to the other. Adjusting your rules *just enough* is an art form in itself!

You can find it here: pod.link/1298080097/e...

...or wherever you get your podcasts!

14.05.2025 14:55 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

It's the last day for our spring PDF sale! 11 more hours! ๐Ÿ’Ÿ itch.io/s/149803/tur...

30.04.2025 16:21 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 5    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
An illustration of a happy bunny and turtle floating on a star and flower background with text that reads "Turtlebun spring sale! 20% off our PDFs!"

An illustration of a happy bunny and turtle floating on a star and flower background with text that reads "Turtlebun spring sale! 20% off our PDFs!"

All our games are on sale on itch through the end of the month! Grab a game individually for 20% off, or PDFs of every one of our games for $35 for the whole bundle.

Cheers, and happy Spring! ๐ŸŒท๐Ÿข๐Ÿ‡
itch.io/s/149803/tur...

14.04.2025 19:32 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 12    ๐Ÿ” 13    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
An illustration of a happy bunny and turtle floating on a star and flower background with text that reads "Turtlebun spring sale! 20% off our PDFs!"

An illustration of a happy bunny and turtle floating on a star and flower background with text that reads "Turtlebun spring sale! 20% off our PDFs!"

All our games are on sale on itch through the end of the month! Grab a game individually for 20% off, or PDFs of every one of our games for $35 for the whole bundle.

Cheers, and happy Spring! ๐ŸŒท๐Ÿข๐Ÿ‡
itch.io/s/149803/tur...

14.04.2025 19:32 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 12    ๐Ÿ” 13    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

Awww! <3

14.04.2025 19:19 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Damn the Man, Save the Music! [Actual Play, part 1] The QueerXP ยท Episode

Did you know it's Rex Manning Day??
Did you know that @hanbandit.bsky.social wrote an amazing game based off of the movie Empire Records, where that originates?
AAAAAANND... did you know we did an AP of it?! With @mattbartlettvo.bsky.social @nicolemackie.bsky.social and @brentpoynter.bsky.social!!

08.04.2025 16:54 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 13    ๐Ÿ” 9    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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Design Doc Design Podcast ยท Updated Biweekly ยท Come along with Hannah and Evan in a living documentation of the game design process, from the first spark of an idea, to every disastrous surprise. Itโ€™s not an ins...

Design Doc should be available wherever you like to get podcasts.

You can find it on Apple:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...

Spotify:
open.spotify.com/show/6UIwkMY...

Or our own website:
turtlebun.com/designdoc

26.03.2025 17:16 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
A cover image for episode 90 of Design Doc, titled "It's my playtest and I'll cry if I want to." The image has the show's logo, a dotted-line cube, placed over a line drawing of a tea party.

A cover image for episode 90 of Design Doc, titled "It's my playtest and I'll cry if I want to." The image has the show's logo, a dotted-line cube, placed over a line drawing of a tea party.

The latest Design Doc is out!

This one is about a troublesome playtest. We had an extra player, which complicated thingsโ€”but was that the only culprit?

Listen wherever you get your podcasts! Or click one of the links below.

26.03.2025 17:16 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 9    ๐Ÿ” 6    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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The latest Design Doc is about pacing in TTRPGs! We talk about session counts, story arcs, and how to linger on the best moments.

You can listen to Design Doc wherever you download podcasts!

21.03.2025 15:59 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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Our latest episode of Design Doc is about rewarding players with information. When making rules for intangible rewards, it's tough to make sure they'll match the mood at the table. We discuss and do some designing on the fly!

Out now in all the podcast places ๐Ÿ’ก

27.02.2025 19:32 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 6    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Our latest episode of Design Doc is about rewards and prizes! We talk about the difference between character and player-level rewards, and do a little live design for claw machine prizes!

Listen wherever you get podcasts! Or here, on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/4lFH...

14.02.2025 19:13 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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Rewards and Prizes Podcast Episode ยท Design Doc ยท 02/12/2025 ยท 45m

Good morning! Itโ€™s my birthday and we have a new Design Doc up about Rewards and Prizes in roleplaying games! ๐ŸŽ Your character can be getting absolutely walloped while you as a player are like Hell Yea. Give it a listen! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...

12.02.2025 14:18 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7    ๐Ÿ” 6    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

A great list! I'd recommend Design Doc from @turtlebun.com! Hannah and Evan are great, very experienced and have history - a deep library to choose from!

For myself, I'd gently like to promote my own actual play, @wederrakeep.bsky.social. It's accessible - episodes are mostly ~30 min (ep 1 is 40).

10.02.2025 17:02 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Our latest episode of Design Doc is about perfection in art - what people expect of artists, and how we can define perfection for ourselves.

You can find it here on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/3R8N...

Or listen wherever you get your podcasts ๐ŸŽจ

02.02.2025 15:28 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thanks for reading and sharing! <3

20.01.2025 15:46 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

This week's Unbundled game is Damn the Man, Save the Music!, a TTRPG about working at a struggling record store in the 90s by @turtlebun.bsky.social

16.01.2025 19:49 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

@turtlebun.com is following 20 prominent accounts