I’ve been part of TTRPG creative collectives since shortly after I made my start in game design and I have benefitted from them in so many ways. Here are just a few ways they might help you too.

Canadian-Specific Advice

Canada is not a global superpower like America is, nor are we part of a governing collective like the European Union. Because of that, some of the advice that’s easy to find just doesn’t apply to us. For example, did you know that Americans have to pay for ISBNs but in Canada you can get them for free through Library and Archives Canada?

The CCU is a great place for Canadian TTRPG and LARP creatives to get recommendations for reputable printers in Canada, find Canadian distributors to help fulfil their crowdfunding projects, and hear about Canadian events and conventions which might be more affordable and less risky than travelling to American ones. It’s also a place where we can commiserate on how annoying it is that American English randomly removed a bunch of letters for no logical reason (the first e in “judgement” is load bearing I will die on this hill) and a lot of games’ style guides unfortunately use American English.

The CCU is also bilingual just like Canada. We have members who work in French and in English so you’ll find conversations in our discord in either or both languages. Members are welcome to use whichever language they’re most comfortable speaking. It’s something I really like about the group. My French is extremely rusty, I haven’t used it since I graduated high school forever ago, and it gives me an opportunity to work on my French reading skills. I haven’t tried writing in French yet myself, but I’m sure eventually I’ll find my ancient French-English dictionary and remember how to do more than translate Quebecois swear words (merci Bon Cop Bad Cop) and order a pizza.

Networking

Possibly the biggest benefit to joining a collective is how easy it makes connecting to other TTRPG creatives. Game design can be an incredibly isolating activity. We spend so much of our creative time alone in our homes writing rulesets or making art or filming videos. But a successful project needs support from a community and that community can be hard to find.

Conventional advice often recommends attending cons to network—usually large American ones like PAX U or GenCon—but that isn’t accessible to everyone. Travelling can be expensive, many marginalized Canadians might not feel safe crossing the American border right now because of the current political climate, and the removal of masking policies makes conventions dangerous for disabled, immunocompromised, and/or covid-conscious attendees.

Creative collectives like the CCU offer a—usually free—alternative to conventions for networking. You can meet and befriend other industry professionals, discuss the projects you’re working on, hype each other up, find playtesters for your game, and participate in events, all from the comfort of your home.

Skill Sharing

I was very lucky when I started designing games. I had a few friends that were already successful game designers who I could go to for advice and hire to consult on my earliest projects. They recommended courses I could take to learn the basics, software I could use that was more affordable than an adobe subscription, places I could advertise my projects, and freelance positions I could apply to. But not everyone has access to that.

I mentioned having friends in the industry that helped me learn the basics but they couldn’t teach me everything I needed to know. I also joined a couple of collectives early on. It gave me access to a variety of creatives specializing in all kinds of different fields and I learned the answers to questions I never would’ve thought to ask on my own.

I learned that a header should be closer to the text it’s heading than the paragraph before it, despite Affinity’s default being the opposite. I got advice on calculating the probability of encountering a war in the card game War!, the mechanics of which I was using as the basis of a one page game. I got even more marketing advice.

Is a mechanic not accomplishing what you were hoping it would? Are you struggling to do what you want with your layout? Do you need someone else to tell you if your game rules are easy to follow? Or maybe you tried something new with your latest project and want to let other members know what did and didn’t work. Maybe you have skills and advice you can share with other industry professionals. Joining a creative collective like the CCU can help with all of that.

Freelance and Collaboration Opportunities

Most of the freelance projects I’ve applied to I found through TTRPG creator discord groups. The first project that hired me, Sigil’s Secret Menu, cold messaged me with the collaboration opportunity because the project manager found my work through a TTRPG creator discord and thought I’d be a good fit for his project. I would not have written a bounty for Huckleberry, been a stretch goal for Lazlo’s Cubed Crypt, or worked on parts of Tome of Intangible Treasures 1 and 2 if it were not for joining TTRPG collectives.

I’ve also used the same collectives to hire creators for my own projects. Late in 2024 I put out an application form for Book of Divine Initiations, a D&D 5e supplement full of temples, religious initiation tasks, and NPCs for 20 of Faerûn’s gods. It was my first time taking on the role of project manager and TTRPG collectives made it easy for me to find nine other writers plus an editor to bring the project to life.

Joining a creative collective doesn’t guarantee you freelance work, but in my experience it makes it much easier to find the opportunities to apply to projects. One of the CCU’s core missions is collaboration between members. We have a forum in the discord where members can find people to work on their projects. We have members that specialize in writing, art, editing, graphic design/layout, French/English translation, AP production, and a variety of other skills that you might need for your projects. And we’d love to see others add their skills to the mix.

Cross Promotion and Marketing

So you’ve made a project that you think is really cool. Now what? Just posting it on Itch, Drive Thru RPG, DM’s Guild, or any of the crowdfunding platforms and walking away won’t help it sell. Visibility on most TTRPG sales platforms is abysmal at best and you need a decent marketing strategy. Joining a creative collective can help with that.

If you’re part of a collective like the CCU, you can easily find other members to help you cross promote projects. Maybe you can find others getting ready to launch crowdfunding campaigns that might be interested in teaming up with yours. Maybe you can find AP and video producers who are looking for new games to feature. You can definitely get marketing advice that isn’t just “Give Mark Zuckerberg $400 USD.”

The CCU also has a newsletter—The Maple Leaf-let—where anyone who signs up can get news on CCU events and member projects. And we have a blog that runs weekly member showcases where we talk about the cool projects that members have made, what got them into the industry, and what they’re currently working on.

Participation in Collective Events

Many TTRPG collectives offer members opportunities to participate in events. These can be industry talks, discord voice/video chats, game jams, Q&As, playtest nights, or any number of other activities. The CCU founding members are currently hard at work planning a number of exciting events to share with our members. I can’t officially announce anything because as of writing this we’re currently hard at work on our October 1 launch, but there is plenty to look forward to as the CCU grows.

In addition to participating in events, members are encouraged to create their own events for the group. Want to run a workshop on making a believable sci-fi setting or using Canva to layout your game? Want to host a game night or a convention-style game jam? Want to create regular co-working/body doubling sessions or mechanics troubleshooting events or art critiques? Feel free to email or DM any of the CCU’s facilitators—Patrick Dubuc, Morgan Eilish, or Fraser Ronald—and we can figure out how to make it happen.

Being a part of TTRPG collectives has made a huge difference in how I make my games, in the projects I’ve had the chance to work on, and the people I’ve made friends with. If you’d like to benefit from joining a TTRPG collective and aren’t already a CCU member, you can join the CCU HERE.