Freelancing for the Cosmere RPG and Jukebox PDF Release
Hey folks! The last year has been extremely busy with Cosmere work; my goal for 2025 is to find a little more balance and time to release reflective writing here on managing large-scale projects.
This post today is not that, but I have two exciting updates!
Freelancing for the Cosmere 🪙 ⛈️
I know a number of readers are folks in the TTRPG space. So for that crowd, I wanted to share that the Cosmere RPG just released a call for freelancers, specifically writers and editors.
I'm the project lead for the Cosmere RPG so freelancers would get to work with me. You'd also get to work with a really lovely, talented, and kind team of passionate Cosmere fans and TTRPG designers. As for the game, the Cosmere RPG is one of the most anticipated 2025 TTRPG releases. We raised over 15 million dollars and broke tabletop gaming records during our Kickstarter. The system is a d20-based trad-style game with narrative game influences. You can get your hands on the game content by checking out our free Beta Rules Preview and Bridge Nine introductory adventure.
If you're interested in freelancing for us, you can submit a writing sample below (though read the tips below first)
Tips on Applying
This is nominally about applying to freelance for the Cosmere, but it is also relevant for other application processes:
Deadline: We're basically always interested in finding great writers, so the application will remain open for a while, but there's a soft deadline of 1/26 (this Sunday) for the work we're hiring for in the next 6 months. It's not a lot of time, but the application is short!
Minimum requirement: We have a minimum requirement for writers, so please follow it: You must have published TTRPG work (though self-published TTRPG work is OK). Myself and other folks hiring for writers will be going through the applications and want to avoid sifting through aspiring folks who haven't (yet) published anything. Needing to filter out these applications makes our job harder and makes us less likely to hire you in the future. If you're really interested in writing for the Cosmere but you don't meet this requirement, focus on getting a small portfolio together on DriveThru or DMsGuild and apply to us next time around!
Follow Instructions: Since we work remotely, writing assignments will often be given in an email with a list of specifications and instructions. When we're looking for freelancers, we're looking for folks who will be able to follow those instructions and submit work correctly. Applying this to the application: If I see someone who applies that doesn't match our formatting instructions for their sample, that makes me unsure whether they'll follow instructions if given an assignment.
If we only look at one thing, what should it be? We'll be going through a lot of submissions, if you have a huge portfolio of great work, your goal is to highlight the one or two pieces that most closely match what you'd be writing for for the Cosmere. If you don't know much about the game or the Cosmere, start by skimming the Beta Rules Preview and Bridge Nine introductory adventure. We'd much rather see 10 well-executed D&D 5e monster stat blocks than a self-published novel because our writing is much closer to the D&D stat blocks than the novel. It's hard for us to understand if the fact you've written a novel means you'll write great game mechanics. We could probably make that assessment if we read your entire novel, but we're not going to have time to read your novel. So if you reference a novel, draw the connection for us or make the case for how it relates to TTRPG freelancing. (Though do mention if you've written a novel! I'd suggest doing it in the final freeform writing section instead of as your primary writing sample).
Communicate quality succinctly: In the same vein as the advice above, figure out what "hard" facts you can state that communicate quality quickly. Things like press coverage, working for publishers, DMsGuild medals, boatloads of 5-star reviews, and so forth are easy ways to express that you've written quality work. Getting multiple assignments from publishers and getting large assignments from publishers are two other quick ways to communicate your freelancing skills.
Jukebox Version 2 PDFs Are Live!
The final, entirely laid-out Jukebox PDFs are live on itch.io and Plus One Exp. This includes sixteen different playset playbills in addition to the blank playbill. Jukebox also finished out 2024 by getting a shout-out in Polygon in "Best Tabletop Roleplaying Games We Played in 2024."
Here’s a full list of the contributor playsets that went out today:
Fabula Ex Fata: A folk, acoustic Greek tragedy playset by Basil Wright
Light Up the Sky: A Bollywood, indie rock teen comedy playset by Charu Chandni Patel
Lost in Paradise: A reggae, alternative, island mystery playset by Brooke Whitney
Romance of the Street Kingdoms: A Wu-Tang Clan Wǔxiá playset by James Mendez Hodes
Friends… FOREVER? A pop-punk, emo campy horror playset by Danny Quach
One Last Job: A pop, indie heist playset by Devan Wardrop-Saxton
Punk Not Dead: A punk zombie playset by Armanda
Hearts Take Flight: A Motown, funk, R&B teen superhero playset by Jeremy Harper
Swamp Goblins: A country, blues, backwater monsters fight eco-terrorism playset by Aaron King
Spirit and Proof: A 1920's jazz, showtunes, hip hop speakeasy murder mystery playset by C. J. Linton
Shop (In The Name of Love): A soul music, love song hallmark movie playset by Erin Roberts
Revenge Is Best Served Sung: A breakup bangers, protest songs, and tragic musicals revenge playset by Ezakur
Jukebox Print Copies
You can also order pre-order print copies. With any luck, the Jukebox print copy order will be placed this week🤞so now is an excellent time to grab yours if you’ve been waiting. You can read more about the print proofs here.
Over and out,
- 🫙 👁️ 👁️