Your First Spellbook – a journaling game about creating spells, researching monsters, and hunting them anywhere – has been announced!
Your First Spellbook will release on Tuesday, September 29th!
Spellbook was designed with three goals in mind:
- You can use creativity to design your own spells
- You can play at any location (at home, at a park, on the go, etc)
- You can begin playing as soon as you pick the game up.
Spellbook is my first journaling game, and I’m excited to put my spin on a well-loved genre in the Solo RPG space. If you are interested in learning more, here are three things to do:
- Check it out in early access on Patreon!
- Join the Spellbook-specific newsletter for updates, discounts and news!
- Check out the game’s web page!
And, check out the game trailer below!
September 2, 2026
This blog post is a repost from this month’s newsletter. If you would like to join the newsletter to receive these monthly updates and receive discounts to games, you can do so at any of the links below:
- Paper Dice Games Main Newsletter
- Dwarf Mine Newsletter
- Fantasy Civ Solo Newsletter
- Space Books Newsletter (Grim Space, Distress Calls)
- Star Solo Newsletter
- Spellbook Newsletter
Paper Dice Games Update
September 2, 2026
It’s going to be an amazing month! Read on to find out what’s new!
Other Updates
- Dwarf Mine is now on RPG Trader! RPG Trader is a new marketplace, and I’m trying it out!
- I have several medal updates for DriveThru RPG! Grim Space has achieved Copper Medal status, Fantasy Civ Solo has achieved Silver Medal status, and Distress Calls for Space RPGs is an Electrum Seller!
Project Progress
Spellbook is in the final stretch! After September, I’ll be swinging my attention to 2027, and building a final roadmap.
Content Highlights from Last Month
- What makes a Solo RPG a Journaling Game – A video discussing the differences between solo RPGs that include journaling, and journaling Solo RPGs.
- The Blueprint of a Quest – Design Diary – A patreon post, reposted to my website, discussing the blueprint of a quest for the recent Fantasy Civ Solo Quests Expansion.
- 3 Reasons you might enjoy Journaling RPGs – A video giving 3 reasons you might enjoy playing a journaling RPG!
- Setting Odds in Solo RPGs – How I approach setting odds when playing solo – or GMing group – RPGs.
- Your First Spellbook – Game Trailer – Your First Spellbook game trailer!
Best Selling Games from Last Month
Here are the games I’ve played in the last month: DnD 5e, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Fantasy Civ Solo, Pandemic Legacy Season 0, Game of Thrones Hand of the King, Timeline, The Gang, Evolution, The Crew, Lost Island, Qwixx, Ticket to Ride Legendary Asia, So Clover.
Ognjen Pavkovic – Way back in 2021, I was certain that Spellbook would be published soon. So I worked with an amazing artist –
Ognjen Pavkovic – to get some art done. Well, Spellbook needed a lot more design time, and Ognjen’s art has sat for YEARS. Well, his art will be included in Spellbook when it comes out! I wanted to give a shoutout to him – here is his instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ogipavkovicart/
If you have anything you’d like to share or discuss around this newsletter, you can respond to this email or comment on this page on the website. I read very comment. I also send messages around game specific newsletters, which you can join below.
- Dwarf Mine Newsletter (last sent in April)
- Fantasy Civ Solo Newsletter (last sent in July)
- Star Solo Newsletter (last sent in June)
- Space RPG Books Newsletter (last sent in March)
- Spellbook Newsletter (new!)
Thank you for being a fan of games!
-James Hron
Paper Dice Games 