🔖 Blood Chapter & Dragon Pages: Two Free Bookmark Games from Exeunt Press
Slay dragons and hunt vampires with these two new bookmarks created for the Unknown Dungeon's TTRPG Bookmark Jam. Free community copies available.
TTRPG Bookmark Jam
Unknown Dungeon, best known for the annual One-Page RPG Jam, is running a TTRPG Bookmark Jam. Submissions need to fit on a common-sized bookmark and include rules, random tables, procedures, or other tabletop gaming bits.
The requirements are strict and the design space is tight: bookmark only, no other parts allowed.1 While the player may bring their own dice, pencil, and paper, the game may not require character sheets, maps, and the other usual components.
I couldn’t resist the challenge, and released two new bookmark games this week!
There are free community copies of both, so please try them out!2
Blood Chapter
Turn your book into a dangerous hunt
In Blood Chapter, you are a Vampyre Hunter in 16th century Germany sworn to send revenants back to the grave. But beware — you may become the one hunted. Stay ahead of your quarry. Gather power. Strike when ready!
Use any book you’d like along with two six-sided dice.
Watch for key words in the text.
Words will increase the power of either the Hunter or the Vampyre.
If one side gains enough power, they will strike!
I wanted to play with the idea of a race between two parties who are both hunters and hunted at the same time. They can strike, but need to then build up enough power to strike again if not successful the first time. Oh, and I made a trailer for it!
Dragon Pages
Hunt a dragon through the pages of your book
In Dragon Pages, you are a knight on a quest to slay a dragon. Journey to its lair, discovering boons, banes, and omens along the way. But move swiftly, lest your supplies run out! The dragon awaits!
Use any book you’d like along with a few six-sided dice.
Watch for key words in the text.
Words will add or subtract from the attack dice pool.
Each real day that passes consumes your supplies.
I like how the dragon can move around the book and that your character will starve to death if you don’t read quickly enough.
Printed bookmarks with Tumulus
I plan to do small print runs of both bookmarks to include with specific, upcoming issues of Tumulus:
Tumulus 06 “Hammer a nail in the coffin.” will include Blood Chapter
Tumulus 07 “Slay the dragon.” will include Dragon Pages
They will be included both with subscriptions and back issues for those two specific issues when they ship.
Designing bookmark games
Blood Chapter and Dragon Pages are the first bookmark games from Exeunt Press. It’s a format I’ve always wanted to try, and the TTRPG Bookmark Jam was the motivation I needed. I’d consider both games “experiments” in the sense that they are uncharted territory and are meant to try out new mechanisms.
I plan to write a “How to make a bookmark game” article for Skeleton Code Machine in the next week or so, sharing what I’ve learned. There’s a lot to talk about: generating randomness with a book, digital roots, and low/no agency games.3
If you’d like to make your own bookmark game, the jam runs until December 14th 2025 at 6:59 PM.
- E.P. 💀
P.S. If you love tabletop games, you should check out Tumulus. It’s a print-only, quarterly zine packed with Skeleton Code Machine game design content.
Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.
Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2025 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press
There are actually at least eight rules plus two FAQs if you want to get into the weeds about what is allowed and not allowed.
The games are listed as $1 each, but if you scroll to the bottom of the project pages there is a button to claim a community copy. Hit that and you’ll get the game for free. If you enjoy it, positive reviews really do help and are appreciated.
I wrote about Carta and player agency a while back.
As i learn Substack my aim gets better. Lol. Found out how to actually post to the orginal poster not the commenters just now. Here's to all the bookmark creaters, well done!
The campus TTRPG club I run will need these!