How to Sell Your TTRPG: Platforms, Pricing, and Getting Paid

You finished your game. People playtested it. The rules work. Now what?

Selling a TTRPG isn't like selling software or t-shirts. The market is niche, margins are thin, and most buyers discover games through community word-of-mouth. But indie creators are making real money. Some a little, some a lot. (Still working on your game? Start with how to make a TTRPG. Need testers? Here's how to find playtesters.)

Here's how to join them.

Choose Your Format

Before picking a platform, decide what you're selling.

PDF Only

The simplest option. No inventory, no shipping, no upfront costs. Most indie TTRPGs start here.

• Pros: Zero cost to produce, instant delivery, easy to update
• Cons: Lower perceived value, piracy concerns (though the TTRPG community is generally good about this)
• Typical price range: Free to $20, with most indie games at $5-15

Print-on-Demand (POD)

Physical books printed one at a time when ordered. No inventory risk.

• DriveThruRPG POD is integrated with their marketplace. Easy setup.
• Lulu has good quality and wide distribution options.
• Amazon KDP has massive reach, but your audience probably isn't browsing Amazon for TTRPGs.

Pros: Physical product without upfront costs. Cons: Higher per-unit cost, less control over quality, slower delivery.

Offset Print Run

Traditional printing in bulk. Better quality and lower per-unit cost, but requires upfront investment.

This makes sense when:

• You've already proven demand (successful PDF sales or Kickstarter)
• You want premium quality (special covers, ribbon bookmarks, heavy paper)
• You're ordering 500+ copies

Unless you have a proven audience, don't start here.

Platform Comparison

Itch.io

Best for: First-time publishers, small games, experimental projects, community building.

• Revenue split: You choose (0-100% to Itch, default 10%)
• Audience: Indie-friendly, actively browsing for new stuff
• Features: Pay-what-you-want pricing, bundles, game jams, community tools
• Discoverability: Good within the TTRPG tag, benefits heavily from game jam participation

Itch is where most indie TTRPG creators start, and many never leave. The community is supportive, the tools are flexible, and the low barrier to entry means you can publish today.

Tips:

• Use a strong cover image. It's the first thing people see when browsing.
• Write a detailed page with screenshots of interior spreads.
• Set a minimum price with pay-what-you-want. People often pay more than the minimum.
• Participate in game jams to get visibility boosts.

DriveThruRPG

Best for: Reaching the broader TTRPG market, print-on-demand, long-tail sales.

• Revenue split: 65% to you (70% as an exclusive)
• Audience: The largest dedicated TTRPG marketplace. Buyers come here to shop.
• Features: POD integration, wishlists, sales events, publisher tools
• Discoverability: Good search, but competitive. Metadata and categories matter.

DriveThruRPG is the "Amazon of TTRPGs." It has the biggest audience, but your game competes with thousands of others. Strong cover art, good descriptions, and reviews are essential.

Tips:

• Fill out every metadata field. Genre, system, page count, all of it.
• Get early reviews (ask playtesters to leave honest reviews at launch).
• Participate in site-wide sales for visibility spikes.
• Consider their "Pay What You Want" option for smaller supplements.

Kickstarter / BackerKit

Best for: Funding larger projects, building community, creating buzz.

• Revenue split: Platform fee ~5% + payment processing ~3-5%
• Audience: People actively looking to support new projects
• Features: Stretch goals, backer updates, community building, pre-orders

Crowdfunding works when you have:

• A compelling pitch and visuals
• A proven concept (playtest feedback, an existing audience)
• A realistic budget and timeline
• The ability to fulfill rewards (this is where many creators struggle)

Tips:

• Launch with a 60-70% funded campaign if possible (ask friends/community to back early)
• Keep your funding goal realistic. It's better to overfund a small goal than underfund an ambitious one.
• Budget for shipping if you're doing physical rewards. Shipping costs kill margins.
• Post regular updates during and after the campaign.

Your Own Website

Best for: Full control, building a brand, direct relationship with customers.

Sell through Gumroad, Shopify, Payhip, or a simple checkout on your own site.

• Revenue split: Payment processing only (~3%)
• Audience: Only people you drive there yourself
• Features: Whatever you build
• Discoverability: None. You need to do all the marketing.

Best used as a complement to marketplace listings, not a replacement. Send your most engaged fans here for the best margins.

Pricing Your Game

This is where most indie creators undercharge. Your game has value. Price it accordingly.

General Guidelines

• One-page games / micro-RPGs: Free to $5
• Zine-sized games (8-32 pages): $5-10
• Full games (50-100 pages): $10-20
• Large games (200+ pages): $15-30
• Print books: Add production cost + $5-15 margin

Pay What You Want (PWYW)

PWYW with a suggested price often earns more per copy than a fixed price. It also lowers the barrier to entry and builds goodwill.

Set the minimum at $0 or a low price, and the suggested price at what you'd actually want. Many people pay the suggested price or more.

The Free Strategy

Giving your core game away for free can work if:

• You plan to sell supplements, adventures, or expansions
• You want maximum reach and community growth
• You're building a reputation as a designer

Many successful designers release a free quickstart or SRD and sell the full game. This lets people try before they buy.

Bundling and Supplements

A single game has a ceiling. Supplements extend your revenue over time.

What to Sell Alongside Your Game

• Adventures and scenarios. $3-8 each, easy to produce. (Need help writing one? See how to write a TTRPG campaign.)
• Supplementary rules. New classes, factions, magic systems.
• Setting books. Deeper dives into your world.
• GM tools. Random tables, generators, templates.
• Physical accessories. Custom character sheets, maps, card decks.

Bundles

Offer your core game + supplements as a bundle at a discount. Bundles increase average order value and give new customers a reason to buy everything at once.

Getting Paid: The Money Side

Taxes

If you're earning money selling TTRPGs, you need to handle taxes. This varies by country, but in the US:

• Track all income and expenses
• Digital goods may or may not be subject to sales tax depending on your state
• Itch.io and DriveThruRPG handle VAT for EU customers
• Consider setting up a simple LLC if you're earning consistently

Talk to a tax professional. Seriously. It's worth the $100-200 for a consultation.

Tracking Sales

Most platforms provide dashboards. Check them monthly, not daily. Daily checking leads to anxiety, not action.

Track:

• Units sold per platform
• Revenue per product
• Where your traffic comes from (if your platform provides referral data)
• Which marketing efforts preceded sales spikes

The Long Tail

Most TTRPG sales follow a long tail pattern: a spike at launch, then a slow, steady trickle. That trickle is where the real money lives.

To keep the trickle flowing:

• Keep your game visible. The more places your game is listed, the more chances someone finds it through search.
• Update your game. Each update is a reason to announce it again.
• Engage with the community. Every conversation about your game is free marketing.
• Make more stuff. Each new product drives traffic to your old ones.

Common Mistakes

Launching silently. Don't just upload and hope. Plan your launch. Tell people. See our guide on how to market your TTRPG.

Underpricing. A $2 game doesn't signal "good value." It signals "not worth much." Price for the value you deliver.

Platform exclusivity too early. Start on multiple platforms. Go exclusive only if the benefits are clear and significant.

Ignoring your existing customers. The people who bought your first game are the most likely to buy your second. Build a mailing list. Stay in touch.

Waiting for perfection. A good game that ships beats a perfect game that doesn't. You can always release an updated PDF.

Get Your Game in Front of Players

You've done the hard work. You've designed, playtested, published, and priced your game. But none of that matters if players can't find it.

The indie TTRPG space is fragmented. Your game might be on Itch, or DriveThru, or your own website. Players are spread across Reddit, Discord, social media, and dozens of storefronts. The more places your game appears, the better your chances of reaching someone who's looking for exactly what you made.

Submit your game to TTRPG List. Here's why:

• Free backlink to your store page. Every listing on TTRPG List includes a direct link to wherever you sell your game. That's good for SEO (search engines like backlinks) and it sends real traffic to your checkout page.
• Permanent discoverability. Your Itch page competes with thousands of other listings. Your social media posts disappear in hours. A TTRPG List listing stays up and keeps showing up in search results indefinitely.
• Players come here to find new games. That's the whole point of the site. People browse by genre, system, and type specifically because they want to find something they haven't played before. Your game shows up right alongside everything else.
• It's free and it takes five minutes. No subscription, no premium tier, no catch. We're an indie project too, and we built this because we think small games deserve to be found.

You made something worth buying. Now make sure people can find it.