Different today, as I delve into the history of Rand Roll through the bestselling affiliates by each year.
Affiliate Numbers
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 (to July) | all-time
Rand Roll is the hub of my exploration of the rpg world or random tables, and existed before I started publishing my own titles. Part of that is the PDF Guides, which recommend random tables and solo titles..
This tracks the history of the site through top number of affilates (by sales), ignoring my own titles. From the Guild days through many sci-fi and cyberpunk titles, to the increase of solo titles in recent years.
2019
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 (to July) | all-time
The first full year of Rand Roll, and my first year publishing on DM's Guild. Some of the random tables on the site were Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay related. A few affiliates were simply popular on the Guild.
- 1) Warhammer Fantasy Role Play : Ubersreik Adventures - Mad Men of Gotheim from Cubicle 7 is an adventure in the setting for the starter kit. (I've no idea why this was no 1 that year)
- 2) Hamund's Harvesting Handbook: A Comlete Guide to Harvesting and Crafting in D&D 5e by Jasmine Yang on DM's Guild
- 3) Saltmarsh: People, Places and Shops by Hobby Sage and Page Bonifaci was in a Guide to Saltmarsh tools and titles.
- 4) 100 Non-Combat Random Encounters (the North) from DungeonsandDjinn was a popular Pay-what-you-want (affiliates only showed if buyer paid anything for it)
- 5) Hamund's Harvesting Handbook: Volume 2 by Jasmine Yang on DM's Guild.
- 6) Warhammer Fantasy Role Play : Ubersreik Adventures - Bait and Witch from Cubicle 7
- 7) 100 Non-Combat Random Encounters (Coastal) from DungeonsandDjinn was another PWYW.
- 8) Nerzugal's Dungeon Master Toolkit by Steven Williams is a huge pay-what-you-want toolkit on DM's Guild for D&D 5e.
- 9) Old School Hacks Vol. 1: Hexcrawling - Wilderness Exploration and Random Encounters by Tim Bannock was a take on old-school hexcrawling for 5e. Covered in an interview in 2020.
- 10) The Book of Random Tables: Science Fiction from dicegeeks. First appearance of the series with many 1d100 tables in each.
2020
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 (to July) | all-time
This was the year covid hit, and the popularity of solo gaming exploded. Far more digital titles were being bought, but the focus of Rand Roll was DM's Guild. Although sci-fi was most popular guide!
- 1) The Book of Random Tables: Science Fiction 2 from dicegeeks.
- 2) Sci-Fi Facility Generator from dicegeeks.
- 3) Encounters in Theros by a large cast of guild notables was covered in a guide on Theros, and D&D world adapted from Magic: the Gathering.
- 4) Puzzles, Predicaments, and Perplexities from Wizard Sleeve Studios, SteveOrr and Bill Putrino, gave a selection of logic puzzles to 5e.
- 5) Random Encounters Expanded by Benamin Campbell is a solid 76 page pay-what-you-want on DM's Guild with encounters for many terrains.
- 6) The Book of Random Tables from dicegeeks. The original of these!
- 7) Waterdeep City Encounters from several guild notables supported the Water deep adventures
- 8) Ancestral Weapons by Dungeon Rollers was a bestseller in 2020 and is still often the top-selling under $5 title on DM's Guild.
- 9) Cyberpunk Adventure Generator by D-oom Products is another PWYW title.
- 10) Military Mission Generator from Never Engine is a PWYW for cyberpunk.
2021
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 (to July) | all-time
2021 was a strange year, mostly plugging on with DM's Guild for Rand Roll. Dicegeeks titles were popular in the guides!
- 1) Encounters in Theros by a large cast of guild notables was covered in a guide on Theros, and D&D world adapted from Magic: the Gathering. No idea why it was the year's bestselling affiliate.
- 2) The Book of Random Tables: Post Apocalyptic from dicegeeks.
- 3) The Book of Random Tables: Cyberpunk from dicegeeks.
- 4) The Book of Random Tables: Science Fiction from dicegeeks.
- 5) The Monster Manual Expanded by Dragonix brought many new 5e monsters to DM's Guild. Plus it's sequel at no 7
- 6) Puzzles, Predicaments, and Perplexities from Wizard Sleeve Studios, SteveOrr and Bill Putrino, gave a selection of logic puzzles to 5e.
- 7) Monster Manual Expanded 2 by Dragonix was the sequel to no 5's title.
- 8) Augmented Reality, The Holistic City Kit For Cyberpunk Games from Geist Hack Games is an excellent resource for random tables.
- 9) Sci-Fi Facility Generator from dicegeeks.
- 10) Hamund's Harvesting Handbook: A Comlete Guide to Harvesting and Crafting in D&D 5e by Jasmine Yang on DM's Guild
2022
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 (to July) | all-time
We came out of Covid, Rand Roll moved to Portugal, and there were less DM's Guild titles. Dicegeeks and Sci-fi titles dominated.
- 1) The Book of Random Tables: Science Fiction from dicegeeks.
- 2) The Book of Random Tables: Science Fiction 2 from dicegeeks.
- 3) The Book of Random Tables: Cyberpunk from dicegeeks.
- 4) The Book of Random Tables: Cyberpunk 2 from dicegeeks.
- 5) Encounters in Theros by a large cast of guild notables was covered in a guide on Theros, and D&D world adapted from Magic: the Gathering.
- 6) Augmented Reality, The Holistic City Kit For Cyberpunk Games from Geist Hack Games is an excellent resource for random tables.
- 7) Science Fiction Codex of Lists (2nd Edition) from JEN Games. Lots of lists for a dollar.
- 8) Puzzles, Predicaments, and Perplexities from Wizard Sleeve Studios, SteveOrr and Bill Putrino, gave a selection of logic puzzles to 5e.
- 9) Sci-Fi Facility Generator from dicegeeks.
- 10) Science Fiction Codex of Lists 2 (2nd Edition) from JEN Games. Lots of lists for a dollar.
2023
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 (to July) | all-time
At the start of 2023 after the Wizards OGL shit, the site took a right turn into solo RPGs and system-neutral tables. And we've stayed there pretty much since. Two solo tools at 1 and 10. Also no more D&D affiliates in top 10, but mostly dicegeeks
- 1) Mythic Game Master Emulator 2E from Word Mill Press. The best known emulator for solo ttrpgs. Recently did an interview with Tara Pigeon of Mythic GM Emulator.
- 2) The Book of Random Tables: Science Fiction from dicegeeks.
- 3) The Book of Random Tables: Post Apocalyptic from dicegeeks.
- 4) Science Fiction Codex of Lists (2nd Edition) from JEN Games. Lots of lists for a dollar.
- 5) The Book of Random Tables: Modern from dicegeeks.
- 6) The Book of Random Tables: Science Fiction 2 from dicegeeks.
- 7) The Book of Random Tables: Cyberpunk 2 from dicegeeks.
- 8) Science Fiction Codex of Lists 2 (2nd Edition) from JEN Games. Lots of lists for a dollar.
- 9) The Book of Random Tables: Cyberpunk from dicegeeks.
- 10) The GameMaster's Apprentice: Sci Fi from Larcenous Designs. The GM Apprentice cards are one of my favourite tools.
2024 (so far)
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 (to July) | all-time
2024 has continued down the solo rpgs path, dipping into gamebooks and British fantasy. And the interviews started again. Why some of these are top affiliates is also a mystery.
- 1) Post Apocalypse Loot by Daniel Roos. Why this one is top is a mystery!
- 2) Sandbox Generator by Atelier Clandestin. A solid hexcrawl guide.
- 3) The Book of Random Tables: Post Apocalyptic from dicegeeks.
- 4) The Book of Random Tables: Modern from dicegeeks.
- 5) Mythic Game Master Emulator 2E from Word Mill Press. The best known emulator for solo ttrpgs. Recently did an interview with Tara Pigeon of Mythic GM Emulator.
- 6) Science Fiction Codex of Lists (2nd Edition) from JEN Games. Lots of lists for a dollar.
- 7) Tome of Adventure Design Revised from Mythmere Games.
- 8) Augmented Reality, The Holistic City Kit For Cyberpunk Games from Geist Hack Games is an excellent resource for random tables.
- 9) Realm of Fables World Generator from Shielddice Studio.
- 10) The Great Book of Random Tables: Science Fiction from dicegeeks.
All-time
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 (to July) | all-time
Then there's the all time of 5 1/2 years of affiliates. Lots of dice geeks!
- 1) The Book of Random Tables: Science Fiction from dicegeeks.
- 2) The Book of Random Tables: Science Fiction 2 from dicegeeks.
- 3) The Book of Random Tables: Post Apocalyptic from dicegeeks.
- 4) Encounters in Theros by a large cast of guild notables. A surprise to see on this list
- 5) The Book of Random Tables: Cyberpunk from dicegeeks.
- 6) Puzzles, Predicaments, and Perplexities from Wizard Sleeve Studios, SteveOrr and Bill Putrino, gave a selection of logic puzzles to 5e.
- 7) Science Fiction Codex of Lists (2nd Edition) from JEN Games. Lots of lists for a dollar.
- 8) Mythic Game Master Emulator 2E from Word Mill Press. The best known emulator for solo ttrpgs. Recently did an interview with Tara Pigeon of Mythic GM Emulator.
- 9) Science Fiction Codex of Lists (2nd Edition) from JEN Games. Lots of lists for a dollar.
- 10) Augmented Reality, The Holistic City Kit For Cyberpunk Games from Geist Hack Games is an excellent resource for random tables.
Finishing Up
This will get updated in the future, but leave a comment with other titles if you have one to share.
If you liked these there are Generators at Chaos Gen and a monthly random tools Newsletter. Or find us on the Rand Roll Discord or an instagram of Random Tables.
