Why We Make D&D-Inspired Board Books for Babies and Toddlers
D&D-inspired board books for your newest party member
Howdy, Adventurers!
We're Mike and Josh, two gamer dads from Canada. Between us we've rolled a lot of d20s and changed a lot of diapers. At some point those two worlds collided.
We wanted to share the hobby we love with our kids. So we went looking for tabletop RPG books for babies and toddlers. We found plenty of onesies with dragons on them, but not much that treated tabletop culture as a real part of growing up. We decided to start making our own.
What we're making
LilRPG makes RPG-inspired board books for babies and toddlers. The series is called The Little Adventurers, and every book carries the subtitle A LilRPG Adventure.
Each book follows one little hero from a classic tabletop class, and each hero is built around one big idea. Our first book, Little Fighter: A LilRPG Adventure, stars Rory the Fighter. Rory's big idea is that being strong means helping and protecting others.
- The format: a chunky board book, made for small hands. Our printer has confirmed child-safe varnish and lamination.
- The story: classic board book patterns, like routines and bedtime, told through a tabletop lens. Rory gears up, trains, stumbles, rolls a d20 and always gets back up.
- The ending: every adventure ends with a long rest. Bedtime, in other words.
- The digital edition: the Little Fighter ePub is out now, and every board book pre-order comes with it.
Why we make D&D-inspired books for little ones
Baby books teach opposites, routines and bedtime. Tabletop games teach teamwork, trying again and getting back up after a bad roll. It turns out those are the same lessons, just told in a different dialect.
That's the thinking behind every page. Rory doesn't win every fight. Sometimes Rory stumbles, sometimes Rory falls, and Rory always gets back up. And the friends who help along the way matter as much as the sword.
There's also a simpler reason. We wanted a way to share the game table with our kids years before they're ready for the real thing. All the adventure, without the risk of swallowing a d20.
Who these books are for
- Gamer parents who play D&D, Pathfinder or board games and want to bring their newest party member along for the ride.
- The cool aunt, uncle or godparent looking for a geeky baby shower or first birthday gift.
- Your gaming group, when the DM or a fellow player just welcomed a tiny new adventurer.
You don't need to know the rules to read along. If you can read a bedtime story, you can run this adventure.
Where the party goes next
Rory won't be adventuring solo for long. Twelve heroes are planned for The Little Adventurers, and we've already started drawing the rest of the party. The Little Barbarian is next in the works. We aren't sharing dates yet.
You get a say in what comes after that. Vote for the next hero on our Quest Map and help us choose who joins Rory first.
While you wait, our A-Z Bestiary has a growing collection of free fantasy colouring pages, from a drooling Mimic to a shy Sasquatch. They're a good way to keep little adventurers busy between books.
Questions we get asked
Are these official Dungeons & Dragons books?
No. LilRPG is an independent Canadian publisher. Our books are inspired by tabletop roleplaying games in general, with our own original characters and stories.
What age are they for?
Babies and toddlers. They're board books, built for small hands and short attention spans.
Where can I get one?
Pre-order the board book on our site. It ships within Canada, and ships in the new year. Our books are on a brave quest across the ocean, rolling for initiative against the dreaded Tariff Monsters. Rory's got this. Want to start reading tonight? The ePub is available now.
Join the guild
That's the what and the why. Thanks for being here at the very start of the quest.
If this sounds like your kind of party, pre-order The Little Fighter, grab the ePub, or pick the next hero. We'll keep chronicling the adventure here in the Adventurer's Journal.
- Mike & Josh