Evlyn Moreau, Sofia Ramos, and Luna P. rendered by Evlyn.
I learned about the collaborative TTRPG group of Evlyn Moreau, Sofia Ramos, and Luna P. with the launch of their table top adventure Goblin Mail in 2023. They’ve teamed up again to create another adventure, A Feast for a Sphinx releasing later this year. I chatted with them over DM’s this past month to learn more about their work.
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Columbary TTRPG: After Goblin Mail how (and when) did the three of you decide to work together again on A Feast for a Sphinx?
Evlyn: me and Sofia had published a previous shorter PDF version of A Feast For Sphinx and for a while I wanted to print it but it was too short and I never had the time to redo the layout. So after Goblin Mail I thought that it could be doable with the help of Luna to finally do a print run and that Sofia could rewrite the adventure to expand and personalize it more.
Sofia: Working with Evlyn and Luna in "Goblin Mail" really showed me that we had a really good synergy as a team, and even before the project was actually finished, I knew that I wanted to work with them again. I really liked the themes and the idea of the old "A Feast for a Sphinx", but at the time it was supposed to be a pamphlet adventure, just a quick project, you know? So I was happy to be able to revisit it without the previous limitations, and even happier when Ev just gave me carte blanche to rewrite everything.
A sample spread from A Feast for a Sphinx, written by Sofia Ramos, illustrated by Evlyn Moreau, and with layout by Luna P.
Luna: Being asked to do the layout for Goblin Mail was a huge surprise back then. However, once that project went by, we became friends, and it became clear we would find something new to create together someday. At least to me, and I wasn't wrong!
Columbary TTRPG: I’ve been a part of just one or two group TTRPG projects. We do a lot of messaging on Discord, with occasional group voice chats but it’s HARD to feel connected and collaborative with oceans and continents spanning a team. In the end it’s so rewarding to see a project come together, but I think a lot of people really struggle with remote creative collaboration. Seeing the first sample spreads from layout featuring design, words and art all together feels really satisfying. How do you manage working together while scattered across different parts of the world?
This arrangement has some clear benefits over collaborations spanning east and west.
Evlyn: We also use discord to chat and exchange ideas, often it feels like we share a small workshop. I don’t know if this is because we are all trans women but we connect really well together and ideas flow easily between the 3 of us.
Sofia: I agree with Ev and I think that sharing an identity like we do, especially one that frequently suffers from isolation, definitely has something to do with it. But like I stated before, we really do have great synergy and our skills complement each other really well. That being said, I attribute a lot of both of the project's successes to Ev's amazing project management skills
Luna: I can't agree on the “Hard to connect” part. I was always very keen on internet messaging, so it might be naturally suitable for me. But other than working with people abroad, I don't have many other options in this work environment here in Argentina, so I would've had to adapt to survive regardless. Even then, thankfully, our time zones with Sofia are the exact same, and with Ev there's only barely a difference, so we don't have that much trouble there. Unless one of us suddenly develops a weird sleep cycle haha, and it happens!
Columbary TTRPG: Luna P., This is your second layout project with this team, but you’ve done layout for other TTRPGs and also worked as a graphic design consultant for Sadia Bies. I feel like layout is a really exciting part of development. When black and white text springs to life with new typefaces and illustrations it’s very satisfying to see for the first time. How did you find yourself focusing on layout and design?
Luna: Editorial graphic design was my main job for a long time, back then I kept ttrpg as a hobby with a chance of side-gigs, but only in writing or game design, as to keep them separate enough. Eventually, I lost my last in person job and I got fed up, serendipitously I got a message from Ev around that time, about a zine with mail-delivery goblins. So you are correct that before that I had exactly zero graphic design work for ttrpg, other than my personal, unpublished, failed experiments.
Then there's Wolves at the Lake, and more than a dozen works in progress as we speak, all ttrpgs. And a bunch of consultant talks in my schedule, but I'd rather not mention anyone before the work is done, as to not jinx it. As [to] how I got into graphic design, that's a very long and wild ride and I've already hogged the interview enough. Rest assured I'd love to keep on talking about myself.
Columbary TTRPG: Sofia Ramos, I enjoy writing but then find that pleasure souring when it comes time to begin cutting words and squeeze my text into layout. I sometimes hear about other TTRPG creators writing a first or second draft directly into layout, but for both Goblin Mail and A Feast for a Sphinx you are working with Luna P as your layout artist. How do you balance self editing and keeping layout in mind as you work on drafts?
Sofia: Even from the first draft, layout is always on the back of my mind. I'm very fond of big blocks of prose, which don't always work well with the limited space we usually have on A5 zines. My solution to this is working on a paragraph-per-paragraph basis, making them as dense with information and flavour as possible, like a (very) short story on their own, connected to the whole. That gives them sort of a "modular" propriety, which allows Luna to easily move them around in the layout stage without breaking the flow of the text.
However, I do have a tendency to write too much, and sometimes you still have to cut things off. Which always hurts, but it is a necessary evil that ultimately forces me to distill the text down to what really matters.
Columbary TTRPG: Evlyn Moreau, You are a prolific and inventive illustrator by almost any measure, but inspiration can still run dry or feel difficult to grasp some days. I’ve found working with other people can sometimes be really exciting; one person’s ideas can feed another’s in a creatively virtuous cycle where art inspires writing and writing inspires art. How does working as part of this team help you with or change your illustration work?
A sample spread from Goblin Mail with layout by Luna P. Illustrations by Evlyn Moreau, and written by Sofia Ramos.
Evlyn: Hehe, since I know Luna and Sofia, I often try to draw things that I know they would enjoy. Often I share a sketch, we joke a bit about it and some additional details emerge that I later add into the final drawing. Also during the early phase of a project I may draw some concept art on my own and Sofia will later find a way to include what I drew into the scenario. With Luna, sometimes there is a space in the layout that needs an illustration and the shape of that space becomes a fun constraint that will guide what I will draw. For example I may draw a character sitting on the floor or crouching to fill a square space because I can’t draw them fully standing up. Little details like that will emerge at different steps of the production, I really enjoy that kind of interaction.
Images for A Feast for a Sphinx by Evlyn Moreau, Sofia Ramos, and Luna P.
The team’s most recent collaboration, A Feast for a Sphinx, has just wrapped funding on Kickstarter. Watch for it’s release later in 2025! Meanwhile check out their adventure Goblin Mail, here.
