Tariffs are coming for DriveThruRPG – and your RPG books

Most people might know DriveThruRPG as the place to get PDF versions of tabletop games, but an equally important part of its model is a Print on Demand (POD) service that prints and ships games your local store might not have. Now, those books might be getting more expensive as DriveThru's owners respond to the same economic uncertainty that is affecting the entire publishing world.

It's the result of new tariffs that have been in the works for months now. President Trump announced and then pulled back on significant tariffs on Canada and Mexico. At the start of March, he announced a 25% tariff on all imports from the two countries but delayed them going into effect until April 2nd. Canada responded by similarly delaying their responding tariffs until the same day.

On March 6th, just before the delay was announced, tabletop game creators who publish with DriveThruRPG received an email titled "Upcoming Print-on-Demand book price changes, effective April 1, 2025." The email promised increases to DriveThruRPG's Print-on-Demand (POD) service, citing "price adjustments" from their print supplier Lightning Source/Ingram.

The initial email cited price changes for the United States with vague details and incorrect math. A day after creators took to social media to question the claims, a correction email was issued with more accurate details and greater breakdowns of these changes.

The rates of black-and-white hardcover books are being hit the hardest. Smaller books will see close to a 20% price increase, while larger books are seeing a nearly 50% increase. Softcover books will be met with "an even greater increase," per the e-mail.

Standard color printings will also see increases in the States by 12-13%, while the premium color option will actually decrease slightly. If you're in the United Kingdom, all prices are going up by about 3%. The main reason cited in the email for these increases is "increasing supply costs in the US."

DriveThruRPG's Director of Partner Relations, Scott Holden, tells Destructoid, "The price changes we are implementing come directly from our print partner, Lightning Source. We do not add any premium or fee to our prices on DriveThruRPG -- the new price they've sent us is the price we charge publishing partners. Normally, price changes come along from our partners every year or two, but thankfully the last couple were small enough that we didn't see a need to pass those increases through to publishers."

"As to the reasoning for the current round of price changes from the printer, I wouldn't want to make any assumptions. But of course, we know the costs of ink, paper, and other supplies, including machinery and parts, shipping and handling costs, etc. are not getting any cheaper."

Tariffs were always going to impact book publishing, but they still sting

Publishers have been anticipating the impact of the new tariffs for months. HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray discussed how most printing paper comes from Canada in a talk summarized by Publishers Weekly, while a later Publishers Weekly article points out that price increases could impact everything from uncoated paper to bibles and children's books.

While the effects on printing and publishing have been anticipated, it will have a major impact on creators and customers who rely on DriveThruRPG. DriveThruRPG's parent company, Wolves of Freeport, has made itself an essential part of the tabletop industry's ecosystem, supporting an ever-growing number of big, small, and indie publishers across various storefronts.

While DriveThruRPG is at the center of their model, Wolves of Freeport also has DriveThruFiction, DriveThruComics, DriveThruCards, Dungeon Masters Guild, Storytellers Vault, Wargame Vault, Pathfinder/Starfinder Infinite, and other unique shelves facilitated within DriveThruRPG's website. It also oversees Roll20, a popular virtual tabletop system that includes its own storefronts and game integration systems, as well as Roll20-powered services, including Demiplane and Dungeon Scrawl.

Changes to POD prices will lead to two primary challenges. First, the actual prices of books will likely change. Which prices change and by how much are dependent on the book itself.

"[W]e will not generally increase selling prices to match the new print costs," DriveThru's email explains. "However, if a book’s print cost rises above its current selling price, then we will increase the selling price to the next dollar increment over the print price." The email also encouraged creators to review book prices on or after April 1 to make sure margins were still where they wanted them.

The second change comes from crowdfunding new TTRPGs, many of which have options for physical printings. A number of designers use DriveThruRPG's services to fulfill these physical copies. This is actually encouraged by DriveThruRPG, which has an extensive page designed to help designers through the crowdfunding and fulfillment process. As the most commercially available option, these price increases significantly change the math for creators looking to offer print rewards for their games.

Tariffs will hurt TTRPG creators big and small, but it's not clear how yet

It's hard to speculate just how the changes will impact crowdfunded TTRPGs. It could result in fewer games with physical print rewards, or those rewards may go to higher pledge tiers. The crowdfunding goal itself could be higher, or, in the worst-case scenario, fans will see fewer tabletop games on crowdfunding sites.

The tabletop industry has been preparing for these economic hardships, too, before and after the president's tariff announcement. Tabletop news site Rascal offered advice to publishers on how to weather the storm. Monte Cook Games held an Anti-Tariff Sale, with the press release announcing the sale warning of a potential 10% increase in book prices, telling readers, "Most other game publishers will be doing the same thing — or going out of business."

Creators have also taken to places like Reddit and Bluesky, discussing alternate options to printing with DriveThruRPG. Some suggestions for smaller creators have included finding local printers to work with before working with other fulfillment options like Indie Press Revolution, partnering with printers in countries they intend to distribute to, limited printings and selling from their own store, or working with other popular printing companies like Lulu. It's hard to say what options will be economically viable until creators are able to properly assess the market.

The delayed tariffs between the US and Canada are slated to go into effect on April 2nd, barring another delay. However, DriveThruRPG's price increases will definitely happen on April 1st. If you've been eyeing a book for your shelf (like, say, a 1200-page black-and-white print RPG of NASA manuals), you may want to pull the trigger on it now before the price possibly shoots up.

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