Hey everybody! I'm super excited to be creating for the Folklore Jam and wanted to share my project somewhere. Seems like this is the best place!
Once Upon The Web
Once there was a User who loved the Group Chat on their favorite Platform. They shared Content with their Mutuals from the time they booted up their device in the morning to the time they charged it at night. But one day, the User heard a rumor about secrets in a deep corner of the Web. The User went looking for these secrets, and that navigation changed them forever.
One of my favorite things about old folklore a la Brothers Grimm is the practicality of it: folktales were a way for common people to share stories about their lives and how to live them, and it wasn't necessary to get published or renowned to be able to tell those tales. Tabletop games occupy a similar niche. We often use TTRPGs to tell escapist tales in settings very different from our real world but the potential is still there for TTRPGs to tell stories that guide us through our lives.
I'm using the Belonging Outside Belonging framework by Avery Alder and a similar game, Trouble For Hire by Kevin Allen Jr, as inspiration for the mechanics for Once Upon the Web. I'd like this to be a game where players take on the role of "world forces" (the website, influencers, trolls, etc.) and guide an NPC "User" through the digital wonderland. Ideally, it'll be a game that makes it possible to create shared folktales that impart genuine lessons about how to navigate the internet.
Looking forward to seeing what other folks have in store! And if anyone's got any insight into designing a) diceless mechanics or b) PBTA-style moves I'd love to hear it!