I think I've got a firm enough grasp of the spirit of this jam. One technical question though:
Can we use affordable, generic toys that aren't necessarily designed as weapons per se?
Case in point: there are multiple kinds of toy guns that fire soap bubbles. These definitely meet the "toy weapon" definition. And they could be used as a conflict resolution mechanic based on several criteria:
- greatest number of bubbles
- largest bubble size
- furthest distance travelled before popping
- most time spent in tact
However, there seem to be far more non-mechanical soap bubble wand kits than bubble guns.
In this case, it would be more accessible to design a game around bubble wands (even if they are less likely to qualify as toy weapons).
And of course, if the game has a wizardry/spellcasting flavor, the wands might even be more thematically appropriate too.
How do we limit the scope for that?