I am going to have another game jam in the near-ish future.
Do you have any suggestions for what topic it should have?
So, I've seen this sort of suggestion come up a lot.
The issue is that it requires a strong editorial voice, quality control, and multiple revisions for everyone (as well as sometimes just telling people 'no') to maintain any sort of coherence, tone, or even basic compatibility or respect for canon.
This is not only a lot of work that I would have to do, but would also probably require that I piss people off in the process. I would rather not!
Unfortunately I missed this one! Would love to participate in a future one though. How about having participants submit something on traps, puzzles, riddles, and other similar dungeon obstacles that aren't just monsters? Or even just have submissions on adventures that primarily geared towards players overcoming those sort of obstacles?
Nah, it is too broad!
Traps and puzzles are very vast, riddles less so.
I would love a big old trap jam - or a puzzle jam.
Maybe a good jam would be a megadungon, and each participant signs up - and then each person is assigned a room/rooms - depending on how many participate/how many rooms you think make a megadungeon.
Something with poetry - or word restrictions.
Like not using "e" - Or sentence length requirements - or maybe just overall word/character count limit.
Maybe a page limit.
Alternately - focus on the format of the book, create a template for a Booklet, or a folding brochure, then distribute that and the jam's goal is to work around that media/form.
Essentially, I think a creative limitation or restriction might induce some really creative work, and also makes a cohesive theme that is visual/distinctive.
Those are poems.
I Think it more interesting to attempt to describe magic monsters and places with poetry, but maybe that is too broad/boring.
I just like the idea of constraints - and poetry has rules and constraints.
A book of poems, each one describing a creature - and stats - that would be a great way to make descriptions interesting, and evocative, and maybe more open to interpretation than a usual creature book.
Maybe your idea could work for a setting - bards and such. When I think of riddle and songs in conjunction with d&d, I always think of the Hobbit - and in Middle Earth riddles and songs seem to be part of it on a deep level.