Folklore and Fable Inspiration for Big Bad Jam?

#1

There is a game jam, Big-Bad-Jam, https://itch.io/jam/big-bad-game-jam, that I would like to participate in…but I’m running into a road block and don’t have a folk tale, fable or fairy tale to use as inspiration.

I know there’s the incredible Myths and Legends podcast which has tags for Fairy Tale and Fairy Tales, which I am currently browsing through.

I’m also going to reading through the thread on media you wish was an RPG, just in case it points me to something too.

There is also a separate folklore game jam going on simultaneously… so you might be able to submit something for both of them.

What are some of your favorites? What are some that you think might be ripe for an RPG? Are there just other images or adapted stories that you love that might be useful as inspiration?

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#2

Oooh, cool!

Another podcast to browse is Spirits podcast, which recounts a myth or piece of folklore and then pairs it with a mixed drink each episode.

And perhaps a particular vein of inspiration for this jam is American Tall Tales, with their over-the-top characters like Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, or Joe Magarac (doubly fictitious, as it seems his supposed oral tradition was also a fabrication!).

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#3

I’d love to see some games around native american lore. Though I’m not the one to tell those stories.

I might take a stab at American Tall Tales or some old cowboy ghost stories. That could be fun.

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#4

Check out some of the stories with Baba Yaga. Those are really strange and wonder-filled.

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#5

I’m tempted to do something with the hairy hands of western England

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#6

I was looking up some stuff on Aarne-Thompson, and found this site that might be a useful source http://mftd.org/index.php?action=home

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#7

So this might be a little too long for either jam, but there is a new storybundle that is all about fairy tales, Bad Fairy Tales.

Who doesn’t love a bad fairy? Let’s be honest, it’s always the naughty ones who hold our interest! From old fairy stories gathered by collectors like Grimm or Yakuma, to Brian Froud’s gorgeous, detailed illustrations of pixies and kobolds, to Disney’s depiction of Maleficent, fairies have inhabited our cultural consciousnesses the world over for centuries, in our childhoods and dreamworlds, into our adult years and waking moments.

If you can read faster than me, these might be a great source of inspiration. Or if you are like me, these might just be fun to have and read at a more leisurely pace later.

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#8

I think there might be an interesting game to be found in the “stolen skin” trope that shows up in shapeshifting stories across many different cultures.

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#9

This is a pretty famous blog about fairytales, SurLaLune. You might start there. Also, you could read any of the colored fairy books by Andrew Lang. He was an important collector of tales. He collected a lot more than just the famous standards.

There is also Breezes from Wonderland for modern academic analysis, well written for intelligent non-experts.

There are a lot of blogs about fairy tales and folktales. There’s quite a lot to read if you’re interested.

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