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A Folk Horror Roleplaying Game
In a world where ancient rituals and forgotten stories shape reality, a secretive network called the Trespassers fights to understand and survive the creeping Pattern that binds communities in endless cycles of silence and fear.
Folk horror is a world shaped by ancient stories, repeated rituals, and quiet threats. The Pattern moves through families, places, and beliefs, shaping fate steadily and without mercy. The Trespassers are scattered outsiders who see this Pattern and must choose how to live with it, resist it, or carry it forward.
Step into folk horror where the familiar becomes unsettling. The Pattern traps communities in cycles that never fully end. The Trespassers have glimpsed its reach. They move carefully, trust few, and piece together lost truths. This book offers system-adaptable tools to build slow-burning dread, layered tension, and characters marked by grief, silence, and memory. It helps you craft places rich with meaning, factions that push the story forward, and hooks that grow across sessions. You’ll learn to hold mood, shape pressure, and keep the story moving through belief and consequence.
This book provides a complete toolkit for folk horror stories shaped by belief, memory, and consequence. It centers on The Pattern, a living force of repetition and silence, and The Trespassers, a loose network aware of its power. The tools fit any game system. Use traits, prompts, worldbuilding guides, and narrative scaffolds as needed. Each section stands alone, designed for flexibility and collaborative storytelling. Use these pieces to build characters with secrets, worlds that remember, factions that hold quiet power, and plots that deepen session by session. Your group writes the canon through choices, tone, and unfolding consequences.
This Book Contains
This section lays out the key parts of the setting and the tools you’ll use to bring folk horror to life. Each piece shapes mood, tension, and story flow. Use these tools alone or together to build a game that fits your group’s style and needs.
Story-First Framework: Build stories full of emotional tension and moral weight. Focus on belief, consequence, and rhythm to deepen player connection and make choices meaningful and lasting.
The Pattern: A force woven through rituals and stories. It shapes fate through repetition and silence. It is a reality characters must face and respond to, not a villain that can be defeated.
The Trespassers: People who see the Pattern clearly and move carefully. Their cautious choices and limited trust shape how the story unfolds and what paths open for change or survival.
System-Adaptable Traits and Prompts: Traits highlight emotional stakes and social tension. Prompts guide discovery and conflict. These tools work with any system and don't depend on specific mechanics or rules.
Worldbuilding Tools: Build places full of memory and meaning. Traits like openness, resources, knowledge, weirdness, agency, and moral clarity set the setting’s tension and shape player influence.
Factions With Consequence: Groups quietly holding rituals and power. Their presence shifts tone and pressure without always revealing their role or forcing direct confrontation with the players.
Hooks That Scale: Small plot seeds that grow across scenes and sessions. These hooks twist, repeat, and pull players deeper into the Pattern’s web with every return and discovery.
Collaborative Worldbuilding: Tools encourage players to add memories, secrets, and traditions. This shared creation makes the Pattern part of the game from the very first session onward.
Narrative Scaffolds: Session beats and pacing tools keep the story moving steadily. They balance mystery, tension, and player agency to maintain engagement and flow throughout play.
Open Canon: The setting belongs to your group. This book offers tools and ideas, but your table writes the real story through shared choices, tone, and unfolding consequences during play.
What You’ll Need to Play
This system runs on attention, imagination, and shared time. There’s no need for a tactical display or a digital platform. What matters is the group, the space, and the willingness to stay present in the story.
This section explains the essential items and conditions your group needs to run the game smoothly. It focuses on what supports shared attention, clear tracking, and sustained presence in the story.
Five Six-Sided Dice Per Player: Each player should have five six-sided dice to roll at full trait strength. You also need a way to track traits, hero points, complications, and session notes. Use paper, digital sheets, or index cards to keep information clear and handy.
A Journal or Notebook for Each Player: This system doesn't require a character sheet. A journal or notebook gives players space to track character arcs, rewrite traits, and reflect on changes. Loose paper is acceptable, but a running record helps the story stay consistent over time.
Something to Write With: Every player should have a pen or pencil. Writing captures changes, important details, and unresolved questions. This practice makes the story visible and helps the group stay grounded in the moment.
A Space That Supports Focus: Play wherever you can hear each other clearly. The space should allow enough quiet, time, and comfort for everyone to stay focused from start to finish. A supportive environment helps keep the story alive and flowing smoothly.