Quick Six: Genre Bending Dystopian + Fairy Tale
Haly uses the "Jackboots & Chainlink" and "Fairy Trails & Grim Tales" boster packs from The Story Engine to create six worldbuilding prompts to inspire writers and game masters.
Quick Six 1/11/2025: Genre Blending
People are always curious about blending genres. How does it work and are there any genres that don’t work together? I stand by my assertion that any two genres can be combined, provided that you seek out the tropes that overlap between them.
To prove it, I’ve plucked two disparate boosters from my collection of Story Engine decks: Jackboots & Chainlink and Fairy Trails & Grim Tales. These are the dystopian and fairy tale boosters, respectively.
“But, Haly! How are you ever going to make it work? They’re complete opposites!”
Moonbeams, I’m about to let you in on a little secret…I’m a worldbuilding goddess. And with a little imagination and creative thinking application, you can be, too! To compose these prompts, I’ve pulled equal cards from each booster.
Dystopian inspirations will be in bold.
Fairy tale inspirations will be in italics.
Somewhere in your world, describe…
Who:
…a defiant royal wants to find the coordinates of a cottage.
This might be someone who is running from the responsibilities of duty. Or maybe a younger sibling who is running away to formulate a plot of revenge? What means are they using to find the cottage? How do they plan to get there?
What:
…a spellbound government secret about an illegal bellI.
Why is the bell illegal? Is it because of the enchantment, or does the enchantment prevent something from happening? Is the secret related to the bell’s location, what it does when it’s rung, or the magic? Or is it something else entirely?
When:
…a time when a prison guard lost their connection to magic and whimsy.
Is their magic necessary to their duties as a guard? How does a lack of whimsy affect their ability to perform those duties? How does it affect their personal life? Were they able to reforge the connection?
Where:
…a black site that leads to the magic realm.
Who controls the black site? What is necessary to gain access? How is the magic realm actually entered? What security and defenses are there around the black site? Does the gateway work both ways?
…an animal helper wants to break into a government facility.
Are they breaking into a testing facility to free members of their flock/herd/clan? Perhaps they are an animal companion seeking to free their captured witch? Are they on a scouting mission, or have they been sent to fetch an object?
How:
…an undercover agent found someone lost inside a bewitched detention camp.
What resources and and gadgets did they use? Do they rely on magic or science or both? Why was the prisoner being detained? How did they get lost? What is the betwitchment and how does it affect the camp and/or the people there? Who runs the detention camp? Who hired the undercover agent?
Don’t forget to share!
I hope that you find this twisted genre blender inspirational! Don’t forget to comment with your own creations! And hey…while you’re sharing, pass this email along to a friend! After all, the most important things are the things we build together!
Coming This Week:
Sunday: Weekly digest
Next week: Rebirth
