Chaosium’s Folklorists turns Victorian-era folk tales into investigations

Chaosium has announced Folklorists, a tabletop roleplaying game set in the 1860’s in which investigators discover what’s lurking behind old folk tales. Folklorists is planned to be released mid-2027 through Chaosium’s online store and games shops.

Gameplay consists of investigation in a sequence of scenes, uncovering clues, and determining the best means of dealing with the myth, all the while with a card-based countdown. Once the investigation is complete, the folklorists must confront the myth and determine if their theories are correct. If successful, the myth is defeated or neutralized, and if they are incorrect, they must suffer the consequences. From there, the folklorists must devise a new version of the folk story that serves as a cautionary tale to future generations. 

Using a deck of common playing cards as a storytelling tool, sessions of Folklorists can be played within two hours with no preparation. It handles groups as small as 2 and as large as 6 players, and the only other things needed are note cards or paper, and a half-dozen tokens of any type. Though traditional play involves a gamemaster, it includes solo and gamemasterless rules as well. 

Something that I really like the sound of is, once you have confronted the myth whatever the outcome, the players then write a new version of the myth, which becomes the new myth that will get passed down the generations from then on.

The game can be played in two hours without preparation, either as a group (2-7 players) with or without a gamemaster, or as a solo game. You need an ordinary deck of cards, some paper or index cards and half a dozen tokens to play, making it a very easy game to pull out and play at a moments notice and small enough to pack taht you can take and play it pretty much anywhere.

Pedro Ziviani is an Ennie award winning designer, whose previous work includes Chaosium’s Age of Vikings RPG and Cthulhu Through the Ages, traces Folklorists to an improvised game he ran for fellow folklore students.

“I ran an improvised game for my fellow folkloristics students in which we collaborated to create stories based on fairy tale motifs with cards drawn from a deck. It was a huge hit. Everyone enjoyed creating fairy tales together through play. It was then that I had the idea to create a roleplaying game that would make learning about authentic folklore from around the world fun while also allowing for a creative new retelling of myths to emerge through play. A few weeks later, I had completed the first draft of Folklorists.” 

Working alongside Ziviani on the Folklorists are Martyna Starczewska (illustrator), Steffie de Vaan (editor) and Adam Szelążek (layout).

Chaosium is taking email signups for news and previews ahead of the mid-2027 release. Sign up for Folklorists updates.