Some Weird Folklore to Put in Your TTRPGs

Some Weird Folklore to Put in Your TTRPGs

16 April 2024

I’ve always had a recreational interest in folklore, and over time I’ve picked up a swathe of weird and wonderful stories that inspire me and my work. TTRPGs too have their foundations in western high fantasy, which was built, mainly by Tolkein, on European folklore. Creatures like Dragons and Elves are staples in the fantasy genre, but where can we look to get some fresh ideas (at least to Western audiences) for our fantasy stories?

Disclaimer: Don’t be racist! When taking inspiration from marginalised cultures, it’s good to do your research and avoid reinforcing harmful stereotypes.

Jubokko

From Japanese folklore, the Jubokko is a tree yokai that grows on battlefields where huge amounts of blood have been spilt. After absorbing the blood into its roots, it becomes violent and continues to attack anyone who comes nearby for sustenance.

I rewatched Lord of the Rings recently and I think there’s something very Tolkien-esque about the Jubokko. There’s a very powerful image in the idea that war and bloodshed can scar a place so much that, even when it tries to grow back, it’s still corrupted. If there weren't already magic trees in Middle Earth, I could definitely see something like the Jubokko there. Hayao Miyazaki also deals with similar themes, if the Jubokko were to appear in anything of his, I imagine it would have a similar tone to Princess Mononoke.

St. Mark’s Eve

In England, it is said that if you sit on a church porch over the night between St. Mark’s Eve (April 24th) and St. Mark’s Day (April 25th), the ghosts of those who will die in the next year will appear in the graveyard before you.

I love taking inspiration from this folktale as a means of foreshadowing, and you can get two totally different scenarios out of giving the players the context for these ghosts before or after they witness them.

The story also bears a striking resemblance to the toili, a spectral funeral procession from Welsh folklore. It is said that whoever’s ghost is in the casket will be the next in the village to die. I first learned about the toili in The Folklore of Wales: Ghosts by Dr. Delyth Badder and Mark Norman, which I’ve also previously written about.

Nishi Daak

From Bengali folklore, the Nishi Daak (translated to: “Call of the Darkness”) is a spectral figure with the ability to mimic the voices of deceased loved ones. The Nishi can put you into a trance and draw you into dangerous locations, where it can claim your soul as its own.

Check out this video on the Nishi Daak by the PBS YouTube channel Storied, where they interview doctor and author, Sayantani DasGupta, and discuss the intersection between ghosts and Hindu beliefs on reincarnation.

I love the folklore trope of creatures that can mimic voices, I think it’s super compelling and creepy and would love to use it in a game. A GM with voice acting talents could pull some great tricks on their players!

The Scholomance

In a dark cave beneath the mountains of Romania lies a gothic school of black magic taught by the Devil. Students would enrol to be chosen by the Devil to be the Weathermaker, a wizard who flies around on a dragon summoning rain and storms across the land. While it waits for a rider, the dragon sleeps at the bottom of a lake.

The Scholomance appears in Romanian folklore and is referenced in the novel Dracula, where it is said that the titular Count was a student there once. Curiously, it is also mentioned in Icelandic folklore, where the mythologised priest Sæmundr fróði attended. Sæmundr had a habit of tricking the Devil, but whether he attended as a trick or to actually learn black magic changes between tellings.

This is a really cool setting for dark academia fans! There’s also part of me that really wants to write a Tangled Blessings expansion set here, it’s definitely got the vibes already.

Perlesvaus

Perlesvaus is the name of an Arthurian romance story set after the story of Percival. In it, the anonymous author claims that the reason characters always seem to run into things at the perfect, narratively significant time is because God rearranges the world constantly so that things that were previously miles away are suddenly right near each other.

Tumblr user Maniculum’s post first put this on my radar so I'd be remiss not to link to it too. I think this is a really fun way to have a lot of travel and fresh exploration in your game while still allowing players to have a home base they can return to.

Thanks for reading this dispatch of Jackalope Mail! I hope you can use some of this to inspire your games! If you’re looking for some stats with your monsters, check out the Merry Mushmen’s Folklore Bestiary for Old School Essentials and D&D 5e, as well as Urania Games on itch.io, who has folklore encounters for Mausritter and Trophy.