Forage Teller

Description

FORAGE TELLER is a game supplement that simulates foraging for resources in the forest. Use it as a randomizer in nearly any tabletop roleplaying game when a character needs to find food, animals, plants, artifacts, etc. Interpret symbols within the context of the game you are playing.  The file comes with full color, no background color, line color, and black & white print options, as well as a blank template.

Media:

Beth & Angel chat about Forage Teller!

Background

FORAGE TELLER was created during the Tiny Keepsake Jam. It is a game supplement in the form of an origami fortune teller. When I was brainstorming for this jam, I wanted to create something nostalgic. I used to make paper fortune tellers all the time as a kid and I’ve also created a few for programs I run at the library. I was playing around with a fortune teller I made for my Pokémon Club when I was struck with inspiration to use it as a randomizer for figuring out what my Druid character in a tabletop role playing game might find when foraging in the forest. I love that the act of opening and closing the fortune teller and then lifting the flaps to reveal what you’ve found is a simplified simulation of searching the ground and lifting up a stone or log to see what you might find underneath. Hopefully assembling FORAGE TELLER will remind you of playful childhood memories and serve as a keepsake that brings a smile to you and plentiful resources to your character.

How to play

Players can use FORAGE TELLER similarly to the traditional method of using a paper fortune teller (or create your own method) and then interpret the foraged symbol within the context of the game being played. Finding the deer might mean finding your traps full or finding an antler that can be turned into a tool; finding the sharp stone symbol might represent finding flint to make a fire or materials to make a knife; finding the scroll symbol could represent information or a trinket or artifact. What will you find?

An example of the traditional method:

When your character needs to forage...

• Choose one of the elements represented on the outer layer: earth, water, fire, wind (choose your favorite or choose based on in-game location)
• Manipulate the "mouth" of the teller to switch once for each letter in the chosen element (5 times for earth and water, 4 times for fire and wind)
• After the final switch, look at the four available numbers and choose one
• Lift the flap to reveal the foraged symbol beneath the number
• Interpret the symbol within the context of the game you are playing

Alternate method idea:

Incorporate dice to determine the quantity of items found. Once familiar with the number/symbol pairs, use a 4-sided die to determine the final outcome, using 1 as a result for the lowest number and 4 for the highest, etc.

NOTE: "wind" was used in place of "air" in the element list to create 2 elements with an even number of letters and 2 with an odd number of letters to balance manipulation of the teller

Resources and copyright

Info about paper fortune tellers on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_fortune_teller

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Forage Teller by Rebecca Strang is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.