Prompt Chomp: Loss | SC26

They asked me if I've ever found myself at a loss for words. "Loss" and "words" are not two things that go together in this universe. I am at a win for words. So many words are happening and we're all winning.

— Feral camper's musings

We've all lost stuff before. Marshmallows in the campfire, equipment in the woods, our marbles... All that matters is that we've found our way back here to the campsite where we can write to our feral hearts' content and share in the joy of unbound worldbuilding! Not even these prompts can contain us!
If you're finding yourself at a loss for words with some of these prompts, I hope that these tasty ideas help you make some progress and get back to feverish writing! This article is still a work in progress! Enjoy the bullet point lists while I get the thematics together!

A religion that no longer exists

There are the feral campers of today, and there are the feral campers of yesterday. They knew the old ways well, but we have transcended and found a path of our own.

— Prompt Template: Organization

Belief systems change with time and discovery, but how often do they fully disappear? What beliefs have faded from your world?

This religion isn't around anymore because...

the people stopped believing

Ancient historical beliefs

New discoveries

Absent/quiet gods

its faithful were eradicated or assimilated

Short-lived cults

Apocalypse

Cultural domination / conquest

Eradicated cultures

its basis is now gone

Gods died or left the plane

Disproven beliefs

Religious organizations dismantled from within

times have changed

Organized religion vs belief

Redefining existing beliefs

Religious schism / divergence

Proto-religions

Religious origins

Source of old superstitions

Get some inspiration from the community here!

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A myth that inspired modern funerary traditions

We found a tiny little forest critter motionless on the forest floor during our last midnight romp. The pyre we held that night was one of the biggest we'd ever seen.

— Prompt Template: Myth

The stories of old influence life and death both. Just how do the living translate the old tales into their treatment of the dead?

The myth inspired a tradition that...

influences the dead's journey into the afterlife

Consider - the story and the tradition

Historical tales

Rumors from the past

Positive traditions

Coins for the ferryman

Posing the dead for photos

Joy at a funeral to send off the dead with love

The entirety of the movie Coco

helps protect the still-living

Preparing bodies to prevent "the curse"

Burning the dead? preventing disease spreading

Preventing the dead from haunting

Mourning periods, opportunities to vent grief (mental health recovery)

keeps evil at bay

Burning the dead? Zombie apocalypse?

Vampires / werewolves

Decoy bodies to fool ghouls (Filipino folklore)

serves faith and honors belief

Mythology

Folklore

Baptisms at death

Returning the body to nature

Preserving the cycle of life

Get some inspiration from the community here!

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An ancient technology lost to time

So, you're telling me not a single person wrote down the recipe? Am I really going to have to go hunt down the old camp cook for this?

— Prompt Template: Technology

Not all technologies withstand the test of time, but some seem to slip out of our grasp before we even realize.

We've lost this technology because...

no one knows how to make it anymore

Stargates

Valyrian Steel

Roman concrete

Greek fire

No one wrote down the recipe and now it's gone

Cultural understanding (common sense changes by region)

Clothing and wearable utility

Magic systems - alchemy, spellwork, reagents

No one will teach it - taking knowledge to the grave

Lacemaking, weaving - types of craft being lost because of industrialization

the resources required for it are gone

Forms of energy

Magic disappearing / depletion

Materials and resources depleted - rip birth control herb

Climate change wiped out natural resources

its purpose is no longer practiced

Original problems this tech solved are gone now

Ancient warfare

Implements of torture - eradicated barbaric practices

Pseudoscience tech

Lobotomies for everything

it's become obsolete with time

Floppy disks, burning CDs, casette tapes, VHS recordings

Headphone jacks in the bluetooth era

Old forms of transportation

Inferior quality goods and tech

Rolling tv carts in classrooms / projectors with transparencies

Get some inspiration from the community here!

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A subculture seen as outdated by modern generations

Don't look at me like that. You know I need to go feed my virtual pets before I can curl up by the fire pit for the night.

— Prompt Template: Ethnicity

Times change, but some folks stay exactly the same. Who's been hanging back while modern generations move forward?

This subculture is viewed as outdated because...

they aim to uphold outdated systems

Politicians

Disney adults

Historical reenactors

Old work life culture - corporate wageslaves vs "work your wage'

Bigots / anti-LGTBQIA+ / anti-minority

Old punk - punk subcultures that didn't keep up with the times

Ideas around body modification - Yakuza links to tattoos

The nobility / social classes / castes

they reject modern technology

Mountain folks

Off grid cultures

Amish

Uncontacted tribes

Rejecting modern media consumption

Traditional artists vs digital culture

AI vs Creators

they cling to nostalgia and retro media

Neopets players

Board gamers / ttrpg gamers

physical media gamers

Retro gamers

they still follow the old ways

Rejecting new traditions

Left behind by society

Worshiping the old ways

Old religions

Get some inspiration from the community here!

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A military unit known for its incompetence

We sent out the Feral strike force, but they all got distracted by a flight of fruity drinks that was headed to the Chill camp pool. We're never getting them back on task at this rate.

— Prompt Template: Military Unit

Sometimes when you need to send out the finest to get the job done... you get the B team instead.

This unit is notoriously bad at...

taking out the enemy

Emu wars

Tragic incompetence - Dark - child soldiers, inexperienced

Storm Troopers missing every shot

Famously incompetent but does great things

One man military unit

maintaining discretion or subtlety

Terrible spies

Average D&D party on a stealth mission

Units that spill every secret they know

following orders

They kinda just do whatever they want

Units going off the rails regularly

Defying leadership

Suicide Squad

Uno reverse - malicious compliance

pretty much everything they try to do

Think of the three stooges

Military unit fails every mission - why are they still here?

Military units that always slack off because they're never drafted into action

Pampered nobility drafted into battle

Units put in situations not suited to their specialties

Get some inspiration from the community here!

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A controversial will that changed the course of history

And to my feral campers, I leave all of the tastiest prompts. Yes, I chewed on them already. That's not important.

— Prompt Template: Document

Where there's a will, there's a way, or so they say. A strong will can change more than just history!

This document changed history with...

a controversial inheritance

Unknown children

Riches left to the crown

Responsibilities handed down

Generational curses

Appointed heirs to the throne

Dutch history - Land left to a future king under stipulation that he get a Christian education, making others' beliefs more commonly accepted

the assertion of a powerful will

By the will of the king - by the will of the gods - by the will of the pope

The document itself is not a will - it promotes the will of someone in power

Pushing a decree or agenda

a deathbed confession

Will with a confession

Clearing up a historical mystery

Owning up to crimes

Exposing knowledge

The start of a quest

its accessibility to the public

Was the will made public or suppressed?

Was it generally accessible to the public? Why not?

Was it intentionally hidden? By whom?

Did new laws or policy spawn from this document being withheld from the public?

Get some inspiration from the community here!

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A collector of "lost" things

You never realize just how many bones get lost in the woods until you start collecting them all.

— Prompt Template: Title

When things get lost, someone usually finds them. What sort of person goes out of their way to collect them all?

This collector is known to...

keep their collections for themselves

Lost keys - Trinkets

Vintage valuables

Collector of knowledge

Archivist

Keeper of souls

Tooth fairy

Bone collector

Pirates & plunderers

Hoarder of territory - king or emperor

Title vs profession

The entity that steals my socks in the dryer - sock fairy

dragon hoards

Keeping portfolios of work

return what is lost to their original owners

Lost and found

Dog catcher / animal control

Therapist - helping recover lost memory or sense of self

Restoration of hard drives and lost data

Collecting lost souls to return them to or from the afterlife

redistribute what they collect

Thieves with "lost" merchandise

Librarian - allowing others to take and read from their collection

Orphanage - adopting out the children to new families

Food banks / charities

Archaeologists / paleontologists / anthropologists - giving findings to the museum

acquire lost things on another's behalf

Museum/art curator

Collecting souls for a lich

Bounty hunters

Private investigators - Detectives

Adventurers on quests

Get some inspiration from the community here!

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An abandoned building shrouded in mystery

Don't tell anyone I told you this, but I know exactly why we don't do arts and crafts in the old campsite cottage anymore...

— Prompt Template: Building

Buildings are typically made to be used for some purpose. When they become abandoned, we often are left wondering why...

The mystery shrouding this building centers around...

its original purpose

Old churches - lost faiths

Asylums and hospitals

It just appeared one day

Strange contents within

rumors about its history

Chernobyl

Types of mystery: disappearances, cryptids

Unconfirmed history, rumors, old cultures

Rumors of true ownership - who built this?

History of crime within

Major historical events took place here

a strange energy it holds

Haunted house

Wizard's tower

Portal inside

the reason why it was abandoned

Purpose was never realized - abandoned prior to use

Abandoned in construction - never finished. Why?

Something else moved in

Abandoned space station

Abandoned outpost / camp

Building safety? Structural integrity, environmental hazards

Get some inspiration from the community here!

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An object that looks edible but isn't

Honestly, it's their fault for not disclosing what those displays were made of. I'll be burping soap bubbles for weeks now.

— Prompt Template: Item

We've all encountered objects that we yearn to sink our teeth into, but knew we'd deeply regret taking a chomp out of.

These things seem so edible because...

they look like real food

Decorative Soaps

Wax fruit

Rocks that look like potatoes

Aquarium gravel

MIMICS

the texture just looks delicious

Dice, Marbles - smooth shiny things

Cotton / wool looks like candy

Crayons for some reason

Chalk

Pica - anything could look edible

Mud pies

they smell simply divine

Candles / wax

Scented cosmetics

Scented markers

Cleaning supplies - soaps, detergents, tidepods

they are! Just not for you

Actual food used for decoration

A king's banquet that you can't touch

Food you're allergic to

Food your species can't consume

Dose makes the poison

Food you can see but not touch

Food at the store you haven't bought yet

Get some inspiration from the community here!

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A fundamental law of the universe that most people misunderstand

They release the prompts, we chew on them until they're a formless heap of ideas. It's only natural.

— Prompt Template: Natural Law

The universe works in mysterious ways, this is known. But what do folks seem to stumble over the most in your world?

Somehow, folks just can't grasp the fundamentals of...

the world's natural patterns

Weather systems

Law of attraction

Forces of the universe - Entropy - Gravity - Time

Maths

the power that flows through the world

Equivalent exchange

Magic systems

Higher powers / divinity

the universe's sense of humor

Murphy's Law

Sh*t happens

Cat distribution system

the human experience

Social construct vs fundamental law

Emotions & human connection

Superstitions / believed natural laws

Innate directional rule - people want to move counter clockwise

Get some inspiration from the community here!

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Hope you found these ideas helpful!

Massive thanks to the community members who joined me in brainstorming many of these ideas during my broadcast following the prompt release! I really had fun putting all of the ideas into writing, and adding even more of my own ideas as my brain conjured them through the creation of this article!
If you can think of some more fun ways to spin these prompts, feel free to share them in the comments below, so you can keep inspiring the community and show that no prompt is immune to being twisted to fit any setting out there! And if you're feeling stuck, and none of these tips helped you push forward, let us know what you're working with and maybe I, or someone else, might figure something out!
See you soon for the FAMILY PROMPT CHOMP!