One Hour ‘til Bedtime 
A game for 2-5 players, some counters, some blank cards, and a clock
written by XXXX, XXXX, and you

This is a storytelling game where your group creates a fairy-tale for a child about to go to bed. Players alternate between performing the main roles and acting as the Storyteller. The aim of the game is to create an entertaining story together and ensuring it has a satisfying ending.

The Setting
The tale is set in an enchanted fantasy land well known to every child, where beautiful princesses and humble tailors overcome the threats of wicked rulers and horrid monsters with the assistance of fae creatures and magical items. Though the tale may become dark or perilous, it is always suitable for children.

Preparation
Every player is given a pen and five blank cards. Each card will be representative of an important story element that may be included in the Tale. Cards must include the following traits.
•	Name: the name of the element.
•	Type: what kind of story element the card represents. Types include Main Characters, Supporting Cast, Locations, Objects, and Features.
•	Nature: a brief description of the element (no more than a line or two).
•	Purpose: the direction the element takes in the story.
•	Tone: the mood or flavour the element takes in the story.
Each player creates five different cards. They do not have to include one of each Type, though a mix is recommended.
Once all cards have been completed they are placed into a common pool and are shown to the group so that everyone is familiar with them.

Card Types
•	Main Characters are central to the story and are the focus of most important scenes. Examples of Main characters are heroic woodcutters, wicked witches, fairy godmothers, important rulers, loyal steeds, helpful companions, and leaders of groups.
•	Supporting Characters may only appear in a scene or two and have little overall bearing to the story. Supporting characters may be individuals or entire groups of people. Examples of Supporting Characters include an oppressed populace, a mysterious trader, a humble family, the ghosts of the dead, an irate mob, a flock of vultures, a friendly innkeeper, and forest sprites.
•	Locations are important areas, whether they be as large as countries or as small as a tiny room. Examples of Locations include the bottom of a well, a dark forest, a cobbler’s workshop, the Emperor’s treasure room, a gingerbread cottage, a crystal palace, a pirate ship, a lake inside a mountain, the forbidden city, a haunted house, and a rickety bridge.
•	Objects are items and tools that can affect the story. Examples include a singing sword, a valuable painting, a bag of gold, an enchanted rope, a golden harp, a handful of magic seeds, a pair of iron shoes, and a letter to a loved one.
•	Features are important story themes, sayings or knowledge. Examples include an ancient curse, a prophecy, some magical words, a law, a royal decree, a promise, a birthright, or a blessing.

Card Nature
The description of an element’s Nature should be short and concise. Good examples are “the youngest and most beautiful daughter of the King”, “an evil troll hungry for human flesh”, “a pack of wolves who value loyalty”, “a dark place from whence few have ever returned”, “a humble simpleton”, “a harp in the shape of a swan with silver strings”, and “Whosoever wears this crown shall be King”.

Card Purposes
The Purpose of an element tells the players what it needs to do in the story. This generally takes the form of a desire or intention. Players will be rewarded for portraying elements in keeping with their purpose. Examples may include “to rule forever”, “to seek her fortune”, “to stop anyone crossing or entering a location”, “to reward good deeds”, “to help another achieve greatness”, “to be redeemed”, and “to scare travellers”.

Card Tones
The Tone of an element is usually only a word or two. Examples may include funny, sad, frightening, revolting, heroic, innocent, mysterious, sinister, noble, or romantic.

Telling the Tale
Place all the cards together in a central Story Pool. Give each player two Story Tokens from the Hat and decide on who will be the first Storyteller. Start the clock.

The Storyteller begins the Tale introducing at least one Main Character. Only the Storyteller may introduce cards and she gives them to players at her whim (though no player should have more than one Main Character at a time. Only Main Characters and Supporting Characters may be given to players. The Storyteller keeps hold of any Objects, Locations or Features that are introduced as well as the occasional Supporting Character. The Storyteller may not give a Main Character to herself.

Players may include minor elements in a scene at the Storyteller’s prerogative by putting a Story Token back in the Hat. Any player may spend three Story Tokens to swap roles with the Storyteller, making them the new Storyteller. Both players swap all cards and responsibilities and the Tale continues.

Any player may reward another for portraying the Purpose and Tone of one of their cards by giving them a Story Token from the Hat. Even the Storyteller may be rewarded this way.

The Storyteller is given full license to tell the story their own way provided they do not utterly contradict what has gone before. The only exception to this is immediately after swapping positions with the Storyteller where you can change what just happened.

Rule #1: One Hour ‘til Bedtime.
The Tale can only last for one hour before the child you’re telling it to must go to bed. In that time a satisfying story must be told including an appropriate ending. Additionally, the Tale must be told as if telling it to a child.

Rule #2: Once Upon a Time
The Story happens in the past and the Storyteller may only speak in past tense unless she is portraying a character. Only the Storyteller may describe areas or actions out of character, but she must always say so in past tense.

Rule #3: What am I to do?
Players who are not the Storyteller may only speak in character. They must vocalise their intended actions rather than describe them (“I shall go to seek my fortune this very minute. Come, horse!”; “Guards! Take this rapscallion to the dungeons!”; “Villain! I will see you hang! Behold my Sword of Wrath! Have at thee!”; etc.) Soliloquies are perfectly acceptable as fairytale characters often speak to themselves.

Rule #4: That is a story for another day
You do not have to use all of the Story Cards in the Pool. In fact, you might only use a few. Any cards not used during your Tale should be kept and added to your Pool the next time you play. After a time you may end up with a large collection of potential story elements to be used before betime.

Rule #5: And now I’m going to tell it to you…
The next time you get the chance, tell the story to a child. They will let you know whether it was good or not. They’re like that.

Notes for the third collaborator
Hi! Hope you’ve been enjoying the contest so far.

I removed and ignored a lot of what the first writer developed, so much so that this bears little resemblance to what it was. However, you might find some stuff that I removed to be awesome, so I’m going to include all of it as an appendix so that you can judge for yourself.

I really liked the idea of swapping the role of the GM, and I also liked the chip idea. However, I removed the simple dice mechanic and also ditched the idea of Black Chips as these made it seem too much like a competitive game and detrimental to focusing on making a good story.

The whole Tellers, Tangle, Mutes and Backlash concept has legs and maybe you could find a way to bring that back into the centre of the game design, but I just couldn’t find a good hook to it. That’s why I simplified the setting into fairytales, but there’s no reason to leave it there.

Anyway, it’s yours now and I look forward to seeing how you hack into it.

Cheers 

The Tellers 
A game for 2-5 players, a pair of dice, 30 white tokens, 30 black tokens and two bowls
written by XXXX, you and XXXX

Only a few of us know the stuff as reality is made of. Behind the realm of perception and physics the world is made of what we call the Tangle, a labyrinth of words, phrases and conversations. Those who can perceive the Tangle are the Tellers, they have powers which allow them to retell reality. They call the world "the Story" and they call non-tellers "the mutes".
These are powerful abilities and the Tellers are powerful women and men. But these powers are also dangerous, when the Tellers retell reality they must maintain the coherence of the Story, the illusion that everything happens because of physical and social interactions and not because someone is playing with the Tangle. If they don't maintain the coherence of the Story they will create Weirdness, the reality will turn against them trying to erase them. That is why a Teller can never tell a mute about her ability and why she must always mind her language.

If you read this you will probably be the MC, you will organize the play session and you will explain the rules of the game to the other players. During the game you will describe the environment and the actions of most of the characters.
The other players will be the Tellers, each of them will create and play a Teller during the game. Together they'll form a group of Tellers trying to influence the Story.

The Setting
Before playing you will have to decide the setting together. 
In what era do you want to play? Contemporary? Middle-age?
Where do you want to play? In your country? In your town? In a totally different place?
What will be the background in which the Tellers evolve? Will they try to influence the Story of high-finance? Will they try to rules a small country? Will they use there powers to do police work?
What will be the goal of the group? Who will be their allies and their enemies?

Creating a Teller
Choose the name of your Teller. What does she look like? Describe her.

Stats
A Teller has 4 stats, Body (for physical interactions), Mind (for intellectual interactions), Face (for social interactions), Guts (to stay in control). Put one stat at –1, one stat at 0, one stat at 1 and one stat at 2.

Tone
Choose between Funny, Poetic, Sad, Revolting, Heroic or invent a Tone of your own
To gain the energy needed for her powers, a Teller as to match her Tone. She has to match the Story with her Tone.
If another player (it can be the MC) thinks the action or description of the Teller moves the Story in direction of her Tone in a interesting way he can take a white token in the white-tokens bowl and give it to her.

How to play
Every Teller beings with 3 white tokens, the other are put in the white-tokens bowl. All the black tokens are put on the table, next to the black-tokens bowl.
The players describe the actions of their characters, if they want to describe something else they will have to reach the Tangle (see later), the MC describe the reactions of their environment and of the other characters (the Non-Player Characters).
   
If the Teller tries an action and:
*we are not sure of the consequences
*there would be interesting consequences if she fails
*there would be interesting consequences if she succeeds
   
Then the MC asks her to roll 2d6+Stat:
*On a 6-, the MC tells about her failure
*On a 7-9, both the MC and the Teller tell about the consequences
*On a 10+, the Teller tells us about the consequences of her action

Reach the Tangle
By using her white tokens (she puts them back in the white tokens bowl), the Teller can tell part of the Story (in the fiction her character has to talk, a Teller cannot use her powers if she is unable to talk). 

She can:
*describe one element of the environment (1 token)
*describe a fact about a place (1 token)
*describe what happens without describing human action (1 token)
*describing the action of a mute whose name she knows. She has to say the name of the character she wants to control (2 tokens)
*describe the action of a mute whose name she doesn't know. She has to say the name of the character she wants to control (4 tokens)
*describe the action of a Teller whose name she knows, she has to say the name of the character she wants to control but cannot make him kill himself (6 tokens, put 5 black tokens in the bowl)
*switch place with the MC during 10 minutes, she cannot controls her character during this time (5 tokens)
*...

A controlled mute doesn't feel he is controlled by the Tangle but a Teller is. It is a very unpleasant feeling, even painful for some Tellers, to be controlled. A Teller controlled by another Teller knows he is being controlled and by whom. 

Weirdness
When they tell the Story, the Tellers have to maintain the illusion of coherence. They have to be subtle when they reach the Tangle and all what happen to them must seem logical.
If it's not they will generate Weirdness. Every player (even the MC) who thinks that the power of another Teller generates a Story a bit too weird can put a black token in the bowl.
   
The MC can use the black tokens (he puts them out of the bowl) to screw with the Tellers and to introduce supernatural elements in the Story. He can:
*force a Teller to reroll (1 token)
*introduce a supernatural monster in the Story (3 tokens)
*…

The big taboo
If a Teller tries to reach the Tangle to change something that already happened or even if she lies about the past, she'll suffer Backslash. The Story will retroactively change itself to incorporate the modification and by doing so, it will always harm the Teller.
For example, a lying Teller saying her teacher the reason she missed school yesterday was because she had to attempt the funeral of her grandmother will probably cause a death in her family.
A lot of Tellers discover their power by generating an involuntary Backslash.
   
There are rumours about tellers able to retell about the past without generating Backslash.