The world loves a mystery. More importantly, it loves watching someone else stumble into one. As outlined in the last two posts, in The Feed, the player characters are content creators in the near future, broadcasting every investigation through augmented-reality body mods that stream directly to an audience hungry for the next unexplained event. Most stories have an ordinary explanation. Some don’t. The trick is surviving long enough to find out which is which, while making sure enough people are still watching when you do.

I’m definitely thinking of this Genre Setp as a 12A or 15-certificate version of Scooby-Doo. Amateur investigators chase haunted fairgrounds, abandoned hospitals, cursed houses and conspiracy theories, hoping for the next viral moment. They are not detectives. They are certainly not heroes. They simply know that awkward situations make good viewing figures.

Yes, this is pretty much what every Sanction Genre Setup amounts to (and The Dee Sanction before it). So, sue me! The underdog is a lot easier to write about and get into trouble.

Lifepath

Along with their Resources, set using the standard method from the Sanction Core, characters begin by rolling (or choosing) a Purpose, Struggle and Influence, selecting their Abilities from each (again, using the usual method of any three from the eight).

Purpose

What do you create? What’s the focus of your influencer channel?

d10	Purpose	Skills
1	Tech Reviewer	Computer (Use), Electronics, Deception
2	Fashion Creator	Style, Perform (Catwalk), Persuasion
3	Health & Fitness Coach	Sport (Flexibility)*, Pharma, Discipline
4	Travel Vlogger	Navigation, Observation, Survival (Urban)
5	Food Critic	Connoisseur, Appraisal, Barter
6	Maker	Mechanics, Craft (type), Rework
7	Gaming Streamer	Computer (Games), Puzzling, Perform (Commentary)
8	True Crime	Criminology, Security Devices, Sport (Balance)*
9	Wildlife Explorer	Animal Handling, Survival (Wild), Tracking
10	Urban Explorer	Stealth, Surveil, Climbing

Struggle

What embarrassment of your early life or online career can you never be certain you have erased?

d10	Struggle	Skills
1	An embarrassing viral clip	Blather, Farming, Perform (Clowning)
2	A disastrous live stream	Sport (Endurance)*, Gourmand, Deception
3	Cancelled for an old opinion	Debate, Bureaucracy, Nostalgia
4	Caught faking content	Art (Counterfeit), Sleight of Hand, Bluff
5	Public family feud	Surveil, Intimidation, Accountancy
6	Failed sponsorship scandal	Commerce, Appraisal, Persuasion
7	A conspiracy theory gone wrong	Urban Legends, Influence, Traffic Analysis
8	Accidental property damage	Demolition, Parkour, Stage Fighting
9	A disastrous collaboration	Leadership, Petty Theft, Motivate
10	The meme that won’t die	Art (choose type), Concealment, Frustrate

Influence

Who inspired you? You probably namecheck their influence on you whenever you want to grab attention or tug on the heartstrings of your followers. They probably exist or they could be a fabrication.

d10	Influence	Skills
1	A retired investigative journalist	Provocation, Street Smart
2	A practical grandparent	Hand Crafting, Preparedness
3	Your science teacher	Sport (Coordination)*, Science (choose type)
4	A local historian	History, Architecture
5	Your paramedic sibling	First Aid, Reassurance
6	A conspiracy podcaster	Occult, Infiltration
7	A park ranger	Hunting, Calm Animal
8	A theatre performer	Perform (Acting), Impersonate
9	An ex-police detective	Interview, Apprehend
10	A documentary filmmaker	Photography, Perform (Storytelling)

* Sport, in this instance, breaks down into types by the dominant demand of the pursuits: Endurance, Strength, Power, Speed, Agility, Coordination, Balance, Precision, Flexibility, and Reaction.

Resources and Audience

The three Resources describe how a creator succeeds when the cameras are rolling.

Charm reflects personality, confidence and the ability to hold an audience’s attention. It carries interviews, performances, negotiations and those moments where talking your way through a situation is better than running.

Reach represents followers, contacts, sponsorships and the wider network surrounding a successful channel. Reach opens doors, uncovers information and brings exactly the right person into the comments at the right moment.

Burden is everything success leaves behind: public mistakes, obsessive fans, old controversies and the pressure of living your life online. It helps because the internet never forgets and you can always twist that in your favour given the right moment and leverage to do so.

Every Challenge tests one of these Resources. Success means your preparation, personality and online presence carry you through. Faltering tends to mean you succeed and maybe it comes across as too easy or false, and it complicates things. Maybe you achieve your success in a way that hints at your Struggle or suggests you don’t live true to your words. Complications threaten the viewers losing interest and your Audience slips.

Remember that Audience is a shared gauge for the current stream. Group Audience rises when the group uncovers compelling evidence, captures dramatic footage or keeps viewers engaged through upset, mayhem, threat or emotional breakdown.

If group Audience ever reaches zero, everyone tunes out. The sponsors disappear, the comments stop scrolling and the stream dies.

Funfair of Forgotten Smiles

By way of a suggestion for an adventure, their always something going on at the local fairground, right? An abandoned travelling funfair has stood silent for years after a string of serious accidents. Rumours claim the grounds are haunted, and every few months another urban explorer vanishes after posting footage from inside.

The investigation points towards the security company responsible for protecting the site, an increasingly aggressive developer eager to buy the land, and descendants of the family who once owned the attraction. Somewhere beneath the rusting rides lies the truth—perhaps the proceeds of a century-old robbery, perhaps evidence that would settle a long-forgotten inheritance dispute.

Most mysteries have a rational explanation, but the best ones should leave a little doubt for the audience to argue about in the comments. And engagement keeps your Audience.

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What does Reach mean in your experience? I look forward to reading about it in your RPGaDay post.

#RPGaDAY2026