What grabbed me about the contest, was the theme: Journey.  I was instantly reminded of the Ribbon Drive game I played with Joe, Justin and Zach last year at Gen Con. Four kids just out of high school going on a road trip together to say goodbye.  It was crazy powerful.  We changed, our relationships changed, our beliefs changed.  It was a central theme of the game (giving up your old beliefs) and it's the chief mechanical inspiration for my entry.

Working title: Burning Your Skin

Setting: Desert Culture, small tribes nestled around any water source they can find, only there is never enough.
Situation: A right of passage, becoming an adult means leaving the protection of your clan to find the lost city.  The last city, and legend speaks of its bounty.  Go forth children, burn your skin in the unforgiving desert and learn what it means to be a man or woman.

Mechanics.

There are three things I care about in a journey. 

Hope - Beyond the mission (finding the lost city, becoming an adult, etc) what do you want to see or do on this journey?  Will that hope be accomplished or squashed?
Fear - Outside what you know the world is full of danger and opportunity, what do you fear finding? Will you confront that fear or run from it?
Trust - What do you believe is true, believe so much it is a part of you? Your experience will change when you travel, new thoughts, new ideas, new culture. What change will this have on your beliefs?

Here is the limiting factor to put pressure on the discovery.  This is a pacing and urgency mechanic.  So long as the characters are making discoveries about their hope, fear and trust, it isn't necessary. But when there is a lull, someone has hit a wall, or the mood is becoming to cerebral, here is the mechanic to keep them moving

Burning your skin - The desert is very real and it will be done with you regardless of whether or not you're ready for it.  Very similar to the Fate track from Agon.  Once your skin is burned (i.e. all the check boxes are filled) you will be an adult and your journey (complete or not) is over.  Each box will be marked as a result of an encounter (raiders, running out of water, a sand storm, animal attack, child birth, a camel dies, heat exhaustion, etc). 

The encounters should then dovetail back into reflection, to address the hope, fear and trust.

When your skin is burned, the city is found, it's contents a matter of the epilogue and a reflection of what your learned.  Is the world a horrible place full of selfish people?  Perhaps the city is ruined.  Is the desert populated by people who have found away to exist despite all odds? Perhaps the city is humble and broken but provided enough sustenance for the journey home.

Inspirations:

Movies: Six-String Samurai, Matrix

Games: Agon, Ribbon Drive

Looks interesting.  Coming of age stories are always fun to play because of the range of options.

buffaloraven wrote:
Looks interesting.  Coming of age stories are always fun to play because of the range of options.

Here's the google doc of Burning Your Skin as its developing: https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1S7q-HquSI_dJrq2icjzSimIKhP9E0-Ad_9FMbIqlygg&hl=en