[Twilight Time] Bride of Instant Plot Hook - Items I

[Heather Grove]

April 1, 2002 - Bride of Instant Plot Hook - Items! Part I...
Volume 3, Issue 5

This is the Twilight Time zine, the free zine of the Burning 
Void: http://www.burningvoid.com/

Copyright 2002 by Burning Void Publishing and Heather Grove, 
except where noted otherwise. You may forward it via email to 
other people, but only in its entirety - do not alter the 
contents. This copyright notice must go with it. Do not repost or 
reprint by any other means without direct permission.

To subscribe or unsubscribe, or view the archives, visit the 
Twilight Time:
http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime
You can also subscribe by sending an email with a subject of 
"subscribe" (without the quotes) to 
Twilighttime-request at burningvoid.com


Good morning!

...And happy April Fool's Day! It's been a wild three weeks - we 
have four new articles and a review up (check out the site update 
after the article), and things have been hectic around here. We 
hope you're continuing to enjoy the site and zine, and we welcome 
feedback! (heather at burningvoid.com)

Without further ado (although I have that nagging feeling that 
I'm forgetting something - don't you hate that?), on to the article!

Have a great afternoon,
Heather


Ratings:

You can give the Twilight Time Zine a rating on the RPG Gateway 
to let us know how we're doing:
http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=5288

The same goes for the Burning Void RPG resources page:
http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=1392

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Bride of Instant Plot Hook - Wild & Weird Items Part I

More than a year ago we introduced the concept of the "instant 
plot hook" - these are little things that you can drop into your 
game at a moment's notice. They're meant to give your players 
something to do when you've run out of material half-way through 
the night, or when you're having a bout of non-creativity, but 
they can often be expanded into longer, more interesting plots. 
They also have a tendency to go off in weird and unexpected 
directions, since they're designed to be dropped into the game 
without much planning on your part.

Last issue we talked about interesting items you can drop into 
your game that can give the player characters (PCs) something a 
little "special" without unbalancing the game. These are items 
that *aren't* overly powerful or valuable, but have other aspects 
that make them interesting.

This month we're going to combine these two concepts. Provided 
for your amusement and use, instant plot items! Or should that 
be, instant item hooks? Or maybe... oh, right, not all of these 
are entirely "instant." Some of them will need to be worked into 
the structure of your game world a little. Others you can drop in 
and *then* work into your game world. Still others can be used 
entirely randomly.

Note: we're using the same categories of item that we came up 
with in the last issue, mostly so you can easily use this issue 
as a set of illustrative examples as well as a set of actual, 
usable items. As an additional note, remember to detail any 
powers that an item has in the terms of your own game system! If 
you haven't read it yet, you might want to look at last week's 
article, "Fun Items (with Balance!)" first:
http://two.pairlist.net/pipermail/twilighttime/2002/000001.html


Plot-Relevant Items

For obvious reasons this is probably the toughest category to 
give you good, usable examples for. After all, you want to give 
the PCs something that's relevant to *your* plots, not mine. 
Hopefully you can use these as illustrative examples, however - 
things to guide you in coming up with items relevant to your own 
plots. You might also be able to adapt some of the concepts.

#1. Perhaps a tragic death sits at the center of your current 
plot. A prince was killed just before his wedding night by some 
sort of villain, who happened to take the locket given to the 
prince by his betrothed (it was a trophy, the killer needed proof 
that the deed was done, or perhaps the locket just looked 
valuable). In defeating the villain, the PCs get their hands on 
the locket.

The locket has a mirror inside of it. Anyone who gazes into the 
mirror sees the face of their beloved (or, if they have no 
beloved, they see a blank silvery surface that appears to reflect 
nothing). They see their beloved in her current circumstances. 
Although they only see a slight bit of the area around their 
beloved's face, this might allow them to figure out if their 
beloved is in trouble. It might also allow them to see enough of 
the background to figure out where their beloved is.

The prince's beloved might be grateful to the PCs for returning 
the one memento she has of him. Or they could use the locket to 
help someone else in a later plot who wants to find the love of 
his life. If one of the PCs has a beloved, he might find the 
locket directly relevant.

#2. The current plot involves a long-dead madman. Somewhere along 
the way the PCs found a pair of gold-rimmed glasses with a slight 
aura of power to them that used to belong to said madman.

What sort of glasses would a madman want? Ones that helped him to 
see the "truth" of the world (as he saw it)? Ones that allowed 
someone else to see what he saw? Might the visions induced by the 
glasses give the wearer insight into himself, ultimately 
strengthening his will or resolve if he can withstand the truths 
shown him? Perhaps the glasses would show the wearer things that 
are invisible - and hallucinations of things that aren't really 
there. How do you tell the difference? What's real and what isn't?

Whatever the glasses show, it should be relevant to the form the 
man's madness took - not random. It should be helpful to the PCs 
as well as difficult or warping!

#3. Almost any plot involving someone whose life must be saved 
(or whose life was saved in the past) could yield an item with 
healing powers. If a life must be saved, then the item could be 
very narrowly focused (it will only heal wounds caused by cursed 
blades; it will only heal a certain class of poisons; it will 
only heal wounds inflicted by a certain race of people) yet 
extremely useful.

The value would come from what the person whose life needs to be 
saved is willing to do for the party once they save him - a 
valuable alliance could be forged; a favor could be owed. If 
someone's life was saved by the item in the past, then part of 
the value would be the reverence in which it is held by those who 
know of its past. That mystique could rub off on the PCs if they 
have the item; they could be seen in a more favorable light by 
the people whose ruler or hero was saved by the item.


Items Once Owned by a Celebrity

#1. An old and respected member of society was once a great hero 
in his days of youth and strength. He is still approached for his 
counsel and wisdom, although he is too old and frail to take up 
arms. The PCs find the first weapon the hero used, whether a 
handgun or a dagger, axe or sword. It is rough, poor quality, and 
flawed, but lovingly made or cared for.

Carrying or using the weapon might increase a PC's status in 
others' eyes. Some non-player characters (NPCs) might see the 
weapon as a sign that the PC is the heir to the old hero's 
legacy. Or returning the weapon to the old hero might cause him 
to offer the party something out of sheer sentimentality (his 
advice? An introduction to someone else who normally wouldn't 
give them the time of day?). The item also might carry some small 
bonuses to damage or to hit, based on an enchantment that the 
hero had laid upon the weapon.

#2. A twisted and terrible person was once a good man, on his way 
to becoming a hero, in fact. Something made him go bad, and no 
one knows what. In the process of fighting him and his forces, 
the party somehow gets their hands on a simple silver ring. They 
find out that he gave this ring to the woman he planned to marry, 
who died mysteriously and violently before they could be married.

The ring and the woman's tale could lead them to information 
about the villain that could help them to defeat him. Some old 
friend of the villain's could decide to talk to them once shown 
the ring - it could be a reminder to him that something needs to 
be done. Or showing the villain himself the ring could distract 
him just long enough with his memories to allow the PCs to defeat 
him. Perhaps the woman's ghost is connected to the ring, and she 
would be willing to help the PCs if they convinced her that they 
didn't actually want to *hurt* the villain.

#3. April Fool's: A PC gets his hands on an old top hat that once 
belonged to an excellent stage magician (no one knows exactly 
what happened to him - he disappeared in a puff of smoke after a 
show one night). The hat has the wonderful property that as long 
as someone wears it he cannot be tied up or shackled - any such 
devices simply fall away from his wrists, ankles, and so on 
exactly ten minutes after he is bound.

After the first few times he wears it, however, something strange 
will happen every time the PC removes the hat. Real flowers will 
tumble out over his head. A rabbit will be sitting on his head. A 
handful of fireflies will fly out of the hat. Streamers or 
confetti will shoot out of the hat and over the wearer's head. 
Occasionally one of the surprises might even be a little bit 
dangerous.

All the wearer has to do is keep the hat on his head. Which is 
easy to do, right? Until a strong wind comes along, or someone 
takes offense at the fact that the wearer hasn't respectfully 
removed his hat! And then there's the matter of taking it off to 
sleep...


Historically Relevant Items

For obvious reasons these will overlap a bit with the last 
category - celebrity-related items - since historical events are 
often intimately wrapped up with the people involved with them.

#1. Many years ago a revolution occurred (there's always a 
revolution). This particular one wasn't successful. The 
mastermind of said revolution (now a martyr, of course) had 
adopted a particular symbol as the sign of his movement. In fact, 
he'd had that symbol cast in gold and inlaid with some sort of 
precious stone. Or maybe there are words in an odd, alien-looking 
script across the back. Maybe he didn't design the symbol at all 
- he used it because he found the item somewhere.

This item can have several layers of significance. If there are 
people around who still wish to revolt, and who still think of 
this man as a martyr, then the symbol could provide something for 
people to rally around. If the symbol existed before the 
revolutionary, then maybe it gradually shapes its wielder into a 
revolutionary by causing him to see actions of the government in 
the most negative light possible - a mild twisting of the senses. 
You could add in a little something nice to balance that out, 
like an increase in the wielder's ability to attract followers to 
his cause (an increase to a Leadership skill or a Charisma-type 
ability).

#2. The PCs uncover a hand-written book - the actual accounting 
of what happened during some mysterious event in history, written 
by someone who was there at the time. It could give valuable plot 
clues; it could simply fulfill the players' curiosity if you've 
built up a great mystery around this event. It could tell the PCs 
where something valuable is hidden, or how to use some technology 
that no one understands any more. It might contain hints that 
could guide the PCs in creating rituals that have been lost for 
centuries.

These sorts of books make great plot hooks, but try to make the 
book an interesting item in its own right! If you have way too 
much spare time on your hands, you might even pick up a nice 
blank book from a book store and fill it in.

#3. The PCs find that a certain ancient tree in a forest nearby 
was the first tree ever planted in their part of the world, when 
the area was colonized or settled some centuries ago. The 
significance of this depends on the type of world you run. If 
there are spell-casters who use material components, then perhaps 
parts of this tree substituted for similar components might have 
unusual and beneficial effects on spells (they might inflict, 
reduce, or heal slightly more damage than usual, increase the 
range of effect or number of people affected, or have even 
stranger effects).

If herbalism is a skill, then perhaps the leaves, bark, or roots 
have unusual (but not spectacular) healing abilities, or can be 
used to magnify the effects of other herbal preparations. 
Alternatively, the town or colony's founders might have buried 
something important in the tree's roots. Or the tree could house 
a spirit that watches over the town - perhaps that spirit sleeps 
now, but it could be woken if the town were ever in great danger.


Personally Relevant Items

#1. A PC inherits her mother's wedding band. As long as she has 
it the spirit of her mother will watch over her in little ways. 
This ghost cannot entirely interact with the real world, but she 
can move very small objects, and uses this to try to warn her 
daughter of dangers or help her in other ways. It's a little like 
having a weak guardian angel.

#2. A PC is given a weapon handed down in her family through many 
generations. It has strange powers, but those powers work 
differently for each wielder, so her parent cannot tell her how 
it works. Such powers might take the form of visions regarding 
people she must help, or a berserker battle-frenzy that allows 
her to stay standing past the normal point of unconsciousness in 
battle. It should be something related to her own personal hopes, 
dreams, and abilities.

#3. Upon completing training with a particularly harsh taskmaster 
of a teacher, a PC is given a token by the teacher. This token 
could take the form of a ring, a pendant, pin, brooch, torque, 
circlet, or any other small and mysterious item that is worn on 
the body. The PC is told only that the item is a symbol of his 
achievement during his training. However, if a significant amount 
of the wearer's own blood is ever spilled on the item (for 
example, during a fight the wielder is injured and bleeds on the 
ring he wears), some sort of protective effect springs up around 
the wielder.

Depending on the system, the wielder becomes more difficult to 
hit, or the first couple of hit points or health levels of any 
blow dealt to him doesn't affect him, or something similar. 
Define the amount of blood that must be spilled in terms of hit 
points or health levels (or whatever your system uses) dealt to 
the PC in one blow. Yes, this does mean that if he ever figures 
the amount out he can activate the effect by deliberately 
injuring himself - keep that in mind when deciding how effective 
it is!

Join us next time when we finish off our list of spiffy items.

Related Articles:
The Instant Plot Hook:
http://www.burningvoid.com/pipermail/void/2001q1/000009.html
Creepy Plot Hooks:
http://www.burningvoid.com/pipermail/void/2001q1/000015.html
Fun Things to Hand Out (That Won't Unbalance Your Game!):
http://two.pairlist.net/pipermail/twilighttime/2002/000001.html


What's Your Opinion?:

Comments on this issue's topic? Suggestions? Tips? Special topic 
requests? Drop me a line at (heather at burningvoid.com). If I pass 
any of your suggestions on (either through the newsletter or the 
RPG resources page), I'll attribute them to you. Be sure to tell 
me if you don't want me to use your name and/or comments!


Next Issue:

Item-Hooks Part II! Yet more wild & weird items for your games. 
Coming in just a few weeks (late April).

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

SITE UPDATE:

Burning Void Roleplaying Resources:
http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/resources.html

http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Reviews/0302-1.html
Jeffrey Howard's review of "Rage Across Egypt," a region 
sourcebook for White Wolf's "Werewolf: the Apocalypse" that's 
packed chock full with 120% of the USRDA of plot hooks!

http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/ms/essay/rpgwrite12.html
What it's like to write for the RPG industry 12: Getting your 
game published!
I guess this article has been a long time coming, judging by all 
the emails I get asking about the subject. First we talk a little 
about the state of the industry with respect to publishing your 
game. Then we move on to a few things you should think about 
before trying to get your game published. Finally, a few thoughts 
on your publishing options and some places you can go for more 
information.

http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/beyondability.html
Players Playing Characters IV: Playing Beyond Ability
How to help your players play the characters they love - even if 
their characters are smarter or more charming than they are!

http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/playercomm.html
How to Get Along with Your Gaming Group
I've written plenty of articles for GMs on accommodating player 
preferences and getting along with their players. It's only fair 
that I take a look at things from the other side...

http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/mental5.html
Mental Illness in Roleplaying V: Treatment and Stress
More themes, topics and plot hooks for GMs and players who want 
to explore the subject of mental illness within roleplaying games.

Don't worry - we haven't finished the "Game Worlds Designed for 
Roleplaying" series of articles. The next article will come out soon.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
(Trademarks are property of their respective holders and are used 
for identifying purposes only.) When we get long press releases 
we only excerpt a couple of paragraphs; check out the provided 
URLs for more information.

 From a Guardians of Order press release:
http://www.guardiansorder.com/
GUARDIANS OF ORDER LAUNCHES CREATOR-OWNED IMPRINT: MAGNUM OPUS

Guardians Of Order, Inc. proudly announced today the formation of 
Magnum Opus, their new creator-owned role-playing game publishing 
imprint.  The new line, which Guardians Of Order will produce, 
distribute, and administer on behalf of their creative partners, 
will feature core rulebooks and game supplements developed under 
license for the critically acclaimed Tri-Stat System.

Three new game companies - La Mancha Games, Phile, and Primal 
Utterings - concurrently declared their intentions to produce 
products for the Magnum Opus imprint.  Guardians Of Order also 
announced that they are currently negotiating with several other 
companies to publish Magnum Opus titles in 2003.


 From a Hogshead Publishing Press Release
CORRUPTING INFLUENCE:
THE BEST OF WARPSTONE Volume One
http://www.hogshead.demon.co.uk/
http://www.warpstone.darcore.net/

Warpstone, the independent magazine for Warhammer Fantasy 
Roleplay, is pleased to announce the release of Corrupting 
Influence: The Best of Warpstone Volume One.

Corrupting Influence gathers together the best articles, 
background, fiction and scenarios from issues 1-9 of Warpstone 
magazine. These early issues were originally published between 
1996 and 1998, but are long sold-out and exchange hands for over 
twenty-five times their original price. "With such demand, we 
couldn't say no to requests to reprint the early material. With a 
few years' distance and the ever-increasing popularity of 
Warhammer FRP, it seemed an excellent time to revisit these 
issues," co-editor John Foody observed.


 From an ISSARIES, INC. PRESS RELEASE
Oakland, CA
March 18, 2002
http://www.glorantha.com/products/1001.html

As some of you know from the GAMA Trade Show last week or the 
Issaries, Inc. web site, Hero Wars 2nd edition is no more. 
HeroQuest is back!

Issaries, Inc. proudly presents
HeroQuest, Roleplaying in Glorantha
A new game by the Grand Masters of Roleplaying

HeroQuest, Roleplaying in Glorantha is the culmination of 27 
years of design, creation, and revision. Says president Stafford, 
"For 27 years I've said it would be out 'next year.' Well, now it 
is next year. HeroQuest will be released 'this year,' after it 
goes through the entire editorial process. I am excited to 
finally have this ready for the world."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Advertiser Instructions:

If you wish to have an advertisement appear in this newsletter, 
please email  <support at burningvoid.com> to come to an 
arrangement. We're also willing to print several small 
one-paragraph RPG-related news announcements for free each issue. 
(We reserve the right to refuse any ad or announcement.)

Privacy Policy:

We do not sell or give out your information. We will never ever 
hand out your email addresses (or any other information that we 
somehow end up with), barring a court order to do so.

Unsubscribe:

The Burning Void Roleplaying Resources Newsletter is entirely 
voluntary and opt-in ONLY. If you are receiving this directly 
from us and you did not sign up for this newsletter then 
something is wrong! Please use the unsubscribe instructions 
below. If that does not work, let us know right away at 
<support at burningvoid.com>.

In order to unsubscribe, visit
http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime
sign in (if you've forgotten your password, the system can email 
it to you), and follow the instructions. Or, send an email with a 
subject of "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) to 
twilighttime-request at burningvoid.com