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View Full Version : DM Help Forgotten Realms: Contraband and Smugglers



Zhorn
2019-07-20, 09:43 AM
One of my players has picked a smuggler (criminal background) and I'm wanting to use it. Seems a good way to give the party a reason to travel to a particular town.
So I need ideas on things they could be tasked with smuggling.
Preference for items that the party will be more interested in delivering to the targeted destination than just taking for themselves.

I'll start with an example to get the ball rolling:

Unicorn Ivory: A shady dealer in Neverwinter needs someone to sneak a parcel of unicorn ivory out of town and deliver it to the Arcane Brotherhood in Luskan.

Edit: for clarification; I'm looking for suggestions that would be settings appropriate for the Forgotten Realms. Not wacky hijinx or lol-random encounter fuel (I do that elsewhere :smalltongue:).
This is for the serious side of the setting, for organised crime and understandably restricted trades.

NRSASD
2019-07-20, 09:52 AM
Take a look at this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?544111-101-Crates-in-a-Smuggler-s-Hold)we did a while back. Should be pretty easily reworked into something usable!

Koo Rehtorb
2019-07-20, 09:58 AM
Halfling feet. They're known to bring the owner good luck.

LibraryOgre
2019-07-20, 11:12 AM
Dragon body parts... scales, teeth, claws. If your party is a bit less wholesome, make sure they're metallic dragons.

People. This could be an extraction (i.e. "I need to get out of Baldur's Gate on the Guild will kill me!"), a kidnapping, or it could be discretely moving slaves around.

Religious relics. Not necessarily Relics, but relics... smuggling holy symbols of forbidden gods into a city would be a good place to start.

Unknown package that is not to be opened under any circumstances.

GunDragon
2019-07-21, 11:00 PM
A magical bomb that not only causes massive destruction, but leaves an Anti-Magic Zone in its wake. Blast radius is up to you.

Algeh
2019-07-22, 12:44 AM
One of my players has picked a smuggler (criminal background) and I'm wanting to use it. Seems a good way to give the party a reason to travel to a particular town.
So I need ideas on things they could be tasked with smuggling.
Preference for items that the party will be more interested in delivering to the targeted destination than just taking for themselves.

I'll start with an example to get the ball rolling:

Unicorn Ivory: A shady dealer in Neverwinter needs someone to sneak a parcel of unicorn ivory out of town and deliver it to the Arcane Brotherhood in Luskan.

Edit: for clarification; I'm looking for suggestions that would be settings appropriate for the Forgotten Realms. Not wacky hijinx or lol-random encounter fuel (I do that elsewhere :smalltongue:).
This is for the serious side of the setting, for organised crime and understandably restricted trades.

Political /scandalous documents can be a good choice for something the PCs can't just decide to craft into magic items instead of delivering.

nweismuller
2019-07-22, 12:59 AM
Smuggling very frequently did not transport anything inherently forbidden; one of the most common class of items smuggled is anything that has high taxes laid upon it in the legal trade. Carrying in wine or cloth that has never been subject to the loving inspection of the revenue men could be a possibility.

Tvtyrant
2019-07-22, 01:35 AM
Antiquities would be the classic D&D answer. Magic items and golems dug up from elsewhere and sold despite the danger to the owners.