MacGuffins: Quest for the Lost Spark of Originality.

[EccentricCircle]

in case anyone doesn't know the macguffin is some sort of artefact or object that drives the plot of a story, it is the thing that the villain wants and payers must find, hide or keep from them. like the Titular Ring in the Lord of the Rings, the Grail in the arthurian mythos and the various treasures that drive the plot of an Indiana Jones Movie. not all games have macguffins. but they can be an interesting focal point for a story.

trouble is its one of those things which is both an incredibly useful tool in the DM's arsenal, and totally done to death.

I'm in the process of plotting out a couple of games for down the line. i'm trying to think of some really interesting and original macguffins to use. the trouble is when you spend a lot of time in the DM's chair and are always writing adventures it can be a bit of a pain to keep coming up with new stuff. and the last thing I want to do is copy a popular work of fiction.

so the purpose of this thread is two fold.
1st: does anyone have any sugestions for really cool artefacts that aren't your typical magic ring, enchanted sword or holy amulet, that would be apropriate for a desert setting?

2nd does anyone else need sugestions for Macguffins for their games? if so let us know and maybe this thread can help you too!

[Yora]

Artifacts are means to an end. Your ultimate goal determins what artifact you're chasing after. If you want to make an interesting artifact, first determine for what task it is needed, and then decide what it actually does.

A Mac Guffin in the stricter sense of the word is an object that everyone wants but that doesn't actually do anything. People want it, that's really it's only trait. If it has any potential use for the protagonists or antagonists within the story, it's not a MacGuffin.

[Ravens_cry]

Well, what is the most important thing in a desert? Water. So something that provides water on a vast scale might be appropriate. If you're playing D&D 3.X and derivatives, there is already an item that does this though, so it isn't much of a MacGuffin.

[EccentricCircle]

good points.

at the moments i'm mostly thinking from an asethetic point of view,trying to determine the feel I want this item to have rather than its actual role in the story. to a certain extent I want to base the plot of this game on the artefact rather than the other way around. that way the artefact will be integral to the plot rather than feeling tacked on.

my original thought last night was an hourglass. as that would have the sand element. but I don't think that is very original as there was a movie all about the sands of time recently.

I like the Water suggestion. that is a nice idea. Certainly dekanters of endless water are fairly standard in 3.x as written but that doesn't mean they have to be commonplace. Some sort of chalice that is forever full could be a very interesting idea.

[Yora]

Usually such objects ly burried under the sand, and the whole plot starts with someone learning about its existance and starts looking for it. Unless it's just extremely valuable and will make the owner very rich (which I think is a bit lame for a great story), it's a tool for his greater plans.
The alternative is, that the object is just suddenly there and everyone wants to possess it. Thus starts a long line of cons, ambushes, and betrayals as everyone is constantly bussy stealing it from its current owner. However, even in that case, you should think of an ending or a small number of possible endings beforehand. The artifact breaks and is destroyed because it suffers so much abuse during the constant stealing and re-stealing would be kind of funny, but maybe not a suitable ending for all types of campaign.

[Amnestic]

A magical staff with untold destructive power due to it containing the raging spirits of demons, devils, celestials, archons and more. They're not terribly fond of one another, but they can't kill each other while trapped inside the staff so they're constantly trying to get out. It takes a caster of great skill to even unlock the safeguards on the powers, and one greater still to control them and not have them blow up in his face...like the last guy who tried to use it, who ended up wiping out his entire kingdom in a blazing flash of light that lasted but a moment.

Having recently been unearthed, and it, you know, being an artifiact of untold destructive power, there are more than a few interested people vying for it.

[Ravens_cry]

Maybe there is someone who wishes to destroy it, unknowing that doing so would release said boogies. And of, course, another who wants to use it. Maybe still another faction who wishes to study, and those who wish to hide it. Who the players support changes how the campaign goes. Lot of work on your part, but the players can't say you railroaded them.

[Tyndmyr]

I avoid mcguffins like the plague. Even when items are focal, its for a reason. And a reason better than "the x orbs of y". I especially hate generic one of each element setups.

I've seen way too many plots that appear to be cribbed from a crappy video game.

[Yora]

Maybe there is someone who wishes to destroy it, unknowing that doing so would release said boogies. And of, course, another who wants to use it. Maybe still another faction who wishes to study, and those who wish to hide it. Who the players support changes how the campaign goes. Lot of work on your part, but the players can't say you railroaded them.

That actually sounds a lot like one of the Elder Evils.

[Ravens_cry]

That actually sounds a lot like one of the Elder Evils.

I started with Skies of Glass and Fourth Edition D&D, so my idea of orignal is probably different then many players.

[TheCountAlucard]

Just a thought in reply to the "Decanter of Endless Water" idea - perhaps you could go with the reverse instead: some sort of magic item that causes drought and devastation, even drying up magically-conjured water in a vast area.

The plot could thus revolve around trying to destroy or disenchant said item, or even just to move it to a different location.

[EccentricCircle]

or something that can either provide water, or cause drought depending on how it's used of course... that could be interesting. weather magic played a very large role in the last game in this world, although chances are this next one will have a different set of players.

I like the idea of the Stave of Imprisoned powers, its a very cool idea. that would certainly work well in a highly faction driven game with different people wanting to do different things. a staff has the advantage of portability but i'd probably go for a tomb were I to use that one. the powers have been trapped for an enternity and now people want to let them out. prehaps the good powers deliberately sacrificed themselves to contain the evil ones al a Eberron et al.

as I have said i'm mainly looking for what people's opinions on what is a suitably interesting artefact, rather than plotwriting advice. the plot will ultimately be very player driven, regardless of what the artefact does.

[Drogorn]

It might help if we knew the villain's motivations.

[Mulletmanalive]

A few classics include:

• A message, written in code that is key to two parties but utterly meaningless, lacking context, to the PCs
• A collecion of love letters that could end up causing a revolution but very clearly have no means of controlling it
• The control crystal for a magical dohicky/eldritch device
• The only key to a cellar, wrapped in a map to get there
• Microfilm or the equivalent [nothing needs to be on it, that's actually part of some spy stories]
• A letter of promise tha will allow the bearer to buy into a minor noble house by paying to marry a daughter
• A map to the lost city of god, which has a curse on it
• A dusty old lamp that's actually the key to something...

Note that i've completely avoided any magic items or things that can actually be of much direct use to the PCs. There's another word for plot items that actually participate but TvTroupes and their inaccuracies have obscured it...

[Waker]

You need desert themed macguffins? Sure, change the names as you see fit. They are just the fastest thing I could think of when I read through the topic.

Desert Tyrant's Scale- The scale of an ancient blue dragon who sought to expand his territory. The scale can transform any landscape into a desert. A madman has been reducing whole kingdoms to wastelands, the party must stop him.

Roc Feather Fan- An artifact that can call up enormous sandstorms and reshape the dunes as the wielder sees fit. No army can be sent into the desert to stop a warlord, the party must first destroy the fan.

Infernal Sunstone- A magnificent gem that imprisons a malevolent demon. When the gem is buried in a sand dune the demon can take take on the form of a sand titan under the command of the burier of the gem.

[Cartigan]

For a desert MacGuffin? A map to a secret oasis or a buried city of treasures.

[EccentricCircle]

It might help if we knew the villain's motivations.

at the moment there is no villain. and no actual plot, I just want to base my next game around a powerful artefact but nothing particularly inspiring has sprung to mind so I asked this question to get a rush of good ideas that would set the creative process in motion.

I like the idea of the Roc Feather Fan, the idea of the item that can shape the battlefield is interesting (I apreciate that several people have been saying that macguffins shouldn't be useful i'm not too fussed whether it is or not.)
Fans are a nice item with an eastern feel rather than a western one, so thats a useful host object to consider. reshaping sand could also work with an hourglass. particularly if the players are expecting it to control time instead, that could make a fairly nifty suprise when they learn its true purpose.

[Cartigan]

If it's actually important, it's not a MacGuffin. Classically.

[Fox Box Socks]

If it's actually important, it's not a MacGuffin. Classically.

This. The real definition of a MacGuffin is that it's something that people are looking for. What the MacGuffin is or does doesn't really matter; it can be an object or a person or even an idea. What's important is that people are searching for it, and that the story revolves around the search rather than the object itself.

This is why the Zelda games are not actually about Princess Zelda. Instead, they're about the trials and tribulations of the guy trying to save Princess Zelda.

[Morghen]

A pre-first edition version of Religion X's holy book that would unmask them as blah, blah, blah. Various factions try to retrieve/destroy the book.

The idea of un-deserting the desert is actually pretty cool. Who wants it to stay a desert? Must be something pretty scary/awesome underneath all that sand if somebody went to all that trouble of putting a desert on top of it. They'll definitely want to keep it that way. (Ooooh, they might even be good guys!)


Non-standard "things":
A living tree
An intelligent construct
A pool of water
A rose in a jar (Beauty and the Beast)
A loom
Mud from the bottom of a certain oasis

[Shyftir]

Perhaps the Vault of Powers idea, but not in a staff in a place. The MacGuffin is both the Key and a object of power in its own right. Now make opening the vault not cause destruction so much as change Maybe if you open the vault it will cause the Balance to go pear-shaped. Make it work in such a way that the changes might benefit the players, but perhaps hurt a lot of other people. Total upheaval. Now they have a MacGuffin to hunt, but when they find it they have a decision to make. Use it and change the world, perhaps for the better. Or keep the status quo leaving things basically unchanged. This of course means subjecting your world to the possibility of being changed permanently.

It's the ultimate player agency. The real power to change the world.

[erikun]

The Crystal of Endless Winter, which rests in the depths of the north and are the reason spring never comes that far north

The Crown of the Fae, a circlet which grants its owner the boon of the Sidhe Court

The daughter of the Dragon King, who has not yet become aware of her legacy

A tank, from the future

A spear belonging to the ancestors


This is actually rather difficult. I mean, by definition, a MacGuffin is meaningless. If you want two (or more) people to be fighting or in conflict but have no real reason for them to do so, that's where the MacGuffin comes in. Everyone wants it, and so they scheme and plot and fight to get it.

Even the "MacGuffins" above aren't really MacGuffins when their abilities become relevant. If the BBEG wants to grab the Crown of the Fae to put the Sidhe Court under his command, or wants to charm the daughter of the Dragon King to use her powers when she matures, then they aren't really MacGuffins anymore.

[MidnightOne]

I've used relatively minor-seeming (but in the end very powerful) magic items as the artifact someone else is after. Talk about spreading confusion in the party as to why they're being tracked and harassed...

[nedz]

A trap would make for a pretty unusual McGuffin.

Alternativly if the Fiendish powers have an interest in said item: have a Fiend of Posession get to it first. Hours of fun here; unless you do something silly like turn it into a fight straight away. You could have the FoP use its powers to simulate all manner of things, e.g.: Its an hourglass which allows you to animate objects (actually someone else is doing that), etc.

[Anxe]

Your Macguffin can be a person or a place as well.

[Crossblade]

I'm a fan of using actual Artifacts found in the DMG. It allows the players to know the potential power of the item of desire, and helps conceive circumstances of the villain getting the item or even destroying the item.

Personally, the solo campaign I'm ran with my gf that is on hiatus, had the MacGuffins being the Orbs of Dragon. It'd be very bad if someone could control all and any dragon, eh? (And I fluffed that destroying an orb kills all dragons of that type, so it's a fairly epic circumstances campaign)

For a Desert setting, the blue orb would fit perfectly.

[EccentricCircle]

there are some great ideas comming out of this thread. thankyou to everyone who's been participating.

i've now got the outlines of two basic artefact plots

1) the tomb: involving the sealed evil (and good, though that would be a twist at some point) in the can idea, but with a lost vault rather than an item of some sort. the plot would revolve around tracking down the maps and clues leading to its location before the villain.

2) a longer campaign revolving around several geomantic artefacts with an elemental motif. (appologies to whoever it was said they didn't like elemental motifs...)

• the Chalice of Water: was sugested right at the start. the power to control water would be very useful. though I'm not keen on widespread ecological change (the most powerful spellcasters in this world are of sufficient power that if undesertifying the desert was possible they would have done it by now.) but on a smaller scale it could be the difference between famine and prosperity for a village or small town.
  
• the Hourglass: this would control dust, allowing someone to shape sand and change the dunes. (they would be led to believe that it could control time. this would then turn out not to be the case)
  
• the Fan: this item was originally sugested to have the control of sand idea above with regards to sand storms. I think it would work to have this contorl the Winds themselves. with sandstorms being an added bonus.
  
• the Lamp: that just leaves an item to control fire, which would naturally have to be a lamp.

the four items would each be introduced seperately over the course of a long campaign so it wouldn't immediately be clear that they are a set or even connected. they all have practical utility as magic items. but their world shattering power wouldn't be immediately obvious. (and yes I know this means that they are not technically macguffins. they are artefacts, which is what I want for this game)
whether these four items could be linked to the daemonvault but i'm inclined to leave the two as unrelated campaigns. theres no point cramming all the good ideas into one game after all.

[Slipperychicken]

I'm a fan of using actual Artifacts found in the DMG. It allows the players to know the potential power of the item of desire, and helps conceive circumstances of the villain getting the item or even destroying the item.

Personally, the solo campaign I'm ran with my gf that is on hiatus, had the MacGuffins being the Orbs of Dragon. It'd be very bad if someone could control all and any dragon, eh? (And I fluffed that destroying an orb kills all dragons of that type, so it's a fairly epic circumstances campaign)

For a Desert setting, the blue orb would fit perfectly.

Orbs of Dragon? Allows you to control dragons, eh? Please don't tell me there are seven of these things, each with a different number of stars on them...

DBZ, in case you were wondering.

[Yora]

No, ten. One for each color.

[Amnestic]

No, ten. One for each color.

More if you factor in gem and/or planar dragons