D&D 5E CoS, The Toy Collector Side Quest Idea

[TenkayCrit]

As a DM reading through the Curse of Strahd once more, I noticed just how often I'm reading the phrase "Is no fun, is no Blinksky." Since CoS is a big sandbox, why not throw in the staple of a sandbox style video game: the epic scale collection side quest. The Blinksky toys would be the perfect collectable item for this. Just add some crazy NPC in one of the towns that claims to be "Blinksky's BIGGEST fan." They could pay the PC's top dollar for the toys by claiming something like "no one besides me understands Blinksky's art, therefor no one else deserves his art!" This NPC would really play up the obsessive crazy fan role. This could possibly culminate in the NPC having a massive amount of toys and when they get a certain amount of toys (anyone know how many there are in Barovia?) they get some kind of big reward like a magic item or something flavored to be related to Blinksky, like a prototype toy that can be used as a construct companion or something.

What do you guys think? Do you think this would be a fun side addition to CoS?

 

[5Shilling]

That does sounds like fun! (maybe for added creepiness/adorableness in equal measure make the fan one of the children that the party encounter). Go for it

There's certainly something about Blinsky... why are his toys so monstrous? Why are so many of them apt? Maybe he's unknowingly got the Second Sight (like Madam Eva) but instead of using tarokka he instinctively tells fortunes through the toys he makes. What kind of toy would he make for the party?

 

[evilbob]

Personally, I find the "collect every last one" achievement quests in video games to be torture. I think they're included in video games because it's an easy way to reuse assets and pad the length of the game - neither of which are really concerns in D&D. But if the idea sounds fun to you, why not? As the above poster said, maybe try to flesh out the collector character more, if nothing else to better distinguish this from an obvious side quest.

 

[MechaPilot]

If you want to go for a really strange tie-in, make him the toymaker who made the box from Hellraiser.

 

[Jester David]

I like the idea as a concept, but there should be a better reason than just "get to 100%" or "because this comedy relief quest giver wants them." There needs to be a story behind the request, preferably one that that's dark and horrific.

Maybe all the metal bits of the dolls were made from recycled ore. Perhaps repurposed from a length of chain purchased cheaply. But the chain was enchanted chain wrapped around the body of a murderer - a serial killer - drowned in the lake, which also chained their soul. But Vistani found the chain and sold part of it and now the murderer's ghost is free. But it won't rise until the anniversary of its death, so there's time to get the metal, reforge the chain, and return it to the body. But the toys need to be gathered first.

 

[Erik Westmarch]

I like it, assuming your players are interested in a collection quest like that. They're not to everyone's taste, but if it floats their boat, it's fun.

I would do a couple things.

One, sure, a nice big reward once they've got a certain number of toys would be great. Since this NPC is a collector, maybe they collected something else before they started collecting Blinksy toys, and once they have the Blinksy collection their old collection is no longer of interest to them. It might be something very setting-specific, such as journal entries written by Barovians and travelers who encountered Strahd. There could be clues in their for the PCs. Or, you know, just a small toy chest of holding.

Two, make sure you have an explanation for why you can't just commission Blinksy to make replacement toys to fill out the collection. (Blinksy certainly needs the business) Maybe the collector believes, rightly or wrongly, that Blinksy only makes a few "special" toys each year, and the collector only wants the special ones. (Whatever this special quality is, it's not something that Blinksy can reproduce on demand)

Three, drop clues that something is ... off. As the collector gets more of the toys, the toys start to look more aware of their surroundings. That clown is watching you. Did the monkey just move? etc.

Four, some time after the collection quest is complete, the collector turns up dead with all his skin missing. Although it may take some time for the PCs to figure it out, what happened is that the "special" toys have a spark of whatever magic is in golems, and when they all came together the combined magic was enough to come alive. The toys joined together, Voltron style, killed the collector, and put on his skin like a suit. They're now wandering Barovia with an unknown purpose.

 

[I'm A Banana]

If you want to go for a really strange tie-in, make him the toymaker who made the box from Hellraiser.

HA! You know, since I used a Clive Barker quote in my backgrounds document, that might be worth it...

 

[Imaculata]

Such a collection quest could be fun, but there should also be a good reward for it, and not just after getting 100%. You could give a reward for each couple of toys that are delivered. And there could be an extra challenge in acquiring hard to get toys, that are kept by npc's that guard them well. Maybe important npc's in the story happen to also have one of the toys on display, and acquiring it is an optional side objective. Sometimes the toy may need to be stolen, and sometimes it might need to be traded for something else, or it may require a mini quest before the npc gives it to the players.

 

[GlassJaw]

Or what if something really bad happens when all the toys are collected in one place?!?! Like a toy golem forms and goes on a rampage a la the Stay-Puft marshmallow man.

Maybe Blinksy is cursed in some way and the only way to break the curse is to put some of the "bad mojo" into each toy he makes. The curse weakens as its power is siphoned off and placed into the dolls. But the toys must be purchased by a willing person so they can't simply be given away.

Maybe a little convoluted (totally riffing off the top of my head) but I really want to unleash a toy golem on unsupecting players.

 

[Agamon]

I once did a "this npc will help you, but you need to do this for him first" quest. The players groaned, saying, "What is this, a video game?"

I try to not structure my game anything like CRPGs anymore.