I need a McGuffin

[Baron Opal]

Kinda stuck for creativity.

The heroes have recovered a broken dwarven hammer and the Invulnerable Coat of Arnd from the tomb of an ancient dwarven hero. They have accepted the geas to go forth and smite the hobgoblins of the Black Flame tribe who have held an ancient dwarven citadel for hundreds of years. This is the same tribe that killed the dwarven hero. To further insult the dwarves and the noble Telkerran clan, a shard of the hammer is worn as a talisman and a trophy around the Black Flame chieftan's neck! Oh, the shame!

The party has gotten their beards wet by clearing out an outer outpost of hobgoblins and reclaiming it for some dwarven settlers. This was done to shorten the party's supply line. (Bonus points for that.) They are following an ancient road to another, slightly larger keep. They will probably clear that out fairly easily as well and then they will have some opportunities fto gather some intelligence on the citadel and the hobgoblin's allies.

The hobgoblins, you see, are trying to convince some other monsters that they should ally with them and storm south and take out the dwarves. One of these are a tribe of stone* giants. I want to give the party a chance to discover the negotiations and either foil the negotiations or actually buy off the giants.

What would stone giants want?

* I picked stone giants because they are the most likely, I think, to be swayed either way between dwarves and hobgoblins.

 

[Ydars]

How about if, as part of their arcane religion, stone giants must seek ritual purity each year by entering a sacred flame (The Earthflower) to clense them of all taint. This sacred flame has never been extinguished for over ten thousand years. The problem is, that twenty years ago, one of their tribe, who was cast out for commiting a crime, intentionally snuffed their flame out.

Now they want a fragment of this same Earthflower flame and the only place where the fire has never been extinguished is deep below ground at a volcanic vault. The Giants were originally given the flame from this vault as a gift by another race (Earth elementals) and physically cannot squeeze through the tunnels to get to it: cue the PCs and another adventure.

 

[mudbunny]

Here is another idea: (Note that I am not fully awake, so this may not make sense.)

This tribe is a tribe of giants that, for whatever reason, is strongly attached to the past or to their ancestors. One of the ancestors of the tribe was a great giant who led their tribe in battle against their enemies. While they were waiting for reinforcements, the rest of the warband fell, excpet for him. He fought for days without rest, throwing boulders without interruption to keep the enemy from making it through a mountain pass. The tribe just recently discovered the general location of the battle, and want the PCs to go to the location and bring back an artifact of the giant so that they can give him a proper burial.

Some options that you could use as the McGuffin:

• Helmet he wore;
• Gloves he wore;
• Magical artifact with connection to area of elemental chaos strongly attuned to earth, providing a steady supply of rocks when needed.

 

[Mark]

Maybe the Stone Giants know that the Dwarves have an item that turns rock to mud and they find it sacrilegious and want the item destroyed?

 

[Aramax]

How about a Battle standard that has the beard of the fallen hero on it,the stone giants don't actually want the beard,they just want the standard,but this could lead to all kinds of complications w/ both the giants and the dwaves

 

[Lackhand]

How about a Battle standard that has the beard of the fallen hero on it,the stone giants don't actually want the beard,they just want the standard,but this could lead to all kinds of complications w/ both the giants and the dwaves

Land and riches. The dwarves, when they were ousted from their citadel, ousted the stone giants from the plains where they used to live. The hobgoblins convince the stone giants that, together, they can take back their roaming lands and leave the high heights. Besides, they really like shiny things, and dwarven shiny things are even better. Dwarven slaves are even better than that.

Honor. Stone giants have forgotten that they ever lived where the dwarves once lived, but when a hobgoblin shaman whispers in their (large) ears that he knows where to find the Stones of Bone beneath the council-chambers of the dwarves, their chieftan is intrigued. When the giants go to the Black Flame-held citadel and crack the seals that have held for ages untold, the chamber is empty. Those dwarves must have taken the remains with them when they retreated!
DM's choice whether they really did, or whether the hobgoblins somehow spirited them away... And triple points if there's a bizarre voodoo-ritual involving said bones which is being used to compel the giants, in an ultimately self-defeating spiral of plots

Love. Stone giants have a disproportionate gender ratio of 3 (or more!) men per woman, and moreover, the women have recently been getting sicker and sicker. The hobgoblin shamans offer a cure in the form of a potion made by milking serpents, work that requires small hands and a fair bit of knack. They have sworn that should the stone giants betray them, they'll let their line end then and there, and have forced an uneasy alliance by being very cagey about the precise contents of their medicines.

 

[jcayer]

I would have the Stone Giants request the recovery of an artifact, Headdress of <insert name>, for example. This would set off a race between the party and the hobgoblins. You could do all sorts of fun things depending which group was in the lead, and finish with a big showdown in the chamber the Headdress is in.