D&D 5E in search of inspiration

[pukunui]

If in doubt... Random Tables!

Know where I can find a random table of "tests to prove your worthiness"?

 

[Bawylie]

Know where I can find a random table of "tests to prove your worthiness"?

http://blessingsofthedicegods.blogspot.com/p/dungeon-dozen-fan-index.html?m=1

 

[pukunui]

http://blessingsofthedicegods.blogspot.com/p/dungeon-dozen-fan-index.html?m=1

Awesome site. Have bookmarked it for future reference. Unfortunately, the one table it doesn't appear to have is "random tests of worthiness".

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

Test of worthiness:

What virtue above all others does this noble house venerate?
Honour? Valour? Piety?

The test needs to show that the PC espouses this virtue.
Honour? She can be stumped by a riddle or some such and an npc delivers a "cheat" - a Kobayashi Maru. She wins the test IF she accepts that she is not good enough to pass the test. If she accepts the cheat she fails, even though she wins if that makes sense.

 

[pukunui]

What virtue above all others does this noble house venerate?
Honour? Valour? Piety?

The test needs to show that the PC espouses this virtue.

Good idea. This is something I can actually get my player to help with. (I can't tell her any of the other details or that would spoil the surprise. Normally I'd bounce things off my wife, as well, but she's actually playing in this campaign, so I can't tell her everything either.)

EDIT: OK, she says her family's main value is "justice". What is a good test of justice? It could be something as simple as one of those moral quandaries or something, I suppose.

 

[wedgeski]

EDIT: OK, she says her family's main value is "justice". What is a good test of justice? It could be something as simple as one of those moral quandaries or something, I suppose.

The old "scales of justice" quandary? Letter of the law vs. spirit of the law.

 

[pukunui]

The old "scales of justice" quandary? Letter of the law vs. spirit of the law.

That sounds good. Got any examples?

EDIT: I think I've found something good in an old EN World thread! Here:

I always liked the questions in the old Ultima IV CRPG. They were used by the game to determine the PC's class, but you might be able to adapt one or more of these specifically to the PC's.

Compassion vs. Justice:
After 20 years thou hast found the slayer of thy best friends. The
villain proves to be a man who provides the sole support for a young
girl. Dost thou A) spare him in Compassion for the girl; or B) slay him
in the name of Justice?

Valor vs. Justice:
Thou hast been sent to secure a needed treaty with a distant Lord. Thy
host is agreeable to the proposal but insults thy country at dinner.
Dost thou A) Valiantly bear the slurs; or B) Justly rise and demand an
apology?

Justice vs. Sacrifice:
During a pitched battle, thou dost see a fellow desert his post,
endangering many. As he flees, he is set upon by several enemies. Dost
thou A) Justly let him fight alone; or B) Risk Sacrificing thine own
life to aid him?

Justice vs. Honor:
Thou hast sworn to do thy Lord's bidding in all. He covets a piece of
land and orders the owner removed. Dost thou A) serve Justice, refusing
to act, thus being disgraced; or B) Honor thine oath and unfairly evict
the landowner?

Justice vs. Spirituality:
Thou dost believe that virtue resides in all people. Thou dost see a
rogue steal from thy Lord. Dost thou A) call him to Justice; or B)
personally try to sway him back to the Spiritual path of good?

Justice vs. Humility:
Unwitnessed, thou hast slain a great dragon in self defense. A poor
warrior claims the offered reward. Dost thou A) Justly step forward to
claim the reward; or B) Humbly go about life, secure in thy self-
esteem?

That could work really well because it's not presenting the PC with a single, no-win moral dilemma. It's a series of questions designed to gauge how much she thinks in terms of being just, but there aren't really any "wrong" answers. There are six questions - I'd say as long as she answers "justice" for at least three of them, that will count as a success. I might rephrase them to make them a little less obvious, though.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

Are they Lawful Anal? By which I mean, Letter of the Law, Judge Dredd style devotees of Justice with a capital J; or are they more concerned with that which is just, a more nebulous and open to interpretation approach?
Could it be that the family's progenitor established the Rule of Law waaay back, and since then they have become rigid in their punctiliousness? In which case perhaps the test is whether the PC can help bring the spirit of the law back to those who only understand the letter.
Ooh...
Thought.
She herself had to pass judgement on...herself. The sentence is to have her right hand chopped off. She must sentence herself and if she does, the magic heirloom weapon will work as if she had a ghostly invisible still-attached hand.
Makes it unique to her!

 

[sleypy]

I find inspiration from a lot of difference sources like others have said, but one of my favorite sources is to take two dissimilar concepts or quotes and come up with ideas to make them connect. Like I saw one of those inflatable air dances that they have at car dealerships and thought how could I make something as ridiculous as that scary.

A GM friend had run an adventure that was using a quipu, knot-calendar. The knot calendar was a dangerous artifact that was capable of opening portals.

After bouncing the two ideas around in my head, I came up with the idea that there was an NPC that had gotten his hands on a quipu artifact. He learned to use it to teleport through flat canvas surfaces. After prolonged use, the calendar started to warp his mind and stretching and unraveling his body.

I guess my point is that taking unrelated or conflicting ideas and thinking about ways to warp them into something more interesting can also be a source of inspiration.

 

[DMSunshie]

I've no particular source of inspiration and I'm a game designer. More often than not, I have the best ideas either when I'm taking a bath, sitting on the toilet or lieing in bed and can't sleep. These situations have no source of inspiration, they are just situation where I have nothing better to do and nothing else to worry about, so my mind is more free.

That being said inspiration can come from anything. You don't need to read books to get inspired for a P&P game. A single fantasy picture can be enough to get your brain cell start to think of a whole world or story. The story will be fleshed out as you go.

Many of my ideas also come from playing games or watching a movie. Especially when they are like "It could have been good if not for all these flaws", then my brain starts rattering and imagining how to get rid of the flaws while keeping the strong points.

Occassionally I also let myself just being inspired from a community. Like I take all the suggestions and wishes I ever got and make a game that's basically made only from these.

I'm with you on this, I usually start with an idea from a picture I've seen and build a story around a monster/character drawing (not always from D&D, DeviantArt Fantasy Art works well.) and then agonize over how to fit it into my current plot.
Inspiration always strikes me about 15 minutes into a shower, though.

thalmin also offers some great advice.

Inspiration is everywhere!