Slap my macguffin around

[EricNoah]

We should come up with a master list of things PCs can do with macguffins. Could be used as a kind of plot generator. I'll start off (some of these plots might seem very familiar).

Carry a long-missing macguffin across hostile territory and destroy the macguffin in the big bad guy's back yard.

Help create a macguffin that can be used to destroy the big bad guy.

Carry the macguffin into the big bad guy's lair and present it to him -- he can't stand its presence and dies.

The macguffin turns out to not be valuable in itself, but contains a piece of vital information.

The macguffin turns out not to be an object but is a person.

Research the location of the macguffin, find it before your rivals do, learn something from it, and return it to an obscure location so others can't find it.

Add more!

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

OK, now seems the perfectly good time to ask: WTH is a MacGuffin, and where does the name come from?

Thanks in advance.

AR

 

[Henry]

Alfred Hitchcock coined the term, and it means "a plot device that is central to the moving of the plot in the story." It could be a suitcase with secret documents, a vial of a genocidal virus, The One Ring, etc.

 

[Henry]

Other macguffin plots:

The macguffin is something everyone wants, but turns out to be an absolutely valueless forgery (The Maltese MacGuffin?)

The hero needs the macguffin to find his family / rightful throne / lost love.

 

[shilsen]

Prevent the bad guys from putting the macguffin together with the other three macguffins to create the uber-macguffin.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

A MacGuffin is a "generic plot-important item."

Generally, in D&D, it takes the form of an artifact, a relic of a past age, etc., that can be used by the BBEG to complete his plans for world domination.

According to the wikipedia:

A MacGuffin is a plot device that holds no meaning or purpose of its own except to motivate the characters and advance the story. The device is usually used in films, especially thrillers. The term "MacGuffin" was invented by Alfred Hitchcock, who made extensive use of the device in his films. It is still almost always used in specific reference to Hitchcock's plots, rather than as a general term for similar narrative conveniences in unrelated stories.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin

EDIT:

Note that a MacGuffin should not be confused with a "foozle," which is a generic term for a plot important creature that must be killed, generally in order to acquire the MacGuffin.

 

[diaglo]

the Macguffin keeps coming up in conversation, rumors, siloquoy by the BBEG just before you off him, etc... but the PCs don't give a rat's pitooie about it and don't want to know anything more about it.

 

[Dinkeldog]

Let me play...

We should come up with a master list of things PCs can do with macguffins. Could be used as a kind of plot generator. I'll start off (some of these plots might seem very familiar).

Carry a long-missing macguffin across hostile territory and destroy the macguffin in the big bad guy's back yard.

Lord of the Rings

Help create a macguffin that can be used to destroy the big bad guy.

Hmmm...

Carry the macguffin into the big bad guy's lair and present it to him -- he can't stand its presence and dies.

Ladyhawke, more or less

The macguffin turns out to not be valuable in itself, but contains a piece of vital information.

National Treasure

The macguffin turns out not to be an object but is a person.

Fifth Element

Research the location of the macguffin, find it before your rivals do, learn something from it, and return it to an obscure location so others can't find it.

Sounds kind of Indy or Lara to me. Hmmm.

I'm bad at this.

 

[Psion]

A cautionary tale, of sorts:

http://www.ansible.co.uk/Ansible/plotdev.html

Whether or not you agree, I think he has a few good points and think that GMs should be careful to not overdo plot coupons and the like.

 

[The Shaman]

The macguffin is used to send the adventurers on a pointless side quest to distract them or slow them down - also known as the "red herring macguffin."

A personal favorite.