So, uhh... what's in the box?

[Asmor]

Looking for advice and ideas

Quick background: The PCs have been working with the Temple of Kord to basically save the world from a Far Realms invasion. Meanwhile, an ornery orc has been making trouble for a while and challenged the high priestess. This is highly unorthodox, and she would have been well within her right to decline, but she's over-confident and felt it would be the best way to erode his influence once and for all.

The PCs were unable to be there for the fight, but before they left the high priestess entrusted the PC cleric of Kord with a magically-sealed wooden box, saying that she wanted to make sure the orc didn't get it, and that if something should happen to her he (the PC) would need it more than anyone.

Unfortunately, that was sort of made up on the spot and I have no idea what could be in the box! It's about 2 inches wide, 8 inches long, 2 inches deep or so. I can play with the dimensions a bit, I wasn't terribly specific about that...

 

[Jack99]

How about nothing? That should buy you some time to figure out why there is nothing in it, and what was supposed to be in it, while the players ponder on that.

Was it stolen? Maybe it is still there, despite the box seeming empty? Maybe it will only be there under certain circumstances?

As to what it could be, the easiest and most obvious thing would be some sort of secret religious scriptures, maybe ala the discs from Dragonlance, something that only the highest members of the church of Kord are supposed to know? A weakness in the church? A scandal amongst the higher-ups? Lots of possibilities, depending on what kind of adventure you want to drive your players.

 

[fba827]

some possibilities off the top of my head.

- a potion of some sort
- some small magic item that only works for a priest of kord (or is only activated by use of a channel divinity usage)
- something that helps seal a gate from the far realms (or portal or whatever method the invasion force is using)
- a map to something
- a key to a hidden storage room in the church (possibly with weapons or other stuff that can help against the far realms creatures)


or maybe some sort of combination of the above... a map and a key to a hidden weapons storage, etc etc.

Or, playing devil's advocate based on an idea Jack99 said above... maybe it was stolen... from the orc she is about to fight. After all, why is that orc so ornery after all? And she just didn't want it on her if she was bested in the match.

 

[ejja_1]

Thinking outside the box

The eye of Grumsh. ( a red gem with a thin black line through the center, radiates weak transmutation aura.) If the orcs get the eye it will make one of thier strongest leaders into the avatar of grumsh, and also provide them with knowledge on how to bring the invasion forces into play.

Quick dirty and probably not a good fit, but thats what you get when im at work on a sunday.
Good luck.

 

[Asmor]

some possibilities off the top of my head.

- a potion of some sort
- some small magic item that only works for a priest of kord (or is only activated by use of a channel divinity usage)
- something that helps seal a gate from the far realms (or portal or whatever method the invasion force is using)
- a map to something
- a key to a hidden storage room in the church (possibly with weapons or other stuff that can help against the far realms creatures)


or maybe some sort of combination of the above... a map and a key to a hidden weapons storage, etc etc.

Or, playing devil's advocate based on an idea Jack99 said above... maybe it was stolen... from the orc she is about to fight. After all, why is that orc so ornery after all? And she just didn't want it on her if she was bested in the match.

I like the idea of it being a key... Important, but not obvious in function. Could open anything from an armory to a chastity belt, and no real way for the character to find out...

The eye of Grumsh. ( a red gem with a thin black line through the center, radiates weak transmutation aura.) If the orcs get the eye it will make one of thier strongest leaders into the avatar of grumsh, and also provide them with knowledge on how to bring the invasion forces into play.

Quick dirty and probably not a good fit, but thats what you get when im at work on a sunday.
Good luck.

Gruumsh specifically wouldn't work, but this does bring me to the idea that this might be the perfect way to introduce an artifact into the game.

 

[El Mahdi]

What's in the Box?

A Bunny! Now [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyEd0dTzG2M"]put the bunny back in the box![/ame]