This thread is liable to get absurd, or at least wacky. Avert your eyes, Keepers of Canon Purity!
So you say, "The dragon's hoard also includes a tire iron," and all your players stop talking about last night's TV shows and are suddenly paying strict attention. Now admittedly you wouldn't want to see that sort of thing pop up in a straightforward high-drama epic campaign - but I can't help wondering what other GMs think of such a brain-jarring anachronism.
I'll acknowledge that it does hurt the suspension of disbelief. That said, the characters certainly aren't going to rest until they've discovered how such a strange object came to be where it was. Is the resultant "sense of wonder" worth it
A) if you have a rock-solid explanation (which may involve dimensional travel, lost high-tech ages or a "white hole" that keeps spitting people from Kansas into the dragon's lair, much to its delight)
B) if you as the GM put the tire iron there because you were up til 2am the previous night, struggling to complete the adventure, and suddenly realized you hadn't statted out the dragon's hoard
or
C) if one of the characters insists on taking EWP (tire iron)?
Wouldn't the Tire Iron have the same qualities and stats as a normal Crowbar? You get a bonus to open doors... thats it
Many of Ed Greenwood's articles about the Forgotten Realms were written as if Elminster himself had visited Ed at his home and relayed the information directly to him. So suggesting a connection between our modern world, or one like it, to a fantasy realm is not out of the question. I believe the exact spell he used was called World Walk, maybe?
Personally, as a character, I would see if I couldn't sell it to some wealthy collector as a gnomish boomerang.
Depends on how you describe it. If you flat out call it a tyre iron then yeah, sounds a little odd. If you describe its shape and structure, maybe they could fathom out its use, then work out where something could be used. The wheel still exists, and that has to be secured to the axle somehow. Still sense of wonder...
Reminds me of that layer of Acheron in Planescape that was basically the "lost-sock dimension".
Good stuff. If your campaign could handle Expedition to the Barrier Peaks or, you know, Numeria then it can handle this.
Not everyone's cup of tea, but then it's a game right? Not a novel. Not a film. Not even a crappy syndicated TV series.
You check your history:
tire iron
noun
a short length of steel with one end flattened to form a blade, used as a crowbar for removing tires from wheel rims.
Origin:
1850–55
Since a tire iron dates back to the mid-19th century, you say that it comes from the mana wastes of Alkenstar which is adrift in mid-19th century tech. If you want, you can also put a penny-farthing velocipe, aka boneshaker bicycle, in the dragon's hoard. If you want to, give it the same enchantments as a Broom of Flying with the bonus that if you're flying through the skies of Alkenstar and suddenly encounter a dead mana zone, you feather fall to the ground and continue on your merry way via the handy pedals, which is far more useful than just suddenly standing in the middle of the scrublands holding a useless broom.
Riding a velocipede through the skies is also much more steampunky which is better for Alkenstar.
As for the tire iron, how else are you meant to change the tires?
"The dragon kept all his gold, silver, and platinum in one lump sum."
Literally. The dragon melted all the precious metals in his horde into a single bar. The PCs must now figure out a way to transport a multi-ton metal brick that's to large to lift and to big to fit into any of their Haversacks or Bags of Holding.
"The dragon kept all his gold, silver, and platinum in one lump sum."
Literally. The dragon melted all the precious metals in his horde into a single bar. The PCs must now figure out a way to transport a multi-ton metal brick that's to large to lift and to big to fit into any of their Haversacks or Bags of Holding.
This is why you always keep a scroll of Fabricate on hand to mint the hoard back into smaller denominations.
1) The world your playing on is future earth, after corporations took over and the elves came back out of hiding and everyone implanted themselves with explosive abs society, oddly enough, collapsed and rebuilt.
2) They mean a tire iron, an iron that went around the rim of a wagon wheel.
I think we once got bored and our GM said that among the possessions of a king we had vanquished was an adamantine Slap-chop. He was near Numeria so...
I think he also had a complete set of Gods of Golarion dishes.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Well Necromancer Games Book of Artifacts had the King's Pepper Grinder as an artifact.
I once had a Saphire dragon who had a dragon sized cheese grater and a wheel of cheese.
Something like that would be funny, and with paranoid enough players, and adventure seed. "Why does the dragon have a pepper grinder? Why did the orc chieftan have a complete set of China?" etc.
Many of Ed Greenwood's articles about the Forgotten Realms were written as if Elminster himself had visited Ed at his home and relayed the information directly to him. So suggesting a connection between our modern world, or one like it, to a fantasy realm is not out of the question. I believe the exact spell he used was called World Walk, maybe?
Actually, according to FR cannon, Elminster used one of four magic portals that were located in his secret metal sphere "hideout" which in turn was located at the heart of the gaseous/rocky planet Coliar within the Forgotten Realm's crystal sphere. The four portals, IIRC, led to four specific destinations: Elminster's tower in Shadowdale, the elven island of Evermeet, Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park in the year 1894 and Ed Greenwood's own study in Ontario Canada. Make of that what you will.
Amongst some of the hideout's anachronistic objects was a case of german beer and an old Frigidaire air conditioner which helped to keep the place cool seeing as how the hideout was located so near the sun.
This place was fully detailed in the old Realmspace Spelljammer supplement.
You said tire iron, but my brain told me crowbar. I did not even catch it until I read further along. I would treat the tire iron as an improvised club, and not make them spend a feat on it. If they wanted to use it I would eventually give them prof in it. Some things are not worth a feat.
I think one obvious anachronism adds a little bit of intrigue. Where's it from? What should we do with it? Is there any significance? Etc.
... So you say, "The dragon's hoard also includes a tire iron," and all your players stop talking about last night's TV shows and are suddenly paying strict attention ...
I would have done the opposite. I would have described this unusual iron object in great detail. Then I'd wait to see how long it took them to figure out it was a tire iron i threw in there because i was bored.
Bonds, deeds, paper money. Unfortunately, due to the PCs previous accomplishments in property destruction and/or regime change it's all worthless.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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... So you say, "The dragon's hoard also includes a tire iron," and all your players stop talking about last night's TV shows and are suddenly paying strict attention ...I would have done the opposite. I would have described this unusual iron object in great detail. Then I'd wait to see how long it took them to figure out it was a tire iron i threw in there because i was bored.
Sorry OT, but this reminds me of a high point in frakking with the party DMing.
Knight: I charge!
Me: Ok, the two men seem shocked to see a knight come out of the woods, charging across the 100' of field. They pick up their strange staves of metal and wood.
Knight: I keep charging!
Me: With their expressions changing to amusement, they level their staves at you.
Knight: Still charging!
Me: *rolls dice* With a clap of thunder and a puff of smoke, you feel as if a hammer slammed you in the chest, take 22 points of damage.
Knight: Oh $#^#$^#$&^$%&$! They've got guns!
I didn't go so much for anachronism, but just weird. They found a sack with exactly "23 complete kitten skeletons." They spent weeks trying to figure out what the skeletons were for and finally decided the dragon was going to create a army of animated kitten skeletons for...some purpose...
Step 1: Acquire, kill and animate kittens
Step 2: ???Step 3: RULE THE WORLD!!!
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Many of Ed Greenwood's articles about the Forgotten Realms were written as if Elminster himself had visited Ed at his home and relayed the information directly to him. So suggesting a connection between our modern world, or one like it, to a fantasy realm is not out of the question. I believe the exact spell he used was called World Walk, maybe?
Personally, as a character, I would see if I couldn't sell it to some wealthy collector as a gnomish boomerang.
I enjoyed the one where Elminster invited Raistlin and Mordakin to join him and Ed had to hide in a suit of armor while they talked.