| Terranigma |
I currently DM a game and two months ago, I gave the group a quite powerful artefact. It was meant as a tool to encourage roleplaying and well, I simply like skilltrees and Pathfinder - like most P&P games - simply doesn't have any. So I came up with one myself.
It is an intelligent item, a lantern which follows one of the group's characters. It has a neutral alignment and is first of all, curios - about all sorts of things. There ain't much information about the background of this item given but only, that's its old and curious and sometimes sticks to people in order to obtain information about each and every aspect of life.
This item has several powers which can be unlocked in a skilltree-fashion. Think of it as a skilltree similiar to the one in the videogame Titan Quest or if you don't know that game, Diablo2. In order to unlock those powers, the group has to fulfill certain tests. That can be very tough, nasty or tricky battles, riddles and such. Due to this, they can unlock certain abilities and passives bonuses which the lantern grants to the group. Once those abilities are unlocked, they need to be charged with sigils. For every test they gain one sigil. But the sigils gained this way aren't sufficient to fill all available ability-slots.
So! And now, what I've asked for ideas for 'Achivements'. All this stuff is optional. It so-to-say something they can do aside from the ongoing story. Now I thought it would be a good thing if the group could gain a few more sigils throught fulfilling certain tasks. Achivements, so to say. As it's all optional, it could be pretty much anything but I'd like to use it as a tool to encourage roleplaying. Therefore, these achivements shouldn't be too much action-focused or such but most of all, require some sort of roleplaying, doing something unpleasent, uncommon, weird. These tasks are given by the lantern and if the group can satisfy its curiosity, they receive another sigil.
As much as I like this idea in general, I have some real problems coming up with some good/nasty/funny/difficult tasks. I'd like to use it to encourage evil characters to act evil or good characters to act good or just to give them a somewhat puzzling task.
Basically, I just got this one so far:
"The lantern has again and again watched the process of reproduction, it sill has not grasped the ethical, social and biological aspects of it completly. Therefore, one of the group is asked to have sexual intercourse and to have an offspring."
Do you have any ideas what tasks would fit? As said, it would be nice if it could require some sort of roleplaying and, as it is optional, can be anything inclunding all sorts of evil, good or whatever acts but not too easy.
Thanks in advance!
:)