Basically, I've been the GM of several homebrew adventures back to back, and with a new one starting I'm hitting creative road blocks. I'm in need of the help of the kind people of these forums to come up with a villainous group, leader, and magical McGuffin for the PCs to try and stop them from acquiring.
Bonus points if it requires multiple items to complete, but each has an effect.
I humbly ask this of my fellow forumites- what does the evil McGuffin do?
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The farmers in the local area haven't had rain in two years and anyone who can make the treacherous journey through the mountains already has, leaving the poor and weak behind. Anyone brave enough to look for a solution quickly hears rumors of an ancient artifact that can control the weather. Of course, some villain has already found it and is using it to keep the rain away, the only question is why.
I don't know, just some random idea that popped into my head.
The farmers in the local area haven't had rain in two years and anyone who can make the treacherous journey through the mountains already has, leaving the poor and weak behind. Anyone brave enough to look for a solution quickly hears rumors of an ancient artifact that can control the weather. Of course, some villain has already found it and is using it to keep the rain away, the only question is why.
I don't know, just some random idea that popped into my head.
See Crocodile from One Peice.
2. Spread rumors leader of country is the reason why
3. Help setup rebellion against king
4. Give evidence to support claims
5. Force full war start
6. Secretly eliminate everyone important on both sides. They blame each other
7. Claim country
A series of creepy masks that cause their wearers to go on Purge-like rampages.
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I 'unno. Stops people from making babies. For a couple of years it's okay but then people start getting desperate to secure their family lines/futures, children become a black market item with abductions becoming increasingly common while on the flipside there's no more orphanages! And the orphanages that did exist became ludicrously rich.
You know who started all this? The orphanages! Finally, we get to burn down the orphanages as LG.
I'm not sure what sort of level of power you want this MacGuffin to be. How's this?
Strife is a powerful, cursed adamantine intelligent weapon that compels the wielder to use it over other weapons. (Perhaps a sword or axe?) It has a hefty attack bonus (+3-+5), and it has some useful magical properties, etc., etc. However, it has a unique quality: there are countless soul trapped inside this weapon, and whenever someone dies to the blade or dies while wielding it, their soul joins the countless inside. These souls cannot be freed without a Wish spell or the destruction of the weapon (the means of which have not yet been devised).
Those who wield Strife are automatically considered proficient in it. If the wielder of Strife has weapon focus, weapon specialization, or a similar feat that designates a specific type of weapon, they are considered to have the benefits of that feat when wielding Strife.
As an Intelligent weapon, Strife is chaotic evil. It has Darkvision 60 ft., Scent, and Blindsense 30 ft. It has the powers of telepathy and empathy, mostly using its empathic link to the wielder to seed constant feelings of bloodlust and anger in them while telepathically urging them to commit ever-mounting atrocities. Its unique purpose is to seek out and cause as much bloodshed as possible.
Strife deals an extra 2d6 damage with each attack, but also harms the user for 1d6 damage whenever it strikes, making it risky to wield. It can cast Blood Rage on the user as a spell-like ability as well, as death of any sort adds more souls to its number.
Strife has a habit of creating violence wherever it goes. Each dawn, the sun appears to have a distinct red glow to it within a ten mile radius of Strife, and the mood of the populace within the region becomes more violent. This can cause wars, rebellions, increases in banditry, murder, and more. Attempts at diplomacy within this 10 mile radius take a -2 penalty, spells based around peace or calm emotions have their save DC reduced by 2, and conjuration spells with the healing descriptor have their effective caster level reduced by 1. The penalties double at the end of each week the weapon remains within the 10 mile radius to a maximum of -8/-8/-4.
While initially Strife looks like an almost normal weapon (albeit one with a few too many spikes), its blade becomes a deeper red the more violence it causes. It has the durability and damage reduction ignoring capabilities of Adamantine but also has the bleed effect of Blood Crystal.
Other details about the weapon are up to you, but basically this is a weapon that spreads violence and war wherever it goes.
Elementals are required for the modern enchanting industry to function. Some people say that mass elemental binding will eventually cause the genies to invade and destroy us, but there's no real signs of that yet. Still, a few of those people take violent action to free elementals, and now part of a banishment network that was developed during the last war has gone missing - Arabella, Professor of Pyromantic Mysteries at the Great University is suspected. If she gets enough of the beacons and the master controller she'll be able to banish every elemental from the country, destroying our economy!
Requires a steampunkish setting, naturally.
I'm not sure what sort of level of power you want this MacGuffin to be. How's this?
** spoiler omitted **...
When I first read this, I thought it was a magic weapon that wants to sunder other magic items.
A villain that destroys the party's magic items? I think that might spur some kind of reaction.... ;-)
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I thought of another one, though this McGuffin isn't a magic item. So there's someone of particular importance, maybe a king or someone even more important, and it's so important for them to be able to resist curses and charm spells that they've had some kind of permanent anti-magic spell cast on them. The problem is that an assassin has poisoned them or that they've caught some kind of rare disease and the doctors can't seem treat it and magic healing won't work because of the anti-magic. Enter McGuffin legendary sage and herbalist living some distance away or even better, recently captured by kobolds or the assassin or something. Or you could do something where the healer hates humans or something and refuses to come and help the king, so now the heroes have to find some way to convince the healer to come back with them before the king dies.
The Sausage Evil McGuffin is my favorite. I think it's available all day now.
Basically, I've been the GM of several homebrew adventures back to back, and with a new one starting I'm hitting creative road blocks. I'm in need of the help of the kind people of these forums to come up with a villainous group, leader, and magical McGuffin for the PCs to try and stop them from acquiring.
Bonus points if it requires multiple items to complete, but each has an effect.I humbly ask this of my fellow forumites- what does the evil McGuffin do?
McGuffins don't have to do a thing. After all, remember the Maltese Falcon? It could simply be a key to a powerful artifact, or to a map that would lead to a powerful artifact or an important treasure, or secret.
Yog-Sothoths' Key (a.k.a. the Blacksmiths Charm, the Chime of the Outer Gods, the Ragnarok Jasper, the Black Phylosopher's Stone)
This strangely spikes ball is made of an ageless black material with features that rise and fall in unbelievable ways as though the very geometry is offensive to your mind. Feeling the ball, the spikes and valleys don't feel like they are in the same place as they look, making it difficult to dexterously handle with in-perceivable geometries.
The area around Yog-Sothoth's Key has a dimensional warping affect. This gives +2 to Perception checks as people can see part way around obstacles, but -2 Acrobatics as the world shifts subtly and unpredictably. All attacks have a 5% miss chance. Crystals will grow without order, allowing metals forged around the Key to be metal glass, increasing hardness and hit points by 50%, and reducing the time and cost to make master work items. The Key is considered Ghost Touch, as it is a point where all dimensions cross. (May have other unusual effects as well)
The Key has several very powerful abilities, which no mortal knows how to properly operate, although some may think that they can operate it safely. It would take a great deal of trial and error to determine any of these abilities. Using the Key is also very dangerous since 3 dimensional creatures, like most mortals, will have a difficult time using an 11 dimensional object. Misuse of the Key attract other worldly creatures, particularly hounds of tindalose (feel free to give the creatures some crazy abilities to freak your players out). Hounds of tindalose and other strange creatures may also periodically be drawn to the Key without provocation.
Things the Key is know to be able to do: True Seeing, Blink, Contact Other Plane, Dinensional Door, Greater Scrying, Teleport without Error, Phase Door, Plane Shift, Gate, Displacement, Astral Projection, Planetary Teleport, and others.
The Key was created in the deep past, long before this world formed, by Yog-Sothoth. It is used like a Rubik's Cube with geometries that are shifted around to achieve certain affects. Since mortals cannot perceive or properly interact with 8 of the 11 dimensions of the object (nor is there an instruction manual), mortals cannot use the Key as it was intended and will eventually cause some dimensional catastrophe, summon an uncontrolled Shoggoth, banish people (possibly the user) outside of time and space, or some other bad thing. Its powers are nearly unlimited, and a person may try to take advantage of those powers, but misfortune will eventually overtake them.