Author Topic: Unusual items in games?  (Read 28175 times)

dragonshaos

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Unusual items in games?
« on: March 14, 2009, 12:57:51 PM »
Id like to continue this thread from the Old forums.  http://slangdesign.com/rppr/bbpress/topic.php?id=98  Id like to see other interesting things thought up by players and GM's.  Ill start by posting another item...

Oh!  It was simple, but in a Rifts game my friends had a pen that when writing the ink changed color.  It was really simple, but when we came to a barbarian village, they freaked out over the changing ink on some letters we had and tried to smash us.  So ya, even really simple items can have a big effect in games.

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clockworkjoe

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Re: Unusual items in games?
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2009, 03:48:05 PM »
For modern horror games, there's an awesome resource here http://www.nemesis-system.com/greenbox/

Basically in the delta green setting, the conspiracy sets up anonymous storage units called green boxes so agents can store weapons, evidence, data and dangerous artifacts. This site generates a random green box.

This is a green box with 3 items from each category


    * A case of 24 balloon style wine glasses.
    * An unused magnesium flint stick.
    * 1 bottle of over the counter multivitamin pills, unopened.
    * An 'Oxford box, numbered "4", containing a portion of the records from a now-closed funeral home in Kingsport, TN. The records are mostly receipts from plot sales and cremations.
    * 1 small notepad, multiple entries, all endoced.
    * A dance book, published in the 1940's in remarkable condition. It is devoted to various folk dances from Western Europe.
    * A black briefcase, with a form fitting foam lining, containing a Glock 21 .45 ACP pistol, 5 13 round magazines loaded with FMJ ammo, a silencer, a kydex holster, and a kydex dual magazine pouch. The Glock contains an RFID chip in the grip. A trace of the Glocks serial number indicates it was purchased by Wackenhut Security. The silencer is of professional quality, but bears no serial number ( and is therefore highly illegal ).
    * A bear-sprayer, with the pepper spray replaced by a butane can. A zippo lighter has been duct-taped to the sprayer in front of the barrel.
    * A Vietnam-era US Claymore anti-personnel mine.
    * A plastic laser pointer. Made of black plastic, and uses AAA batteries.
    * 5 DAP-type cannisters of Hexafluorine, one half used. Printout of a homepage: http://www.medicalcare.nu/English/hexa.htm
    * A collection of miniature spoons with the names of the various U.S. states stamped into the handle.
    * A food storage container containing a red/yellow gell. Suspended in the gell is a human eyeball with attached nervous system tissue.
    * A generic-looking glue bottle. The glue within is an absurdly strong adhesive. Aside from super-glue polymers, the glue is infused with enzymes that can molecularly bond similar materials. It dries within a minute of application.
    * A glass jar filled with preserved human eye balls.
    * A monograph from Denmark, dated 1880. Written in Danish by a Kurt Anleeth of Frederikshavn, it deals with the subjects of sea monsters. It is an informative and comprehensive read, and contains mention of 'Draakulu', a beast which lives in an ocean on the other side of the world, that speaks through men's dreams.
    * A large collection of lottery tickets, held together by several rubber bands. All the numbers have been filled in with strange, esoteric symbols.
    * A collection of yellowed staff paper (for music composition). The melody is complex but obviously incomplete (written for the viol) and the pages are in no particular order. Notation in German and Italian.
    * A machete (pranga) of African manufacture. A crude representation of a sinuous snake with a single wing has been etched into the blade.
    * A waist coat manufactured in the 1920s. It is of cheap manufacture, yet gaudy in style. Two 1920s era straight razors are in each of its pockets.
    * A small lead linked box marked with radiation hazard stickers. Inside is a foam lining containing three (the lining has spaces for five) rounds of .308 Winchester (7.62mm NATO) ammunition with bullets made out of depleted uranium. There are no manufacturers marks on the rounds.
    * A sealed file folder labeled "Top Secret", "Eyes Only", "Property of the NSA", and "Destroy After Reading". Inside are a series of photo booth pictures of an attractive teenage couple, dressed in alterna-teen fashion, making out in the photo booth. There is absolutely nothing to explain the security classification.
    * A slightly yellowed antique hand-blown glass bottle, stoppered with a cork, and sealed with green wax. Inside the bottle are three square nails, a roman coin, a small red flower, and two human thumbnails.
    * A VHS copy of a 1998 horror film titled "Shadowmancer". It is a low-budget direct to video piece of schlock, about 90 minutes long, centered around an evil modern-day sorceror who uses his powers (portrayed with laughably cheap F/X) to kidnap victims (usually women in revealing clothing). He takes him to his secret underground lair to offer as sacrifices to the nameless "demon god" he worships and draws his power from. Only a hardboiled cop and an occult expert (played by a woman who wears low-cut shirts and mini-skirts) can stop him. If an experienced and knowledgeable agent watches the film, they'll note that while most of the "mystic" symbols that decorate the walls of the sorceror's lair are obviously made up, they can see an Elder Sign here and there occasionally. Also, during an incantation the sorceror mentions Yig, Yog-Sothoth, Hastur and Ithaqua. Furthermore, tucked into the VHS jacket is a note on a small piece of paper. It reads: "J. Check into Red Lightning Films Ltd. They produced mostly cheapo action flicks but only this one horror film, after which they went bankrupt. Something strange was going on with the crew that made this. I just know it. Sincerely, R."
    * An ancient music box. This dark blackish-gray box is ornately worked pewter, measuring 8" long, 5" wide, and 5" tall. The carved relief on each side depicts the sun halfway clear of the horizon, but there is nothing else in the reliefs that reveals whether it's setting or rising. There is a small yellow post-it note stuck on the flat, featureless lid. "DO NOT WIND TWICE IN A ROW !" If the box is opened, a plain looking figure will arise. It is very simple, and could be either a male or female. Once the box is wound up (20 turns of the key) and opened, the figure will emit bright light as it spins to a haunting tune; the brightness being equivalent to that of a 60 watt electric bulb. If wound to its maximum, the box will function for exactly 4 minutes, 37 seconds. If it is wound a second time or more, it will function exactly as before, but anyone within 50' will begin to suffer the same cognitive effects as becoming intoxicated. Each time it is wound and played after the 2nd time doubles the effects, the severity remains at the GM's discretion.
    * 25 feet of barbed wire spooled on a hickory stick carved with hobo signs. The signs indicate the wire is a deadly animal sent from God. They also convey the animal makes a safe home or shelter from devils. If strung from hard points, the wire will animate, snag, and entangle mythos creatures passing within three feet. The wire turns white hot and inflicts burning damage until a creature can untangle itself from the constricting coils.
    * A human skull that has been fashioned into a chalice. The base of the chalice is brass with sections of gold inlay. Semi precious stones circle the "brim".
    * A copy of Roger Ainsley's rare "Dreams and Fancies"; see the scenario of the same title from Kingsport for more information.
    * A sheet of paper titled 'Names to Watch Out For.' It is a list of about 3000 names of various gods and other supernatural entities. It does contain the names 'Byakhee', 'Nightgaunt' and 'Cthulhu', which is the only relavent information in it.
    * A copy of the film "Dirty Harry," with a video rental listed for Port-Au-Prince. At the 56 minute mark, someone has replaced the footage with a shaky mobile phone video of strange dark creatures shooting across the sky in a woodland scene. There are several people running around trying to shoot the creatures. The accents of the people are Caribbean, and a knowledgable investigator will recognise the language as Creole. The video ends when a claw appears and grabs the filmers head with a sickening crunch.
    * A large (7") curved knife with a bone handle of modern manufacture in a Denver Police Department evidence bag. If touched, the knife will cause sanity draining nightmares unless it is soaked in human blood each day. The knife can be positively IDed as belonging to a Colorado man responsible for 5 deaths (by dismemberment) in 1982.
    * A green thermos, duct taped shut, wrapped in plastic, and marked with a BioHazard label. If opened, it is found to be full of a foul-smelling grey liquid containing a proto-mater slurry. Anyone coming into contact with the liquid will die a very painfully death from an unknown hemorrhagic disease in 1d4+1 days. Someone has written "do not touch!" in marker on the thermos itself.
    * A civil-war cavalry sabre. Still sharp but with strange yellowish stains along the blade. Anyone cut by it or who touch one of the stains with an open wound will contract a mysterious disease that slowly rots away the victims skin. This has no cure and the victim permanently lose 1d3 APP and 1d3-1 HP (due to additional infections) each week.
    * A dirty, coffee-stained, sealed envelope. If you open it, you will find a sheet of paper with your name, your date of birth and another date six months in the future.
    * A rolled piece of linoleum. If examined, two concentric circles with a diameter of 3 and 4 feet respectively. Between the two circles are a number of Arabic words and letters and a number of wax blotches. The whole thing stinks of sulfur and looks to have been peeled roughly from a wooden floor.
    * A weird white spider-like creature, about 1" across, in a jar of formaldehyde. No information is provided about the creature (a brood of Eihort) but the jar (for Matthew's Lemon Curd) can be identified to be of British manufacture, probably from the early 1960s.

dragonshaos

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Re: Unusual items in games?
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2009, 07:50:48 PM »
That is an awesome resource!  I just spent some time randomly giving it numbers and the stuff it gives you is pretty neat.  I will definitely use this somehow.

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clockworkjoe

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Re: Unusual items in games?
« Reply #3 on: March 17, 2009, 01:50:49 AM »
That is an awesome resource!  I just spent some time randomly giving it numbers and the stuff it gives you is pretty neat.  I will definitely use this somehow.

I love how so many of the weird/mystical items can be used as adventure hooks. You should submit a few of your own if you like it.

Phelanar

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Re: Unusual items in games?
« Reply #4 on: March 17, 2009, 02:55:48 AM »
I'd love to use that for Unknown Armies. My favorite game ever...that I've never gotten to play at all. Not even online.
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clockworkjoe

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Re: Unusual items in games?
« Reply #5 on: March 17, 2009, 12:38:06 PM »
Another unusual item:
<a href="" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win"></a>

Setherick

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Re: Unusual items in games?
« Reply #6 on: March 18, 2009, 08:52:29 AM »
Let's not forget the 4chan classic Special Contain Procedures: http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/main
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clockworkjoe

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Re: Unusual items in games?
« Reply #7 on: March 19, 2009, 03:04:02 PM »
Let's not forget the 4chan classic Special Contain Procedures: http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/main

For example: http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-914
Quote
Item #: SCP-914

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures:

Only personnel who submit a formal request and receive approval from site command may operate 914. SCP-914 is to be kept in research cell 109-B with two guard personnel on duty at all times. Any researchers entering 109-B are to be accompanied by at least one guard for the entirety of testing. A full list of tests to be carried out must be given to all guard personnel on duty; any deviation from this list will result in termination of testing, forcible removal of personnel from 109-B, and formal discipline at site command’s discretion.

WARNING: at this time, no testing of biological matter is allowed. Refer to document 109-B:117. Applying the “Rough” setting to explosive materials is not advised.

Description:

SCP-914 is a large clockwork device weighing several tons and covering an area of eighteen square meters, consisting of screw drives, belts, pulleys, gears, springs and other clockwork. It is incredibly complex, consisting of over eight million moving parts comprised mostly of tin and copper, with some wooden and cloth items observed. Observation and probing have showed no electronic assemblies or any form of power other than the “Mainspring” under the “Selection Panel”. Two large booths (10’x7’x7’) are connected via copper tubes to the main body of SCP-914, labeled “Intake” and “Output”. Between them is a copper panel with a large knob with a small arrow attached. The words Rough, Coarse, 1:1, Fine, Very Fine are positioned at points around the knob. Below the knob is a large “Key” that winds the “Mainspring”.

When an object is placed in the Intake Booth, a door slides shut, and a small bell sounds. If the knob is turned to any position and the key wound up, SCP-914 will “Refine” the object in the booth. No energy is lost in the process, and the object appears to be in stasis until the Output Booth door is opened. Intense observation and testing have not shown how SCP-914 accomplishes this, and no test object has ever been observed inside SCP-914 during the “refining” process. The process takes between five and ten minutes, depending on the size of the object being refined.