Hey all. I want your thoughts on what I should do with an item I created on the fly for my Eberron game. It is a box that measures 6 x 4 x 2. The box is made of a shiny black material with intricate scroll work etched in silver around the whole box. Apparently there is no lid to the box. The only way to open the box is to drop blood some blood onto the box. The blood fills the grooves of the scroll work and the top slides open.
Like I said I made this up in the middle of the game a few sessions ago and now want to reintroduce as a plot point, but I am coming up short as to what the box is or is about. It does radiate very faint magic, but that is all they party knows about it.
Thoughts anyone?
Okay. Here's what you do. Keep some sort of holy script or something inside of it, and have diplomats use it by making their translators/otherhelpers swear to secrecy by pain of death upon it. (Inspiration from the Daily Show)
They have already used the box to transport items in it. But they did not look for secret compartments.
Interesting idea. Thanks!
1.) What is in the box?
2.) Why does *only* blood satisfy the conditions required to open the box?
3.) Where did it come from? Who made it, and why did they design it to be opened in such a strange way?
4.) How do you expect your players to discover how to open the box? Trial and error? Some sort of clue?
It's a neat idea. I suppose I don't know what else to say right now, except to ask irritating questions. :yumm:
Edit: Okay, I missed the part where they've already opened it and checked inside. Nevermind!
Idea: The box once held something of great importance, be it an evil artifact that will bring armageddon, or the trade secrets of the merchant guild. The PC's must recover the contents and return them to the box before the end of the world occurs, etc.
Idea: similar to the former, except the quest has already happened and the evil was destroyed by someone else. The box is the legacy of a great quest of the past. This is rather anti-climactic, but might add verisimilitude to the world. Plus, it gives a bit of flavor to the party's secret box of DOOM.
are those dimensions in feet or inches? If feet, it could have been someone's [oddly shaped] coffin, and the blood of his kindred can open it. What actually happened to the guy is up to you.
if inches, I have an idea. One would store some sort of large contingent spell (set for when the box was opened) inside. It would be carried into battle, and when the bearer (probably a general or similar) was killed, his blood would flow onto the box, the box would open, and release the uber spell, like a final blow.
Warning: Brainstorming
Have it a cursed artifact. The box remembers the blood of the person that opens it. It could even be sentient. Once it is fed enough times it unlocks a portal. Or you could say that the box opens to blood, but only truly responds to the blood of a certain race - once that race's blood is dripped on it, the box summons a demon that hunts down all of the prior people who opened the box.
For example:
This box was a summoning portal once made by ancient drow wizards. They let their warriors take it with them on dangerous diplomatic missions. The box would only open if the blood of their enemies was dribbled onto it. However, if the blood of a drow touches the box a powerful demon bound to the box will escape forth and destroy everything until a drow demands it return.
I'm sure you could figure out a way to get them with a drow who happens to bleed on the box. Then the drow could get killed and the demon would be set free until another drow demanded it to get back into the box. Or the drow could start terrorizing everything with the demon. The players could then spend the adventure trying to find a way to send the demon back to the box.
Thinking back to the box "remembering" the blood, you could say that the box is a tool used by treacherous shadows. Whenever somebody opens the box it lets out a shadow that begins to follow the victim. Or, the box attracts shadows to the creature that opens it.
So many options!
Wow! Fantastic ideas all! I will have to ponder. Luckily the box isn't in their minds currently, but we play on Monday so I may have to bring it up. I really like the box being a portal. Maybe it unfolds like the old horror flick (whose name I can't think of, the one with Pinhead) and opens to some far off dungeon in Xendrix.
Thanks everyone!
[blockquote=Rose]Idea: similar to the former, except the quest has already happened and the evil was destroyed by someone else. The box is the legacy of a great quest of the past. This is rather anti-climactic, but might add verisimilitude to the world. Plus, it gives a bit of flavor to the party's secret box of DOOM. [/blockquote]
I like this one a lot. I've had my players find used up items before, and it makes the players feel like they are part of a world, not the reason for it.
I also think that having it be a legendary box that carried something might open a door to the legends of why and what happened. I had a wand like that that led the loremasters of a party back to a failed quest that the players actually were able to discover a diary, and read some notes, and find the descendents, and actually complete the quest long abandoned.
(despite the leader of the Arcanic Blades constantly telling the PC's that it was useless, the old questors were crazy fools, they are wasting their time, etc.