ok so the first list in the DMG wasn't so bad. I don't mind a short list of little bits and pieces of odds and ends to add flavor to a game. But Wizards just released on thier website, a new pdf full of more trinkets, are acting like its a big deal or want to show off how creative they are?
Anyways, what's the point of these trinkets?
What do you guys use them for?
Do you use one or two? Or a whole bunch at each encounter?
Any ideas for incorporating them into a campaigm?
Or are they just a bunch of junk?
dm plot hooks? honestly I really like them as just a list of interesting objects that will see more use when I dm as plot hookies, then as character interesting items. I dont think in any games i have played they have ever come up actually.
dm plot hooks? honestly I really like them as just a list of interesting objects that will see more use when I dm as plot hookies, then as character interesting items. I dont think in any games i have played they have ever come up actually.
If you play homebrew campaign, you can use those trinket as adventure hook, as adventure plot etc... If you play Official release adventure chance are you'll NEVER find those item as a adventure plot object, they are just for RP that will never be relevant for the game.
from the PHB:
08: a small idol giving you nightmare, well your character found that idol one day and the first few night he got those terrible nightmare and left on adventure to find out what they means.
10: The deed for an unknow far away land: go Search for that land and save it
34: a car Battery: How did you got this wierd item from an other time? maybe you can discover time magic (better then TIme stop), maybe a sage could use investigate this and discover some ancient forbiden magic.
40: The gem that only you can see: what does it means, why only you?
42: Lost insignia from a lost legionnaire, why you got that trinket, was it your dad? your uncle? brother? childhood friend? what happen to him? should you search for him and maybe bring him back?
46: the dead spirit in the glass bottle: who was that spirit, should you free him? where?
78: An ornate scabbard that fits no blade you have found so far: Which artifact blade can be hold by this scabbard, wouls this scabbard be teh scabbard for the Sword of Kas? who crafted such a scabbard? does this scabbard mean you are the rightfull owner of that sword?
In an homebrew game those trinket can be VERY interesting both for the player to create his character personallity and ideal, and for the DM to flesh out the adventure and it's world.
But in a AL setting, you can use it as your adventure hook, why did you leave the confort of home to join the adventurer lifestyle filled with danger and mistery, but I really doubt that one day WotC will write a module saying that : if one of your player possess a mummified goblin hand, he can use it to open this door and discover the secret behind that hand. and if there is ever an adventure where you find a legendary or artifact sword, the module won't state that the owner of the scabbard trinket (#78 in the PHB) is the rightfull owner of that artifact. The item will still be distributed as per AL rules, the character with the least magical item unless the entire table agree to give it to you (and few AL table will agree to give you an artifact if there character could use it, and even if they don't many player will still roll on it since it's an ARTIFACT and they'll be able to trade it for an other ARTIFACT at the next Trading post event at a convention or when the team found an other ARTIFACT.
Where's the PDF? I can only see the post about submitting your own, not the final document.
In our group, each PC gets a trinket at character creation. How we use it depends on what the result is, and what ideas the players or GM have. It might suggest an interesting anecdote from the PC's past, or be a potential plot hook, or it might have no significance at all.
Examples from our group:
One PC rolled an invitation to a party where a murder took place. This helped shape the PC's past and motivation, as the player decided that the murder victim was his PC's wife, and the character failed to attend the party and save her. Hopefully down the line there will be an opportunity to discover who killed her, and a chance for vengeance.
Another PC got a small multicoloured stone disc. The PC was adopted, so the player decided it was a last connection to their birth parents. The trinket itself likely won't be important, but it's a nice thing for the character to have.
A third PC had papers to a bank vault in a distant land, sent to him by a colleague. He spent some downtime travelling to recover what was being stored, and it turned out to be a fragment of a powerful artefact that will likely become relevant as the party encounters other fragments.
I guess some people will never see the use in an item that doesn't help them "win" the game. Oh well, their loss.
I'm the only person I know who has used trinkets as the central plot device.
I just started a campaign where each trinket acts as a key to unlock a secret stash containing a fragment from a dangerous artifact. Briefly, each player had been sent the item from a common acquaintance without explaining what it was for, only to keep it safe. They later learned he had been murderered. One of the trinkets matched a symbol on the victim's journal, and when the journal and one of the trinkets were combined, the journal text changed to reveal the locations of the stashes. The text didn't explain how the trinkets were to be used, only that they all served as keys.
It's a self-created challenge for me, since all the trinkets were determined randomly and I need to come up with ideas on their implementation. Then I'll also be designing a puzzle around them, so they can access/explore the caches.
Nevvur wrote:
Cool stuff, AaronofBarbaria. Glad to know I'm not the only one after all.
Initially, I thought the trinkets table was pretty dumb, a waste of space. In the end, like most fluff, it's as useful as your imagination lets it be.
My Monk carries trinket #40 (the gemstone / lump of coal), and strung it on a necklace. I decided that anybody with ki (read: only Monks) can see it as a gemstone. One of my personality traits is "I must provide children for my (nearly-extinct) tribe." The 'tribe' in question is the Monk-training monastery. The mechanism to search is, that I show people my gemstone. If they see a gem, I have found another person who is ki-capable. Eventually, one such person will also be a woman. Such a woman - especially a she-elf - is a prime candidate for marriage. Courting her ought to be interesting: I have CHR 8.
You sinned by not providing a link, just letting you know! 
Are you refering to this? The pdf they link to has one of the tables from the PHB, nothing new.