Rolling Word Play – 42

Creating Roleplay ideas based on randomly generated words.  Here’s today’s selection.  Discover more about Lotion Reserving Flustered, Tasted Proclaimed Titles and Cork Jots Padlock.

Lotion Reserving Flustered
Dr. Losu’s Ointment had been a staple of good health in the city for three generations.  The grandson of the original Dr. Losu is called Pejo and he’s getting on in years.  He has between 5-10 regular customers, which is just enough to get by and continue renting the shop in a quiet street near to the main square.  Then suddenly, more and more people began asking for Dr. Losu’s Ointment.  Crowds gathered forming disorderly queues.  The surprised Pejo found himself going back and forth to the store cupboard for more supplies.  On the third day of this happening, he had to hire muscle to stand by the door after one unruly youth broke a window and stole three bottles for himself.

What rumour has gotten out?  Is the Ointment a clue to uncovering treasure, or was it discovered that an idolised celebrity was seen using it?  Another possible scenario for adventurers is if the Ointment is being used to smuggle illegal substances or treasure.  Once this rumour got out, everyone who heard wanted their chance at claiming the riches for themselves.

Tasted Proclaimed Titles
The most famous food taster belongs to King Spora.  This finely dressed dwarf known as The Right Honorable Vonis is said to be immune to poisons but has tastebuds so sensitive that he can detect any trace of strange substances including the amount of spices and herbs used in a dish.  So far he successfully caught five attempts to poison the king, and even discovered that his wife had been trying to give him a potency potion, for some reason.

The king continues to divide his subjects into liking or hating him, and the adventurers may be called in for two potential scenarios.  The first is to bribe the dwarven superstar on behalf of a gang and failing that, keep him out of the picture long enough to poison the king. In the second scenario, the king has already died, and Vonis claims to be aghast that such a delicate potion could be undetectable.  Who is capable of producing such a potion, or was Vonis bribed?

Corks Jots Padlock
Lisithias Corks is a notorious pest catcher.  He has been known to catch rats, cats, even owls and cockerels if their noises disturb him. He gets a basic pay from the city, but many think he derives most of his pleasure from locking away these undesirables. No one pays him much notice and prefers him to keep to himself, which seems to work best for all parties.

The adventurers will start to see a few notices up about a missing street urchin know as Caper. They’ll also be a few willing to talk about a sweet little kid called Jeren who would get free soup from the back of the Rumbles restaurant. Enquiries will lead the adventurers to speak to Lisithias, to see what he knows.  The question is, where does he keep his catches? The answer is in a hidden basement, only accessible through a portal.  He keeps a golden padlock with him which is used to whisk animals and street children alike into the dungeon dimension.  Luckily, if they get their hands on Lisithias’ padlock, they will see a word etched onto it.  This is the word used to open the portal.  If they go through however, they will need to make sure someone remains who can let them out again!

Rolling Word Play – 41

Creating Roleplay ideas based on randomly generated words.  Here’s today’s selection.  Discover more about Cyberspace Twisted Drive, Suffers Aged Fragmented and Laying Crop Pouch.

Cyberspace Twisted Drive
A drive that allows users to take on another’s consoles and drive their screen and data. This is pretty bad from a cyber hacking point of view, but in the virtual world of avatars, taking on another’s identity becomes a very real issue. This artefact is difficult to penetrate in the virtual world as it only works in one direction. However, that means that somewhere, there is a dormant avatar frozen or in a resting pose.  Linking who controls the dormant avatar is key to stopping them causing any more damage.

Suffers Aged Fragmented
A being held together by stitches and string because he has aged so much. Could this be a lich who has used dark magics  and evil deeds to preserve his life, or is this being’s mind so bent on achieving an objective, that they live on beyond their body’s capabilities?

When he approaches the adventurers with a proposition, will they follow through not knowing if they are helping a desperate man or a necromancer? What quest does this aged being have in mind?

Laying Crop Pouch
This magic pouch is made of hemp, but woven into its fabric is nature’s magic constantly renewing the fabric so that it remains sturdy.  Not only that, if seeds are placed inside the pouch, within hours fully formed crops will have grown in their place.  Its size restricts the good it can do, but for a day’s rations or to preserve something small and precious, the Pouch of Crop Laying is a godsend.

Rolling Word Play – 35

Creating Roleplay ideas based on randomly generated words.  Here’s today’s selection.  Discover more about Spaced Closely, Violinist Wiggling and Refused Issuing.

Spaced Closely
The temple of Ashin Rah is an ancient temple which is still used to practice religious ceremonies today. Ashin Rah was an almighty deity who gained her followers’ reverence by the mighty deeds she performed and the dreaded sacrifices she asked of her followers.  Although just outside city borders, the temple practices of today are tolerated because the god worship is Siellanna the Moon Goddess.  Unbeknownst to the city however, a cult of Ashin Rah has been steadily growing for some years now and their boldness for sacrifices is steadily increasing.  There are rumours that street children have gone missing. Can the adventurers help reveal the cult’s existence and stop the sacrifices from escalating?  What might deed might Ashin Rah be planning?  Little known Ashin Rah lore reveals that the sacrifices are left tied to the top of the pyramid and that creatures emerge from between the closely-spaced statues to take them to another plane.  Can those who have disappeared yet be saved?

Violinist Wiggling
A bard with fey ancestry is a dangerously mix of mischievous and magical.  This is definitely the case with Vezor Dirac, the half-tiefling half-nymph. It is said he was created at an almighty party and that mischief and music flow through his very veins.  He has played in several bands but his fellow band members and taverns cannot endure him for long.  His powers of control and manipulation of the audience include:

Rhythmic foot-tapping: DC 12 Wisdom saving throw Bum wiggling: DC 10 Charisma saving throw Wolf howls: DC 10 Constitution saving throw Partner twirling: DC 10 Charisma saving throw Singing the tune: (requires concentration): DC 10 Wisdom saving throw

Although, the difficulty to resist is not high, for each 5 members of the audience he has in his grasp, the spell DC for everyone increases by +2.  Evenings have finished with wild table-top dancing, fights, fires and many bruised limbs.

Refused Issuing
The city newspaper, The Daily Tribute is controlled by the crown.  The printing press is a very new invention and is controlled by royal craftsmen. It is used for propaganda to further establish the rule of the royal family and demean their enemies and rivals. So when another printed newspaper is released called The Bootstrap that contradicts the words of the Daily Tribute, this is seen as a very serious offense by those in charge.  The adventurers will be requested to root out the rebels, preferably alive.  Where did they acquire such equipment? Is there a ‘paper’ trail leading from the manufacturers?  What do the writers of The Bootstrap aim to achieve and where is their printing room?  The adventurers will have to ask themselves who they believe is in the wrong and if they care either way.

Rolling Word Play – 32

Creating Roleplay ideas based on randomly generated words.  Here’s today’s selection.  Discover more about Rewarded Glares, Blankly Gaps and Exacts Thumbs.

Rewarded Glares
The slumlike city of Beren is heavy with criminal fraternities; so much so that freelancing specialists offer their entrepreneurial services such as lock picking and explosives to many different gangs.  Every spring, there is a deadly but highly lucrative tournament for aspiring young criminals, which involves combat, traps and picking locks faster than the other competitors.  They find these contestants by roaming the streets looking for untried talent.  ‘The Jury’ are the seasoned criminals who not only judge the performance of the tournament’s contestants but walks the streets looking for the next batch.  Any boy or girl who is not yet in a fraternity is a potential target and can range from 12-18 years old.  If one of them stares back at a Jurer when they are walking by, this is ‘rewarded’ with automatic inclusion for the next tournament where they compete against other children and ambitious fraternity juniors.  Are your adventurers young enough to enter?  Will they be attempting to rescue or train one of the contestants before it is too late to save them?

Blankly Gaps
Edreda is a bustling city of over 200,000 citizens with a maze of street markets and is also home to the summer palaces of the monarchy.  There is always news with such a sprawling population and with the kingdom always contesting borders with its neighbours.  But recently odd things are being reported.  Thefts have been completely unexplained, including walking sticks which were being used at the time and food which had just literally been taken out of the oven.  Messages have even appeared on the street in flower petals, although no-one remembers seeing a street artist at work.

What is going on? Are these strange moments connected? How are the perpetrators doing this and who are they?  Will these instances escalate and will the instigators attempt more than petty crime? If the adventurers get involved, they will certainly have offers from wll-to-do citizens asking for their help. But they might also be at risk of being robbed themselves.

What is going on? Well, one theory is that a bored princess is stuck in the summer palace all day but has a time-stopping device, allowing her a few moments each day to express herself in the city.  Another theory is that a young sorcerer is flexing their magical muscle and seeing what they can get away with.  But it really is up to you.

Exacts Thumbs
Filius Athaston was a much maligned head of the Merchants Guild.  Was, because yesterday evening he was found dead at a merchant’s banquet.  The death happened suddenly and it is strongly suspected that the pie he was eating was poisoned.  His neighbour at the table heard him comment at the poor presentation of the dish and moments later he had collapsed.  Examining the pie, there was an opening at the top of a pie and a thumb print left on the pie’s crust.  There is definitely a need for assistance here, and respected adventurers would be welcomed into the Merchants Guild, which is often out of bounds to outsiders.

Who committed this crime?

Those who investigate will discover a criminal syndicate masquerading as chefs for the sole purpose of turning the trade tide in the favour of their patron.  Lord Avelan Brusquely has ties to pirates and his stock of spices was being undermined by Filius Athaston’s own supplies which were given priority when entering the port.  The adventurers can expect some tough fights and some interrogation tactics before uncovering the truth.

Rolling Word Play – 27

Creating Roleplay ideas based on randomly generated words.  Here’s today’s selection.  Discover more about Danced Bookmark, Unreadable Trolley Glaring and Pack Leans Departures

Danced Bookmark
A mage’s slave is a fey creature trapped in a book mark.  It appears on the book mark to be just a silhouette of a female figure, but when he calls by humming a certain tune, she will dance into the room, quickly growing to normal size and forming her complete body.  She is chained to the book by a single piece of magical thread. Although slim, to break it would require some firebalm ointment, which isn’t easy to come by.  She cannot cast magic whilst in chains but is powerfully magic if released.  Will the adventurers discover the mage’s secret slave?  Will they help her and risk angering the mage?  What sort of free spirit will she be after being enslaved for so long?

Unreadable Trolley Glaring
A wooden, three wheeled trolley or wheelbarrow that has a mysterious origin. There are runes carved into it that are somehow unreadable, even by scholars. It hurts to look at them and they appear to change over time.  The most alarming thing is that the knots in the front of the wheelbarrow’s wood looks very eye-like and gives the air a tense atmosphere.  The wheelbarrow has the magical ability to ‘scare’ anything out of its way that isn’t entirely solid, such as walls.  Anything else will swerve 10 feet or more to the side of the wheelbarrow as it passes.

Pack Leans Departures
There are said to exist very lean of donkeys and camels that are cursed.  The story goes that they used to be humanoids who did something wrong. The wrong-doing and the curser change with each telling, but the most common myth is that two celebrated heroes, Saransey the Brilliant and Driget the Bard both met this fate.  If your adventurers ever see a lean pack animal looking sorry for itself, it might be they!

Rolling Word Play – 5

Creating Roleplay ideas based on randomly generated words.  Here’s today’s selection.  Discover more about the Scalding Regret, Flimsy Bite and Hissing Health.

Scalding Regret
A natural ingredient placed in a stew to deter or punish deal breakers.  A powerful shaman needs adventurers to complete a quest, is happy to pay and give them provisions, but asks them to drink a stew with him to honour this task.  The drink is partly made of swamp weed only found in that area.  It dries and grows hot outside of its own environment. When eaten, it remains in the body for 3 days.  If the party venture out of the swamp area within those 3 days they will suffer horrific burns internally.  They will need clerical or shamanic healing to prevent further damage.

Flimsy Bite
A potential quest. A giant eel has been sighted in the lake where the natives of the area like to fish.  There hasn’t been one seen for many generations and they are afraid to go back into the waters.  Any adventurers who take on this task will find the eel is harmless to the beings as it only eating small plankton-like creatures.  If they follow it down into the waters, they will discover a clutch of eel eggs.  If they attempt to harm or move it or its eggs, it will attempt to defend itself.  The party must make the moral decision how to bring peace in the lake.

Hissing Health
There are ways to survive the jungle of Barvu but they have consequences.  Plenty of animals want to attack others or protect themselves with toxic skin and venomous fangs.  There is a type of snake called the Vulena that if placed on the body will heal them and protect the user from venom.  But it is also a parasite.  Take it off and the host creature will bleed profusely.  The more wounds a player gets and turns to Vulena for help, the more the snakes will assimilate into the host’s body.  There is a tribe in the jungle called the Vulens that is made up of humanoid Vulena.  This is the impact of those who forget themselves and give in to the jungle.