The Meditating Mystery Monk (Brainstorm)
Dec 30, 2014 20:03:18 GMT
gallant, valas, and 4 more like this
Post by tauster on Dec 30, 2014 20:03:18 GMT
The Meditating Mystery Monk! 
Original WIP postings here and here.
This was a very quick and extremely fun piece to build, and I can't wait to use the MMM in play. Now I'm looking for fun scenarios to put this piece to a really good use.
So let's brainstorm and collect at least 20 cool ideas!
Variations are allowed (talking heads for example can be used in various ways, see below), so fire away with funny, cool, scary and plain weird ideas. I came up with some of my own, adding nor only ideas but also questions intended to develop each scenario.
Talking heads: All three heads can talk, and make good use of that ability.
1) All three try to convince the party that they are the original head belonging to the statue, and promise to reveal treasure locations, passphrases for magically locked doors or even to grant a (Limited) Whish to the characters.
- Which head really belongs to the statue?
- What happens when a head is attached to the body?
- And does it (or any of them) keep their promise?
2) One or more heads animate when the party comes near and attacks them. The rat's head inflicts lycantrophy, the orc head a strange disease.
- What special attack does the monk's head have?
- What happens when the heads are permanently destroyed? (--> the statue cracks open and reveals treasure / the last surviving head attaches to the statue which flies away with an (evil/happy) laugh, returning later to haunt or help the party).
3) The heads wobble back and forth, obviously unable to move. They try to provke the party to attack them, claiming that they are in a good shape and that being beheaded is only a minor nuisance, really. ...what the heck?!?
- Are they really dangeous? (--> see 1B, or go Monthy Pyton)
- or are they all just stark, raving mad?
4) The heads are just happy to have someone other than themselves to talk to. They try to keep the party involved in talk as long as possible, going to all lenghts to keep them around. Since they know a good deal of what happened here (at least in their field of vision and within earshot), they can relay whatever information and lore the DM wants to give the players.
- Are they really only interested in company?
- Can they be taken away? (--> add three immobile, talking head NPCs to the party. Clever and high-level PCs might even enspell them with fly or other spells, wizards might use them as variant familiar)
- What happens if they're packed in a bag of holding or removed more than [distance] from the statue's body? (--> nothing, they don't need the body to survive / they die / they go dormant until returned)
5) This is the statue of one of the PCs ancestors. *gulp*
This adds a giant emotional leverage to the encounter.
- The party either did know this fact and came here for this reason
- ...or it is a giant surprise, good or bad.
- Combine with any of the scenarios above.
Now it's your turn. Can't wait to see what you guys come up with!
[edit]
please number your idea, so it's easier for me later on to collect all in a neat list.
Original WIP postings here and here.
This was a very quick and extremely fun piece to build, and I can't wait to use the MMM in play. Now I'm looking for fun scenarios to put this piece to a really good use.
So let's brainstorm and collect at least 20 cool ideas!
Variations are allowed (talking heads for example can be used in various ways, see below), so fire away with funny, cool, scary and plain weird ideas. I came up with some of my own, adding nor only ideas but also questions intended to develop each scenario.
Talking heads: All three heads can talk, and make good use of that ability.
1) All three try to convince the party that they are the original head belonging to the statue, and promise to reveal treasure locations, passphrases for magically locked doors or even to grant a (Limited) Whish to the characters.
- Which head really belongs to the statue?
- What happens when a head is attached to the body?
- And does it (or any of them) keep their promise?
2) One or more heads animate when the party comes near and attacks them. The rat's head inflicts lycantrophy, the orc head a strange disease.
- What special attack does the monk's head have?
- What happens when the heads are permanently destroyed? (--> the statue cracks open and reveals treasure / the last surviving head attaches to the statue which flies away with an (evil/happy) laugh, returning later to haunt or help the party).
3) The heads wobble back and forth, obviously unable to move. They try to provke the party to attack them, claiming that they are in a good shape and that being beheaded is only a minor nuisance, really. ...what the heck?!?
- Are they really dangeous? (--> see 1B, or go Monthy Pyton)
- or are they all just stark, raving mad?
4) The heads are just happy to have someone other than themselves to talk to. They try to keep the party involved in talk as long as possible, going to all lenghts to keep them around. Since they know a good deal of what happened here (at least in their field of vision and within earshot), they can relay whatever information and lore the DM wants to give the players.
- Are they really only interested in company?
- Can they be taken away? (--> add three immobile, talking head NPCs to the party. Clever and high-level PCs might even enspell them with fly or other spells, wizards might use them as variant familiar)
- What happens if they're packed in a bag of holding or removed more than [distance] from the statue's body? (--> nothing, they don't need the body to survive / they die / they go dormant until returned)
5) This is the statue of one of the PCs ancestors. *gulp*
This adds a giant emotional leverage to the encounter.
- The party either did know this fact and came here for this reason
- ...or it is a giant surprise, good or bad.
- Combine with any of the scenarios above.
Now it's your turn. Can't wait to see what you guys come up with!
[edit]
please number your idea, so it's easier for me later on to collect all in a neat list.
Cheers!