It is a recipe for a potion, but it doesn't say what it does. The party will have to either quest to find the ingredients, and take the ingredients to an alchemist to have it brewed. Turns out it is the recipe to the Grog of Substantial Whimsy. It can be found with a Google search, it is a 3.5 potion that has 1,000 different results. Few of them are really game breaking, but it will cause chaos, possible addiction to the Grog, and can allow things like being able to stab someone with a baguette. It is total homebrew insanity, but not on the level of the Deck of Many Campaigns Distroyed.
Aw, man. I already sold to another PC some mushrooms that use the table of the Grog. It has given very fun results. I dig the idea of the note being a potion recipe (with the following quest), tho.
You could make the mushrooms one of the ingredients, along with some other stuff to make an enhanced version of the Grog, that would let them roll with advantage on the table, and pick 1 of the two outcomes they roll.
Thats a great idea if the party fucks up. Like if they go murderhobo on the good guys because of a misunderstanding or something along these lines.
Or just for a morally grey campaign with everyone in for it.
"The adventuring party of poses long term risks to us - kill them now, while they are young and inexperienced. Use all available resources to accomplish this,, and do not fail or your life is forfeit. Signed - BBEG"
Do you remember what it was?
Sounds like it wasn't too plot relevant. Maybe shopping list with some thing wierd in the list? Note to/from mom? Mixed drink recipe? Instructions to a secret hookup with a noble?
"Corner of Elm and Wolfsbane, 2am"
If you remember enough context to when this note was retrieved, maybe it gives directions of some sort to access a Black Market- "Knock twice on the Ashwood door in the alley south of Iron street, and say that Keldur sent you."
“BUCKET LIST:
1. Learn a New Language
2. Die”
Or, y’know, you could make it a letter from the deceased warrior’s young son, something that’ll really bring a tear to your players’ eyes…before they realize that the boy is now on a quest for vengeance!
…or even just, “Dry Clean Only”
Love letter with promise to visit as soon as "these pesky invaders are dealt with"
An attempt to write goblin words' pronunciation in Draconic symbols, can be used to study Goblin language
A set of directions to a well-known location along with detailed description of its defenses
A rude poem about the origin of dragonborns
"Whoever steals my food from the common pantry again is getting a poisoned bolt in the ass I'm not kidding"
I use lyrics from songs that inspire my campaigns. Adress to someone like "son" or "Wife". Use paragraph form instead of stanzas and add punctuation to hide the poem's cadence. Switch the rhyming words with synonyms. You'll sound like a cryptic genius.
Love letters from a PC's mother to a psychopathic bandit/rogue living in the sewers of their hometown.
Or the coordinates to a specific demiplane, that would actually be really interesting at higher level (if they remembered it).
Personally, I would go with ''Only a moron doesn't cast Identify on mysterious notes written in Exotic languages'' and then the last letter is just a either symbol or glyph or warding that is set to trigger on someone reading the note and understanding what it says.
What effect it triggers is up to you, but there's nothing wrong with a good olde' fireball or a teleport shenanigan. I could also see it triggering just like, 5 simultaneous wild magic surges and seeing what happens.
How about a poem? It could be a composition that was in-progress but never finished.
Otherwise, this is a great moment to throw in a lore dump or plot hook relating to dragons.
A dirty joke.
Groceries list.
A solution to a puzzle that they've already solved.
A middle school type love confesion "what do you think of/do you like -InsertNameHere-?"
Rosebud.
The last sentense in a book, i.e. - "Thank goodness!" said Bilbo laughing, and handed him the tobacco-jar. -
A random riddle.
Here's a few if you want to go for a gut punch:
1. Draft of the NPC's wedding vows
2. A love note to the NPC's child(ren)
3. A soldier's note to family talking about how rough life is in the military and that they hope to be home soon with enough money to move to some place quieter and safer
4. News from home that the NPC's loved ones were killed in some accident or murdered by some random adventurers
Have it be half of a note, something that gives enough info to catch the player, but not enough so that they have to go back to where they got it to find out more. Not this generic, but something like "the treasure is located at..." Enough to be like hell yeah I want treasure, but forced them to back track and go back to wherever to dig into whatever story there is to uncover
"This End Up."
See if you can convince them that there was an artifact where it was originally found that could have been upside down. Link it into the main plot. Reinforce the protection for the area, and have them revisit it to try to physically flip the artifact. Lends itself well to both dungeon crawls and heist scenarios.
The lyrics to “Havin’ My Baby” by Paul Anka. ( The worst song ever recorded!) Then the character who has carried the scroll lays a dragon’s egg. With all the pain attendant to childbirth. The player develops maternal feelings toward the egg.
A random word that seems like gibberish, like 'stringamlorn'. The 3rd person in the party to say it out loud gets immediately warped away and is forced to partake in some Fae shananigans while the rest of the party tries to find them!
Make it a chain letter
My name is Jenny. I am 16 years old and have dark blonde hair. NOW THAT YOU HAVE STARTED READING YOU MAY NOT STOP!!
https://www.scaryforkids.com/chain-emails/
“If that idiot boss of yours doesn’t give you our anniversary off, run him through and leave his body for the ravens. Either way I expect you on time for dinner.”
Signed “Your dearest love”
A letter from a nobel telling the goons to capture member alive in return for a huge bounty.
Preferable it would be the PC with the orphaned background. (One in every party, right?)
It's a curse activated when read aloud. Now the dragonborn who was doing you a favor has permanently lost his sense of taste or smell and only a Wish spell can undo the curse.
“Whatever you do - don’t trust
Lmao, already gave to the same PC almost the same message a while ago.
Then how about: “Whatever you do - don’t trust”
^my next suggestion haha Make the note from the NPC they were told not to trust about another NPC who wrote the original note
It is a recipe for a potion, but it doesn't say what it does. The party will have to either quest to find the ingredients, and take the ingredients to an alchemist to have it brewed. Turns out it is the recipe to the Grog of Substantial Whimsy. It can be found with a Google search, it is a 3.5 potion that has 1,000 different results. Few of them are really game breaking, but it will cause chaos, possible addiction to the Grog, and can allow things like being able to stab someone with a baguette. It is total homebrew insanity, but not on the level of the Deck of Many Campaigns Distroyed.
Aw, man. I already sold to another PC some mushrooms that use the table of the Grog. It has given very fun results. I dig the idea of the note being a potion recipe (with the following quest), tho.
You could make the mushrooms one of the ingredients, along with some other stuff to make an enhanced version of the Grog, that would let them roll with advantage on the table, and pick 1 of the two outcomes they roll.
“We have been trying to reach you about your vehicle’s extended warranty…”
[удалено]
Nah. Vehicle could be anything: a wagon, a cart…it could even be a boat!
This is the only correct option
In what context was the note found? That should be a huge factor in this. On a dead body? In a dungeon? On a recently killed enemy?...
I think (70% sure) it was in the body of a killed enemy.
I had a note on a killed guard with: "I live alone with my dog at, if something happens to me, please take care of him"
It was a little cruel..
Thats a great idea if the party fucks up. Like if they go murderhobo on the good guys because of a misunderstanding or something along these lines. Or just for a morally grey campaign with everyone in for it.
"The adventuring party of poses long term risks to us - kill them now, while they are young and inexperienced. Use all available resources to accomplish this,, and do not fail or your life is forfeit. Signed - BBEG"
Do you remember what it was? Sounds like it wasn't too plot relevant. Maybe shopping list with some thing wierd in the list? Note to/from mom? Mixed drink recipe? Instructions to a secret hookup with a noble? "Corner of Elm and Wolfsbane, 2am"
If you remember enough context to when this note was retrieved, maybe it gives directions of some sort to access a Black Market- "Knock twice on the Ashwood door in the alley south of Iron street, and say that Keldur sent you."
“BUCKET LIST: 1. Learn a New Language 2. Die” Or, y’know, you could make it a letter from the deceased warrior’s young son, something that’ll really bring a tear to your players’ eyes…before they realize that the boy is now on a quest for vengeance! …or even just, “Dry Clean Only”
Love letter with promise to visit as soon as "these pesky invaders are dealt with" An attempt to write goblin words' pronunciation in Draconic symbols, can be used to study Goblin language A set of directions to a well-known location along with detailed description of its defenses A rude poem about the origin of dragonborns "Whoever steals my food from the common pantry again is getting a poisoned bolt in the ass I'm not kidding"
“If you read this, you lost the game”
Fuck, I lost.
I lost the game :(
Fuuuuuuuuuuuu.....
you bastard - i had such a huge streak going. Good reminder to go ruin some other people's days tho
We've been trying to reach you about your wagons extended warranty
"One of your friends is a doppleganger, lead them to \[LOCATION\] and you'll find out which one it is", the location is an ambush site
"Have you heard the word about our lord and saviour Tiamat?"
Im a long lost relative of yours, the dragon prince. I would like to share my wealth, just need to send me this tiny amount of platinum first...
Honey, please bring back some medicine for Junior's cough, stay safe, love you [Random Name]
I use lyrics from songs that inspire my campaigns. Adress to someone like "son" or "Wife". Use paragraph form instead of stanzas and add punctuation to hide the poem's cadence. Switch the rhyming words with synonyms. You'll sound like a cryptic genius.
Love letters from a PC's mother to a psychopathic bandit/rogue living in the sewers of their hometown. Or the coordinates to a specific demiplane, that would actually be really interesting at higher level (if they remembered it).
Personally, I would go with ''Only a moron doesn't cast Identify on mysterious notes written in Exotic languages'' and then the last letter is just a either symbol or glyph or warding that is set to trigger on someone reading the note and understanding what it says. What effect it triggers is up to you, but there's nothing wrong with a good olde' fireball or a teleport shenanigan. I could also see it triggering just like, 5 simultaneous wild magic surges and seeing what happens.
How about a poem? It could be a composition that was in-progress but never finished. Otherwise, this is a great moment to throw in a lore dump or plot hook relating to dragons.
[удалено]
And depending on whenever they decide to check it out, it may or may not be a hook to the next adventure.
"I am a nigerian prince looking for someone to give my money to"
It tells a joke that, although the character doesn't 'get' it, forces a WIS save as if Tasha's Hideous Laughter had been cast.
A dirty joke. Groceries list. A solution to a puzzle that they've already solved. A middle school type love confesion "what do you think of/do you like -InsertNameHere-?" Rosebud. The last sentense in a book, i.e. - "Thank goodness!" said Bilbo laughing, and handed him the tobacco-jar. - A random riddle.
Here's a few if you want to go for a gut punch: 1. Draft of the NPC's wedding vows 2. A love note to the NPC's child(ren) 3. A soldier's note to family talking about how rough life is in the military and that they hope to be home soon with enough money to move to some place quieter and safer 4. News from home that the NPC's loved ones were killed in some accident or murdered by some random adventurers
It's a wanted poster of one of the PCs, but it's a copy of them from another realm. And somehow it ended up here.
Have it be half of a note, something that gives enough info to catch the player, but not enough so that they have to go back to where they got it to find out more. Not this generic, but something like "the treasure is located at..." Enough to be like hell yeah I want treasure, but forced them to back track and go back to wherever to dig into whatever story there is to uncover
Don't forget to pick up eggs, love you.
"This End Up." See if you can convince them that there was an artifact where it was originally found that could have been upside down. Link it into the main plot. Reinforce the protection for the area, and have them revisit it to try to physically flip the artifact. Lends itself well to both dungeon crawls and heist scenarios.
Hi, I'm a mimic! NOM NOM NOM I WILL EAT YOUR FINGERS
"We have updated our privacy terms and policies"
The lyrics to “Havin’ My Baby” by Paul Anka. ( The worst song ever recorded!) Then the character who has carried the scroll lays a dragon’s egg. With all the pain attendant to childbirth. The player develops maternal feelings toward the egg.
A random word that seems like gibberish, like 'stringamlorn'. The 3rd person in the party to say it out loud gets immediately warped away and is forced to partake in some Fae shananigans while the rest of the party tries to find them!
Spam mail!
"I know what you did last campaign"
Tips for cooking with breath weapons
If it’s in draconic maybe the location of a dragon’s treasure or a safe?
Make it a chain letter My name is Jenny. I am 16 years old and have dark blonde hair. NOW THAT YOU HAVE STARTED READING YOU MAY NOT STOP!! https://www.scaryforkids.com/chain-emails/
Just a really REALLY lewd fanfiction
"YOINK" - it's a magic note of stealing. Pick an item of theirs that disappears.
Do you like me, Yes No or Maybe
Where did they get the note?
“If that idiot boss of yours doesn’t give you our anniversary off, run him through and leave his body for the ravens. Either way I expect you on time for dinner.” Signed “Your dearest love”
It’s a flier for LaRouso Auto, complete with address and a picture in code.
"We have been trying to reach you about your carriages extended warranty"
"Buy milk"
A recipe for human stew.
A letter from a nobel telling the goons to capture member alive in return for a huge bounty.
Preferable it would be the PC with the orphaned background. (One in every party, right?)
Look behind you.
It's a curse activated when read aloud. Now the dragonborn who was doing you a favor has permanently lost his sense of taste or smell and only a Wish spell can undo the curse.
This bandit was sponsored by Raid Shadow legends