Probably Fun RPG Ideas

The Revenant Torc is made from a dragon’s Achilles tendon, woven with a runic steel chain. Its six clasps are animated imp claws. When you place the Torc on the neck of a dead creature, it returns to a horrible semblance of life! Your power over the creature is held within its four wisdom teeth and two canines, which become a ghostly red energy. You may command it to hunt down and destroy a target, in exchange for one of its teeth. This requires an opposed Wisdom check, with a +1 bonus for each side depending on how many of the teeth they have. If you fail, your undead assassin turns on you.

HP 8d10+40, Armor Class 17 (-1 size, +4 armor, +4 natural armor). Speed 50.

STR 26 DEX 11 CON 23 INT 3 WIS 13 CHA 4

Attacks: Slam +15 to hit, 1d8+12 bludgeoning

Saves: Fortitude +12, Reflex +6, Will +3

Skills: Handle Animal +3, Profession (Farmer) +6, Spot +4

Feats: Endurance, Run, Skill Focus (Spot)

Semiconstructed: Tractors are immune to critical hits, disease, and mind-affecting effects, but not poison or fatigue. It has armor built into its frame.

Trample: DC 22 Reflex for 1d8+12 damage

"Halt! If you seek to pass, you must solve my riddle, or I will kill you!"

The wanderer skulking in the sphinx' shadow froze in place.

Now, I think ProbablyBad was talking about having just the players be commoners, experts, adepts, aristocrats and warriors. But what if even the NPCs became NPCs? What does it mean for a world to lose access to new spellcasters capable of spells above 5th level? What about all the monsters that are no longer opposed by proper adventurers?

The Archmage (Moira MacNeill) was a renowned witch and guardian of her mountain community. After finding many lost familiars and banishing evil fey, she was found turned into solid gold in the Case of the Midas Murders.

The Champion (Sword’s Child) was a gladiator who uncovered a conspiracy of fixed fights, corrupt politicians, and a blood cult in their arena. Rather than turning in the guilty parties, Sword’s Child embarked on a vigilante rampage. Years later, the one surviving conspirator somehow killed them in the Case of the Closed Colosseum.

The Guardian (Nur Zajal) was an agent of the Empire. She prevented plots to break peace treaties, assassinate envoys, and sabotage military operations. In the end, it wasn’t a Taldane spy who poisoned her in the Case of the Deadly Dishes. It must have been a rival within the imperial intelligence network…

The Hierophant (Rorik Glimmerhelm) was a servant of Abadar, tasked with investigating the crime that disrupts society the most: tax evasion. This dutiful dwarf made enemies among all the wealthy nobles and merchants of Absalom, leaving far too many suspects in the Case of the Reddened Revenue.

The Marshal (Hera Pierrot) was a fixture of high society, recovering stolen jewels or blackmail material and charming every party with wit and daring. When she exploded in the Case of the Anonymous Alchemist, all of Kintargo was in mourning for weeks.

Each American football team has one of these relics, which they guard with determination and high tech security. It is fueled by team spirit and willpower - sufficient physical force can break it, but it will regrow quickly when shards are invested with energy of the sport’s zeitgeist.

Football players have many different rituals or celebrations involving their football crystals, but the magical power is always present. It’s able to collect 1 power point per every 10 fans present at the game, glowing with an increasingly bright light. Then, as part of the football team’s preparations, each player chooses a psionic power to prepare in the crystal. It must be from the discipline of Psychometabolism and have a target of “you” and a level that could be manifested by a psion of the team’s average level.

Throughout the game, as an action (usually during a huddle) players can have the crystal spend power points to manifest the prepared powers, affecting the player who takes the action.