The JX-195 Archives

A Baldur's Gate 3 piece I just finished, featuring my Bard Tav, Chorus!

This is a bit of a longer con, but one I would love to pull off someday at my own table.

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that your party has earned some good fortune with a king. It could be for some great service done in their name, for the rescue of the princess, or simply because the king had a good day. Regardless, give the party a Keep, that needs a little bit of repair. A homebase, a place to rest between missions, and give them the tools to make it a true home for their characters.

Give them access to a custodian, someone invested in their corner, that given the right amount of coin, resources, and time, can customize their Keep as much as they want. Music halls, wizarding towers, training rooms, secret passages, the whole nine yards. If the party is so inclined, getting the harder-to-acquire materials for some custom additions could be their own missions.

It's important that this place is a sanctuary for the players. Until it isn't. Until the day that the growing unrest in a neighboring kingdom finally boils over. Until the day that a forgotten service tunnel, deep beneath the Keep's walls, is used by an enemy force. Until suddenly this Keep, and the party, are the only things holding back a wave of enemies, dead set on destroying the kingdom they call home.

And you bust this out -> https://amzn.to/41lA46s

And suddenly your party is fighting in THEIR Keep, fighting for THEIR home. And they get to use every trap, every secret passage, and every custom piece of their Keep that they've been building for months.

And you get to sit back, and see how long it takes for someone to catch on that this is all just Home Alone: Faerun.

5e Downtime Scenario - Trove's Treasure

Your party is approached by a man with one hand, and a chest under his other arm, asking if they would like to play a game of chance.

If you seem interested, the man will introduce himself as Volo, and the chest under his arm as Trove. Volo explains that Trove is a Mimic, which he tamed during his limited time as an adventurer.

Volo explains that Trove still holds a majority of his hoard, taken from the last group of adventurers he'd bested. What remains after all this time are all enchanted items, which Trove wasn't able to digest. Volo explains that he had intended to take Trove's hoard for himself, as his retirement package, but that Trove has a favorite item within himself, and will guard it jealously to this day. For emphasis, he shows the party what remains of his left hand.

Volo calls the game Trove's Treasure. For a meager 200 gold, anyone in the party can reach within Trove, and grab one item from within. Anything they take is theirs by right, and neither he nor Trove will fight them for it. But, should they prove unlucky, and grab Trove's favorite item, Trove will take their hand, and Volo keeps their gold.

For full details on running this encounter, check it out here -> https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/1dsDVmLL8QMQ

For an additional bit of fun, as well as prop work at the table, my dream would be to have a physical Mimic Box, like this one here -> https://amzn.to/40YGB6G

When the party reaches into Trove, you could have small tokens, or slips of paper, inside the box, representing the different items available. However, one of those tokens would have a line of string connected to it, leading out through the hinge of the box. If they pull the string, that means they grabbed the Mimic's favorite item, and you could then physically close the box on their hand.