They trader takes interest in the more mundane items the party has: dull daggers, torn garments, used tinder boxes. The trader seems to see something in these items and praises their value and craftsmanship, etc. But the party sees them as pretty much worthless.
The party can trade for items from extravagant (golden chalice with jewels) to useful (i.e. a bundle of unused torches) but when they leave the room the items they acquire randomly transform into something else. Set up a random table that you can roll on. Maybe the golden chalice one trades for turns into a tin cup, and the torches transform into magical crossbow bolts. Keep it random but within reason so they players can't figure out a pattern.
Now you have a game hook whenever the characters find this door. They can walk out with a dud of an item or something with an unexpected magical boom. This way you can also leave the motivation of the Fey vague and let you players debate the trader's motivation.
So I'm going to be running my first ever one-shot soon and I have it planned around the "door of many knobs" idea. One of my ideas for a door is that when you open it, you enter a room with a fey creature. This creature has a stall and is trading a variety of wares from weapons to exotic items and potions. However I am stuck as to what this fey will be selling, what they will take in exchange for the goods and such. Any help here would be greatly appreciated.
If it were a longer campaign, I'd suggest having the price on more valuable/extravagant items be something mysterious and open-ended you could use as a story hook. In past campaigns I've had players in fey markets pick up magic swords in exchange for "a hogshead of their dreams", that kind of thing
As this is a one-shot though, you probably want to keep things on the wackier side with a more immediate payoff. One idea might be for the price tag on the thing the party absolutely needs or wants most to be that they have to take the fey's annoying niece or nephew on a "playdate"...
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
So I'm going to be running my first ever one-shot soon and I have it planned around the "door of many knobs" idea. One of my ideas for a door is that when you open it, you enter a room with a fey creature. This creature has a stall and is trading a variety of wares from weapons to exotic items and potions. However I am stuck as to what this fey will be selling, what they will take in exchange for the goods and such. Any help here would be greatly appreciated.
If it were a longer campaign, I'd suggest having the price on more valuable/extravagant items be something mysterious and open-ended you could use as a story hook. In past campaigns I've had players in fey markets pick up magic swords in exchange for "a hogshead of their dreams", that kind of thing
As this is a one-shot though, you probably want to keep things on the wackier side with a more immediate payoff. One idea might be for the price tag on the thing the party absolutely needs or wants most to be that they have to take the fey's annoying niece or nephew on a "playdate"...
"show my friend here a good time tonight and you shall have your boat on the morrow."
"err, what? this pig? this giant pig? take an actual boar to the pub? with tusks!"
"he's shy about drinking alone. sprinkle corn on the path. return him sloshing with ale and wild boasts. or shall we watch you swim?"
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unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: providefeedback!
I imagine fey having different ideas of value then us. They might trade away a golden sword for your first tear, but once you make the trade you find that you are unable to shed tears. Maybe they sell a silver chalice that will protect you from poison and in return you give them the color of your eyes. Maybe they have something that you know a certain player won't be able to live without, but they are asking for a memory of their choice. Don't tell them what the memory is, but have them feel the wrongness that a piece of their mind, of their life, has just been stolen. Then, make up the memory that was stolen, and have an adventure tied to it. That memory holds vital information, and they have to search for the fey that they sold it to. Maybe by the time they find him, they discover that they sold it to a pixie, and that it was stolen from the pixie by a hag.
For more ideas for items they will want to buy, creatures from mythology often give many strange yet useful gifts to story characters. Maybe they find a comb, if the comb is placed on the ground a whole forest will sprout up, maybe it casts spike growth. Or they might find a handkerchief that will become a full, flowing river when dropped. They could find a doll that randomly gives them advice at weird times. Maybe they find a book, if they read the book, a random fey spirit or demon is summoned and the spirit will obey their every command, until midnight. The players will get a kick out of having such a powerful being under their control, but if it isn't killed or banished by midnight it will attack them. Reading the book backwards will banish it, but if they don't do that they will have to kill it. They could find a vial of oil that will give a weapon the light property if it is anointed with it. They could simply find a golden, +1 sword.
I guess there are multiple ways you could go about it, when I think of Fey I think mostly of unpredictable tricksters who are just as likely to hinder as to help, so I imagine they would be selling artifacts that offer some sort of benefit at the expense of also bestowing an equal and ironic downside.
A bunch of knick-knacks with people's names on them. Little rocks with the names painted on, badges to sew onto shirts, raggedy dolls with the names stitched into them—stuff like that. When he meets the party, have him ask for their names...
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If you got a problem, yo, I'll solve it || Cast Fireball, that usually resolves it
Magic Thingamajiggs that are mostly useless, like a Ring of Freckles, or a magic cookie jar. Mix something useful under it once in a while and give the exact perk only when they have bought it, like a brooch of the Iron mustache - the trader gives a general description like "you will grow a fabulous metallic mustache" (bought: gain AC+1)
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Consider this option.
They trader takes interest in the more mundane items the party has: dull daggers, torn garments, used tinder boxes. The trader seems to see something in these items and praises their value and craftsmanship, etc. But the party sees them as pretty much worthless.
The party can trade for items from extravagant (golden chalice with jewels) to useful (i.e. a bundle of unused torches) but when they leave the room the items they acquire randomly transform into something else. Set up a random table that you can roll on. Maybe the golden chalice one trades for turns into a tin cup, and the torches transform into magical crossbow bolts. Keep it random but within reason so they players can't figure out a pattern.
Now you have a game hook whenever the characters find this door. They can walk out with a dud of an item or something with an unexpected magical boom. This way you can also leave the motivation of the Fey vague and let you players debate the trader's motivation.
If it were a longer campaign, I'd suggest having the price on more valuable/extravagant items be something mysterious and open-ended you could use as a story hook. In past campaigns I've had players in fey markets pick up magic swords in exchange for "a hogshead of their dreams", that kind of thing
As this is a one-shot though, you probably want to keep things on the wackier side with a more immediate payoff. One idea might be for the price tag on the thing the party absolutely needs or wants most to be that they have to take the fey's annoying niece or nephew on a "playdate"...
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
"show my friend here a good time tonight and you shall have your boat on the morrow."
"err, what? this pig? this giant pig? take an actual boar to the pub? with tusks!"
"he's shy about drinking alone. sprinkle corn on the path. return him sloshing with ale and wild boasts. or shall we watch you swim?"
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
I imagine fey having different ideas of value then us. They might trade away a golden sword for your first tear, but once you make the trade you find that you are unable to shed tears. Maybe they sell a silver chalice that will protect you from poison and in return you give them the color of your eyes. Maybe they have something that you know a certain player won't be able to live without, but they are asking for a memory of their choice. Don't tell them what the memory is, but have them feel the wrongness that a piece of their mind, of their life, has just been stolen. Then, make up the memory that was stolen, and have an adventure tied to it. That memory holds vital information, and they have to search for the fey that they sold it to. Maybe by the time they find him, they discover that they sold it to a pixie, and that it was stolen from the pixie by a hag.
For more ideas for items they will want to buy, creatures from mythology often give many strange yet useful gifts to story characters. Maybe they find a comb, if the comb is placed on the ground a whole forest will sprout up, maybe it casts spike growth. Or they might find a handkerchief that will become a full, flowing river when dropped. They could find a doll that randomly gives them advice at weird times. Maybe they find a book, if they read the book, a random fey spirit or demon is summoned and the spirit will obey their every command, until midnight. The players will get a kick out of having such a powerful being under their control, but if it isn't killed or banished by midnight it will attack them. Reading the book backwards will banish it, but if they don't do that they will have to kill it. They could find a vial of oil that will give a weapon the light property if it is anointed with it. They could simply find a golden, +1 sword.
Hope this helps.
I guess there are multiple ways you could go about it, when I think of Fey I think mostly of unpredictable tricksters who are just as likely to hinder as to help, so I imagine they would be selling artifacts that offer some sort of benefit at the expense of also bestowing an equal and ironic downside.
A bunch of knick-knacks with people's names on them. Little rocks with the names painted on, badges to sew onto shirts, raggedy dolls with the names stitched into them—stuff like that. When he meets the party, have him ask for their names...
If you got a problem, yo, I'll solve it || Cast Fireball, that usually resolves it
Magic Thingamajiggs that are mostly useless, like a Ring of Freckles, or a magic cookie jar. Mix something useful under it once in a while and give the exact perk only when they have bought it, like a brooch of the Iron mustache - the trader gives a general description like "you will grow a fabulous metallic mustache" (bought: gain AC+1)