Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

[GoldenAge]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

We recently had an Epic City adventure based on the Mask of Destiny; an item of power that allowed its possessor to alter anyone's destiny. I realize that this isn't a Champions U item, but it really lent itself to a great game where the heroes were thrust into a totally different existence. It was full of moral implications and choices as well as fights with former friends and totally new villains.

 

Unfortunately for the bad guy that possessed it, it was meant for grander entities than normal humans and every time he changed someone's destiny it was necessary to alter dozens of other destinies. By the end of the adventure he was begging the heroes to save him.

[freakboy6117]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

Captain jack sparrows compass from the pirates of the Caribbean movies is a useful Mcguffin it seems broken but it actually points directly to your hearts desire very useful

[BlueCloud2k2]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

Uhh... Dragon Ball?

 

I had a similar but completely "Not-what-they-do" set of 7 golden orbs the size of pool balls called "The Orbs of Feilong" which were mystical spheres that worked as an extension of the owner's will, allowing him to manipulate objects, see through orbs, fly by standing on them, etc. They looked like they were clear orbs filled with swirling gold and silver dust. No stars though.

Yes, it was Dragon Ball. Nice adaptation.

dragonball evolution

Meh, close enough. Have Rep.

We recently had an Epic City adventure based on the Mask of Destiny; an item of power that allowed its possessor to alter anyone's destiny. I realize that this isn't a Champions U item, but it really lent itself to a great game where the heroes were thrust into a totally different existence. It was full of moral implications and choices as well as fights with former friends and totally new villains.

 

Unfortunately for the bad guy that possessed it, it was meant for grander entities than normal humans and every time he changed someone's destiny it was necessary to alter dozens of other destinies. By the end of the adventure he was begging the heroes to save him.

That mask looks like something out of my Eberron book... it is.

Captain jack sparrows compass from the pirates of the Caribbean movies is a useful Mcguffin it seems broken but it actually points directly to your hearts desire very useful

I had forgotten all about that. Repped.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

For the Fourth Edition Champions sourcebook The Ultimate Supermage, Dean Shomshak wrote up the mightiest artifact of Sumerian myth, the Tablet of Destinies (sometimes called "Tablets of Destiny"). The Tablet was the primary symbol of rulership among the gods, and possession of it gave even a minor god the power to make other deities tremble, as when the Tablet was stolen by Anzu the Storm Bird. Although legend doesn't specify the qualities of the Tablet, Shomshak gave it several powers related to rulership and destiny, including: a "mantle of radiance" inspiring awe in others (huge offensive Presence boost); massive Mind Control both personal and AOE; a Major Mental Transform to a willing slave of the Tablet's bearer; another Transform to totally change a person's social standing, able to make a beggar a king, or the reverse; and lots of dice of Luck. However, the greatest powers of the Tablet of Destinies are difficult for mortals to control, and may change the user's destiny for the far worse (failure of an INT roll when using them will inflict much Unluck on the user).

 

Serendipitously, one of Steve Long's Hero Plus Adventures for pulp gaming involves finding the hidden location of the Tablets of Destiny: https://www.herogames.com/viewItem.htm?itemID=203364

[Markdoc]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

Or alternatively the mention of destiny reminds of that useful artifact from Nightwatch: "the chalk of destiny" - which allows you to rewrite someone's destiny and thus alter their powers, or even - in the movie version - rewrite history.

 

cheers, Mark

[GoldenAge]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

That mask looks like something out of my Eberron book... it is.

 

It was just something I found online.

[Matt the Bruins]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

Or alternatively the mention of destiny reminds of that useful artifact from Nightwatch: "the chalk of destiny" - which allows you to rewrite someone's destiny and thus alter their powers, or even - in the movie version - rewrite history.

 

In the movie version one could only alter one's own destiny, not somebody else's. Was it more versatile in the novels?

[Kraven Kor]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

My current MacGuffin is the reactor / engine / main computer of an ancient alien spacecraft. If one were to possess it and figure out how to use it, all sorts of things become possible - travelling to other dimensions, merging one reality with another, time travel, FTL, teleportation, genetic alteration... near unlimited power. Trouble is it is the size of a house and currently in deep freeze, seeing as using it seems to cause drastic side effects, on the "Event Horizon" order of insanity and opening the gate to dimensions you really don't want to open the gate to. In my campaign setting, this device is what spawned the myth of Pandora's Box and led to the destruction of the first human civilizations (I'm borrowing a lot from the "Ancient Astronaut" UFO theory / myth.)

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

Of course the two recent Iron Man films have given us a very appropriate tech item, the miniaturized ARC reactor. Who wouldn't want to get their hands on a fission reactor the size of a softball, that puts out enough power to drive a main battle tank, and apparently requires no radiation shielding?

[Markdoc]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

 

In the movie version one could only alter one's own destiny, not somebody else's. Was it more versatile in the novels?

 

Yup, in the novels (which are really quite different from the movies) it's actually used by Svetlana to rewrite the destiny of Egor (Anton's son who would otherwise have become a powerful dark magician) without changing the entire history as they did in the movie. In addition

 

Olga breaks a chunk off and uses it to rewrite destiny, restoring her full powers, among other changes

 

 

I like the vignette in the movie where Anton discovers the chalk of destiny is being used by the old asian (who I think is Tamerlane, though that's not made explicit) to write orders in his cafe!

 

cheers, Mark

[Ninja-Bear]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

Another "real world" item is the Oscillator built by Nicoli Telsa. Supposedly everything has a frequency, and by setting the device to the proper one, said item will break apart. He claims that he tried it out on a skyscrapper that was being built.

[BlueCloud2k2]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

Here's an array from the Final Fight AMV (that I'm in the process of converting):

 

The Armor of Ares - A breastplate, gauntlets, grieves, and a headband divided into 5 or 5 parts (don't remember) that each give the user greater strength and power (so maybe each gives 2d6 or more AID to all powers and abilities). Someone wearing the full kit becomes completely unstoppable.

 

I can't remember in the AMV if the Armor drives the user insane or if the guy collecting the pieces and killing people was already insane, but it would be an interesting side effect, no? The more peices someone collects, the more unbalanced they become... Should be called the Armor of Cthulul

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

Back in 1987, when graphic novels were still in the experimental stage, Marvel produced "The Big Change," an adventure starring The Hulk and The Thing in an outer space romp.

 

The McGuffin they were chasing through the story was a very special food additive that, after being run through a multi-dimensional cyclotronic displacer, changes food in two ways:

 

it makes the food smell great, and it makes it taste great.

 

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

With all the attention given the Arc of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, and the Spear of Longinus/Destiny, a couple of other major items of the Abrahamic tradition tend to be overlooked. The Rod of Aaron was the staff carried by Moses' brother, and endowed by God with miraculous powers. In some traditions the staff is the same as used by Moses himself to perform God's miracles: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=5&letter=A

 

The other is the Seal-Ring of Solomon, the mightiest magic ring of legend, able to command or bind the genii and control the four elements: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=895&letter=S&search=ring%20solomon

[Ranxerox]

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The Polyversal Remote is a handheld device that enables the user to:

1. view distant places, times and dimensions

2. travel to and from those locations

3. summon beings and objects from those locations

4. alter their local surroundings

5. alter their local physical constants, including probability

6. alter local inhabitants

7. freeze, slow or speed up the flow of time locally

8. analyze anything it views, including living beings

9. translate languages

10. provide basic environmental and physical protection to the wielder of the remote

 

(VPP, OAF, Requires a Skill Roll(Use Polyversal Remote)(-1/20 active points), occasional side effects)--points as suitable to campaign setting

 

The hallmark of McGuffin is being coveted not being useful. So if your Polyversal Remote is something that people struggle for but don't get to hold onto long it is a McGuffin. If it is something that the players are allowed to get there hands on a keep a while, even if they have problems using it reliably, it is a plot device.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

A MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin or maguffin) is "a plot element that catches the viewers' attention or drives the plot of a work of fiction".[1] The defining aspect of a MacGuffin is that the major players in the story are (at least initially) willing to do and sacrifice almost anything to obtain it, regardless of what the MacGuffin actually is. In fact, the specific nature of the MacGuffin may be ambiguous, undefined, generic, left open to interpretation or otherwise completely unimportant to the plot. (Examples might include money, victory/glory, survival, a source of power, a potential threat, etc....or something entirely unexplained.)

 

MacGuffins are sometimes referred to as plot coupons[2] (especially if multiple ones are required) as the protagonist only needs to "collect enough plot coupons and trade them in for a dénouement".

 

The MacGuffin is common in films, especially thrillers. Commonly, though not always, the MacGuffin is the central focus of the film in the first act, and later declines in importance as the struggles and motivations of characters play out. It usually comes back into play at the climax of the story, but sometimes the MacGuffin is actually forgotten by the end of the film.

 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin

[Folded]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin

 

That definition reminds me of one of my favorite maguffin movies of all time: Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble With Harry. If you haven't seen it, it's a wonderful example of Hitchcock's humorous side (although it's definitely black humor). 5 out of 5 stars in my book.

[Escafarc]

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The best McGuffin movie Ever!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP2WCpHIg1Y&feature=related

[Lord Liaden]

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Since Boll Weevil asked about Champions Universe McGuffins, it's worth noting that the Lemurians created several besides the Madragalore, which are mentioned on Hidden Lands p. 102. One with intriguing possibilities is The Ultra-Corruscator, a 300-foot flying copper sphere which could create lighting storms and call the lightning into itself, storing the energy until it coud be released in a fantastically-powerful bolt. The Lemurians attacked Arcadia for two days with the Ultra-Corruscator, "But finally a handful of Empyreans wrapped chains of stone around the Ultra-Corruscator, dragged it over the sea, and submerged it in water, where it exploded in a brilliant flash of light. (Or did it...?)"

[BlueCloud2k2]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

What about the Sword-in-the-Stone? (Depending on what books you read, the SitS was NOT Excallibur, Excallibur was later given to King Arthur by the Lady in the Lake or forged by Dwarves from meteoric-metal (Adamant).

 

The weilder is aknowledged as the rightful King of England. I'm sure some sorcerer could find a way around the lineage issue...

 

I can see Warlord looking for it... maybe DEMON...

 

Or Excallibur itself - it's made from Meteoric metal and was unbreakable. Warlord would DEFINITELY be after such a metal.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

What about the Sword-in-the-Stone? (Depending on what books you read, the SitS was NOT Excallibur, Excallibur was later given to King Arthur by the Lady in the Lake or forged by Dwarves from meteoric-metal (Adamant).

 

The weilder is aknowledged as the rightful King of England. I'm sure some sorcerer could find a way around the lineage issue...

 

I can see Warlord looking for it... maybe DEMON...

 

Alternatively, some villain might be a direct descendant of Arthur, and actually BE "rightful king of England."

 

Or Excallibur itself - it's made from Meteoric metal and was unbreakable. Warlord would DEFINITELY be after such a metal.

 

In some versions of the legend of Arthur, Excalibur's scabbard also had extraordinary properties. Most notably, while wearing the scabbard wounds taken would not bleed. Morgan le Fay stole the sword and scabbard, and while Arthur recovered Excalibur its scabbard was lost. That might make a nice plot change from going after the sword.

[BlueCloud2k2]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

Alternatively' date=' some villain might be a direct descendant of Arthur, and actually BE "rightful king of England."[/quote']

 

There's a scary thought...

 

In some versions of the legend of Arthur, Excalibur's scabbard also had extraordinary properties. Most notably, while wearing the scabbard wounds taken would not bleed. Morgan le Fay stole the sword and scabbard, and while Arthur recovered Excalibur its scabbard was lost. That might make a nice plot change from going after the sword.

 

Hrm. Don't remember that one. Then again, I haven't taken Arthurian Lit. I just sat outside the classroom while my wife was in the class. *shrug*

[Lord Liaden]

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I'm surprised I forgot about the Swords of Nama. During the Dark Ages, VIPER's future patron demigod forged six enchanted swords for the powerful warriors he chose to lead his armies of conquest. Nama's campaign foundered, and the Swords were lost. Several were destroyed over the centuries, but some survived, "buried under ruins across Eastern Europe, waiting to be rediscovered." (VIPER: Coils Of The Serpent p. 6)

[pinecone]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

In a big Con game I used "The key of many locks" a large artificial diamond that is a super computer created by the Progenitors....it can hack anything, it's use was to open sealed dimensional portals in game....and potentially "The Lock of many keys" a portal keeping Lovcraftian gods Out of our universe (So called because it required several special items to Open, most Very hard to get...stupid Hyper advanced aliens built a key without knowing it....)

[pinecone]

Re: Welcome to McGuffins. May I take your order?

 

What about the Sword-in-the-Stone? (Depending on what books you read, the SitS was NOT Excallibur, Excallibur was later given to King Arthur by the Lady in the Lake or forged by Dwarves from meteoric-metal (Adamant).

 

The weilder is aknowledged as the rightful King of England. I'm sure some sorcerer could find a way around the lineage issue...

 

I can see Warlord looking for it... maybe DEMON...

 

Or Excallibur itself - it's made from Meteoric metal and was unbreakable. Warlord would DEFINITELY be after such a metal.

Foxbat?