#RPGaDay2024 Day 24 – Antique

Day 24 of #RPGaDay2024. I continue posting about the alternative prompt challenge list by Skala Wyzwania. For more information on RPG a Day, see David Chapman’s Autocratik blog post for 2024.

The RPG challenge theme for today is Antique. Rolling a 1d10 for the quest. The result is 6: Create a random table.

This antique will do…

(This is a direct continuation of the post from Day 22)

The woman in the white and golden robes and the bandaged man with the silver and blue robes sand before the orrery, their hands outstretched, concentrating on whatever power allows them to control this magic. In the contraption, I see my world, a ritual gone wrong, and a foul infernal beast ready to attack. I know this is their doing. They have meddled and will doom my world to save others. I can’t allow it. I grab one of the knick-knacks around the structure; from the tables around the orrery, they all seem like antiques from distant places. This antique will do…

Roll 1d6 on this table to determine an antique from the tables around the Orrery of the Beyond.

1. A statue of a lion-dog hybrid carved from a blue rock with red veins. When picked up, the carving is warm to the touch and purrs. Dogs remain calm around the holder, and lions will not attack them.

2. A globe of translucent glass, its surface shifts, giving it the appearance of a soap bubble but retaining the consistency of solid glass. Inside is a whispy figure of a winged woman made of smoke. She begs to be released and promises to fulfill a wish if liberated.

3. A metronome made of dark oak and polished greenish metal. The person who activates it can hear the beat, but it sounds like a cacophonous, maddening shriek to others. It causes confusion and chaos to all listeners except those who activate it.

4. A gold abacus with gemlike beads enhances the cognitive abilities of those who count with it, but their affability diminishes. Once used to count, that person cannot perform mental math and must always rely on the abacus.

5. A metal replica of an alien tower, the tower’s shapes seem off, as if the corners and minutiae are somewhat skewed from other details. If you look inside the orifices in the miniature, you can almost notice tiny humanoid beings screaming in madness. Whoever takes the replica only gains half the benefits of resting and healing and cannot get rid of the item unless someone magically breaks the curse.

6. A glass dome holds the head of a four-eyed furry beast with sharp teeth; the severed head replies in any language it is spoken to. The beast answers truthfully or deceptively, flipping a coin to determine which. If the glass dome is lifted, the intelligence inhibiting the head switches places with whoever is holding the head, who remains trapped inside, answering questions until someone pries the eyes open.

I strike the man hard. He crumbles down, and the woman screams in anger or fear. I can’t tell which. The orrery shakes. She’s on top of me, trying to scratch my eyes out. The bandaged man groggily gets up and grabs the woman, who immediately calms down. “We’ve got to get out of here.” They look back and run. I look up to see what they are afraid of. The monster is crawling out of the orrery. Oh crap!

It feels like we’re close to the end of this month, and I’m telling the story. I hope you stick around to see it to the end.

It is never too late to join #RPGaDay2024. If you find a topic interesting, write about it, comment on it, or talk about it on your socials. The goal is to celebrate all the wonderful things tabletop role-playing games bring to our lives and the positive elements of the community. Don’t forget to tag your contribution with the hashtag and share it with us here, on social media, and in the #RPGaDay 2024 Facebook Group.