Using Trinkets - Part 2

In the first part of this post, I discussed how to use trinkets in character backstories as well as how to develop side quests that help players discover the hidden meanings, if any, behind their characters' trinkets. In part 2 of this post, I continue with one-shots, story arcs, and campaigns. I also provide some additional pointers on their use. Enjoy!

One-shots and Story Arcs

A one-shot is one adventure that can be completed in a single session, such as stealing a single valuable object from a rich landlord, spying on a goblin camp, or clearing a one-room temple of invading aberrations. It is by necessity a short, simple story that takes place in one or two settings and with minimal NPCs.

Once again thinking of the trinket as a puzzle, the one-shot gives the player one or two pieces to that puzzle in a fully realized, though short, story that does not have to either involve the other characters or have any impact on the campaign as a whole. In most cases, the one-shot is a natural progression from the outcome of one or more side quests. It provides clearer details regarding the trinket, moving the character closer toward understanding its full truth without actually revealing that truth. In that sense, it can answer several small questions. It must also pose one or two larger ones. As with side quests, it’s permissible for the one-shot to feed disinformation to the character (with all the same cautions and caveats still applicable). DMs can sprinkle these one-shots throughout a campaign, using them to fill sessions where only a subset of players were available or as a fun diversion before kicking off another story arc. 

Returning to our trusty but mysterious monocle, much later in the campaign the character discovered the identity of someone who owned a monocle just like hers. During a session when not all of the players were available, I ran a one-shot where the character broke into the person’s home to investigate. Shenanigans ensued.

A story arc is one fully-realized adventure that takes two or more sessions to complete, such as stealing a collection of valuables from various wealthy persons, infiltrating a goblin stronghold to rescue prisoners, or clearing a temple complex of the evil that has taken root there. Story arcs can be of any length, though three to five sessions feels about right. Their plots can be as intricate as needed for the story, potentially involving multiple settings and numerous NPCs.

In regard to trinkets, the story arc places several pieces of the trinket puzzle during a multi-session story that involves all the characters and likely has a lasting impact on the campaign. It is the culmination of several side quests and one-shots together, answering long-standing questions while revealing portions of the trinket’s ultimate truth. The story arc must never feed the character disinformation; it must always reveal one or more truths. In fact, DMs must eventually use a full story arc to complete the trinket puzzle. I say this because the player deserves a big payoff if they have faithfully followed your clues over the course of a campaign and the story arc is the best way to do this. It, unlike a one-shot, has room for rich storytelling and character growth.

Stepping away from our unhealthy infatuation with the monocle for a moment, one of the other players in the same campaign rolled 38 during character creation, “a tiny sketch portrait of a goblin.” After some investigation, the character learned that it was fan art of a very famous goblin bard. The player sold the trinket without any further investigation. However, through a series of unrelated events, I was able to drop many mentions of this bard over the course of the campaign, especially when the party befriended a goblin fighter. Though we never got a chance to play it through, I had planned a story arc involving both the goblin friend and this famous bard. If you’ve read any of my other posts, these NPCs might sound familiar. The goblin friend was Beavis, as described in my post about creating memorable NPCs. The bard was Shoor Purdy, as detailed in her NPC stat block post.

Campaigns

A campaign constitutes the entirety of play for a group of characters. It is composed of multiple one-shots and story arcs over many, many, many sessions. Trinkets can be as inconsequential or as important to a campaign as you want. It really depends on the DM, the players, and the trinkets themselves (whether they would logical affect the campaign).

When a trinket is inconsequential, it’s story will play out alongside the campaign’s storyline but impact the campaign very little. This is appropriate when your campaign has a specific focus that the trinket does not believably fit. It’s also fine to de-emphasize a trinket if integrating it makes your campaign overly complicated. A clean plot is always important. If a trinket is going to muddy that plot (and as a byproduct confuse the players) relegate it to a minor role rather than a major player.

In many ways, though, weaving a trinket into a campaign so that it is a major player in that story is much more fun and even rewarding for everyone. For dungeon masters, it’s wonderful when a completely random element introduced way back at the start of the campaign turns out to be the key to your entire storyline. For players, it’s just as satisfying when it turns out that the character they have come to love was cut from the same fabric as the thrilling adventures they’ve been enjoying for months. It weaves the character into the setting in a way that no amount of dungeon crawling can.

True story. In the very first story arc for the campaign with the half-elf rogue, the party found the undead remains of an adventurer deep in a cavern. Once this unholy creature was dispatched, one of the characters (surprisingly, not the rogue) looted their victim. Now, when I had initially written up this story arc, I included a few items that one would likely find on an undead adventurer deep inside a cavern, such as a few gold pieces, rusty weapons, and rotted clothing. But fortune had been unforgiving to the players during the fight, so I decided, on a whim, to throw in a trinket too. I rolled a 67, a gold monocle frame without the lens. This was the second gold monocle to appear in this game and I knew immediately I needed some sort of story for these items. What made this situation even more brilliant was that the player whose character started with the monocle never told anyone she had it. Likewise, the player whose character looted the monocle didn’t tell anyone about their find either. 

True story, part two. There was another elf rogue in the same campaign. (There were so many elves in that campaign.) As part of a downtime session much later, she trolled the local market to pick some pockets for fun and profit. After choosing a target, the player rolled and scored a natural 1. Instead of having the city guard descend upon the character, I called for a trinket roll. I kid you not, the player scored a 67, a gold monocle frame without the lens. I couldn’t stop laughing. And it wasn’t one of those happy go lucky kinds of laughs either; it was the best kind of maniacal and menacing dungeon master laugh because I knew now that these monocles, these silly little trinkets, needed to be weaved into my entire campaign. I could not ignore them.

After some thought, I decided that the monocles were a symbol of a secret society whose original purpose was to investigate unusual and very dangerous events, the kind that destroy kingdoms or crumble mountains. However, the society was splintering between two factions, those who believed the only way to save civilization was to preserve it and those who believed the only way to save civilization was to destroy it. It was a simple idea (maybe even a bit banal), but it played into how the campaign was unfolding quite well. I knew then that the mother of the half-elf rogue had been a member of this society and paid with her life when she tried to leave it. I also knew that the undead adventurer discovered so many sessions earlier had also been a member of this society, one of the destroyers. And so was the pickpocket victim. I also knew, then, that all the events in the campaign had been a result of the war going on between these two factions and each one wanted to recruit the PCs to their side.

Much late night sinister planning ensued, accompanied by even more maniacal and menacing dungeon master mirth.

I also made another important decision. I was ending the trinket rolls. Introducing any more trinkets into the story at this point would only be a distraction away from the main story that everyone wanted to participate in. It would introduce threads that I neither wanted to nor should bring into the game.

Cautionary Words

Trinkets can bring a lot of good to a campaign but you need to use them wisely. You don’t want to include a trinket as part of every loot. This is doubly true if you are planning on using them in the way I’ve described in this post. Having dozens of trinkets weaving in and out of your storyline will just confuse you and your players.

As a general guideline, wait three or four story arc between rewarding a trinket and limit the total number of active trinkets to those the party started with and just two or three more throughout the campaign. (An active trinket here means one where you are applying the ideas I’ve discussed in this post.)

If your players don’t want to use trinkets, don’t force them to. They’ll just try to sell them as soon as possible, quickly putting an end to any plans you might have had for them. Also, forcing the trinkets onto your players is a form of railroading, which is generally frowned upon. Likewise, if you don’t want to use trinkets, that’s fine too. I’m no ethereal being floating around in a primordial soup demanding you use trinkets “or else.” I’m just giving you some ideas and how to use them.

And regarding the ideas in this post, you can pick and choose which you want to follow and which you want to ignore. You can, for example, create only a single story arc about a trinket and be done with it. That’s fine too.

Conclusion

I really do love trinkets. They bring flavor to a character’s backstory. They provide interesting hooks for adventures that you might not have come up with on your own. They also can constitute the foundation of a campaign. A trinket can also just be an unusual bauble that serves no larger purpose. That’s perfectly acceptable. How you use trinkets is really up to your group. Of course, if no one in the group likes trinkets, then leave them out entirely. It’s okay. Dungeons and Dragons is a game. It’s supposed to be fun. So, go forth and have fun with or without trinkets. I just want to thank you for getting this far in my rather lengthy post.

Note: This image is not my work. It is from the Basic rules box set published in the 80s.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Follow me on one of these fine social media platforms:
Instagram: @hokumsean
Spotify: @hokumsean
Twitch: @hokumsean
Twitter: @hokumsean
Tumblr @hokumsean

Stop by my YouTube channel "Ovens and Dragons" and partake in the exciting world of cooking for gamers.

Also, check out my DMsGuild offerings:

• Epic Gnomish Inventing
  Rules supplement for creating gadgets.
• Gnome Concept Packages 1
  Collection of gnome-related backgrounds, feats, magic items, and more.
• Great House Servants
  Collection of backgrounds centered on the servants of a great house.
• Mildew's Revenge
  A first-level adventure.
• Random Plot Generator
  A tool for creating adventure prompts for one-shots and story arcs.
• The WhatNot Shop’s Absurd Accoutrements
  A collection of unusual magical items.
• The WhatNot Shop's Bracing Beverages
  A collection of strange potions.
• The WhatNot Shop's Common Curiosities and Trivial Trinkets
  A collection of common magic items and trinkets.
• The WhatNot Shop's Dastardly Doodads and Orc Oddities
  A collection of orc-themed common magic items and trinkets.