View Single Post
  #5  
Old 06-03-2010, 05:28 PM
StainlessSteelCynic's Avatar
StainlessSteelCynic StainlessSteelCynic is offline
Registered Registrant
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Western Australia
Posts: 2,375
Default

There seems to be a lot of focus on the military side of things but I think you'd find the people who are trying to survive after the breakdown of life as they knew it would carry a lot of other little things.
It might help to look at some of the lists people make for AD&D, I mention that because I recall a friend having one such 'random items' list that included such things as -
a half eaten raw potato (that's still good for planting)
a cryptic note (that may or may not be useful, I think the one we got said "turn left at the first well, look for the oldest house")
a not so cryptic note (this one was a 'wanted to buy' note like "Wanted to buy, four horses, will pay top price, see NPC#4 at location X" kind of thing)
a diary page torn from a journal that mentioned the location of something unusual (this was a simple clue to a possible treasure site but in this instance you could have it as "shot down the helicopter that was chasing us, didn't get to loot it because local bandits arrived" - also gives some kind of location info)
a bag of hard candy that's still good for eating
a small handful of local coins

You could expand it to include things like
a handful of rounds of odd ammunition that's almost impossible to find but might sell for a good price to someone e.g. .30 Mauser
keys to an old safe, they have a tag that mentions the town (but the PCs would have to search the town to find the safe)
a spare sight for an RPG-7, useless without the weapon but maybe they find one later that's been damaged?
any random item from the medical equipment list in the main book
worn paperback novels, maybe in a language the PC doesn't yet read
the owner's original beret from when they completed commando training (or some other specialist military training), carefully wrapped in paper and stored in a plastic bag - it's their one memento from the 'good times' before the war
a street level map of some town but it's missing the sections detailing the name of the town, however there are some pen marks to indicate that perhaps there's something important in the town (it could be a cache, an enemy hideout, a slave camp or whatever makes for a good adventure)
the operator manual for a small diesel locomotive - didn't the PCs pass a narrow-gauge railway a few days back?
religious medallions - the PCs notice that a lot of the NPCs have been wearing these lately, maybe the medallions are slightly defaced and are worn by members of a radical offshoot religion or even a cult. Local civilians/militia might pay a bounty on medallions turned over to them as proof that the wearer is now dead.

As you can tell, I kind of like items that may provide a new adventure or might just turn out to be useless junk or worse, they could be red herrings.

Last edited by StainlessSteelCynic; 06-03-2010 at 05:29 PM. Reason: spelling
Reply With Quote