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Seeking the Best MacGuffins

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The Mariner
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Seeking the Best MacGuffins

Hey all,

I need some inspiration for making some MacGuffins based on real-world legendary items.  I figured others were probably in the same boat, so I thought I’d get the ball rolling by sharing five unusual relics:

  1. Kris Taming Sari- a legendary kris from Indonesia, said to make its wielder invulnerable.
  2. John Henry’s Hammer- while I’ve not been able to find any unusual properties attributed to the tool itself, it seems pretty easy to apply some.  Probably cursed, since it killed the guy who names it.
  3. Pashupatastra- a superweapon said to belong to Shiva, and capable of obliterating universes!
  4. Chekhov’s Gun- a writing concept?  No, a powerful weapon.  The only downside is that it will bend reality around it so that it will always be fired eventually.  So also cursed.
  5. The Yoke of the Cattle of the Sun- If thou art diligent and wise, O stranger, compute the number of the cattle of the sun!  You can’t, because this item- which gives the user the strength to challenge the sun itself- comes with a hefty burden.  The user is put under strain of universal levels, both physical and mental.  Power alone isn’t enough to withstand such a force- but a hero sufficiently connected to the cosmos could disperse or redirect most of it.
PlatinumWarlock
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How about the Sword of Goujian?

The Mariner
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An interesting prospect.  It’s definitely going on the list now.  

Rabit
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John Henry's Hammer seems like something that would help keep its weilder alive until the fight was done...


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catDreaming
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One of my frieds and I in highschool put together lists of weird and interesting historical artifacts, and I remember Jacob's Lantern being on it.

it's biblical in origin, I believe.

Edit: I can't find any actual references to it, but it was supposed to be something that could "Illuminate the path and pierce all illusions within it's light."


A single man
Standing alone in a field of swords
Blades borne to the unmoving air
An unchanging world as their sheathe
Preserved for eternity
This is my Origin
- Avalon, The Living Sheathe

The Mariner
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Rabit- Absolutely.  I figured it as giving the user great stamina, at the cost of causing them to destroy their body as they use it.

 

cat- Lists?  Do you still have any of these?

catDreaming
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Unfortunately, high school catDreaming had not yet learned the usefulness of taking online notes and instead stored them in class notebooks on the back of assignments. So I don't have those lists anymore.


A single man
Standing alone in a field of swords
Blades borne to the unmoving air
An unchanging world as their sheathe
Preserved for eternity
This is my Origin
- Avalon, The Living Sheathe

Sea-Envy
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The Iron Hand of Gotz von Berlichinger- prostetic limb of a crazy crusader knight. just downloaded a meme about it today look him up it's wild

classic occult bit- is the Golem still hidden somewhere in Prauge?

 


The mountain watches the freedom of the sea and cries. The sea looks at the stability of the mountain and sighs.