GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Setting: Caverntown

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Kromm

It would also be fun to motivate players not with loot but with large, guaranteed payoffs in town after each quest ("Exhilarating, hey, wot? Bonuses, I say – bonuses for all, paid in gold! Now this next quest involves something called a lick or lech or some such thing – a dry old skeleton, anyway, so how hard could it be? But this Forbidden Tome thingy . . . well, I want it as a centerpiece for my library."). Their patron could even loan them powerful gear ("Before we head to the Tombs of the Restless Horde, does anyone want the Holy Sword of Ultimate Undead Slaying. 'Twas my great-grand uncle's, but I find it ugly and far too clumsy for me."). It would be an amusing change of pace.

Fundamentally, this is the premise of Hall of Judgment/Lost Hall of Tyr. There's something that is extremely valuable to one group of people - the priesthood of the God of Law and War - that is effectively worthless to others. They want it, and for Reasons, don't have the wherewithal to get it themselves.[1]

It also echoes the basic premise of one of The Deed of Paksenarrion books (I read it as a compilation, so I don't know the individual book titles): go on a long, perilous journey to obtain a relic that brings you closer to God.

For medieval, or even faux-medieval, societies where communing with the divine is accessible but not routine, this would be a big deal.

It also helps answer the question of "so . . . we're supposed to get the +5 sword of awesome . . . let's keep it."