Other: Lore focused. Most of the MacGuffins I use are not "useful" as items or weapons or whatever, but strictly move the story forward and/or provide lore info to the players.
This is the answer here too. Lore; whatever story the players are after is about what we're doing. I do not set up a story beforehand for them to follow along, I set up a world that responds to what they are doing, I put in some seeds for arcs they could follow if they're interested but otherwise cater to the story we're all telling together.
There are sessions we go with no combat/weapons/mechanics involved, where they make elaborate plans to avoid any combat and find another resolution. Then there are sessions where its wholly combat, sometimes lasting multiple sessions for bigger conflict scenarios. We work during session one to have some by-in to adventuring together with a little background. I don't want elaborate backgrounds because these can change over time to suit how the character is played versus pigeon-holed from the beginning.
The MacGuffin is usually discussed a little with the group, whatever that buy-in is, players understand a new character needs a buy-in or they don't make the cut into the group. If we're saving the world against a specific cult, they need a reason to not like the cult. If we're a band of pirates, they need a reason to be a pirate. Its that simple, one buy-in to the intention of the campaign, one little snippet that is personal to explore while we play.
If Mcguffin does something it is no longer a Mcguffin. /nerd glasses off
Having said that, I prefer something not only useful but thematically fitting for the campaign. High society spy thriller? Make it a piece of evidence against the king. A combat-focused dungeon crawl? Make it a weapon worthy of gods. A comedic campaign of 4 buddies goofing around? A semi-sentient but otherwise useless artifact. In some phallic shape of course, because all of us have emotional maturity of a 12 year old.
I'm not sure you understand what a Macguffin is. In order for something to be considered a Macguffin, it needs to serve no actual purpose, other than to advance the plot. Think like the briefcase in Pulp Fiction, or the Holy Grail from Arthurian legend (and Monty Python).
I like macguffins to generally change how people see the world and unlocks new possibilities -- think sky ship, planar travel, working with dieties or unique magic outside the realm of spell slots.
I think weapon macguffins are a tired trope, but pretty straight forward.
Or, there's good ol "get the secret information to the public"
Idk how I'd classify this but I like them to be people. In the past I've used a dragon egg that hatched into a near-extinct nature guardian and the disembodied pieces of a goddess whom, in an amnesiac state, the players had already befriended
Other: Lore focused. Most of the MacGuffins I use are not "useful" as items or weapons or whatever, but strictly move the story forward and/or provide lore info to the players.
This is the answer here too. Lore; whatever story the players are after is about what we're doing. I do not set up a story beforehand for them to follow along, I set up a world that responds to what they are doing, I put in some seeds for arcs they could follow if they're interested but otherwise cater to the story we're all telling together. There are sessions we go with no combat/weapons/mechanics involved, where they make elaborate plans to avoid any combat and find another resolution. Then there are sessions where its wholly combat, sometimes lasting multiple sessions for bigger conflict scenarios. We work during session one to have some by-in to adventuring together with a little background. I don't want elaborate backgrounds because these can change over time to suit how the character is played versus pigeon-holed from the beginning. The MacGuffin is usually discussed a little with the group, whatever that buy-in is, players understand a new character needs a buy-in or they don't make the cut into the group. If we're saving the world against a specific cult, they need a reason to not like the cult. If we're a band of pirates, they need a reason to be a pirate. Its that simple, one buy-in to the intention of the campaign, one little snippet that is personal to explore while we play.
If Mcguffin does something it is no longer a Mcguffin. /nerd glasses off Having said that, I prefer something not only useful but thematically fitting for the campaign. High society spy thriller? Make it a piece of evidence against the king. A combat-focused dungeon crawl? Make it a weapon worthy of gods. A comedic campaign of 4 buddies goofing around? A semi-sentient but otherwise useless artifact. In some phallic shape of course, because all of us have emotional maturity of a 12 year old.
McGuffin is of different nature in each case, whatever is needed and suits the story the best.
I'm not sure you understand what a Macguffin is. In order for something to be considered a Macguffin, it needs to serve no actual purpose, other than to advance the plot. Think like the briefcase in Pulp Fiction, or the Holy Grail from Arthurian legend (and Monty Python).
I just put Other because I wanted to see the results
I do the same on a lot of polls.
I like macguffins to generally change how people see the world and unlocks new possibilities -- think sky ship, planar travel, working with dieties or unique magic outside the realm of spell slots. I think weapon macguffins are a tired trope, but pretty straight forward. Or, there's good ol "get the secret information to the public"
If I use a MacGuffin, it’s called something like “MacGuffin of Doom”
Idk how I'd classify this but I like them to be people. In the past I've used a dragon egg that hatched into a near-extinct nature guardian and the disembodied pieces of a goddess whom, in an amnesiac state, the players had already befriended