Need a McGuffin Name

[Super Squirrel]

I need a McGuffin for tonight's game. That is, I need the name of something that someone is looking for. The name of the McGuffin should not reveal what type of object it is but should imply something powerful.

The object is demonic in origin. One of the party members has touched the object but does not realize it and even when confronted with the fact he touched it, will have no idea what the item could possibly have been.

Also note, this is for my Valdorian Age campaign.

[L. Marcus]

The Somethingorother of Ages!

[gojira]

McGuffin's bane?

[Edsel]

The Harbinger of the New Aeon.

[Mantis]

Prison of Souls, or Key of Souls, or Keeper of Souls, or Portal of Souls, or Soulcatcher (even though he's banned :)).

As above, but replace 'Souls' with 'Dreams'.

Jewel of the Nile.

Holy Hand Grenade of Smiting.

[Vondy]

The Heart of Lilitu

[Edsel]

The Collar of Azul

[Vondy]

The Star or Morning.

[lensman]

Penumbric Medallion

[Dale A. Ward]

The Eye of .............

The Mouth of .............

The Fist of .............

Fill in the blanks with the name of an appropriate deity or person of reknown.

[Vondy]

Eshmadai's Chorus

[MordeanGrey]

The Orb of ______

The Sphere of _______

[BobGreenwade]

The Key to Eternity
The Portal of Infinity
The Squirrel Totem (it's worth a try) ;)

[SteelDoom]

There was a legend of and item that the Demon Princes once fought a war over. It was said to be outside their power and thus they covetted it. It was simply called Fate.

:)

[Lord Liaden]

The Twilight Seal

The Earthfall Stone

The Eye of Infinity

The Chain of Eternity

The Mantle of Worlds

[Michael Hopcroft]

Remind me to tell you the tale of the Head of Vecna sometime.

[Mantis]

The Blessed* Sign of the Great Prophet Zarquon.

The Great Seal of __ (insert name of powerful entity).

* pronounced "bless-ed", not "blest".

[Gawain]

Check out these generators from Seventh Sanctum:
Quest Items (http://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=questitem)
Magic Items (http://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=magicitem)

[Curufea]

Just "The" + any common noun, especially body part - works nicely.
The Portal, The Machine, The Eye.
Something beyond the power of a single creator, thus isn't named after them.

That being said, made up words with lots of hard consonants and unusual vowel arrangements can also be used.
Ral Trakshal
Kirn Fell Malok

[Mantis]

The Totem of the Dread Lord Ragnar, Reaver of Souls.

...or use the name of a Dread Lord or similar from your own campaign.

[Ura-Maru]

Well, the basic formula is The X of Y, but Y's X is also popular. The XY or ZY are also common.

Y is a proper noun. Z is a noun. Z is usually just a simple adjective.


Popular Ys include: God, a god (such as Thragg, God of Smiting), the gods (timeshared, perhaps), a long dead wizard or hero (there are enough bits of Vecna floating around to make four or five Vecnas, and some of them you really don't want to touch), Dragon/Dragons (required by law to be included in every fantasy product. Otherwise, we'd have to make up our own stuff, and that would be absurd), an animal or monster (Wolves and Beholders are good, Sloths or Osquips, not so much), The Ancients (Usually from a long dead empire that, with tiresome irony, destroyed itself with it's own power), Man (Woman or Humanity work too, but sound less biblical), a country or people (preferably a big and/or ancient one. Not Rhode Island or New Jersey), The Stars (make sure the object in question isn't 'Battle of') A specific star or planet (Preferably one with it's own name. The Anvil of Wolf238 isn't going to impress anyone), An abstract concept (Truth, Freedom, or Justice are good, Deliciousness or Biological Arousal are not)The Uni/Multiverse/Cosmos/Ultimate (If you're really out of ideas).

Y's can be almost anything. Weapons (usually swords, though knives, arrows, spears, bullets, rocks) and geometric shapes (pyramids or spheres. Dodecahedrons are less common) are good. Common household items, like needles, pens, or moue pads, are popular as well (especially if you haven't reached your 'predictable irony' quota). Craft or farming tools work well. Jewelry is good, as long as it's not worn on a part of the body that's not shown in polite company. Some clothing is acceptable (coats, cloaks, or gloves are ok, shirts are pushing it, garters are right out). Incantation, Formula, or Code are all well-precedented.

Body parts are popular, but I can't stress enough that you have to choose a thematically appropriate one. Eyes, hands, heads, hearts, and blood are all good. Brains are acceptable. Gall bladders (any kind of bladder, actually) spleens, and knees all lack dramatic imagery. Genetialia and hymens, despite their iconic appeal, are not a good choice, as they tend to result in giggles and/or creepiness. Best replaced with some blisteringly obvious symbolic replacement, such as swords, rings, or 'seals' (the kind you break, not the kind that balance balls on their noses or the kind that use combat knives)

Z's should only be used with caution. Colors are good (primary and secondary only. Stay away from the periwinkles and fucias). Time or number-related adjectives are usually safe, too, (First, Threefold, Seventh, 1000 Year Old, Ancient) though mathematical formula are not.

---
Once you've gotten it set up, do yourself a favor. Say it out loud, in a dramatic voice. This can let you weed out problems, such as The Ring of Uranus, the Universal Hoe, the Seal of Sea Lions, the Blue Jacket, or the Emancipation Incantation.

[Lord Liaden]

So, SS, what did you end up using?

[Egyptoid]

The Laptop of the Damned

[Zeropoint]

Man, you could make a great random magic artifact generator with that setup.

The Anvil of Dawn
The Girdle of Atlantis
The Board With A Nail In It of Baldur
The Left Arm of Vash
Wyatt Earp's Waistcoat

[Michael Hopcroft]

"Dude, that chicken just pecked you in the arm and drank some of your blood."
"OW! wait a minute, that's a rooster, isn't it? we've done it, Jim! we've found the **** of Dracula!"

[cutsleeve]

The Gazebo.

[L. Marcus]

. . . The Shrubbery . . .

[BobGreenwade]

"Dude, that chicken just pecked you in the arm and drank some of your blood."
"OW! wait a minute, that's a rooster, isn't it? we've done it, Jim! we've found the **** of Dracula!"
Well, you just went and posted this before I could suggest the Codpiece of Vecna.

But I don't think it's going to help Super Squirrel anyway....

[Shadowpup]

The Blue Scream of Death.

[Super Squirrel]

The Blue Scream of Death.
I should put you on ignore for that. :)

[Super Squirrel]

In the game I ended up using [random name]'s Source of Power. The source of power is going to be using something undescriptive off of the many examples provided. I may have it pull a name from the Turakian Age just to make it sound very old.

No, I will not be using Kul Turak as that name. :)

[BobGreenwade]

In the game I ended up using [random name]'s Source of Power. The source of power is going to be using something undescriptive off of the many examples provided. I may have it pull a name from the Turakian Age just to make it sound very old.

No, I will not be using Kul Turak as that name. :)

Not Fred either, I suppose? ;)

[Cancer]

In the game I ended up using [random name]'s Source of Power.
Bonneville? Grand Coulee? Hoover? Eveready? :)

[Captain Obvious]

The Son of Guffin's Source of Power

[cutsleeve]

+1 sword of obviousness

[JakSpade]

Here's some stuff I pulled off the web years ago, for a game I was planning on running, but never got it started... Kudos to the original writer, though I have no idea who that is, I never planned on publishing this info or pass it on as my own ideas... This is all net stuff...

The Quest for the Magnus Lexrota

Jak