(One of) the NPCs
accompanying or otherwise in cahoots with The Party keeps a written
journal/diary/record, from which he/she is fond of reading aloud, possibly out of megalomania or
narcissism, maybe vanity or passive aggression or simple obliviousness... or
perhaps the entries are delivered as a meta-game 'narration insight' explicitly
via DM, intended more for the Players than their Characters.
This could be a fun
recurring 'gag'; a way to begin each session, like a TV serial introduction, or
tersely summarize before setting watch each night... handle the exposition,
recap status and such, foreshadow, drop in a laugh or eyebrow-raiser, as The
Players gain otherwise unavailable insight into their NPC companion, and the DM
gets to explore the personality and voice of their character creation, prepared
or impromptu.
Tradition could start in
bittersweet moment of gravity, as a dying NPC, inexplicably still vocal at -37
HP, passes their beloved book to a Party member for continuation of the
tradition...
A 'Party Journal'
detailing resources/treasure/contacts/clues/maps etc, might be the
responsibility of the Party Leader, or whomever is in charge of the current
expedition, or perhaps it is passed to each Character in turn, each session or
so, giving each Player a chance to put their own spin on records of Encounters,
include personal remarks, take up running gags...
Party monetary fortunes
could be depleted/augmented through experiences of publishing failure/success,
post-quest?! "No one is buying
'Lord Kelder and the Tomb on the Moon' dammit!"
What if... nefarious
forces acquire the Party Record? What if
that Fireball took out our Rogue AND all our paperwork?
Personal/Party record
books might have mechanical locks, maybe special Magical wards or glyphs, like
Spellbooks. A Magic
"Password"? Journal as Magic
Item; transcribes/draws spoken words to endless scroll instantaneously...
Spirit Book; Possessed by Psyche of long-dead Bard/Sage/Playwright, of
Haughty/Critical/Sarcastic/Melodramatic disposition, writes with ghost quill...
In game, Journal entries
could be oral, spoken in character during play, or "written" in a
leathery tome... but could also written for reals by the Players & DM - a
collection of short e-mail synopses penned by the participants, and organized
in a word file, or even a ragged pile of post-its in a cardboard folder, would
both be fun to collect and look back upon after concluding an Adventure.
Random Link o' the Day https://ruinsofarduin.blogspot.com/p/downloads.html
