What's in the BOX?

[THE_ANGRY_GAMER]

As the lid first opens a tiny gap, a loud peal of thunder cracks and rolls overhead and the lights dim and flicker briefly...then all returns to normal. Inside is an ornate bronze contraption made from gears and springs. Its purpose is unclear. No manner of Scholarship rolls can decipher its meaning without intense study by professional experts.

Soon, things start to happen...a small earthquake is felt the next day; a landmark water feature (like a lake or pool) is found dry; winds reach unnaturally strong for the time of year; it snows etc you get the idea. Now, all manner of strange people begin to appear in town - supernaturals are found murdered and the only lead is a dark man with a hoody asking about some 'device'...

Seeing how I just went and saw The Possession over the weekend, all I can think of is making it a Dybbuk Box.  Which is a box that imprisons a Dybbuk (duh!), which is a malevolent spirit of Jewish folklore that can possess those that open it and cause all kinds of terrible things to happen to the possessed and anyone around them.

Both awesome ideas. Great starting-points. You could even have the Box be the Macguffin of an earlier scenario to lead into this.

[admiralducksauce]

The box is vacuum-sealed and contains the original treaty between, well, whichever factions in your game are best suited to a Cold War situation. Summer and Winter, or the mortal world and the NeverNever, or Black Court and Fomor, whoever. Opening the box breaks the pristine conditions inside and the treaty crumbles to dust. It's a bit like Schrodinger's Cat - as long as both sides knew the treaty was in the box, they adhered to it even though they could not actually refer to the treaty. Now that's gone, it's war.

[Becq]

A rubber ducky.  Yellow.

[KnightOrbis]

A rubber ducky.  Yellow.

I vote in favour.

[mdodd]

If there is anything you wish you had done differently in the game make it a time/spatial or dimensional portal which drags them back to a point in time that suits you and makes the players forget what has gone on before. Bwahahahahaha. 

[Silverblaze]

Not a fan of Big Red Buttons or Pandora's Boxes.

As a result as a player I'd open it no matter what just to see what my Gm would do.

Would he/she end his game?  Just kill my PC or worse? Or would he/she actually create a decent plot out of it?

I'm in favor of

A) Not using the box at all.
B) Punishing stupidity and really screwing with the actual PC that opened it.
C) Making a decent plot out of it.

Pandora's Box still had hope in it.

Could have a plot related to hopelessness.

Hope - Love - Faith

Too evil?

[InFerrumVeritas]

A MacGuffin.

[dannylilly2000]

try this movie

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/the-possession/;_ylt=ApeTNHwbMdGEGK2xtFal0GVfVXcA;_ylu=X3oDMTFnOWowY3BjBG1pdANUb3AgQm94IE9mZmljZSBNb3ZpZXMEcG9zAzEEc2VjA01lZGlhVG9wTGlzdA--;_ylg=X3oDMTFpNzk0NjhtBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3

[Nightbreed DOA]

Ok, here's something that you may like.

The player who opens the box is at first marveled as there is an unnatural blackness, then all of a sudden there is a sharp pain in their head as he/she falls to their knees and holds their head in AGONY as they relive their lives and it all gets stripped away. Then after a moment the body twitches and there is now an ancient malevolent presence that realizes that after an eternity of imprisonment, it is now free to once again feast on all knowledge and in the end, find it's hated sister and opposite the Archive and devour all her knowledge for all time. Lost forever!!!!

I always like yin and yang stuff, so this is what i thought of. Also like the idea of imprisoned ancient evils foolishly freed by the very curious or just plain stupid. (lol)