Non-Typical Treasure

I'm a huge proponent of non-typical treasure.  Non-Typical Treasure is a terrible name, but I haven't come up with anything else, so that is what I am going with for the moment and simply refer to it as NTT.  Win.  What is NTT? Simply put, NTT is anything that goes out ingame that really has no applicable game value at first glance.  However, PC's seem to love it.  Now that the Larp season is about to get in to full swing, I figured I would do a post about some of the different types of NTT I have put out as a plot person or have seen put out. 

NTT is worthwhile across a variety of Larp genres, so read on!

Some examples of NTT:

• Diary Scrap - ex. from a soldier in the army that helped hold the battlement against the Undead
• Letter to/From someone - ex. from an Dark Elf to a friend discussing the different kinds of fungi he decided to grow
• Various Fimo Clay Items - ex. Bloodflower (from another post I did on crafting with Fimo) this flower did nothing but grew on the underside of a floating island
• Piece of Sheet Music
• Piece of interesting jewelry
• Short story - modified short, lesser known fables work well
• Poem/Song
• A single feather
• A scale from a basilisk 
• A turtle shell (Turtles should not be sacrificed for your plot.  That is creepy and weird)
• Large Gemstone - no ingame value
• A bundle of twigs tied with a red ribbon
• A corn husk doll
• A piece of paper with a random rune on it
• A piece of paper with a sentence in code on it
• A piece of fancy cloth
• A set of jacks
• A set of playing cards
• A pair of boots
• A jar of eyeballs or fake nails
• A cheap/cracked tea cup
• A Book that contains all kinds of actual lore (5-6 on dragons, or nature herbs, whatever)

You get the general idea.  Now, what's the purpose of all this?

There can be three purposes.

First,  they can be used as a plot device.  Great way to get information across.  Or, if you play WAR Accelerant (insert shameless game advertising) you could cast Unveil on it to see if it has any hidden information or powers.  This will be rare.  Most of the time, it is a great tool for plot and staff to use to get tidbits of information out there regarding a plotline. 

Second, they can just add flavor.  Plot/Staff can use NTT to simply add a little something to a mod.  The diary scrap, the letter, the book of knowledge, it's just for fun and to help further atmosphere.  This is normally the biggest way NTT can be used.

Third, they COULD serve as a plot device on down the road.  Maybe.  Depends.  I've put out a feather on a mod with the end painted red like blood (a big feather).  It wasn't tagged, just on a mod and some Lycans dropped it.  The PC kept it for about 6 years - they'd found it when they were just a likkle guy.  Awwww.  I noticed they were still carrying it around many years later, tied on a necklace they made.  Perfect.  I was running Lycans again around a different concept/type/plot and when they went to attack they town, they honed in on the guy to talk to him.  He was completely surprised, to say the least.  Long story short, the feather was used to sign a peace agreement between the Lycans that had fallen to the wayside.  It was held in high regard by the different Lycan clans as a sign of peace and it got the guy involved with brokering another peace, this one held ingame and attended by the PC's rather than it being in the history.  So sometimes it is worthwhile to keep hold of that seeming piece of junk NTT.  You never know!

Not all NTT needs to be tagged.  Most of it probably won't be.  I keep a list of what I put out in case I want to target someone or include in a plotline on down the road.

What NTT treasure have you seen? Do you utilize it as plot/staff?