Random Things: Alternate Trinkets for D&D 5E
These random things articles are designed as quick idea generators for time-pressed GMs who want to inject some additional details into their game, in this article we look at trinkets. Trinkets were one of my favourite things about character generation in D&D 5th Edition, each character starts with at least one, a small item or curiosity that has some odd property or something strange about it, it’s not a powerful magic item, just something interesting that could spur conversation and plot.
The trinkets below can be substituted for the table in the 5E PHB by rolling a D100:
| No. | Trinket |
|---|---|
| 1 | A small round coin with a hole in it made of a strange black metal. |
| 2 | A tiny doll depicting a blonde, blue eyes child, when placed down it's eyes appear to follow people. |
| 3 | A piece of cloth that absorbs any material staining it, becoming fully clean over the course of an hour. |
| 4 | A facsimilé of a human skull made from interwoven oak twigs. |
| 5 | A small charm made out of seashells strung onto a piece of leather thonging. |
| 6 | A whistle made from the shell of a large mollusc. |
| 7 | A piece of stone that changes colour based on the mood of it's owner. |
| 8 | The preserved skull of a corvid. |
| 9 | A hessian sack full of bird feathers in the most fantastic colours imaginable. |
| 10 | Metal rank insignia from an ancient kingdom or war. |
| 11 | A silver thimble engraved with the image of a rose. |
| 12 | A reel of thread that never frays. |
| 13 | A metal tankard with the sign of a hammer and the initials T. E. engraved on it. |
| 14 | A set of bamboo windchimes. |
| 15 | Three primitive, flint arrowheads. |
| 16 | An ivory comb that when used changes a person's hair colour. |
| 17 | A wax seal stamp with the design of a crown on it. |
| 18 | A stick of bright green sealing wax that smells like rosemary. |
| 19 | A bundle of fragrant smelling herbs that, when burnt, release a relaxing aroma. |
| 20 | A rough map that shows the local area but occasionally changes to show an unfamiliar continent. |
| 21 | A strange idol of blackened glass that sometimes glows with an inner blue light. |
| 22 | A flint and tinder that causes any fires light with it to be purple in colour. |
| 23 | A list of people's names, it gets to four people and then the fifth is smudged and crossed through. |
| 24 | A set of tarot cards depicting each figure on the cards as a skeleton. |
| 25 | A wizened, shrunken head. |
| 26 | A small tin containing fish eggs. |
| 27 | A small violin that is missing all but one of it's strings, remarkably when played it sounds as though the other strings are present. |
| 28 | A wolf-skin fur cloak that sometimes causes the wearer to growl under his breath. |
| 29 | An amulet depicting the Orc god Gruumsh, anyone who wears it finds themselves compelled to keep one of their eyes closed. |
| 30 | A parchment showing the constellations in the night sky. |
| 31 | A crystal ball, when looked into the person sees themselves reflected but looking 10 years younger. |
| 32 | A horseshoe that never becomes worn or needs replacing. |
| 33 | A tankard that is capable of changing a drink poured into another drink of similar potency (ale into stout for instance). |
| 34 | A goin coin that always comes up heads when flipped. |
| 35 | A set of bone dice that emit an eerie cackling when rolled. |
| 36 | A club made out of a twisted ogres thigh bone. |
| 37 | A small, wooden toy horse. |
| 38 | A crystal that refracts the light strangely and has an odd dark deposit at it's centre. |
| 39 | A religious icon that once belonged to an ancestor. |
| 40 | A small empty book wrapped in a red velvet covering, embroidered with a the sign of an open hand. |
| 41 | A clothes brush that can clean a set of clothes just by touching it. |
| 42 | A twisting brass horn that produces a haunting melody when blow. |
| 43 | A map of a fictional city, anyone who sleeps near the map dreams of exploring a fantastic city. |
| 44 | A single rose, the colour of blood that never seems to wither or require water. |
| 45 | A metal chisel that never goes blunt. |
| 46 | A set of childs wooden building blocks, when left on their own unobserved they occasional spell out words. |
| 47 | Three triangular platiunum coins bearing the marks of an unknown kingdom. |
| 48 | A pearl necklace, when there is an eclipse the pearls change from white to a black colour. |
| 49 | A small handkerchief that is capable of absorbing and holding four pints of fluid, it can be wrung out at any time to release the fluid. |
| 50 | A tin of purple powder, when the powder comes into contact with blood it glows for ten minutes. |
| 51 | A fake moustache, when worn it adheres to the wearer and has to be shaved off. |
| 52 | A set of comfortable house sleepers that keep the wearers feet at an ideal temperature. |
| 53 | A set of toy metal soldiers, each immaculately modelled to depict the livery of some forgotten nation. |
| 54 | The fire-blackened claw of some great beast. |
| 55 | A small stuffed vole. |
| 56 | The playbook from a performance where many of the audience died in a suspicious fire. |
| 57 | The script for a never-published play about an author going mad, the writing gets noticably less neat and more frantic, eventually stopped before the final page. |
| 58 | A roll of old, bandage that has been inked with strange pictograms. |
| 59 | A small glass jar containing a vibrant blue dye that stains the skin for many days. |
| 60 | A tin whistle on a chain, there is a single goose feather attached to the chain. |
| 61 | A small pillow stuffed with soft feathers. |
| 62 | A bedroll that seems to change it's colouration slightly to match the environment. |
| 63 | A leather pouch containing irregular iron nails, some of them bent out of shape as though used. |
| 64 | The pickled tentacle of an illithid. |
| 65 | A glass jar that appears to contain boiled cabbage, vinegar and several spices. |
| 66 | A tapestry depicting a mythological scene. |
| 67 | A set of spectacles that give everything an amber hue when worn. |
| 68 | A red woolen cap that appears to be stained with blood. |
| 69 | A set of leather riding gloves with the initials J. M. branded onto them. |
| 70 | A bone knife and fork. |
| 71 | An ivory plague mask, the beak stuffed with fragrant poseys. |
| 72 | An oddly shaped, small stuffed toy depicting a goblin, sometimes it seems to wink at the owner. |
| 73 | A quill with a small ink reserve carved into it. |
| 74 | A small glass orb containing sea water, it grows murky when their will be a storm at sea. |
| 75 | A lantern that glows black, making previously lit places dark. |
| 76 | An artificial nose made of copper that has a leather thong attached to it. |
| 77 | A wide cap made from the preserved remains of a Flumph. |
| 78 | A woolen scarf that is knitted with the words of an ancient elven prayer. |
| 79 | A lock of white drow hair. |
| 80 | A pamphlet for Irytor's World of the Spectacular, the phrase 'closing down' has been scrawled on it in faded ink. |
| 81 | A sloughed off piece of snakeskin that has words written on it in a strange language. |
| 82 | An apparently empty green glass bottle that is sealed with red wax. |
| 83 | A locket containing a picture of young halfling couple. |
| 84 | The stuffed and preserved head of a gnoll. |
| 85 | A small pot containing yellow ink, when used it is barely readable but becomes progressively darker as time passes until eventually it is black. |
| 86 | A series of fortune-tellers ivory tiles with letters from the common alphabet inked onto them. |
| 87 | A preserved eyeball with a label attached saying 'Eye of Lich.' |
| 88 | A small set of pruning shears. |
| 89 | A glass jar containing a harmless clear gel, the jar is labelled in dwarvish as 'Gelatinous Cube – Deceased.' |
| 90 | A piece of black stained parchment that pertains to be a map of the Underdark. |
| 91 | A brooch made of elven silver that seems to flow to fit the contours of the wearer. |
| 92 | A small leather pouch of pebbles that rattles audibly whenever there is an avalanche or significant other geological movement about to occur in the area. |
| 93 | A halfling sized set of breeches. |
| 94 | A wooden dresser with a secret compartment. |
| 95 | A metal branding iron showing the design of a dragon's wing. |
| 96 | A blunt carving knife with the word 'toothpick' in the language of giants carved into the handle. |
| 97 | A sack of Owlbear feathers. |
| 98 | A walking cane topped with a metal sculpture of a hydra. |
| 99 | A belt made from the preserved tentacle of a Displacer Beast. |
| 100 | An ash divining rod that twitches when water is close. |
Tags: 5E, 5th Edition, D&D, random ideas, Random things, trinkets
