Pinkerlore Prompts
Hello and welcome! How about yet another Pinkerton-based challenge? This one has been generally inspired by FirozTaverbi’s Biolocke, although it’s less focused on completing bios than on serving up bite-sized writing prompts to encourage the creation of lore. Hence the actions resulting from the item draws are different, and the goal state is less clearly defined. For myself, I’ll be working on my bios until everyone has one and they feel satisfyingly complete, instead of necessarily filling out every last one of the sections below. (If you think this idea sounds interesting and want to try it yourself, feel free to set your own goals.)
Rules
As with the basic Pinkerlocke, the type of daily item pulled from Pinkerton’s Plundered Pile governs what gets done—in this case, what to write about.
To select who to write about, I’ll be using RNG, first to choose among my active lore clans and then to choose the individual dragon. If I’ve already filled that particular prompt for the dragon, I can:
- review what I’ve already written to see if I can expand upon it or polish it up (e.g., turn bullet points into a paragraph)
- choose another prompt for the dragon (using a Crim request in lieu of a Pinkerton draw if nothing is immediately inspiring me)
- reroll to select another dragon
Results
Minor items: Snippets
Write a few sentences or bullet points on the selected subject:
Food
Plants - the dragon’s origin e.g., Who are its parents? Where did it come from, if not hatched in the clan? Is it even a dragon at all? |
Insects - its relationship to its element, flight, clan, or some other group that it’s part of e.g., Is it unusually attuned to Arcane energies? Does it wish it was a Shadow dragon instead of Water? Is it a happy cog in the machine, or are its clan bosses a bunch of deluded fools? |
Meat - its physical description e.g., Is it large or small, powerful or weedy, well kept or disheveled? What is the hue of its feathers, the condition of its scales? What does it like to wear? Does it project a strong presence, or try to make itself as inconspicuous as possible? |
Seafood - its job or role in the clan e.g., Does it have one? Is it any good at it? Is it appreciated for what it does, and does it care whether it is or not? What is its work space like, and what implements does it use? |
Materials
Dragonmade - personal relationships e.g., Who are its friends? Its enemies? Does it have a mate, and how do they feel about each other? Does it have an especially close connection to its familiar? How did its most important relationship(s) develop? |
Minerals and ores - core beliefs and values e.g., What does it center its life around? What would it fight for? Die for? Does it hold anything sacred? What are its thoughts on the nature of existence? Or does it only care about where its next meal is coming from? |
Organic - aspirations and goals e.g., What is it trying to accomplish right now? Where does it want to be and what does it want to be doing years down the road? Does it have any heroes? Role models? An epic foe to defeat? Is there someone or something it wants to distance itself from? Is it running toward the future or away from the past? |
Trinkets
Assorted small facts and notes e.g., personality traits, quirks and flaws, likes and dislikes, familiar, favorite item(s). Do as many or as few of these as you like—you can always come back and add more later. |
Major items: Scenes
Do a piece of creative writing (it can be as long as you like, but it should consist of at least two paragraphs of prose or 3-4 lines of poetry). If you don’t feel up to writing, you can do one of the alternative activities instead.
Familiar
Write a scene in which the dragon is interacting with at least one other character. This could be another dragon, a familiar, beastclan, etc. (For extra fun times, use RNG to select the other character(s)!)
*or*
Create or commission an art. If commissioning, be sure to provide the artist with a bit of backstory or personality description.
*or*
Style a dragon’s bio and/or add a scene or vista. |
Apparel
Write an introspective scene that explores the dragon’s inner thoughts (hopes, dreams, fears, interests)
*or*
Design a look for a dragon (outfit, gene plan). Maybe write a few words about it.
*or*
Look for or create a mood quote or pick a theme song for a dragon. |
Battle Items
Write a scene in which Something Happens: |
Energy stone (scratch; meditate; anticipate) - Something is beginning or about to begin. (e.g., preparing for a big event; starting a family, departing on a voyage; making a discovery or finding an inspiration; meeting a new dragon) |
Augment stone (berserker; scholar; might, acuity, and hybrid fragments) - Something is progressing. (e.g., the dragon is in the midst of a journey or adventure, pursuing a relationship, working toward a goal, etc.) |
Ability stone (attacks and spells) - Some kind of conflict is taking place. (e.g., fighting; arguing or just generally having a disagreement; trespassing or breaking a law; competing in a game or sporting event; surviving a natural disaster; having a personal crisis) |
Accessory (discipline; ambush; field manual) - Something is being or has just been accomplished.(e.g., a project/experiment/artwork has been completed; a game or battle has been won; a skill has been acquired; the object of a search has been found) |
Battle item (potion; elixir; tincture) - Something is ending. (e.g., a death, departure, separation, seasonal shift, exaltation) |
*or*
Review and reorganize a dragon’s lore (or your Pinkerlore thread, if you have one). Remove or fix any outdated information. (Have you exalted someone's best friend? Has the dragon been breed changed? Did the apocalypse happen?) Consider turning a bullet-point list into a cohesive paragraph. Check for typos! If you don’t have the time or energy to actually do the update, make a note of what needs fixing so you can address it later. |
*or*
Take a meta look at your lair’s organization and lore. Are you missing any roles? Are any dragons in need of a mate? It's always a good time to buy a new dragon! Try moving some dragons around—sometimes shifting a couple of dragons next to each other can spark some inspiration. Break subclans out into new tabs or pages. Make some notes of ideas or potential story arcs you want to work into your clan’s lore. Browse other clans for inspiration. Trawl through the art sales forum and take note of artists you might want to commission eventually. |
Note that these results aren’t necessarily exclusive of each other. For instance, drawing a familiar calls for a scene of two characters interacting with each other, which could potentially be some kind of conflict. So there’s plenty of fluidity here.