As far as MacGuffins go, I think when it is a physical object it isn’t too hard. Look at the Ark of the Covenant in Indiana Jones.

– Indiana Jones believed it was an artifact that belonged in a museum for all to see.
– The Nazis wanted its potential powers to help them win a war.
– Others may have wanted it to sell it for money.

With the One Ring in Lord of the Rings, you also had lots of driving forces.

– Some good characters wanted to destroy it so evil couldn’t have it.
– Some good characters wanted it to destroy evil.
– Evil characters wanted it to destroy good characters.
– Some characters wanted it for themselves for various reasons (fame, power, etc).
– And, the One Ring actually made many characters desire it.

In Pulp Fiction or Ronin, it was a lot simpler.

– Various factions paid hirelings to go and acquire the item for their own unknown reasons.

I’ll ponder some ideas for other types of MacGuffins as well. That would make a good potential article and depend on the type of MacGuffin you’re using.

Thanks for the comment!
Samuel Van Der Wall recently posted…Challenges: On the Road

Thank you for another excellent post.

Although I am very familiar with the MacGuffin with regard to films and shows, I find it a bit harder to translate that into an actual RPG experience. In my view, what makes a film good can be very different from what makes an RPG good. For example, in a film like Ronin you have a cast of cool characters that are essentially written in a way that throws them together for a common cause. In an RPG, you have a set of distinctly developed characters that must now somehow come together and form a team. So with this in mind, I see the main value of a MacGuffin (in an RPG) as a kind of focal point, with each character connecting to it in some way.

I liked your bullet point list laying out various MacGuffin attributes – would it be possible for you to put up a list of various ways the player characters might be connected to the MacGuffin? I think if you were to do that, things like how it drives the plot forward, why it is a mystery, or what the villains want with it might manifest themselves organically.
Oliver Oviedo recently posted…So What’s Next?