“Seemingly Limitless” peeeerfect, there’s a brilliant gag ending you can have for this gag item.
Have the stack run out. If the players ask you, tell them to ask the deity. The deity says that the stack *actually* has *insert arbitrarily massive number here*, because they never thought they’d actually use them all. Have the deity sheepishly give the cleric a +1 mace or something similar as thanks for distributing them all. Bit of comic relief, the party comes away with a magic item so they don’t feel ripped off, you don’t have to deal with pamphlet spam anymore, everyone’s happy!
Inspired loosely by [UIU Orientation](https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/uiu-orientation), where he counts out the “endless” desert eagle magazine, if you’re curious where the gag comes from.
Or, creating the pamphlets drains the deity's resources, making it poorer and weaker. When the God finally figures out what's draining it's powers the Cleric gets a visit from a very pissed boss who only has enough power left to sustain their current levels of divine magic.
Party now has to find a way to restore the God's power by recovering the pamphlets and making actually good use of them by increasing the number of believers or recovering lost artifacts of power or performing some elaborate ritual involving rare and unusual components.
Angry deity: "You see, each pamphlet costs me some small energy to maintain, this allows it to persist and prevent people from casually discarding it. You have distributed thousands of them, this is wasting a noticible level of energy which is not being replenished by believers"
Player: "Surely the pamphlets will have encouraged people to believe also? Giving you back the energy you expended?"
Angry deity: "Do you fools remember Archibald? The gentleman you thought it would be so totally hilarious to weight down with a thousand pamphlets of his own?
He went to my temple to complain, the head priest there had to contact me _directly_ to try and have them removed, which I did, but as you well know, things of this nature don't stay quiet, the rumours have been spreading. What's worse is the priest feels obliged to tell the truth when asked, so having this sort of shenanigan confirmed has actually caused a few people to STOP believing in me, fearing they have misplaced their faith in some sort of trickster God.
You idiots are going to fix this, no more pamphlets, you're going to go and apologise to the people who burdened with these, you're going to make it right and you're going to get my followers back..."
See I feel like if rumors of this spread, the god would have a small “meme” following sect. Like groups of people who think the god is amazing for pranking people.
Depending on the mutability of your gods, this could also tie in with the people thinking they've been duped by a trickster god. If enough people think it is a trickster god, it could start taking on aspects of trickery into its portfolio. This could, of course, also piss off the actual trickster god who feels like it is cutting into his believer numbers and stealing its shtick.
I really like that idea. One of the PCs tried to get rid of some of the pamphlets by tossing them into like a forest. I think it would be hilarious if they got in trouble with a Nature domain cleric or something.
Alternatively, [players tend to unknowingly clash with druids](https://youtu.be/_kPYjTybhw8) and that can be a great way to resolve the littering issue.
So they took something advertising their deity and turned it into something used to annoy people.
I mean...how does their god take it? They're actively making their god look bad.
Nice guy version: All the pamphlets vanish/lose their magic, and the cleric has a headache for a day every time they cast divine magic. Big guy ain't happy with them.
More angry god version: The pamphlets vanish/lose their magic and the cleric's magic stops working until they pray to their god and apologise or otherwise atone.
Given the tone of your game, I'd go for the former.
They don't keep all pamphlets, they magically have a single pamphlet keep randomly showing up.
Also, they magically get a bill for "printing" costs to be paid as a donation to the nearest temple of their god. They run out of pamphlets until they pay the bill. Going forward just keep a little tally of the pamphlets and bill them from time to time based on how many they use. Depending on their level it can be 1 silver to 1 gold per pamphlet. After all they should be supporting their temple based on what they can afford.
The deity finds out they’re making a joke of it and is unimpressed. The pamphlets become wanted posters for your cleric. If only they hadn’t distributed so many!
You can make the "can't seem to get rid of it" not be too distracting, like somebody can get rid of all but one, and that one keeps showing up in their pack, bedroll, etc once a day.
“Taking their Gods name in vain” or something causes the item to take durability damage so flagrant misuse of the pamphlets instead of actual ministry removes the enchantment.
Constable Visit-the-infidel-with-explanatory-pamphlets would be proud though.
Start tallying how many they use, ask for precise numbers and whatnot and write it down. Don't do anything with the numbers, if they ask, reiterate the 'seemingly limitless' trait.
Have some of the people that recieved the pamphlets actually convert to the religion and become obsessed with it. Some have stronger will than others. Let that eventually turn into a cult. Now the cleric needs to destroy the corrupt followers in order to restore the good name of his deity
I’m tempted to say: have a rival nation or culture invade some local important-to-PCs region… their warships bearing sails of stitched-together pamphlets, or reconstituted thread-woven sails whose pamphlet text is still partially readable, etc. Jeez, that could be the stuff of horrific village legend for generations: “they came, sailing under the banner of the Verbose God, slaughtering as they passed.”
Or the Ghenghis Khan trick of releasing 10,000 sparrows to fly over the city, each with a flaming pamphlet tied to its tail-feathers which would eventually kill the bird in flight. Same idea.
(In case it’s not clear: I’m advocating for a darkly-humorous gag ending, not a screw-the-PCs vindictive thing.)
The apparently limitless pamphlets were obviously a small endorsement by the deity done in good faith to support the clerics efforts to convert people. As they are now using the pamphlets in bad faith as ways to annoy and hinder people not as a way to vonvert new people to the god, the pamphlets change in several ways:
The text on them loses all reference to the deity and the seemingly limitless amount of pamphlets are noticably running low.
Add to that a bit of narration each time the cleric's magic does not hit or just underperforms that they feel like somehow the conection to their deity has weakened and they should get the idea without needing to actually give them mechanical dowsides.
Maybe unpopular opinion, but I feel like this is an instance you can just say to your players, "Guys I kinda made this thing as a joke item, and I feel like we're abusing it now because I didn't consider the long-term game-breaking implications of it when I allowed you to have a 5 minute giggle 7 sessions ago. Can we all agree to please stop using the item in game-breaking ways and follow on with the story as intended?"
The fact that a gag item didn't have a 4-page manual of explicit capabilities and limitations is an out-of-game problem, and your PCs exploiting your brief moment of creativity for their enjoyment is likewise an out-of-game problem.
You should never use an in-game solution to an out-of-game problem.
You can make it so that the pamphlet will stay with you only as intended purpose. If you decide to use it for something, say kindling or origami, the pamphlet loses its magical properties.
Aaaah, yet another "I've made a homebrew item that fucks with my campaign, help" posts. Well you're in super deep. Usually when players would start doing seriously ridiculous things like handing the pamphlets to a person to limit them down, I would just straight up say "Ok but you do understand that is a strong person, you would a looot of pamphlets. That would take upwards of a minute or more and I can bet you after you throw like 5 at them they actively start to avoid you." Plus the "can never seem to get rid of it", you mentioned it's a joke, so if players take it as such, say it was a joke. At this point you're just way deeper than was necessary :( .
As for solutions what to do now : You can go the in game way, or you can go the out of game way. Both have their ups and downs :
1. In game way, as in nerfing the item or straight up stealing the item, would most likely ruin the fun the players are having. Plus the second you do this your players will know it's because you disliked their use of the homebrew item.
2. Another in game way is to put limitations. You said "they seem to never get rid", or "seemingly limitless". Well, put a limit on it. Tell them the stack has gotten noticeably thinner. Or that the papers can just be thrown if the person does not have faith in anything.
3. Or you can just say out of game to the players that the intended use for this was to just spread the deity's renown, not to make entire campaign about this one item. That you feel like it's getting out of hand and the campaign has become a shitshow.
Just tell them. Hey guys, it was fun the first few times, but it is starting to annoy me. Please stop. If they don't, there are plenty of good answers here on how to proceed
The diety could realize that overwhelming people with pamphlets actually drives them away. So if the cleric knowingly gives them to the same person twice, there are consequences for the cleric. These could be mild but inconvenient like, the pamphlet won't leave their hand unless it's being handed to someone new, their good takes their powers away for an hour or day, they get buried under the weight of all the unwanted pamphlets they've handed out, etc.
“Seemingly Limitless” peeeerfect, there’s a brilliant gag ending you can have for this gag item. Have the stack run out. If the players ask you, tell them to ask the deity. The deity says that the stack *actually* has *insert arbitrarily massive number here*, because they never thought they’d actually use them all. Have the deity sheepishly give the cleric a +1 mace or something similar as thanks for distributing them all. Bit of comic relief, the party comes away with a magic item so they don’t feel ripped off, you don’t have to deal with pamphlet spam anymore, everyone’s happy! Inspired loosely by [UIU Orientation](https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/uiu-orientation), where he counts out the “endless” desert eagle magazine, if you’re curious where the gag comes from.
Or, creating the pamphlets drains the deity's resources, making it poorer and weaker. When the God finally figures out what's draining it's powers the Cleric gets a visit from a very pissed boss who only has enough power left to sustain their current levels of divine magic. Party now has to find a way to restore the God's power by recovering the pamphlets and making actually good use of them by increasing the number of believers or recovering lost artifacts of power or performing some elaborate ritual involving rare and unusual components.
Angry deity: "You see, each pamphlet costs me some small energy to maintain, this allows it to persist and prevent people from casually discarding it. You have distributed thousands of them, this is wasting a noticible level of energy which is not being replenished by believers" Player: "Surely the pamphlets will have encouraged people to believe also? Giving you back the energy you expended?" Angry deity: "Do you fools remember Archibald? The gentleman you thought it would be so totally hilarious to weight down with a thousand pamphlets of his own? He went to my temple to complain, the head priest there had to contact me _directly_ to try and have them removed, which I did, but as you well know, things of this nature don't stay quiet, the rumours have been spreading. What's worse is the priest feels obliged to tell the truth when asked, so having this sort of shenanigan confirmed has actually caused a few people to STOP believing in me, fearing they have misplaced their faith in some sort of trickster God. You idiots are going to fix this, no more pamphlets, you're going to go and apologise to the people who burdened with these, you're going to make it right and you're going to get my followers back..."
See I feel like if rumors of this spread, the god would have a small “meme” following sect. Like groups of people who think the god is amazing for pranking people.
Depending on the mutability of your gods, this could also tie in with the people thinking they've been duped by a trickster god. If enough people think it is a trickster god, it could start taking on aspects of trickery into its portfolio. This could, of course, also piss off the actual trickster god who feels like it is cutting into his believer numbers and stealing its shtick.
This is the best answer, good job.
NPC zealot of a rival diety is actively pulling down your fliers and is about to get the authorities involved in your littering scheme.
I really like that idea. One of the PCs tried to get rid of some of the pamphlets by tossing them into like a forest. I think it would be hilarious if they got in trouble with a Nature domain cleric or something.
Alternatively, [players tend to unknowingly clash with druids](https://youtu.be/_kPYjTybhw8) and that can be a great way to resolve the littering issue.
Another alt: the material to make the pamphlets has to come from somewhere.
this adds to the fun while solving a problem!!
A simple "bless" neutralizes the pamphlets' effect on a person for a day.
The enchantment having an antidote is a good idea.
Remove Curse or Dispel Magic should also work.
So they took something advertising their deity and turned it into something used to annoy people. I mean...how does their god take it? They're actively making their god look bad. Nice guy version: All the pamphlets vanish/lose their magic, and the cleric has a headache for a day every time they cast divine magic. Big guy ain't happy with them. More angry god version: The pamphlets vanish/lose their magic and the cleric's magic stops working until they pray to their god and apologise or otherwise atone. Given the tone of your game, I'd go for the former.
They don't keep all pamphlets, they magically have a single pamphlet keep randomly showing up. Also, they magically get a bill for "printing" costs to be paid as a donation to the nearest temple of their god. They run out of pamphlets until they pay the bill. Going forward just keep a little tally of the pamphlets and bill them from time to time based on how many they use. Depending on their level it can be 1 silver to 1 gold per pamphlet. After all they should be supporting their temple based on what they can afford.
The deity finds out they’re making a joke of it and is unimpressed. The pamphlets become wanted posters for your cleric. If only they hadn’t distributed so many!
You can make the "can't seem to get rid of it" not be too distracting, like somebody can get rid of all but one, and that one keeps showing up in their pack, bedroll, etc once a day.
“Taking their Gods name in vain” or something causes the item to take durability damage so flagrant misuse of the pamphlets instead of actual ministry removes the enchantment. Constable Visit-the-infidel-with-explanatory-pamphlets would be proud though.
Start tallying how many they use, ask for precise numbers and whatnot and write it down. Don't do anything with the numbers, if they ask, reiterate the 'seemingly limitless' trait.
Have some of the people that recieved the pamphlets actually convert to the religion and become obsessed with it. Some have stronger will than others. Let that eventually turn into a cult. Now the cleric needs to destroy the corrupt followers in order to restore the good name of his deity
I’m tempted to say: have a rival nation or culture invade some local important-to-PCs region… their warships bearing sails of stitched-together pamphlets, or reconstituted thread-woven sails whose pamphlet text is still partially readable, etc. Jeez, that could be the stuff of horrific village legend for generations: “they came, sailing under the banner of the Verbose God, slaughtering as they passed.” Or the Ghenghis Khan trick of releasing 10,000 sparrows to fly over the city, each with a flaming pamphlet tied to its tail-feathers which would eventually kill the bird in flight. Same idea. (In case it’s not clear: I’m advocating for a darkly-humorous gag ending, not a screw-the-PCs vindictive thing.)
The apparently limitless pamphlets were obviously a small endorsement by the deity done in good faith to support the clerics efforts to convert people. As they are now using the pamphlets in bad faith as ways to annoy and hinder people not as a way to vonvert new people to the god, the pamphlets change in several ways: The text on them loses all reference to the deity and the seemingly limitless amount of pamphlets are noticably running low. Add to that a bit of narration each time the cleric's magic does not hit or just underperforms that they feel like somehow the conection to their deity has weakened and they should get the idea without needing to actually give them mechanical dowsides.
Maybe unpopular opinion, but I feel like this is an instance you can just say to your players, "Guys I kinda made this thing as a joke item, and I feel like we're abusing it now because I didn't consider the long-term game-breaking implications of it when I allowed you to have a 5 minute giggle 7 sessions ago. Can we all agree to please stop using the item in game-breaking ways and follow on with the story as intended?" The fact that a gag item didn't have a 4-page manual of explicit capabilities and limitations is an out-of-game problem, and your PCs exploiting your brief moment of creativity for their enjoyment is likewise an out-of-game problem. You should never use an in-game solution to an out-of-game problem.
You can make it so that the pamphlet will stay with you only as intended purpose. If you decide to use it for something, say kindling or origami, the pamphlet loses its magical properties.
Make it so if they get thrown in a bush they disappear forever
Aaaah, yet another "I've made a homebrew item that fucks with my campaign, help" posts. Well you're in super deep. Usually when players would start doing seriously ridiculous things like handing the pamphlets to a person to limit them down, I would just straight up say "Ok but you do understand that is a strong person, you would a looot of pamphlets. That would take upwards of a minute or more and I can bet you after you throw like 5 at them they actively start to avoid you." Plus the "can never seem to get rid of it", you mentioned it's a joke, so if players take it as such, say it was a joke. At this point you're just way deeper than was necessary :( . As for solutions what to do now : You can go the in game way, or you can go the out of game way. Both have their ups and downs : 1. In game way, as in nerfing the item or straight up stealing the item, would most likely ruin the fun the players are having. Plus the second you do this your players will know it's because you disliked their use of the homebrew item. 2. Another in game way is to put limitations. You said "they seem to never get rid", or "seemingly limitless". Well, put a limit on it. Tell them the stack has gotten noticeably thinner. Or that the papers can just be thrown if the person does not have faith in anything. 3. Or you can just say out of game to the players that the intended use for this was to just spread the deity's renown, not to make entire campaign about this one item. That you feel like it's getting out of hand and the campaign has become a shitshow.
Its only lasts for 24 hours or a 10 mile radius.
Just tell them. Hey guys, it was fun the first few times, but it is starting to annoy me. Please stop. If they don't, there are plenty of good answers here on how to proceed
Most of these type of items have a per-day cap. 20 pamphlet max. Resets at dawn. Point to Jug of Alchemy of they complain.
The diety could realize that overwhelming people with pamphlets actually drives them away. So if the cleric knowingly gives them to the same person twice, there are consequences for the cleric. These could be mild but inconvenient like, the pamphlet won't leave their hand unless it's being handed to someone new, their good takes their powers away for an hour or day, they get buried under the weight of all the unwanted pamphlets they've handed out, etc.