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On the other thread I mentioned how games as gesamtkunstwerk, Total Art Work, ie Art that incorporates all other Art, games as literature, poetry, music, painting, theatre, film, fashion, dance, architecture etc.
There is a pbta horror / art game called Bluebeard's Bride, it is based on the eponymous fairy tale set in a gothic mansion and it shows how you incorporate architecture into game items.
The general idea is that architecture naturally creates these holonym-meronym associations nooks and places so when you combine them with emotions you can create more memorable objects that "come alive" as opposed to another +3 burning sword of frost or fire etc.
Basically the method to create an item is like this:
1/ first, subdivide your fantasy location space into areas. So if this is a gothic mansion it is easy, you have a vestibule, a pantry, maybe a music room, a dining hall, servants quarters, a conservatory or arboretum etc etc. You can do similar things for a castle, a spaceship or space station, an urban shopping mall, supermarket, museum or skyscraper office etc.
2/ then from that architectural location subdivided function site, find an item. So it can be obvious, e.g. candlesticks, mirrors in the gothic mansion, a fire extinguisher in a shopping mall or a water dispenser in an office etc. It can be an ordinary or unusual object, but the method works better for mundane ones.
3/ What you then do is imbue the object with AN EMOTION. You can use complex ones but an easy thing to do is just use variants of the seven deadly sins, like lust hate pride envy etc. So for instance, a JEALOUS MIRROR, a HATEFUL CHALICE etc etc. This works best if the object seems ordinary and mundane to the architectural zone / location. Also you can just create some d20 table of emotions and roll against another d20 table of objects.
4/ From the EMOTION object you then permutate and describe its manifestation, it should be quite easy to visualise from strong or unnatural emotions eg decayed, anthropomorphic, gilded, misshapen, pristine etc. Again you can create some d20 descriptor table, or just find related word vectors, or use a thesaurus rooted in the EMOTION.
5/ Finally, you place the object. There is I think a random table for this in the game, but it is basically tied again to the architecture and EMOTION. So an object could be openly displayed, hidden, abandoned, locked away, veiled behind something, discarded or cast aside, balanced precariously somewhere etc. There are a lot of kinetic possibilities afforded by the architecture of the surroundings.
