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I have an idea to start a game at the Smithsonian's "special archives", starting the players with pre-gens of a select team who travel the world retrieving rare and sometimes dangerous items. The team has brought a special "item" in when things go wrong, the players will use the pre-gens to get a feel for how the system works and at a certain point the game will stop. They will make up new characters, who are workers in other parts of the museum, and they will discover that the original team has died and they will have to step up and defeat the evil lurking in the shadows!

So, what I am looking for is ideas for occult items that the team can search for. Is there a book of historical weird items? Any ideas out there?

There's the Weird U.S. and Weird Oklahoma books. Good sources of genuine legends, etc. I've seen similar books for other states.

http://www.amazon.com/Weird-U-S-America ... usa+series

http://www.amazon.com/Weird-Oklahoma-Ok ... 1402754361

http://www.amazon.com/Weird-Illinois-Tr ... d+illinois

I'd also check out Smithsonian magazine and books and articles on the actual Smithsonian collection. Truth is always stranger than fiction. The archive is massive, containing everything from fossils, human remains and preserved animal specimens to vintage vehicles, toys, clothing and technology to movie props. What's the real reason they've got Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz locked up, and what happened to the original silver slippers Frank Baum wrote about in his books? Start thinking along those lines, and you'll have more items than your PCs can possibly use.

Don't neglect the Ripley's Believe It or Not! series, another source of strange (but true!) people, events, and items.

Sounds like a great start. The National Aeronautic Geographic and Submarine Society might have some interesting leads on their website. http://www.nagssociety.com This is the sadly not updated website for the RPG Terra Incognita which deals with the odd but true in a sort of steampunk fashion.

Thanks for the assist, guys. I will be reviewing these suggestions and let you know how it goes! Take care guys!

Going with the 80's-esque theme, you might want to check out some old espisodes of the Friday the 13th series. In it, the protagonists are tasked with recovering cursed, complicated items.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the ... The_Series

I would also suggest Warehouse 13 and The Lost Room as other good "retrieve the spooky/otherworldly object" TV shows.