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I am working on a souls-like game and i would like to have an item that works like Fragrant Branch of Yore from DS2

I do not want to copy the concept of petrification from DS2 so while the item should work in a similar way i would like it to have different look, feel and lore behind it

In order to describe the mechanic (requirements) i will use the words "door" and "key" for simplicity. The question is which items (enchantments, etc.) can be used to act as "doors" and "keys"

Requirements:

• Any "door" can be opened with any "key"


• Once opened the "door" stays open


• It must be possible to purposefully construct a "door".


• The "key" can only be used once.


• Creating a "door" may require the use of magic but opening a "door" with a "key" should not require magic abilities


• "Doors" are not portals. You can not teleport to a different location by walking through a "door".

Desired but not required:

• The "doors" can appear randomly (like vines growing over a normal door)


• the "keys" should be rare but it should not be obvious where to find one (for example if only rich people could possess them, it would make no sense to search for a key in a poor man's house)

1. A "door" is a chunk of stuff which occludes passage.




2. A key is an explosive, like a stick of dynamite. It could be in the shape of a key which would be cute.

Using the key blows a hole in the door. You can use a key once, because after that it is blown up.

Once there is a hole in the door you can walk through. You might need to stoop. The hole will not close by itself.

Any key will work on any door. And on other things too, if you want.

Using a key might involve lighting a fuse, possibly from your lit cigar. Running away is optional but encouraged.

Doors can appear on their own. For example, a big tree might qualify as a "door" if it were in your way. A rockslide could be a door. A large animal, alive or dead, might also be considered a "door". The door to your favorite pub that they have pushed you thru and locked behind you would also qualify as a door, the bastards. Fortunately you have a lit cigar and rare locksmithing talents at the ready.

In computing we call such "keys" names like:

• One Time Password (OTP)


• Access tokens


• Secrets (such as those exchanged in HTTPS connections)


• Keys. Literally. Such as a license key, which activates a license only once.


• Lots of four letter words, when we need one but have forgot them or have no way to get them.

You could name them tokens, or secrets, or just keys anyway and by the time a player/reader has seen it in action once or twice they will have figured them out. The physical representation of the objects you use is just a detail; Much like portkeys in Harry Potter's world, you can use anything, restrained only by your choices as the world builder.

If you go with "key" and want to qualify it in such a way as to differentiate from a regular, everyday key, call it a "magical key", "mana key", "ether key" or something like that, and be done with it.

• A sacrifice or votive offering. Burn a pinch of incense, and the portal opens.


• A rusty door and a can of WD-40. The door is sticky, and requires lubricant. Due to the environmental conditions, the effect won't last.


• There is a spell on the door, but certain folk remedies like cold iron horseshoes will dispell it for a time. The horseshoe must be nailed to the door, or perhaps buried under it.

Mechanic solution is that key is used up in opening the door. E.g. key is actually a shaft that pushes the latch to open position, and gets permanently wedged in the mechanism. But this does not explain random appearene of doors or keys.

A magic solution is spirits. Locks are hungry spirits that need "food", and keys are the spirit food, which appears randomly in the world. Lock spirits are lazy, or very slow, so rather than look for their food, they hold the door hostage until somebody brings them the food.