The swipe file: 1

As a charity-shop enthusiast, I buy a lot of 99p novels. I used to buy tons whenever I had a long coach or train or plane ride ahead of me, but not so many now that I have my Kindle. Anyway, many of them aren't very good, but if you view things with the right perspective there's always something to swipe from anything. Any book, comic, TV show, Youtube video, game you play ... whatever it is you're reading or watching should provide at least one idea worth stealing. You just have to enjoy them alertly.

The Swipe File is going to be a series where I jot down the ideas I've gleaned from things over the last week or so. It's mostly for my own reference.

• A bunch of crazy people burning the clothes they were wearing to facilitate their own degeneration into primitive weirdos. 
• The enemy is jamming our comms, but an area of clarity indicates the point they're searching for because they need their own comms in that area. 
• An NPC shows up with a different distinctive hat, tie, or what have you in every session. It is later revealed that he has taken each one from a different murder victim. 
• A PC has become so famous that a well-meaning but dim fighter decides he is the PC's arch-rival and goes looking to challenge him or her. 
• An NPC's distinctive outfit is revealed to be a uniform shared by other NPCs.
• After a war, generals of the losing side race to hide their ill-gotten gains before the victors reach the capital. 
• Supporters of two sides in a trial by combat try a series of clever strategies to fix the fight. 
• Alien invaders have their hands tied by the Galactic Empire's bizarrely complicated rules of engagement.