d100 - Extraordinary Ointments & Unconventional Unguents

Another quick Single-Use Magic Item Table! This time we tackle some Special Substances that aren’t administered by drinking like Potions but applied externally. I would imagine that this process might take some Time, and therefore not necessarily be something one would want to do in the heat of Battle, but perhaps more suited to before or after, or during a Rest. Like my prior table on Incense, having these kinds of highly specific, but limited in use Wonders available to Players can really sometimes result in some pretty creative Problem Solving or Reward prior decisions in fun ways.

d100 – Sacred Ceremonies & Religious Rituals

Part of my ongoing attempts to dive deeper into the Deity Disfavor Class feature of the Cleric, here are a hundred relatively minor rites and observances that might help decorate those daily liturgies of that Class in interesting ways. I wouldn’t necessarily approach these from an angle that purposefully penalizes the Player, but more as just a way to add a little more optional detail to their religious activities. These are much less dire than my recent Priesthood Penances & Cleric Contrition table, and not nearly as pervasive or restrictive as the Holy Taboos I’ve shared before. Perhaps these are just part of the steps they take to Prepare those daily Prayers. This might make it a good addition to my Deity Generator

I could see these also working in conjunction with my post on Strange Shrines as well, potentially providing some inspiration for the specific ways to activate or consecrate them. This Table might also be useful as a sampling of provincial Superstitions or even unconventional Personal Habits.

d100 – What Does This Healing Magic Look Like?

It is often quite interesting to think about how some of the more frequently encountered Magics in these games might actually appear or manifest in one’s mind’s eye. Although it’s often swifter to simply throw the necessary dice and update various records, I find it far more flavorful to give some of them a bit more compelling seasoning from time to time.

As I have done in the past with the venerable Magic Missile and the stalwart Shield Spell, this Table endeavors to explore some additional ideas for rendering those commonly seen “Curative” Magics a bit above and beyond what may be a more generic “bathed in Holy/Un-Holy light” depiction. Yes, the Hit Point damage from the Wounds of a Light or Serious nature is addressed, but what is it like to witness that magical act as an outside observer, the Healer, or the unfortunate Subject of such Spells? Since most of these seem to rely on Touch to deliver, that’s been encoded in the majority of these to a degree, and several might even serve to hint at or allude to specific Domains or Deities that could be behind the granting of such Miracles. As with all my Tables, these can be tailored to taste, but I hope at least it makes some of those medicinal ministrations a bit more interesting!

d100 - Mischievous Magic: Pixie Pranks or Elfin Ensorcellments

Previously touched on briefly in my Encounter Activities of Sprites, I thought it might be fun to produce a full d100 Table of various Minor Magics of an Inconvenient but mostly Inconsequential nature. Many of these are more Petty “Curse-style” Cantrips that could be at the disposal of various Faerie Folk or mined for inspiration for the various japes and escapades that they find so droll.

Should your approach to the Elf Class hail from a more Fairy Tale direction, these might serve as a convivial compliment for them as well, a bit like my Dwarf Dweomercraft and Convenient Cantrips for the Dwarf and Magic User Classes respectfully. Most of these shouldn’t (or at least weren’t intended to) be truly capable of producing lasting harm, but they could most certainly annoy or hinder in amusing and flustering ways. Some may be permitted Saving Throw or such for foiling at the Referee’s Discretion.

I suppose with a little squinting, this Table could also serve a bit of double duty as more ideas to graft on Magical Items to make them a little more frustrating but flavorful, potentially a bit less detrimental than my prior table on those kinds of Drawbacks.

d100 - Fighter Features for Variegated Veterans

It is often said in circles that discuss these older presentations, that two Characters that choose the Fighter Class often lack distinction from each other outside of their Scores, Equipment/Gear, and perhaps how generous that Hit Point roll was during Character Generation. In order to set them apart somewhat, I’ve created this table of One Hundred Traits that augment those Warriors ever-so-slightly, creating a little more distinction between them. Some of these might inform a Character’s Background a bit: Speaking of past exploits or professions (q.v. Prior Vocations for more of this nature) whilst others might just be intrinsic knacks or specialized training they’ve picked up prior to Play.

Some of these Abilities could even serve as inspiration for new knowledges or capabilities that could be earned in Play. While I’m not a fervent fan of “Feats” gained through just XP Advancement, I suppose they could serve that purpose as well with a new one being dribbled out every few levels. They seem a bit more interesting to me if they’re acquired as the result of intentional choices, or as Rewards for tasks, trials, or training undertaken at the Table, perhaps like a bit more mundane version of my Benevolent Blessings & Gainful Growth. One could even repurpose those Magical Research Rules or something similar to have this occupy some Downtime.

Fighters do already possess a Super Secret Special Ability in B/X that’s often overlooked: The ability to create Strongholds that influence the Surrounding Lands at any level. While sadly, this seldom shows up in Contemporary Play, it’s a very important Feature when you contrast this with how this is handled by the other Classes. I often find myself bringing this up when I hear other Referees lamenting the lack of Domain Play these days (you don’t have to wait until Name after all!), or when there’s a bit of grousing about how Fighters don’t feel very powerful or interesting. Hopefully a few of these ideas might prove useful or fun for the Fighters at your Tables!

d100 – Gullet Gleanings & Crop Contents

When I was much younger, we dissected a smallish Shark as part of a very educational Science Class. Imagine our Surprise when our careful cuttings revealed another, even smaller Shark inside of it! We dutifully dissected that one too, and found a Fish, which was then also carefully quartered, but sadly the marine Matryoshka Marveling ended there.

Although it doesn’t seem as common these days, I do recall a big part of Play in the Past involved finding some of the Treasure inside of certain Monsters after slaying them. This grisly task would be perfunctorily performed, just in case, to make sure absolutely nothing was missed or overlooked. It usually came with a Cost (taking a few extra Turns was a common one, and this Risks Wandering Monsters), but I also recall often calling for various Saving Throws or other Tests since I envisioned the process as quite smelly and stomach churning.

When this would come up more recently, I would sometimes quickly roll on my Random Impedimenta table for a starting point, sprucing the results up a bit as necessary and sprinkling in a smattering of coins or such. I decided a dedicated Table might be a little more useful though.

Many Monsters may not carry Treasure on their Person, or have a Happy Hoard to hole up with, so this table might inspire some ideas for what to reveal in those bulging bellies after diligent dissection. Since there are a few weird and wonderous things in these (especially in the bigger beasts, but those likely would have had a lot more Hit Dice to whittle down!), I’d likely ascribe a small chance, prior to rolling, or potentially tweak any extant Treasure Awards accordingly.

q.v. One Hundred Uses for a (Dead) Dragon

d100 – Arcane Avocations: Magic User Hobbies & Sorcerous Sidelines

As a vocal proponent of making Wizards a little Weirder whenever possible, here’s a Table that contains some ideas for what they might be “up to” in their Towers with their Spare Time. While most of these pursuits might be more applicable to the High-Level Magic User, I’m sure that some might lay the groundwork for these goals at much Lower Levels.

These preoccupations and obsessions might find their way into a Player Character’s Mentor or even serve as ways to decorate the Towers/Spellbooks of the Mighty Magi they come into conflict with from time to time. I can definitely see using these in conjunction with my Mercurial Mentors and Magic Marginalia Tables to further flesh out these situations. A good number of these entries might also be pilferable for PC Patronage in the form of Adventure Hooks/Rumors to help a Wily Wonder-Worker realize or even potentially prevent them from achieving certain long-term goals.

Listening to “What's He Building?” by Tom Waits whilst perusing this Table is purely optional.

d100 - Why Can’t You Pick This Lock?

One minor Rule has always flustered me and my Players a little bit in these older presentations: How a Thief who failed to Open a Lock was unable to “Try Again” until they had Advanced a Level. While it is very easy to understand the intention behind the conceit (we don’t want to bog down our Play with repeated tries, and the eventual/inevitable elimination of an obstacle) it did always strike me as a little bit disassociated.

So, I put together a d100 Table with some Answers to the Question of “Why” they are unable to Pick a given Lock. Some are akin to Puzzles, and maybe harmless Traps in a way, so I can see a bit of double duty in a few of these for fleshing out those Locks a little more (I also have a Table/Generator on them here: Locks & Lockpicks.) One of the primary “Excuses” we used to lean on for this was not having the appropriate Tools (to be retrieved during Downtime, potentially after putting some word out with Contacts...that might take about as long as it takes for a Level up, etc.)

Most of these entries endeavor to steer away from placing the blame on the luckless Thief themselves, which is always a little refreshing (the Thief Player and their Dice at least tried!) so you might find them useful as “Other Excuses” to strategically retrieve for those abysmally low Percentages they start out with! It’s wise to remember that defeating the Lock in this fashion is only a single method of overcoming this kind of obstacle. It usually does come with less Cost or Risk (doesn’t use up a Knock Spell, preserves the functionality of a Door/Container, doesn’t make Noise and Trigger Wandering Monster Checks like the Fighter’s Shoulder, etc.) But there is often more than one way to skin a Catoblepa in these games!

q.v. Where is the Key To This Locked Door?

d100 – From Whence Did This Monster Spawn?

Often when Referees seek out explanations for the many Foes and Fiends that can be found in the various manuals of Monsters at our disposal (or when minting our own!) we’re sometimes only given a few relatively similar and somewhat terse explanations concerning the circumstances that led them to be part of a Setting or World. Usually these tend to err on the side of the shrug-inducing “A Wizard Did It,” though sometimes we might see the occasional digression into an armchair ecological or evolutionary explanation.

I’m a firm believer that it’s sometimes fun and fruitful fodder to imagine where those Monsters might come from as this can inform a Setting in intriguing ways. This Table might be said to lean a little more into the Superstitious/Hearsay angle for these Origins, but I am fond of a more Folkloric approach in my games. Some of these might very well be the methods by which a Monster is Made, while others might be more akin to Admonishments, Fables, or those Cautionary and sometimes Frightening Tales spun for Children. Hopefully they inspire a few more unconventional angles one could consider for whatever the process might be through which a Monster comes into being.

d100 - Magic Arrows & Ammunition

Today we have another Magical Item Table, this time tackling Arrows and Ammunition (and I suppose Sling Bullets with some light re-skinning, though I haven’t given up on a separate table dedicated to those just yet.) Generally, we treat these as Single Use Items that are spent when shot, but in some games a Damage Roll of 1 or 2 means that it can be Recovered after the battle (easier to track, simply don’t mark off the expenditure of Ammunition until after Damage is rolled!) It’s possible there might be a bit of overlap with my prior Table on Magic Bows, which I purposefully neglected to review prior to populating this one.

How many Arrows or Quarrels are discovered in a Treasure Hoard? Well, the B/X Treasure tables provide a range, some sheafs are 2d6, some 3d10, and other stingier ones might only be a single d6. Particularly puissant Projectiles (such as those of Slaying) sometimes show up all by their lonesome, so I suppose this might be a bit dependent on Referee discretion. I’d be inclined to be a little more generous with the ones that are perhaps a little less reliable in terms of this Table.

d100 - Sacred Shrines & Alien Altars

Strange Shrines or other quasi-Religious Fixtures are sometimes useful for dressing up Dungeons or Wildernesses. This table has a hundred ideas for them, broadly decorative in nature on the surface. However, should you prefer to make these a bit more interactive, I often find that assigning them a Spell, usually from the Cleric List, and preferably one of the Reversible ones, can be quite fun. If attempts are made to disturb or desecrate, it might cast the Reversed Version of the Spell, targeting the intrepid interferer. If proper supplication or careful consecration takes place, perhaps the Shrine will deign to grant a boon (in the form of the Positive version of the Spell in question.)

Some common Candidates come to mind for this:

1. Cure/Cause Light Wounds
2. Light/Darkness
3. Purify/Putrefy Food & Water
4. Remove/Cause Fear
5. Bless/Blight
6. Cure/Bestow Blindness
7. Cure/Bestow Disease
8. Remove/Bestow Curse

As a lark, I recently took a stab at providing Reversed versions of all the Cleric Spells in B/X (with some BECMI Padding for symmetry) so there might also be some amusing ideas here:

In my ancient Shrines Series I mention that repurposing the Turn Undead Check can also be useful for this function: The Cleric (perhaps more familiar with such things than other Classes) may be able to make a Turn Undead roll (target = level of the Spell) to successfully activate or deduce the function of a given Shrine/Altar. Failure could trigger consequences of course.

d100 – Carousing Events for Sophisticated Soirées & Refined Revelry

Here’s a quick companion to my more rustic and less “up-market” prior Carousing Consequences & Complications Table, with this one focusing a little more on the slightly more stuffy and formal occasions the Player Characters may find themselves invited to or even reuqired to attend. Potentially useful in the later Domain Tiers as well, alongside some of my recent tables for Stronghold Benefits and Castle Hassles.

d100 - Monster Smells & Olfactory Tells

When Telegraphing or Foreshadowing Encounters, sometimes other senses can be employed. Thinking about this led to another fun Table that had my imagination working overtime! I tried not to consult my prior Three Hundred Smells Table for this one, but I’m quite certain there might be a bit of overlap here and potentially with my Spoor & Sign or Tracks & Traces by Type Table as well.

Naturally, since our musty Monster Manuals don’t come in spectacular “Scratch & Sniff” these are all fanciful speculation and conjecture. I suppose that’s a good thing too, as I’m not sure I’d really like to experience a Troglodyte’s signature Stench ability!

d100 – Priesthood Penances & Cleric Contrition

Deity Disfavor is a Class Feature that doesn’t receive a ton of attention. One can infer a few potential concrete triggers for this from the Class Description (ignoring the Prohibition Sharp/Stabbing Weapons, failing to carry a Holy Symbol...those Poor Clerics that begin Play with only 30 gold pieces!) but much of it falls to Referee interpretation on adherence to the tenants of Alignment and the Religion. Some of my Prior Tables attempt to make this a little more transparent (such as my Hundred Holy Taboos) and less of a “Gotcha!” to be sprung on the Player out of the blue, but what should happen if a Cleric falls from those good graces?

Inspired by a conversation with another Referee, I decided to put together a d100 Table of potential Penances or Acts of Contrition that might serve as some ideas for these situations. Later presentations tend to handle this with the casting of a specific Divine Spell (such as Atonement) but that does strike me as a little perfunctory. I suppose if you aren’t capable of casting it on yourself, that could lead to a little leg work.

The table is a bit of a mixture: I wanted to try and avoid things that were too Restrictive or could potentially impact Play in a severely negative way (such as a “Vow of Silence” impairing communication, etc.) but some of those surely snuck in. I also wanted to try and avoid things that were just easily elided through a Downtime Activity if at all possible. I think I was a little less successful in that goal, but that would still be up to the individual Referee. I believe that some of these entries might be more useful for fleshing out a particular Faith when portraying other members: These could be used by a Referee in Play by attaching them to another Penitent in a Player Character’s Faith, in order to telegraph those Consequences of straying out of that Favor. I should definitely try to remember add this to my Deity Generator when I get the chance!

Content Warning for a soupçon of Self-Harm/Mortification of the Flesh. Feel free to season this to Table Tastes and Player Preferences.