d100- Somewhat Sinister Settlement Secrets

Quick Table today with some “Rumors” or “Hooks” to provide a little more unsettling depth to some of those Settlements. I’ve endeavored to use the portion prior to the sainted em dash as a bit of a cue or clue, with the second half hopefully providing hints to the mysterious intrigue behind it. Spicing up some of those isolated Villages or Hamlets with a little strangeness or mystery can sometimes have the side effect of centering Adventure or the Player Focus within them, but that can be a nice change of pace sometimes.

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 - Boastworthy Bounties & Intriguing Enticements

Bounty Hunting and Monster-Slaying For Hire are sometimes useful ways for Players to augment their coffers as a periodic change of pace from those unplundered Dungeons. Particularly during the Wilderness Tier, where Treasure can sometimes be a little trickier to track down, these avenues are sometimes more appealing than other lucrative options like turning to Banditry.

There is usually a Reward in the form of Treasure, sometimes pre-arranged, other times negotiated. For these, I often select a Treasure Type (usually based on the Average Values) that seems appropriate, but I do like to often include an occasional “pot-sweetener” that might make a particular job a bit more attractive.

This table includes a hundred Sample Bounties, issued by anachronistic “Wanted Poster,” Proclamation, or even as Rumors/Hooks. I have also included a hundred sometimes less tangible Treasures that might tempt in addition to the more Monetary Rewards. Whether a Bounty is paid when the target is returned “Dead” or “Alive” is up to you, but I think “Alive” does add an intriguing wrinkle sometimes 😊

d100 - Weird and Whimsical Wants for Fickle Fey

When it comes to Encounters with the Fair Folk, it’s always handy to have some idea of what they might want from Mortals in exchange for Goods or Services that only their Marvelous Magics might provide. Here is a table with a Hundred Ideas, many might appear to be Impossible at first glance, but the creativity and ingenuity of Players sometimes surprises. Others might be more akin to Errands foisted on Fools, but what sort would try to bargain with the Fey in the first place? 😊

d100 - Troubadour Tales & Bardic Ballads

The travelling Troubadour is a wonderful way to dispense Rumors and Information. Sometimes they even find themselves within Party Rosters as a Class or Character Type. But what are all those tales and tunes about?

Here’s a quick d100 Table to determine the subject matter and performance styles of some of the stories or serenades a Party may find themselves hearing.

d100 - Rumored Renown for when Reputation Precedes

Frequently, it might be useful to festoon an NPC with Fame or Infamy to create a more compelling Character. Whether it’s a Denizen’s Deeds or Distinguishing Traits, when the Players have heard “of” someone prior to encountering them, it can often make for more interesting interactions. Here are a hundred ideas for what the Gossip Mongers and Rumor Mill might have to offer about a particular personage.

d100 - Rumored Remedies for Curses/Energy Drain

Frustratingly for some participants, within the standard rules for B/X and in other early presentations, there simply isn’t really a way to ameliorate those tragic Levels Lost due to Energy Drain outside of further Adventuring. Interestingly, Experience lost to something like a Cursed Scroll is easily addressed through the application of the Remove Curse Spell, but there isn’t a counterpart for undoing the impact of having one’s neck wrung by a wrathful Wraith or being slapped by a screaming Spectre. This makes for a particular type of attack that ends up being very frightening to Players. It’s one of the few things that creates a bit of ludic bleed when a Monster ends up attacking the very act of Play itself (Rust Monsters and their insatiable hunger for Wonderous Weapons tend to do this too: they’re not necessarily formidable foes but it’s what they do to the Character Sheet that creates more lasting impacts!)

Later versions of the game tend to solve this problem by adding another Spell to Cleric’s Repertoires (Restoration), but this tends to make the loss a little more perfunctory, just a temporary set-back at most, until the Players are able to obtain the services or pray for this Miracle by themselves. This salves some of the sting considerably, but it does almost become a bit more like a Curse in this way.

Sentimental softie that I am, I’ve nearly always provided provisions for regaining this Loss in another way, usually following the rubric of “Rumored Cures.” As I was compiling a list of these, I realized that many of could do a bit of double duty for particularly pernicious Curses as well (the kinds in Fairy Tales, that often require strangely specific Deeds to undo). Some might be more akin to tales of Old Wives or Local Superstitions but I do try to ensure that if my Players end up chasing Wild Geese, there’s at least something in it for them. In these cases, the hope is that there is always Treasure, Fame, and Information to be gained on Adventure after all!

Here are a Hundred potential avenues for alleviation. Maybe they work automatically or perhaps they simply give the afflicted a new Saving Throw chance to remove the condition in question. I tend to leave that more mechanical stuff up to the individual Table and Referee.

d100 - Why Does This Dungeon Remain Un-Plundered?

Inspired by a request from another Referee, here is a century of entries that can be used to explain why a the location attached to a Dungeon or other Site-Based Adventure hasn't been completely looted by others prior to the Players catching wind of it. Some of these might serve additional duties as Rumors, Hooks, or other forms of Gossip when asking around about potential Treasure Sites. I suppose if you’re looking for a “Theme” for a Dungeon, you might be able to glean that sort of thing from a few of these as well.

d100 – What Is Cold Iron Anyway?

Another Referee had a question concerning the nature of Cold Iron, and naturally, I felt the best way to answer this might be another d100 Table. As a mostly “poetic term” there seems to be a lot of room for interpretation on what it consists of, how it’s made, or where it’s from. I suppose this is another one of those Random Tables that could be used as grist for the Rumor Mill, a source for potential Adventure, or even just some Lore to sprinkle about. Might also serve a bit of ancillary duty for the origins of other Weapons of a Magical Nature or some potential Creation Methods now that I squint at it.

d100 – Deadly Diseases & Alarming Ailments

Most Referee’s might be familiar with the dreaded Mummy Rot, or that pesky 1-in-20 chance of a disease-ridden Rat Bite. Odious Otyughs carry their own un-named strains, and even some of the various Moulds and Fungi that flourish within those dank Dungeons inflict a variety of debilitating respiratory effects.

So, this is a table about Generating Diseases, giving them Names for Settings that might benefit from less generic germs. As I was working on it, I decided that rather than fixate on the Effects, it would potentially be more useful to incorporate Rumors of Cures/Treatments that might be available for a given sickness. Obtaining this information might be the first step on the road to recovery. Much like how I prefer to manage Poisons, putting Death from this sort of misadventure on a Timer is more interesting to me than inventing brand-new mechanical penalties for each. This keeps the Body Horror down to a minimum in this table, but as a warning: some of it may still seep through in the names this creates.

That being said, I have covered Execrable Effects elsewhere. My Terrible Toxins & Vile Venoms serve as suitable symptoms (as could, potentially, some of the Magical Mishaps & Calamitous Curses). As always, it is up to the Referee to decide if these are merely speedbumps on the way to receive a Cleric’s coveted Cure Disease, or if more mundane management is needed via seeking a Rumored Remedy. I suppose one could mischeviously generate a few potential panaceas for each and allow them to choose which ones to pursue if you’d like to keep things a little more frightening and tense.

Poison seems to be the Saving Throw of Choice for most (though Mummies merely infect with a hit). An incubation period might be warranted for some (though this can sometimes make the affliction feel a bit arbitrary if it shows up too long after the point of infection), followed by that period of feeling a bit Under The Weather before the Malady begins to run its course in earnest. They needn’t all be Fatal of course, but if they’re Contagious that presents its own set of challenges.

I’ve also provided a perchance generator below as a Starting Point to see what horrible things these tables are capable of spitting out:

Table Talk: I believe the initial germ for this table took hold with a question from a discord user if I had such a table. I added it to the development list as it’s own little lonely tab and after populating a couple dozen cells with the first things that sprang to mind, quickly realized that given world events, the topic wasn’t really speaking to me for a more conventional “here’s a bunch of awful things to inflict upon your players” way. So I let it fester a bit in the background before I hit on the idea to make it more about the Cures than the Conditions. One can never have enough desperate Quests after all, and rather than being a “hard stop” to play, these might provide some sorely needed Hope.

These days I’m finding myself less drawn to that “nasty, brutish, short” crapsack simulation but one never knows when a horrible Plague or Epidemic might serve as an interesting Faction or Front in it’s own right bubbling up in the background. These occasionally crop up on my Domain Tables from time to time, and since I’m hoping to provide a bit more Referee Support for this rather neglected Tier of Play in the future, this will be handy down the road.

Reading a bit about Medieval Medicine and Folk Remedies led to a bevy of interesting words, so that got me excited about it again (I’m a sucker for those rarer words after all) and brought back fond memories of a campaign where we had a Paladin of the God of Disease (more properly termed The Vector) who travelled the land, spreading plagues and such as part of her Deity's bidding and sacred mission. A table like this would have been quite useful back then 😊.

d100 - Haven Happenstances

Here are one Hundred Haven Happenings or Settlement Events for dressing up any downtime in towns and villages (or even decorating Domain Play, which could certainly use a little more love).

Some are good, others bad, and still others in-between. These might eventually get a more rigorous treatment as a series of d36 tables to interface with my normal way of handling such things (Reaction Roll), but capturing the ideas immediately is always vital so they don’t get whisked away 😊.

See also: These Village-Folk Are... and These City Dwellers Are... as well as One Hundred Buildings and Business.

d100 - Why is Garlic so Stinking Expensive?

Here is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek diversion from what might be considered slightly more useful Random Tables. It has always been extremely interesting to me how the standard Equipment lists in these games do so much heavy lifting to telegraph Setting, and I often tend to see players new to the game gravitate to a few of the same things.

Allium sativum on the list alongside other, perhaps more practical, purchases for Dungeon Delving is one of these. Its mere presence seems to scream to some that the possibility of Vampires is not only very real, but something they ought to prepare for. The same way those lovely Saving Throw Categories, so starkly listed on their sheet, stoically advertise other dangers.

But what may have gone unnoticed is just how pricey that lovely little Bulb can be. A little casual research reveals that it tends to stay remarkably stable pricewise in these older games. Naturally, this led me to wonder Why?

So, here is a table of a Hundred ways to address this burning question (admittedly over-contemplated on my part) and these weird implications. It just goes to show that there are all sorts of lovely little nuances living in those lists that are hiding and waiting to be revealed by Referee’s with perhaps too much time on their hands.😂

d100 - Methods of Magical Item Identification

Our rulesets for some versions of the game often appear to omit certain aspects when compared to their descendants. One item periodically perceived as “Missing” from OSE and B/X is a quick and convenient way to instantaneously identify the functions of recovered Magical Items.

The methods outlined within the text seem to circumscribe this process to either Experimentation or saving up to pay the exorbitant prices of Sages, Seers, and other such Specialists (a lovely money-sink in itself). The “Retainer Test Subject” approach seldom seems appealing to players, since the “Guinea Pig” often clamors to keep it (and why should they not? They assumed the risk!). Later versions, obviously informed by experiences with how these options tended to play out, mostly do away with these methods altogether by providing a convenient and often abecedarian Spell to perform the duty of discerning dweomers. Some of these, like Analyze from BECMI still preserve a percentile chance of failure and often fail to reveal an item’s secrets with complete precision. But the implications this still seems to create in me is a world where Magical Things are relatively humdrum or commonplace, so run-of-the-mill in fact that even a Minor Medium can avail themselves of a lower circle incantation to divine their purposes and suss out their secrets.

I like to lean into the rarity and wonder of any persistent Magical Creations that appear in my games. It adds mountains to their mystique and makes them much more memorable. So, this table offers another path: One Hundred Hooks to perform this appraisal process through play.

If you prefer the convenience of abstracting or expediting this process, then I’m afraid this table may not seem immediately useful to you. I suppose these could also find use as other Random Rumors tied to information gathering though. When players pose unexpected questions, it’s often quite handy to have some convenient concept on where they can obtain elucidation should the Referee be caught unawares (we all know this only ever happens so seldomly as to be almost unworthy of mention 😊). Information is such powerful paraphernalia in these games, and sometimes even the knowledge of “where to find an answer” is immensely valuable.

d100 - Starting Equipment: Backstories & Seeds

Musing the other day about Randomizing the Players’ Starting Equipment (why would this Magic User have a suit of Chainmail Armor?) got me thinking: What if some of a Character’s Initial Gear could serve as a bit of double duty somehow? It would be fun if one of the items they began play with had a little History, or even maybe an Adventure Hook/Rumor/bit of Mystery to pursue right out of the gate. As a big proponent of a more Sandbox-style of play, one can never have enough seeds to broadcast into those initially fallow fields in hopes that something sprouts, so naturally I felt another table was in order 😊.

At first, I had contemplated dividing this up into categories like Weapons/Armor/Tools and such, but gradually started leaning toward attempting to make the entries at least somewhat applicable to all (as you never know what the players will decide to spend that 3d6 x 100 on or select from my Quick Equipment & Encumbrance Sheet). Some Referees perform this Shopping portion of Character Generation in play, and not all of these may be appropriate with that method, but there could be some inspiration found below for roleplaying cues I suppose.

Gut-feeling tells me that these would likely work best with the more durable pieces of gear on the Adventure Equipment list of your choice but it might lead to interesting situations to attach something like this to a consumable like a single Torch or Arrow. Could lead to a tough choice down the road eventually.

I do have an additional d100 for Equipment here, but this list doesn’t include the “bread and butter” of Arms and Armor. Updated: with Perchance generator below.