d100 - Vignettes for Faerie & Other Unseen Lands

When the Characters find themselves haplessly traipsing about in very strange places, be it Dolmenwood’s Realms of Fairy, the Gardens of Ynn, or even the odd Elfin Woodland (just beyond the fields we know so well, etc.), I often find it useful to have some ideas for little “Vignettes” or “Scenes” that I can use to help communicate that lovely “Not in Kansas Anymore” sensation. There are times when a more Mythic Overworld can benefit from a little more Whimsy and Weirdness as well, because those can really help foster Wonder.

d100 – Wilderness Woes & Hinterland Hazards

Journeys through those Wilder Places can sometimes be Challenging and Dangerous in addition to being full of Wonder and Discovery. When Stocking Hexes one of the results from my “repurposed” Dungeon Overland Stocking Table is something I’ve come to refer to as a “Hazard.”

The Hazard is a Hex Feature that might create problems for a Party that is traversing an area. These are usually more static features than your typical Encounters or Lairs, and their primary purpose is to create more of those wonderful Choices and Decision Points that make Overland Travel more memorable. These may deplete Supplies, impact other Resources such as Time (by creating Delays or Detours), or even just be downright Deadly. Just as with Traps tenderly placed in a Dungeon Room, the more Dangerous or Impactful something is, the more attentive I would be to Telegraph it in some way. I find that ensuring that your Local Rumor Tables have a few entries dedicated to a nearby Hazard are also incredibly useful for this.

d100 - Fascinating Fruits or Bewitched Berries

Many of my Tables seem to revolve around Plants in some way, but I noticed that I didn’t have one devoted specifically to the potential Magical Effects of some of the Fruits or Berries of these. Since these are usually “Single-Use” Items they can definitely be an interesting Resource to plant in some of those Wildernesses (and maybe even some more atypical Dungeons!) As with most of these Tables, I often like to include Properties that might serve as specific Solutions for hereto Unknown Problems/Challenges. It’s awfully fun to see what Creative Applications the Players might come up with, but as always, feel free to season these to taste for your table.

I needed quite a bit of space in the entries for the effects, but should a Name be needed, I can see these being quite useful with my Magical Plant & Herb Generator, as well as my Fantasy Tree Generator. At some point in the future, I can even see these effects being combined with entries from other, related Tables in one of my Perchance Generators to cut down on the need to toss and tabulate those d10s so much.

Fruit with Magical Properties like this has a lot of folkloric resonance to me, but unfortunately, I couldn’t wait until another Fairy Tale Friday to publish this one!

Spoor & Sign or Tracks & Traces by Type

Proponents of Overloaded Encounter/Hazard Die might sometimes find themselves in a bit of a bind or at a loss for some of those Telegraphing Traces, Perilous Percepts, and Obvious Omens when these results deign to show their face on the die. It seems frightfully easy for some of these to become rather “samey” over time after all, and while an adjunct roll on the Encounter Table might provide some additional raw ingredients, wouldn’t it be lovely to have some convenient and more specific things to pull from as well?

One of the hidden drawbacks and sneaky pitfalls of these Overloaded Encounter/Hazard Dice is how they do require this sort of spontaneous improvisation or increase in cognitive load on occasion. I find they tend to Rob Prep Peter to Pay Play Paul in a way: You’ve reduced some of the scutwork associated with preparing interesting situations or granularly tracking resources and deferred this to the dice, but one needs to be fast on their feet interpreting what may sometimes be repetitive or slightly incoherent results. Scribbling an adjunct column to your Encounter Tables ahead of time for these Tracks/Traces is another option of course.

These were some of the things on my mind when I started plinking away at a d100 table for these types of Creature Clues. Very quickly however, I realized that genericizing them in this way left a lot to be desired. Different Denizens leave distinctive tells in their wake, so I decided to take the approach I used in my Monster Miens tables: Discrete d12s for broader Encounters by “Type Classification” to hammer the results into something a little more contextual.

These are semi-weighted: Lower results (or using a single, smaller-faced die) are intended to produce the more ephemeral and temporary types of spoor, whilst higher ones (perhaps with a modifier, such as d6+6) will tend toward the more durable sign. One could just as well give that lonely d12 a little love though, it seems to be relegated for so few tasks and is quite pleasing to set in motion.

Another option that I’ve availed myself of before is using my Encounter Activity Tables in a slightly different way. Instead of rolling on the table to find out what a particular Monster is “up to” right now, I’ve used them more like a window into the past: This is what the Monster was doing here a relatively short time ago. I’m often able to glean a few interesting details this way to set a better scene and I’m always happy when I can re-use tables a bit outside their intended purpose!

Hope these provide a little inspiration or at the very least cut down on some of the repeat results that might be occurring!

d100 - Strange Sculptures & Ensorcelled Statuary

One of my favorite “Standbys” should those “Special” Results rear their head when Stocking are Statues. A skosh of art provides an excellent opportunity for conveying Setting and Theme, usually featuring a dollop of Lore for lagniappe. Some Players might find themselves a bit wary around those stoic sculptures however, with all the Gargoyles, Caryatid Columns, Golems, and Living Statues standing about in these games.

So sometimes it helps to include some more standard ones within your Set Dressing, while still others can serve as a Puzzle, Hazard, or Trick in their own right. A few might even be unbelievably valuable Treasures, should the Players find a way to extract and transport them to safety. I will always enjoy the ones that end up being utilized by the Players in creative ways to solve problems of course, but sometimes they become a delicious way to perplex or confound, consuming limited Resources and precious Time in dangerous environments.

So should you need to decorate a Dungeon or pastoral Plinth with something a little Special, this table of one Hundred ideas will hopefully help!

d100 – So You Didn’t Make It Out Of The Wilds...

The Mythic Overworld can be a dangerous and daunting place. Here’s a companion Table to my “So You Didn’t Make It Out Of The Dungeon?” Hundred, focusing a little more on how those Wild Places might mutate or have a chance to change those who spend a little too long within Her Clutches. Most are akin to Curses, potentially ameliorated by Magic (boring!) or further Adventure (better!). I suppose several could also serve as stand-ins for Magical Mishaps, Consequences for slaking one’s thirst in a Magical Spring, interfering with a Shrine to Local Lesser Deities, the various bewitchments of the Fickle Fair-Folk, those Torments inflicted by vengeful Druids or Wicked Witches, and so forth.

My prior, more Dungeon-centric Table, surprisingly finds far more use as a source of oft-repeated Rumors, wary Warnings, or even the occasional unbidden and potentially Portentous Nightmare. These results could also serve a similar purpose: Eagerly falling from the mouths of those who know better than to stray too far from the safety of Civilization.

I’ve encountered a few of these “Roll-To-Return” Tables that are usually used in conjunction with Open Table/Stable Play. These Sessions are intended to end within a Haven/Settlement in order to facilitate and sustain a shifting Cast of Characters. Most of the time the worst result on these is Death, but I tend to prefer having the experience change a Character in a meaningful way instead, perhaps after taking them “out of commission” for a commensurate amount of time. Sometimes the “Luck of the Draw” means these drawbacks might even end up being boons in the right hands.

d100 - Magical Pools, Fountains, or Springs

In the NOTES FOR THE DUNGEON MASTER section of B1 – In Search of the Unknown, one of the pieces of lovely advice Mike Carr recommends is “A room of mysterious pools” and ever since seeing how Players interact with these in those very early games, I’ve endeavored to try to include them in my Dungeons, Hex Crawls, and other places where they might present themselves.

Sometimes beneficial, other times baleful, they occasionally result in Character Improvement outside of the standard scope of the rules, but this reward is seldom without Risk. Experienced Players are sometimes rightfully suspicious of these, so I make sure to have some “non-magical” water features crop up from time to time as well. Things seldom aren’t as they seem in the Mythic Underworld however, so the ones found in Dungeons or other Dangerous Places are often the most interesting in terms of their effects. They are always an excellent choice for those “Special” results that crop up during Random Room Stocking.

As with all my tables, these entries can be tailored to taste: perhaps you would prefer to add a Saving Throw to mitigate harmful effects (or even make Failing a Save a requirement for benefiting from the positive ones, that’s always fun!) or more randomness to the chances of applying the effect or durations intimated here. Decide if they are a “Single Use” or what could potentially occur on subsequent sips. Some become more akin to “Tools” that might be creatively used to solve problems or address challenges. Others make for memorable and more persistent changes to the Characters themselves. As with Traps and other Hazards, it’s often prudent to try to telegraph things a bit if possible, and some of these entries have that sort of minor detail included. Occasionally it might be possible to divine the nature or properties of these mysterious reservoirs in other ways (I particularly enjoy planting Rumors associated with them, and imparting the local denizens with more specific knowledge about their effects is always grand), but sometimes it’s down to just the joy of adjudicating experimentation on the Players’ part.

More potential options can always be found by re-purposing some of my other tables: Unconvetional Potions is one I sometimes use for these, and Magical Mishaps & Calamitous Curses sometimes is a good fit as well. Maybe they grant the Character daily use of a Convenient Cantrip or have side-effects akin to my Herb & Plant Generator? Being able to “Re-skin/Re-use” my prior prep in this way is something I often like to do.

d100 - Wilderness Landmarks & d100 Overland Discoveries

Here are a few tables I have been working on that reached a point where I wanted to share their initial stages. Someday this list will likely meander its way to a thousand or some other ridiculous number, but until then, I decided to get these posted so I can move onto a few other tempting tables that are vying for my attention.

Wilderness Exploration is my favorite Tier of Play, so I try to sprinkle in some Landmarks or Features throughout. These Landmarks/Discoveries are useful for orientation and can make any mapping during Wilderness Adventuring (mental or otherwise) much easier. They can also make Overland Journeys more memorable by injecting Choice, a bit of Mystery, or even just some simple embellishment applied to the Shared Imagined Space that constitutes a Campsite or a place the Players decide their Characters need to Rest.

Landmarks/Discoveries are simply a mostly static feature within a Hex relative to another Feature/Encounter. These could easily work in conjunction with Hazards, Resources, or even Monster Lairs/Entrances to Site Based Adventures (the other categories I tend to create when stocking a map) or simply serve as Decorative Waypoints during Journeys. It stands to reason that within a given Hex (especially within the ubiquitous six-mile), there would likely be several of these memorable features, but sometimes a Referee might find themselves at a loss for something specific. Here are two hundred to hopefully help with that process.

Marvelous Mushrooms - Generator

Just a quick post sharing a generator I needed to build out for Perchance: Marvelous Mushrooms & Tantalizing Toadstools. Since this one can requires a few rolls, I like to make those a little faster with a generator that can collate content in a click.

d100 - Events for Camping or Overland Rests & Repose

My recent post on Haven Happenings spawned a sibling of sorts in the form of this table to cover something a little similar, but instead geared more toward those Times when Overland Travel comes to a stop (Camping, Resting, etc.). Over the weekend, I had the fortune of starting a fire and socializing with some friends outdoors. Quite a bit of food for thought and inspiration in that experience.

I’ve tried to shy away from dictating too much by way of Terrains or directly engaging Procedures with these (Encounters can still be handled through your standard preferred mechanisms after all), but some have probably stealthily crept in. Definitely a chance I might revisit this with more specificity down the road for some Seasonality/Environmental tailoring. I also tried to vary things up a little bit: Some with weal, others woe, but usually rather inconsequential or minor in nature (this might dovetail with later Tables that use a Reaction Roll I do love those bell curves after all, or even by Overloading some existing rolls). A few of my favorites are the more Neutral Campfire Story ones where Players get asked about things. Entries more focused in this direction might need to end up on their own little table eventually now that I think about it, because I love how those types of Questions interface with character development in play. 😊

d100 - Marvelous Mushrooms & Tantalizing Toadstools

Yesterday it was pointed out to me that I had been remiss with providing a Random Table for generating Mushrooms/Toadstools, which is indeed a tragedy considering how fond I am of sprinkling “fun” fungi as Resources and Hazards within my Wilderness Adventures. So, I aimed to rectify this oversight post-haste by moving this Table to the top of the dev pile (where in all fairness, it sprouted with almost uncanny swiftness).

These can be used in conjunction with my venerable Herb & Plant Generator, and although the Name-stems are intended to be used to generate new and unusual Local Common Names, you can just as easily read across if swiftness is required and treat this more like a standard d100 table. I often like a quick name for flavoring Foraging Results as “You found some Edible Mushrooms” is just so frightfully bland.

Use your best judgement to determine an appropriate randomizer if you find yourself in need of a “Number Appearing” (I'm rather fond of 2d6 with "Doubles Add and Roll Again" most of the time, but you could also randomize the die type to use with a quick d8: d4 through d100.) I prefer to heavily festoon some places in evocative fungi as a mood-enhancer, but a few of these are probably best when more precious and significantly rarer. If not expressly edible, and you find yourself in need of a nastier consequence for the foolhardy consumer, there is always my Terrible Toxins & Vile Venoms Table as well.

d100 - Fantastical Fishes & Spectacular Seafood

Happy Friday! Here’s another table for sprucing some of the water-bound animals your players might encounter or seek out during their travels. Akin to my generator for Remarkable Birds, this kind of set dressing and these in-world “Common Names” can sometimes add a little bit of fun or interesting detail to the Wilderness Foraging, Catch-monger Stalls, or even the occasional Wave-Crawl. One column might also be useful for quick descriptors of seafood dishes the players might deign to dine upon.

I’ve also included a handy Perchance Generator below to speed up generation of these aquatic critters.

Seasonal Weather (d20, d100, or Choose)

Around these parts (and in a shockingly large number of other areas), the saying “If you don’t like the Weather wait five minutes and it’ll change” is a common saying (insert another time as applicable). I sometimes find that the focus on Weather sometimes veers away from the flavorful and more of a tad to the mechanical in terms of how it’s implemented at tables. If we’re very fortunate, we might get a word or so of description (Rain, Snow, Sunny, etc.), while most of the wordcount is dedicated to various negative impacts they have on Travel and the Player Characters.

I feel that Good Weather should be as good as Bad Weather is bad, and don’t like to pass up an opportunity to toss in some additional descriptors. Rather than just creating more penalties/bonuses to track, I usually have Weather interface with procedures. Encounter Distance/Visibility is a big one, but so is Foraging/Hunting (resources), and even Travel Times themselves. The Weather can make folks grumpy or even more predisposed to parley (Reaction Rolls). Awful Weather can ding Morale/Loyalty of certain Monsters and soldiery as well, just as auspicious skies might have the opposite effect. And of course, there’s always the narrative considerations of a puddle-strewn battlefield or sodden or wonderfully dry firewood as well. I could Talk About The Weather for ages.

So here are a hundred ways to embellish the meteorological goings on in your worlds. These tables can be utilized by Season with a d20 or randomized completely with a d100. There are even twenty especially strange ones that might crop up from time to time and spice things up even more.

Naturally, I may find myself revisiting this a bit. I’d like to finish about 16 more entries for each, so that I can map it to the d66, and then allow these tables to leveraged with my standard “Reaction Roll with the Sky” that I tend to start a Travel Day with (reading the 2d6 as “tens” and “ones” for that delicious double-duty. This will probably work in a similar way to my Wilderness Vignettes 😊.

Wilderness Encounter Vignette Tables

Here’s something a little different! In my pursuit of repurposing/recycling those Procedural Rolls to have them do “double-duty” I came up with some tables for what I have nicknamed “Wilderness Encounter Vignettes.” These are almost a bit like TROIKA! Miens to flavor an Encounter Area or Place.

Basically, the intent is to leverage some metadata from some of those 2d6 rolls we frequently make for things like Surprise, Encounter Distance, and Reaction Rolls in the form of d66 (or d36, or d6xd6) tables that provide a little additional dressing to “set a stage” so to speak. Just use two different colored dice for these rolls (or pick one of the two entries if you prefer) and consult the table for the general character of the region. You could even trigger these types of descriptions on a “failed” Wandering Monster check, or to just quickly generate some minor details to add to a Campsite or Journey to make things a little more memorable. You could even use these to create some Landmarks to aid the Players with future Navigation.

These are getting a more granular breakdown than my typical Wilderness Hexes Terrain types but could easily be used in conjunction with them. I will be adding more Terrains as the mood strikes me (maybe for a total of 15-20), but until then I hope you find them useful.

More Mountain Hexes IV

It is Friday! Here are five more Mountain Hexes! (part of my Wilderness Hexes project). We have made it to 40, so I might take a detour into the Swamps for a chance of scenery.

Browse the hexes tag on this blog for more.

Remarkable Bird Generator

Happy Friday!

Here’s another Random Table/Generator, this one is for creating Remarkable Birds. This one is similar to the Herb & Plant Generator, with a way to create some roughly convincing names and potentially a few interesting features for our feathered friends.

I’m very fond of sprinkling a little bit of set dressing into my Wildernesses via some interesting flora and fauna, and sometimes it can be a handy way to communicate changes in terrain, biome, and regions. As a very casual birder, these creatures have always captured my interest. They can be useful in seasoning other senses as well, through birdsong/sounds.

If you’d like to view some sample output, or prefer digital tools, here is an online generator I threw together for debugging:

Let me know how it works out for you! I hope you'll consider spicing up your skies and trees with a few of these atypical avians from time to time!