Deity Generator

Been having a bit of fun combining some of the d100 Tables I’ve put together over the years to repurpose them in interesting ways. I find that by looking at them sideways sometimes, they have much more utility beyond their original intended purpose. One that continues to produce pleasing results for me is this Deity Generator I whipped up a little while back.

As I’ve previously mentioned in my Holy Taboo post, I like to handle Deity Disfavor a bit more tangibly in my games, and I tend to avoid more monotheistic approaches to Religion in these games. Instead of just “one God/Goddess/Source” of Spells, Clerics depend on a Pantheon of distinctive Beings, each granting a particular Prayer:

The results that this Generator spits out sometimes have that lovely tendency of establishing unforeseen connections, and even do a little bit more heavy lifting sometimes to flesh out a particular faith or motivation. Sometimes the incongruencies do require a little bit of fiddling to fit together of course, but such contradictions often make for something much more interesting in the long run.

The Generator is embedded below, for somewhat serviceable faiths on demand with a quick click:

It might be interesting to adapt this to generate full-fledged Pantheons, with their own names, internal relationships (who doesn’t love a bit of divine internecine squabbling and conflict), and maybe even some “closest Shrine” details as a bit of an Adventure Hook. Then, when a Cleric Player starts looking in askance about their Religion, a simple button push can spit out their first eight Spells and their respective Sources.

d100 - Magic Armors

Felt it was time for another Magic Item Post! This time I decided to focus a little more on Armor (even though we already have Helms, Gauntlets, Boots, etc.) I have endeavored where possible to keep these relatively applicable to the variety of Types typically found in these games, so most should work out well with whatever your Adventurer’s gird themselves with, be this Leather, Chain, Plate, or even more atypical forms of protection.

d100 - Carousing Consequences & Complications

Carousing as a means to gamble for Experience via Coin Spent is a pretty popular part of some Games, serving to slightly decorate the Core Advancement Loop with a little Risk. While I don’t generally use this mechanism for every Campaign, it can still be quite fun to think about what sort of shenanigans may result from these antics.

The aftermath of this merrymaking is the focus of today’s table. Some results are perhaps a bit unfavorable, while others might be beneficial. Quite a few have longer lasting repercussions or could be said to require a bit of the “Hair of the Dog” to redress on the following morning or in days to come. Occasionally an entry might result in a Choice for a dollop of welcome Agency during these hazy times. Interpreting these more as springboards, rather than foregone conclusions can sometimes help, and a brief vignette concerning the “Hows” and “Whys” of a given situation could always occur with more Player Input. Generally though, part of the “Gamble” though is surrendering some of this Agency in exchange for Advancement.

Romantic Entanglements seem to be more of a Season To Taste sort of thing for most Tables, so I generally try to tread lightly. But a few have crept in here, I’m sure. These sorts of situations tend toward more amusing than serious, however.

For the most part, I’ve kept things purposefully “PG” so as not to blur any Lines or immodestly ignore any Veils, but should your Table agree to get up to other rowdiness of a more risqué or racy nature feel free to use these as launchpads perhaps.

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 - Marvelous Mules & Distinctive Donkeys

Appearing on most Equipment Lists, the Trusty Mule sometimes stoically accompanies our Adventures into the strangest of places. Helping them haul their gear and buoy those hopes for retrieving those glittering hoards. Just as with my prior table on Horses, I do prefer to give these precious Pack Animals a little more attention than just a perfunctory price of thirty gold pieces

So, should you find yourself needing some additional Equine Embellishments: here are a Hundred potential Traits for these brave beasts of burden (though I’m sure some of the Names/Entries on the prior table above might apply as well). I know we’ve certainly had some memorable Mules at my tables over the years.

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.