Random table of the week

Criminal networks and gangs

Everybody needs a spicy network of criminals, cultists and the like. The important thing is to give them an agenda that is clear to the GM and needs to be discovered by the players, and some features to make it stand out. The network may be populating a dungeon-like area, over or underground, or be one of the factions in a city or location that the players have to understand and deal with. Ultimately, not all criminal networks are made for the players to “fight their way through”. They are often best used as the shadowy presence moving the strings in the world around the characters, popping in and out for specific quests. A hack and slash through bad guys is also fun, as long as it’s not a hoarde of similar-looking enemies.

In this table, the columns that flesh out the network also double as bits of information that may be revealed to the players if they ask around or overhear conversations about crimes in the area. It’s often good to make clear to the players, through NPC conversations, that these people have ears and eyes everywhere and nobody is to be trusted.

The feeling of paranoia can be used to ratchet up the tension and can create amazing moments at the table. Beware of potential “analysis paralysis” if the players decide to really not trust anybody and be extremely extremely suspicious of everything to the point that no fun is being had and players are cheesing every potentially ambiguous situation. In this case, a trap or an event that happens at them (big explosion, kidnapping of friendly NPC, etc), can set things in motion again.

Some other good tables for bandits and criminals are in the incredible Yoon Suin book, which is of course a “godfather book” (cos we are talking about criminals, get it? get it?) for procedural generation, crimes and exploration.

Most of the entries in this table are pretty “straight”, nothing too outlandish. Roll 1d20 per column.

Dice	Criminal operation (discovered only through investigation)	Based in.. (high DC)	Masterminded by… (very high DC)	Famous for/rumors (low DC)
1	Smuggling magical components	A giant underground bank vault	A captain of a ship or militia	Never committing violence on “civilians”
2	Kidnapping the children of noble families	An invisible temple on top of a tower	A sleazy politician	A rivalrly with another gang
3	Doing the bidding for a bloodthirsty local lord	A ship	An elemental possessed by an evil soul	Putting the heads of those who cross the network on pikes
4	Robberies of merchant caravans	Secret chambers in the palace of a wealthy family	A super strong golem of a long-gone wizard/inventor	Being wealthy and spending lots of money around town
5	Minting fake coins	A guild	An unexpectedly cunning goblin/kobold that has risen to the top of the game	Recruiting its members among barkeeps, bards and socially connected people
6	Overthrowing the local government	A local forest warded with magical glyphs	A friend of the PC’s who was hiding a contract he was forced to sign with a demon/spirit	Leaving a logo or a sign on the sites of their crimes
7	Harvesting the power of nature for themselves	A casino or gambler’s parlour	A very powerful creature capable of manipulating people (mind flayer, dragon, beholder , vampire etc)	Having laid low for a while, or not reported any activity. Maybe they just went away?
8	Eliminating one class/race of people	The lair of a beast	A merchant that lives a lifestyle apparently outside his or her means	Having a secret code or language
9	Fanatical fullfilment of an ancient prophecy	A library that has been overrun by a corrupt entity	A local farmer who grew paranoid and erchant that lives a lifestyle apparently outside his or her meansviolent before committing to a life of crime (the Kaiser Soze)	Being extremely adept at disguise
10	Activate forbidden artefacts	A caravan roaming from city to city	A traveller from another world who is trying to pay his way back	Having local officials in the back of their pockets
11	Imposing the rule of a foreign power	A series of huts located in mountains, a secluded bay or other inaccessible regions	A living tree or a natural spirit that has resentment for humanoids	Being very popular with farmers and poor people because of donations
12	Stealing a ship of the royal navy or a giant beast/machine from the army	An abandoned mine that they expanded into a network of tunnels under the city/location	A coven of witches	Being the heirs of an ancient society of fighters or explorers that lost its purpose long ago
13	Eliminating all forms of magic	An alchemist’s shop that acts as a front	A seemingly poor and unassuming bard/jester, who can roam undisturbed	Never having confessed a crime, even under torture
14	Opening a portal to another world	Ruins of a manor or settlement covered in lush vegetation	A child who inherited vast wealth and power from their parents and is controlled by his or her guardians	Being aware of everybody and thing that comes in and out of the area
15	Underground racing with fantastical beasts	A fantastical cave with mushrooms, underground lakes and a strong magical presence	A cryptic from a morally corrupt ancient civilization	Being capable of building hidden structures that can only be revealed by magical means
16	Diverting ore for forging illegal weapons for an army	A red desent with canyons to hide, hotsprings and geysers	A divine creature that is now stripped of his or her powers	Being made up largely of members of a given race or class. Which brings a stigma onto the innocents.
17	Growing plantations of harmful plants	Warehouses around the docks that are magically shifting or moving around	A blacksmith driven mad by the desire to acquire the immense resources needed to forge a legendary weapon	Having recently been through a bloody internal war for succession of leadership
18	Sealing the region off from the outside world	A theater	A shaman of a tribe that was long ago murdered or displaced by the local community	Being extremely quiet and striking only at night, minimizing collateral damage
19	Enslaving harmless creatures	The barracks of a local militia, which is infiltrated by the network	A spy, diplomat or functionary	Unleashing monsters to do their bidding, using terrorist tactics
20	Exploring, colonizing, and stealing artefacts from the “uncivilized” (or “civilized”) world	A valley with strongly independent but poor locals sustaining themselves on sheperding (and the criminal activity)	The head of a powerful guild (mage guild, artisan guild etc) trying to secure a dominant position for its faction	Knowing secret passages through the area and being seemingly capable of teleportation

“gabagool? Ova heeeeeeeh”

Portentous Portals

Most fantasy worlds include portals. Broadly speaking, they come in 3 varieties: portals to travel somewhere else in the world, two-way bridges to other dimensions or planes and one-way portals used to summon creatures, gods and monsters.

One of the biggest issues with portals, in my opinion, is that they are usually same-y and never quite manage to produce the level of amazement that they should. The characters, upon meeting a portal, are coming to the life-changing realization that interplanar, dimensional or extremely fast travel exists, and this has huge implications. Surely the characters would wonder, who can do this? Is this destroying our world? Would the gods approve? Would I be alive on the other side of it?

And yet the players, who have been reading and playing fantasy, and are accustomed to fast travel in video games, just see that big archway with ondulating energy at the end of the dungeon and think “here it is, a teleportation device”. And that is not so fun. Or maybe they just see the villain create and use one to get away in the nick of time, which should be the real meaning of the phrase “the yawning portal”.

No journey through a portal should be consequence-free. They are, after all, magical reality-bending devices.

Roll 1d12 per column. The portals in this table are mostly evil…

Dice	Appearance	Consequence on the traveller	Additional twist
1	A small pond with fishing rods all around it. Large glowing fish swim in the water and that teleport the person who catches them.	The traveller ages 1d12 (human) years with a 50/50 chance of being older or younger	The portal can only be crossed by multiple creatures at once
2	A spiral wooden staircase going down into a thick fog.	The traveller leaves a copy of him or helself behind which becomes a golem controlled by the portal itself.	The portal is known by most through a prophecy, and those who cross it will not go unnoticed.
3	A full plate armor suit that one has to get inside of.	The traveller arrives carrying a severely debilitating disease that can be cured by doing the journey in reverse.	The portal appears shattered, broken, or in disuse, but recomposes itself for those who carry a key.
4	A prisoner cage floating above the floor. Only those who have the key can travel.	The portal is sentient and reports the journey to its creator, even if the creator is dead.	The portal is part of a network.
5	An arrow with fletching made of dozens feathers collected from monsters. Pulling each feather teleports the traveller to a destination (or summons a different monster)	The portal collects a piece of soul of the traveller, stores it, and binds it to the next traveller. Whoever crosses will in turn carry a piece of a soul of a previous traveller, who may have been wicked or cursed, or may just give insights into their thoughts.	Somewhere in a library, there is a log of every person or creature that has travelled through
6	A vine crawling up and over a mossy wall.	Travelling through the portal brings an ancient creature back into the world.	Crossing into the portal causes vivid, terrifying nightmares.
7	A book chained to a shelf. It has dozens of pages with names of places or monsters written in, one per page. Writing in a new page results in transport.	The traveller acquires a ring on his or her index finger marking his journey through the portal. The ring cannot be removed and is immediately recognizable by others.	An hourglass next to the portal slowly counts down the time until the portal disappears. It started decades or centuries ago.
8	A small wooden lifeboat in the middle of the room or on land. Pulling out the oars and rowing results in transport.	The traveller loses eyesight severely, and will only be able to restore his or her sight by committing a murder or another atrocious act.	The portal itself is the familiar of a wizard or someone’s creature. It has allegiance and loyalty.
9	A set cobblestones lying on a shelf that needs to be laid down as a road leading into a wall. There are markings on the floor of people having done that before.	The portal imposes a tax on the traveller and an item he or she carries will be shattered during the journey.	The portal seals shut after the journey for 2d20 days.
10	A goblet filled with solid red wine, which liquefies immediately after being picked up and portals those who drink it.	The journey through the portal disorients a character permanently, and he or she will no longer remember what home looks like.	Travelling causes strong thunderstorms, sandstorms, or other extreme adverse weather at the destination.
11	A sundial that transport whoever stands on the tip of the shadow it casts. No matter what time of the day it is, the shadow always points to noon.	The first journey through the portal teaches the character a spell or a skill. All subsequent journeys curse the traveller for his or her arrogance.	The journey feels instant but takes 1d8 hours in real time.
12	A table with an orc corpse that has been stabbed hundreds of times in the chest and yet seems fresh and does not bleed. Pierce through its heart once more.	Travelling through the portal drains spell slots and abilities for twice the normal amount of time (e.g. 2 long rests).	Wild animals and creatures will be able to smell the scent of the portal on the travellers for days and they will be marked as prey.

Legends and folktales

Every area, no matter how small, has its folktales, legends and superstitions. Not only do these quirky and unique beliefs build up a shared cultural heritage for the characters inhabiting a region, they also provide fertile ground for the mythos swirling around the players. They may be used as adventure hooks, as flavour to bring life to the world, or as foreshadowing of events that will unfold and involve the characters.

The legendary dragon hiding deep in the forest may just be a wyvern. The farie collecting gold coins on the last day of winter is a bloodthirsty demon in disguise. The water spring is the opening to a huge dungeon. Folktales circulate as children stories, but they are windows into deep truths underpinning a fantasy world.

Roll 1d20 per column. Roll location if needed.

Dice	Story	location	Known and told by…
1	A troll from location comes to snatch up children who stomp on ants	Frozen river	elderly women
2	The local location did not use to be there. It was a gift from the gods to the dynasty of the current local ruling family	Nearby rolling hills	a merchant visiting the local market once a month
3	One day, a summer will come. It will be so hot that will make location disappear.	A birchwood forest	the local lord’s jester
4	Don’t look at people’s eyes when they are toasting their drinks. It will make their soul visible to spirits from location	Waterfall	An actor who suddenly turned mute
5	Deep in the lord’s castle, there is a desk with drawers full of soul contracts from hundreds of years ago	Hotsprings	An experienced hunter
6	In location lies an ancient anvil that can be used to reforge swords from a lost era	Topaz mines	A lady who owns dozens of cats
7	The people here are very perceptive and can sense someone’s motives. It’s in their blood.	The hunting grounds of the local castle	A compulsive gambler trying to get cash for telling tales
8	A long time ago, a queen went wondering in location. Every now and then, some local crazy person claims to have met her on a full moon night.	A magnolia forest	The skeptical barkeep at the local inn
9	The local harvesting is done 3 weeks earlier than elsewhere, since a late harvest here can trigger the onset of a period of darkness.	Uninhabited nearby valley	Gullible young people
10	A family’s common-looking dagger could once be used to summon elementals.	Artificial lake created by an ancient stone dam	“How don’t you know this? Everyone knows this! Are you not from here?”
11	There is a sect of goblin vampires that gathers in location. They feast on the older people of the town.	Peach tree orchards	Criminals and pickpocketers
12	The local location was prophesized to present an immense treasure on the first full moon eclypse. The event came and passed 40 years ago, and yet the rumor just won’t go away…	Moldy swamp	A single family in the town passing the story down from generation to generation
13	In a nearby location, there is a tree with fruits capable of polymorphing people.	Ruins of an uninhabited city	A teacher
14	The local town was once located in the belly of a giant sea monster. One can still find enormous teeth providing the area with strong magic when digging deep in location	Lake of black water	The local lord him or herself
15	People from distant lands are hiding in location as refugees from a war. They are extremely skilled, and are hard to spot. But they will reveal themselves to children.	Glacier high up in the mountains	An old librarian
16	The dreams of left handed people are messages from another plane of existence	Abandoned lighthouse	Ill people who have been visited by spirits
17	For geneations, once a decade, orcs come at night and kidnap people carrying a certain bloodline to location	Temple of a god who is no longer worshipped	A minoritarian race (e.g. dwarves in a human community)
18	Location is, in fact an illusion. If only a powerful wizard could come by, he or she would reveal what is hiding in its place	A staircase ascending up a cliff	Only men or only women
19	When the temperature is below freezing, the health of the town is protected by a powerful spirit living in location	Fern and moss brush	Children, who forget it when they grow up
20	One day, this town will birth a hero so mighty that he or she will defeat a giant in single combat	Foggy moorland	A cleric

Shoutout to deep carbon observatory for one of the entries

Swamp Encounters

Swamps. Still air, still water. Predators lurking beneath the surface. Poisonous molds and mushrooms populating the trunks of trees away from the sun. A perfect hiding spot for those who do not want to be found.

Swamps are an underrated adventure setting, they are a perfect place for a journey into a dark mystery, or into the wilderness that inhabits the playing characters themselves. Things are not as they seem in the swamp.

I will be the first to admit this table is limited in its purpose: it offers only a small set of short encounters that can complement a swamp-based adventure, or populate the travels of a party through a swamp. This is by no means an attempt to flesh out a swamp setting, that would require a lot more than this small d20 table…

Dice	Encounter
1	A slimey tree trunk with flies flying all over it. The trunk is empty and contains a corpse wearing a rusted armor. One of his arms has been torn off by a river beast, the other wears a magical ring.
2	A moldy wooden walkway across a poisonous muddy river. The bridge cracks as the playes go across it, and alerts nearby creatures.
3	A group of 1d10+3 worshippers in a shack in the swamp. They are all sick with a bubonic disease, and are following a lizardfolk shaman instructions to get rid of it through sacrifice.
4	A rotten carcass of an enormous crocodile. The carcass is full of venomous worms and insects (spawn of Kyuss)
5	A majestic old brick mansion, covered in ferns, that has been taken over by a rot troll with his kobold minions.
6	An area covered in magical fog, where visibility is limited to 10 feet. The fog is filled with spores from a corpse flower located at the center of the area.
7	A quiet hunter hidden in foliage who is observing the movements of creatures in the swamp. He will ask players for help hunting down a nearby monster.
8	A steep incline covered in slippery algae. On a failed dex saving throw, a player slips down a 50ft incline into viscous slimey quicksand.
9	A rock formation rising from the swampy waters. On top of it, a bird predator (Wyvern or Roc, for example), is protecting its nest.
10	A beautiful pool of water lilies that can be used to prepare potions.
11	An old, rotten canoe laying upside down. Underneath it, a group of scared kobolds is hiding from the PCs.
12	A cluster of mushrooms growing on a tree trunk. The mushrooms release spores distracting the players. A group of lizardfolk hunters uses them to set up an ambush.
13	A graveyard with corroded tombstones referring to a battle between humans and creatures that happened thousands of years ago.
14	A religious symbol erected on a patch of dense grass and ferns. It has a book of visitors tied to it, and frequent writings are in mysterious runes.
15	A grove of vines that will try to engulf one of the players.
16	1d4 abandoned stilt houses. The inhabitants have left recently and in a hurry, scared of something. 3d10 worth of gold may still be found. One of the houses has a trapped door and a summoning circle on the floor.
17	A moldy, humid and dark cave with russet mold covering the ceiling.
18	A shack where a friendly couple is manufacturing birch tar from the nearby trees. They will offer shelter to the party.
19	The players hear the booming voice of a hill/swamp/marsh giant looking for a good dinner about 200 yards away.
20	A wizard who lost a duel to his/her rival and has been polymorphed into a lizardfolk. He will attempt to get the PCs to dispel magic on him.

A wizard’s study room

Libraries filled with scrolls and dusty tomes, tables covered in strange alembics, shelves with vials holding strange liquids and parts of creatures in formaldehyde. Or perhaps, mummified animals lining the walls and a weird purple goo covering the floor. A wizard’s or study is a reflection of his or her mind and plans. It may be located deep in a dungeon, or in the halls of an academic institution, or in a pocket dimension inside a yurta in the middle of the desert. A calm, peaceful place, or the result of maddening years of self-isolation on a quest for arcane power.

Roll 1d3 times for the first 2 columns to populate the room.

Dice	Furniture	Object	Overall Appearance
1	Book shelves	Magical mirrors and lenses capable of changing object’s and peoples’ sizes and appearance	An elegant, old darkwood study
2	Alchemy table	Vials full of creatures’ noses and feet	A sterile chamber made out of metals and ivory
3	World and astronomical or planar map	Scrolls written in incomprehensible languages	A room entirely made of black stone
4	Arcane Fireplace	Crystal globes filled with dreams and nightmares	An ostentacious, rich room covered with frescos and gold
5	Writing desk	Books containing essiccated leaves from exotic plants	A forest-like room covered in vines and branches
6	Wardrobe	Telescopes and astrolabes that also work in reverse (distant objects get to see the observer)	A peaceful light-wood room with a small patch of grass in the center
7	Apothecary desk	Clay and metal miniature animals that can be activated by something	Deep blue walls color this room filled with pipes and wires
8	Aquarium	Stacks of blueprints for constructing buildings that don’t obey physical laws	An academic study with vault ceilings and comfortable sofas
9	Tapestry	Piles of feathers of different creatures imbued with inks of fantastical colors	A dark, grotto-like chamber lit with candles and smelling like burnt flesh
10	Anatomy desk	An ornate cloth that draws attention and does not relinquish it as it draws the viewer deeper in	A long hall with stone and bronze statues of monsters and other magical beasts
11	Altar	Dozens of pyramidal objects made of exotic woods arranged geometrically. They glow until one is moved	An anatomy theater repurposed for magical study
12	Goldberg Machine	A shadow for an object or person that is not there	A room with walls made of blackboard, covered in chalk writings
13	Golem pods	An hourglass percolating grains of a purple substance	A giant map room that could belong to a military general, complete with full armors
14	Elemental engines	Leather skins carved with tribal ghlyphs	A desert oasis, with sand as floor, and weird illusory palm trees
15	Viscous goo study station	Notes taken on an interplanar or fantastical journey with sketches of creatures	A room covered in gelly-like blue and green substances, with books and scrolls sticking out of the goo
16	Steam observation chamber	Hundreds of mortars and pestles filled with powders and solid materials used in spellcrafting	A room with multiple teleportation circles and artefacts from foreign lands
17	Magical item crafting fumehood	Cubes than when pressed change the room color and smell	A chamber that was formerly a place of worship, whose energy has been harvested for the wizard’s arcane study
18	Summoning circle	A dagger that looks like solidified magma but is freezing cold to touch	A room that may be mistaken for an architect’s study, with model buildings and terrain displayed on tables
19	Window into the world	A bone flute with a gust of wind trapped inside of it	A velvet red room used to harvest the power of lust for magical summoning
20	Astronomical observatory	Copper and brass pipes making eerie noises	An illusory cavern with a tranquil lake, stalactites and rock formations

Sleazy politicians

Politicians. Can’t live with them, won’t get to the levers of power without them. Our adventures, be it in a fantasy, futuristic, or other settings, often encounter these figures. The heroes try to talk some sense into them while they ignore obvious threats to the community. Or perhaps they need to grease their hands so that they turn their eyes away when a precious Fabrege egg goes missing from the local museum. Or yet still, they are powerless middlemen in negotiations between factions splitting the region apart.

Whatever flavor and degree of sleaziness your adventure may need, here is a random table for it. Some of these politicians will be inept red herrings for players to run into, some others capable plotters and schemers. Almost none of them can be “just the guy we needed”.

Roll the dice once per column.

Dice	First impression	Flaw	Will…	Desires
1	A young, ruthlessly ambitious man	is in debt with criminal gangs	Take the players’ money and pocket it	Information on the PCs
2	An older lady, who has been navigating the halls of power for decades	has a gambling addiction	Agree to do what the players ask, but do the opposite	A political opponent to be hit
3	A naive newcomer to the city from a poorer region	always spills secrets	Ask the players to do something for him first. And then ask for another thing.	Scandalous rumours about a rival
4	A foreign diplomat of some stature	is completely and utterly incompetent	Send hitmen after the players	Money
5	A businessman who has entered into politics with the notion of “running things like a business”	talk behind peoples’ backs despite seeming nice	Initially work with the players, then report them to authorities	Access to military intelligence
6	A man always taking the unpopular position in every argument	has his/her hands in several business unbeknonst to others	Do what the players ask, on a condition they join his/her faction	A powerful artefact or instrument
7	A learned scholar who does not understand the will of the people	is plotting to take over his/her faction by leaking scandalous rumors about the faction head	Only do what the players ask if they reveal compromising secrets about themselves	To be named as the beneficiary of the inheritance of an old rich person in town
8	A wannabe tyrant and control freak	Has an adviser who is secretly controlling him/her	Secretly seek to have the players exiled	To be considered just despite his/her actions
9	A lady who always talks as if she is giving a speech	Is losing his/her mental faculties or is senile	Force them to supply at shops with inferior products that he receives kickbacks from	A rise to a more prestigious position
10	A middle aged man concerned only about finance	has close ties to the military and will always choose the violent course of action even when warned against it	Force the players to smuggle compromising product on behalf of a gang	To be idolized by the people
11	An old, grizzled politician that has stayed in power by expertly switching sides	Is perpetually changing mind	Sell the players out to their enemies	To lead an army in combat despite being completely incompetent
12	A former military person who is keen to bring the lesson of the battlefield to politics	Has delusions of grandeur	Form a coalition with other sleazy politicians to stop the PC	To have songs and poems written in his/her name
13	An extremely religious person who has issues of faith at heart	Believes the current generation is morally corrupt and would like to seetighter discipline	Send creepy love letters to one of the PCs	For his/her children to obtain political positions too
14	A loquacious bullshitter	Is plotting for the return of an old dictator/tyrant	Try to take full credit for the players’ actions and discredit them in the public eye	To forge a pact with dark forces
15	A paranoid former secret agent who talks in metaphors and code	Syphons money from the city to fuel his career	Immediately go public with anything the players told him/her	To continue acting normal despite facing a rising threat
16	A saleswoman who will fiercely oppose any suggestion that something is wrong	Thinks the end justifies the means. Always.	Use religion or business to put obstacles in the players’ way	For people in his/her neighborhood to be richer, at the cost of everyone else
17	A man calmly in control of the office/committee/fiefdom/domain he has power over	Is an incredible sloth and will be easily corrupted with food	Pretend to be extremely busy and do what the players ask only when it is convenient or too late	To be seen as the person who “defined an era”
18	A quiet person, only speaking about what is commonly known, but letting know he/she knows much more	Uses his political clout to shield is criminal double life	Meekly put forward the players suggestions only to be ignored by everyone	To put his/her name on anything and everything.
19	A restaurant owner who has become a politician through the goodwill of his customers and has a good word for everyone	Is completely controlled by a faction or business	Completely misunderstand what the players want and do something completely unrelated	Immortal life
20	An entertainer that got into politics and has an entourage of people talking for him or her	Denies even basic facts about reality	Show up after two weeks, having done nothing, saying the task is accomplished and asking for money	For his/her faction to be in charge of critical things (food/water supply, defense, artefacts or science) at any cost