Potions, herbs and mushrooms have been part of D&D random tables since day one. So what’s one more table going to change? I find that many of the tables tend to match herbs with an effect. Sometimes, the effect is narrative, sometimes mechanic. I have used such herbs and fungal tables in my current campaign,Continue reading “Herbal remedies”
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Cave pools
Next entry in the “dungeon locations” series, is cave pools. Which are so stereotypical and classic that in fact players barely react to them. My players did in fact wander into a large, cavernous space with a knee-high resplendent pool of water. The encounter they had was memorable (a worm drake, defeated with a purifyContinue reading “Cave pools”
Curses
The other face of ritual and alchemy is of course, curses. The ones presented here are easiest put on NPCs, seeing that DMing some of these may be quite challenging. But deployed in a way that makes narrative sense they may forever alter a PC in a very compelling way. As always, I strive toContinue reading “Curses”
Simple alchemy
Somebody has to make a potion, a ritual, enchant a weapon, produce a device. It is clear, it will need some specific ingredients, and the appropriate instructions (barely legible on a mouldy anciant book) should be followed. Newer D&D editions have mechanisms for DC checks based on what needs to be done. As always, “oldContinue reading “Simple alchemy”
Birds and civilization
Did past me actually say a random table a week? What a naive thing to say. Truth is, I haven’t run out of stupid ideas, but rather, real life came for me and my spare time. But I hope I am back, or at least sufficiently free to post regularly. Where were we? Right, birds.Continue reading “Birds and civilization”
Tavern rogue NPC gallery
You need some shady characters in a tavern in a wretched hive of scum and villainy. Roll 1d12 per column to generate characters and backstory! Dice Character Looks Skill Last Job Bond/employer Keeps.. 1 Cornelia, a bounty hunter Wears foreign clothes, tries to avoid conversation Can open any common lock in seconds Escaped a prisonContinue reading “Tavern rogue NPC gallery”
Animal Companion Exploration
Two of my players have animal companions. An owl and a dog. The players want the animals to be able to explore. This table is for them. We will roll it whenever their companions are used in exploration in a dungeon or the wilderness. Dice Outcome when in wilderness Outcome when in dungeon 1-10 TheContinue reading “Animal Companion Exploration”
What’s in that cell?
Sometimes, the party ends up in jail and they need to escape. Or tour the prison section of a dungeon. Or peek into a cell for some reason. In those times, roll on this table do determine the result of the ever-burning (ok, maybe not) question: what’s in that cell? Roll 2d8, will ya? DiceContinue reading “What’s in that cell?”
Bridges in a dungeon
In a world where I am good at this and have endless time, I would write a book similar to the Tome of adventure design for procedural dungeon generation. I am aware there are a lot of procedural dungeon generation sites, books and ideas. Many of them are very good, especially when it comes toContinue reading “Bridges in a dungeon”
Ambush!
So, you are a DM, running a game in the wilderness (or in a large dungeon), and you rolled a random encounter. But you don’t want to make it boring. As always, the key is tactics, environment and asymmetric combat. This table generates various ambush situations to help avoiding simple frontal engagements where D&D degeneratesContinue reading “Ambush!”
Random table of the week 