Curiosities of the Chaos

As with all tables in this game and any others you use, remember that you can roll at random or just choose what inspires you!

a player’s missing this session? their character...

2. fell into a deep sleep, so needs carted around or used as a prop

3. got waylaid or knackered & is behind the party trying to catch up

4. had a wild idea and scarpered off on a hush hush solo mission

5. has been replaced by a shapeshifter with their own devious goal

6. is suffering crippling bowel movements so needs to rest up

7. phases in and out ethereally, dark wild magicks lacing this place

8. sneezed into a rift & is now temporarily lost in a pocket realm

9. vanishes without reason - when they return...“I’ll explain later”

10. was eaten then regurgitated safely by a large worm...back soon

11. was sent off for firewood or to take a leak, but hasn’t returned

12. was summoned by a devil to complete contracted jury duty

the way in, or the next entrance, seems to be...

2. bolted on both sides, with numerous locks, maybe arcane

3. coated in sprawling, animated vegetation which snaps and bites

4. err, looking at us?

5. formed from the bones of fallen souls, who torment those nearby

6. guarded or created by insects or tiny creatures

7. illusory, opaque when disturbed, observed remotely by a weaver

8. not an entrance at all...painted on the wall maybe?

9. partially submerged or sunken within foul, putrid sewage water

10. peppered with traps, some operational, some dormant or broken

11. the way into to somewhere entirely unexpected...or the way out?

12. warped through age & elements, and hard to breech

that small animal is...

1. covered in coloured boils

2. gazing up in fear at the sky

3. like a furry sponge on legs

4. rolling at speed like a ball

5. screaming wildly but smiling

6. vanishing now and again

...and has...

1. a glow that trails after it

2. a wound or a fractured limb

3. gnawed at the tip of your boot

4. lots of pals, too many to count?

5. snuggled into your clothes

6. torn wings that flutter sadly

this drink or drug is [colour], smells like [scent], and...

2. burns the throat painfully, the taker breathing fire or ice

3. conveys temporary foresight into the near future

4. heals 1 point of health, but increases stress by 2

5. if consumed daily, enhances something but gives perma-stress

6. is long-expired, and leaves the taker with virulent stomach upset

7. mutates cells until the taker transforms appearance

8. phases those who consume it into another realm or place

9. releases eggs into the blood, which then hatch corrosive insects

10. shrinks or grows the taker considerably, now or forever

11. taps those who consume it into the mind of someone nearby

12. temporarily enhances or inhibits something at the GM’s discretion

this little trinket is...

1. like a spyglass with horns

2. malfunctioning but fixable

3. putty soft but can harden

4. spinning and lit in green

5. stuck halfway into a crack

6. too heavy to lift

...and has...

1. a button too tiny for a finger

2. a map scroll inside it

3. a ticking sound from within

4. a unique way of unlocking

5. a way of being forgotten quickly

6. an identical one elsewhere

this training or research will take [time + cost], and will...

2. anger your mentor so much that they wash their hands of you

3. burn you out, leaving a trait or max health reduced by 1

4. connect you with a new pal, who invites you to join a guild

5. end, but then your mentor seeks help from you and the party

6. enhance a trait by 1

7. fail, and leave you with a lastin’ wound or perma-stress

8. increase your max health by 1

9. not enhance anything but marks you with a random arcane power

10. open up a quest when your mentor disappears before you return

11. reveal that your mentor is a wanted criminal...but is innocent?

12. succeed, but attract unwanted repute, rumours, or hassle

what’s happening in the realm?...

1-3.

• The Empire plans to invade & plunder The Realm. Its spies explore defence vulnerabilities & seed unrest and dissent.
• The Reaper, whose identity she hides from The Emperor she serves, is rumoured to be in The Realm seeking lichdom.
• The Wilds are terrorising The Realm, holed up in The Wilderness, raiding & causing havoc for The Empire.
• The Huntswoman, on behalf of The Reaper, is hunting weavers, squeezing them for knowledge to further her goals.

4-6.

• The Darkmal is using the isolation of The Realm to spawn an army of monstrous beasts to swarm a nearby land.
• A daughter of The Darkmal, known as The Ghast, works against him whilst searching for her long-lost brother here.
• The Ancients cult foretold the coming of The Darkmal, punish those who interfere, and seek his prophesised staff.
• The prophecies tell of The Paragon, who if unearthed, may call the beast army to her cause and kill The Darkmal.

dodgy directions - how did you say we get there?...

2. crest the hill, align this doo-dah to the shape of the hills, follow that

3. look for the a windmill, abandoned it is, well, apart from...

4. just past that whopping big tree that looks like it’s lookin’ back

5. take a left when you see the gallows...don’t look at the skeletons

6. there are old beacons from here to there, but some are cursed

7. there’s water, it doesn’t move, go around it, don’t glare at the light

8. remember there are two entrances, take the left more scary one

9. rumour has it that the arrow only appears at dark...go the other way

10. well, there’s a trail of bones that’ll take you all the way there

11. when you start hearin’ whispers, you’re on the right track

12. you’ll see little Banckit sitting on a wall, he’ll direct you...if you sing

oh, and watch out for that...

2. air current - once it shifts, you could lose your head

3. bandit gang...oh, and small rabbits that follow you everywhere

4. bunch of blackened rocks - they don’t belong in this world

5. bunch of wildlings out there - they hunt in packs and never give up

6. dancing light thing - if you don’t resist & follow it, you’ll be in trouble

7. ground - in some patches here and there, it’s not as firm as it looks

8. grove of flowers - if one of you sees a yellow one, you’re doomed

9. howling at night - once it starts, you know they’ve smelled you

10. Krenva - his gear prices are great, but if your rations start talkin’...

11. red mist - it makes your eyes bleed if you ain’t careful

12. tower that looks, just...weird - always seems to be on the move

even if it’s likely...

1. there might be a snag

2. you might wanna look behind you

3. you get a waft of something

4. you sure you planned this right?

5. what about that crack over there?

6. did that just move?

your torch has...

1. been snuffed out by a blast of cold air

2. just been mirrored by a similar light coming round the corner

3. just illuminated a crack in the wall, that may be...a door?

4. started to splutter and spark - best avoid it or take damage

5. suddenly grown heavy - what’s going on with the gravity here?

6. taken on a curious tinge of green

this can’t be good...is that...

1. a severed finger, poking through some bloodied parchment?

2. corpse over there...moving / smoking / looking at us?

3. death mask similar to your face?

4. key in the door turning itself?

5. pot of boiling liquid filled with...teeth / red light / broken glass?

6. shadow of yours moving a little...weirdly?

yeuch, that tastes like...

1. bin juice strained through old socks, but recovers 1 stress point

2. expired goat milk blended with rotten veg, but recovers 1 to health

3. fermented sewage, and yeah, roll to see if you’re poisoned

4. something’s just died in your mouth, but no need to eat tomorrow

5. someone hates you, but your eyes now glow & you see in the dark

6. the sweat from a codpiece, but recovers a condition

wait, you touched it? well, maybe you can see...

1. a flash of something in your mind - a memory / premonition / vision?

2. a light flicker on over there

3. it move / bulge / pulsate / vibrate

4. nothing, like literally nothing - you go blind, hopefully temporarily

5. someone or something nearby suddenly drop to the floor

6. the skin of your hand and wrist begin to rip open

this place is creepy, not right - it’s like...

3. alive, the entire place is pulsing, breathing even...like a heartbeat

4. closing in around you, suffocating you step by step

5. every sound’s echoing back, but delayed & in a whisper

6. every step sounds like creaking floorboards, but the floor’s stone

7. illuminated in dim light without a source, and it’s turning yellow

8. it’s abandoned, but there’s a feeling that it’s not - something’s here

9. someone’s watching...and is that ticking, like a clock?

10. that burning smell is tinged with...strawberries?

11. that flickering orb wants us to follow it

12. that sound of shuffling feet is getting nearer, or maybe not

13. the air here’s acrid, a smell of blood, of decay, but also of...mint?

14. there’s a sense of water nearby, but real arid dryness in the mouth

15. there’s this tapping now & again on your shoulder / on the walls

16. this fog over the ground curls and shifts to let you through

17. way warmer than expected, but you feel bitterly cold within

18. you’ve been transported elsewhere, into another realm

seems to be a book or parchments about...

2. a network of hidden routes, tunnels, teleportation circles, and more

3. how they no longer get along - is this like a spy missive or report?

4. how to cook stuff you find or kill in the wild

5. how to heal someone in the field - some sort of soldier’s notes

6. inventoried artefacts stolen and hidden, but then seemingly lost

7. places here & there, with partial maps - some sort of explorer journal

8. romance, between weird beings but set right here in the The Realm

9. war here, and why it never really ended, maybe when it might re-fuel

10. what went on here eons ago, or maybe it’s more recent than that

11. where to find arcane runes that help stabilise wild magicks

12. you guys - a reward poster / a tale about what you’ve yet to do?

need more inspiration?

ask the players...

3. as you move, what are you looking for, and how, and why?

4. do you carry an item that means something to you? What is it?

5. err, didn’t you dream about this last night? What happened?

6. if not for this, what would you be doing now? What do you share?

7. in moments like this, what’s your likely catch phrase?

8. someone let one rip...own up, who was it?

9. something about their chains, discords, or what’s gone wrong?

10. something’s striking against your morals here...what is it?

11. this rumour or job, what’s worrying you about it? What’s going on?

12. wait, something catches your attention? What do you see or hear?

13. what’s your biggest fear / hope right now? How do you show that?

14. what’s your plan for after all this? What do you tell the others?

15. what’s your routine like here? What keeps you sane & ready?

16. you heard a rumour about something here...what was it?

17. you look up as you hear something faint...what did it sound like?

18. you’ve definitely got a bad habit...don’t we all? What’s yours?

what’s going on here? seems to be evidence of...

1. a series of traps or puzzles, but what are they protecting?

2. mutated creatures, strung or thrown together, wrestling in fear

3. some arcane relic, long forgotten, but disturbed and seeping havoc

4. trails (crumbs, footprints, drag marks, smoke, viscera, blood...)

5. two factions at odds, both of which seem to be playing dirty

6. undeath, restless spirits, souls at risk

this NPC maybe knows something about a character’s...

1. ex-lover

2. family member

3. hidden birth mark or feature

4. mentor or arch nemesis

5. previous career or home

6. weakness or fear

this chalk circle might...

3. be getting drawn by an invisible hand or force as the party arrives

4. be nothing more than a chalk circle

5. be rubbed out by a breeze and become inoperable

6. contain a small bunny, which if scared or teased out, evaporates

7. contain a trap concealed by an illusion of nothingness

8. contain within it what tries to bargain with you to escape

9. echo...is there another circle elsewhere you can talk back and forth?

10. emit a beautiful scent, but once inside the circle, stink of poison gas

11. have one small treasure within it, so heavy it can’t be moved

12. makes those within it dance, but forces this beyond exhaustion

13. mutate the floor beneath into a mouth which swallows all upon it

14. protect those within it from what’s about to approach

15. shift colours now and again...some devious pixie’s work no doubt

16. summon a presence from another plane

17. teleport you to a random circle elsewhere in The Realm

18. transforms the appearance of those within it...permanently?...

wait, so the only way in is...

1. also the only way we’ll escape that thing that’s suddenly behind us?

2. closing, and fast, but we can see what’s waiting for us there?

3. by doing a job badly, taking the blame, and ruining our reputation?

4. by sacrificing someone, or something, we can’t or won’t live without?

5. past that gang of burly-looking thugs, one of whom has...four arms?

6. through the mouth of a huge dead worm, that might not be dead?

what was that? sounds or looks like...

1. drag marks, ending at the wall

2. footsteps, patrolling the area

3. the ground’s...moving?...

4. torch glow, around the corner

5. two voices...they’re arguing

6. whispers...that suddenly stop

some words for inspiration

as a scene begins, ask the players, one by one, or collectively...

Senses. Share something that you hear. What do you smell? What’s the first thing you think you see? Something feels curious under your boots or when you touch the wall - what’s it like? There’s something that feels a bit out of place here - what might it be?

Who’s affected? Once you have these sparks from the players, ask so as you take this in, who amongst you is this getting to the most? What about it is making you feel at unease?

Anything else? But that’s not all. There’s something else that, maybe based on a roll, they might’ve missed at first glance. Ask the players so that’s when you spot something else...something maybe that you glimpse at the corner of your eye...what might it be?

Pass a note. Once the scene’s established, at some point maybe pass one or more of the players a short private note saying something like...

You notice a detail others seem to overlook. It troubles you...

Something about this reminds you of your past...

You sense something watching, but it doesn’t seem threatening...

A feature here reminds you of something...

Something just moved. A slight shadow or glint...

Wait, something doesn’t belong here...

You pick up a rhythmic pulse above the ambience...

A smell wafts up your nose. Metallic? Herby? Smoke?...

You suddenly remember a rumour about a place like this...