Random Plots

This post is a response to an old thread on Monsters & Manuals.  One of Noism's dangling post ideas (“The players stumble across another NPC Party in the dungeon”) prompted an earlier version of this, which then morphed into an expanded Gygaxian table set.  It's mostly d12 based because I couldn't come up with 20 or 30 possibilities that didn't seem to be variations of the same thing.  For spur of the moment use, I'd trim down the “Desired Item”, “Person of note in the Community”, and “Local Villain” tables to d10s, so that I could throw a d12, d10, and 2 d6s at once to match things up as quickly as possible.

What is their story?

1. They are starving and attempting to make their way to the surface.
2. They are searching for the relative of a randomly determined member. Use the “Personal Relationship” table below. One of the other members is secretly romantically engaged with the missing person as well.
3. They are arguing over whether they actually have the McGuffin they came in here looking for. Use the “Desired Item” table below.
4. One of them is severely wounded, and they are out of spells, looking for a safe way out.
5. They are disagreeing on which way is the safe way out, and starting to lose their tempers.
6. Their weapons have been destroyed (rust monster, acid attacks, cleaved by brutes), and they're just trying to get out
7. Some of them have caught a disease, and they are trying to get out before they succumb (the disease might actually just be something relatively minor, like a cold or the runs, rather than full on dysentry, leprosy, or tuberculosis)
8. They are looking for the warlock/witch who cursed their village, and believe he/she is here (he/she may be, although he/she may not have cursed the village)
9. They're looking for someone who has either been kidnapped or run down into this dungeon. Use the “Person of note in the Community” table below.
10. They're looking for an item missing from the local community. Use the “Desired Item” table below.
11. They're drunk, and finally looking to deal with some problem. Use the “Local Villain” table below.
12. They've been kidnapped by denizens of the local dungeon, and are looking to escape.

Desired Item:

1. Mantle piece (clock, statuette, fine bone china display plate, trophy head)
2. Village church holy symbol (large and gilded) or reliquary (not so large, but still gilded)
3. Blacksmith's anvil
4. The wicker man burned on New Year's eve to scare misfortune away (or the Mayday pole, or something similar)
5. The ritual formula used to cause a drought/flooding for the town, so that the local priest can counter it
6. The trappings of a long dead village/town hero, stolen from his tomb in the graveyard behind the (main) church
7. The baker's blessed/secret/special sourdough base
8. The distiller's/alchemist's/potion brewer's flasks and tubes
9. The writ from the fairie queen/king that keeps the local fae from harassing them as long as they have it
10. The prize bull whose progeny win all of the province's agricultural fairs (alternatively chickens, goats, lambs, or sheepdogs)
11. The local witch's/warlock's/hedge wizard's spell book
12. The signpost/statue/sculpture in the market square that the town/village is known for (basically, its mascot)

Personal Relationship:

1. Father/Mother
2. Brother/Sister
3. Son/Daughter
4. Cousin
5. Nephew/Niece
6. Uncle/Aunt

Person of note in the Community:

1. Local healer
2. Local blacksmith
3. Local brew master/elder vintner/moonshine distiller
4. The town's May queen for this year
5. Popular travelling merchant who has gone missing
6. A husband or wife of the community who has gone missing
7. Head priest
8. Town mayor/village elder
9. Wealthy widow(er)
10. The local witch/warlock/wise woman/hedge wizard/potion maker/alchemist
11. The local sheriff/guard
12. The local bravo/bully

Local Villain:

1. Bargel Man who steals children who misbehave
2. Ghost of an old miser who makes coins disappear from good men's pockets
3. Fae who causes the milk to sour and the bread to fail to rise
4. Witch who causes the crops to wither/rivers to flood
5. Rabid wolf which keeps killing or stealing sheep/chickens/dogs
6. Dancing lights which keep luring people off the road
7. Nymphs/sylphs/dryads who lure good men away never to be seen again (possibly related to some of the NPC party's members)
8. Monkeys/tengu/sprites who steal goods from those walking to or from the fields
9. A pair of teenagers who have run off on a tryst (related to some of the NPC party's members)
10. A group of teenagers who have made off with a few bottles of wine (related to some of the NPC party's members)
11. A huckster who was passing through and bolted after swindling the town
12. Rogue who made off with one of the maids (or wives) of the community (she is related to one of the NPC party's members, maybe he is, too)