I can’t believe I forgot that I had another way of generating ideas for an adventure using random content from tables using dice rolls.

I think it’s pretty obvious that I’m a fan of Sly Flourish aka Mike Shay and his “Way of the Lazy DM” (that’s my words about it not his).

Each week on YouTube Mike uploads his twitch stream of his prep for his ongoing campaigns. Which are really useful to see the lazy DM principles at work, how another DM preps for a session, and their thoughts on the adventure they are currently running and D&D in general.

Mike has a Patreon (which popular content creator doesn’t?) One of the perks of being a patron (ie giving them money) is access to a regular updated document of Adventure Generators.

“These generators are not complete adventures. They’re intended to inspire you to develop your own adventures based on these themes. They’re intended to help you quickly and easily come up with a scenario that you’d want to run for your group.”

The current themes covered are “Adventurers for Hire”, “Dungeons Deep”, “Seven Samurai”, “Arena of Fate”, “Jaws”, “Apocalypse Now”, and “Dogs of War”. As you can probably guess from the theme names more than one of them has been inspired by a popular movie.

If you can’t decide even on a theme to use, you could always create your own table to roll against to select a theme before moving onto that themes tables.

For this example exercise I’m going to come up with a scenario that could be used in my currently on hiatus D&D campaign.

Although I think any of the themes would work within the campaign. We have already done an arena combat. So I’m ruling that one out for now. I’m feeling pulled towards the “Jaws” theme.

The premise for this obvious movie inspired theme is the following:

“A powerful beast of nightmare holds a settlement in terror. The characters are hired to cut through the threats of the wilds and hunt down the beast before it can kill again.”

There are six tables that I will be rolling a d20 against to create this themed scenario.

The first table is “What is the Beast?” I rolled a 9. Which means my big bad for this scenario is a “Phase Spider“. Not very nautical. But let’s see how this comes out.

The next table and question I am rolling an answer for is “What Makes the Beast Unique?” For this I rolled a 2. So the Phase Spider “Can turn invisible”. This beast is going to be one difficult so and so to get rid of when this combines with it’s ability to “…magically shift from the Material Plane to the Ethereal Plane, or vice versa.”

The Phase Spider needs a liar, and that is the next table “Where does the Beast Reside?” Unlucky for some I rolled a 13. So it looks like my party of adventurers will be venturing into an “Unhallowed temple”.

The next table/question we roll against tells me “Who Protects the Beast?” The d20 said 15. This came out with Devils protecting the Phase Spider. I like this a lot. It fits very very nicely with the previous tables result. Plus this gives an opportunity to make a “deal with a devil”.

Let’s find out what motivates the Phase Spider against the next table “What Drives the Beast?” Double unlucky for my adventurers I rolled 13 again. So the Phase Spider is the “Guardian of a disturbed tomb”. Wow these last two rolls have come up trumps for the liar.

The final table tells us “Who Else Hunts the Beast?” The dice have spoken with a 12. Which means some Trophy hunters are also hunting the Phase Spider.

So here is our adventure idea:

“The adventurers arrive at an island where a Phase Spider has held a settlement in terror ever since clerics disturbed it trying to recover holy relics from a tomb. The adventurers have been hired to hunt down the beast in it’s liar, a nearby unhallowed temple before it can kill again. But the adventurers are not the only ones hunting the Phase Spider, Trophy Hunters have been seen in the area. Rumour has it that the temple is guarded by devils.”

I went to the Dyson Logos blog and searched for temple maps. As you can probably guess there are a few temple maps to choose from.

The secret for me in which to choose is how big a map do I want to use, and does it look right for what I’m using it for.

I decided to go with the “Ye Olde Temple & Crypts” map.

I like that it has crypts. They speak spider lair to me.

The next step with the map is to follow the steps in this Sly Flourish post “Building Lazy Dungeons“. But that’s something for another post on another day.

So there we have it a quick adventure generated for my campaign. A third way of inspiring ideas!

And I’m back with the second example of generating ideas for an adventure using random content from tables using dice rolls.

For this example I will be using the Tome of Adventure Design (ToAD), and following the steps used by Kelsey of The Arcane Library and the enewsletter that you can subscribe to.

Like the previous example using the DMG I will not be creating the map for the adventure idea. That’s beyond the scope of this little exercise.

Right let’s get started on generating this adventure idea.

First up I need a location.

For this I am going to use the locations table 1-1A from ToAD. It’s a d100 table. I roll four times against this table, once for each column. I rolled 18, 72, 85, and 63.

Which gave me the following location name “The Coiled Manse of the Secret King“.

I’m big enough to admit that I had to google the meaning of manse. It was a “what the heck is that?” moment. Well a manse is a person’s house or home, or a clergy’s home, or a large imposing residence. That fits really nicely with the secret king part of the name.

If I look up the meaning of coiled I get the definition of “arranged in a series of circles, one above or inside the other.” I had thought that this was going to be a word I rerolled. But with that definition I’m getting an image of this large circular house that has inner circles for the rest of the building. I like that. It could almost be a maze of some sort!

Using table 1-6: Location-Based Missions I will generate an adventure hook for this great location “The Coiled Manse of the Secret King“. Just like the locations table this is a d100. I roll a 38. This gives me “Find or locate“.

I like this. I like this a lot. I’m going to have the adventurers venture into the coiled manse to find the Secret King.

There needs to be a reason why the adventurers have to do this. Like Kelsey I will go with a time pressure event. The adventurers need to find the Secret King and return them to claim the throne before the false heir to the throne is crowned in two days time.

Time to use table 3-6: Big-Picture Backstories to get a reason to get an idea for why the adventurers need to find the Secret King. Once again this is another d100 table. I rolled 80. Which gave me “A cataclysm or natural disaster took place.” This didn’t click with me. I just wasn’t feeling it. But looking at the Big-Picture Backstories table the entry for 91-95 is “Leaders were slain or imprisoned.” This did inspire me. Remember you don’t have to go with the entry you roll if it doesn’t work for you. You can reroll or as I have just done pick one from the table that does inspire.

So the Secret King has been imprisoned by the false heir for years, long thought dead by the population. The false heir has now made their move and slain the King and about to claim the crown as their own.

I think that’s it.

“The Coiled Manse of the Secret King

Our adventurers hear rumours of a mysterious person thought to be the true heir to the thrown being held prisoner in a nearby location known as the Coiled Manse.

News of the death of the King spreads through out the kingdom. Along with the news that the false heir has declared themselves King and will be crowned in two days time. There is also a decree that the people will have to pay more taxes to pay for the coronation celebrations. Soldiers start raiding homes to collect those taxes.

The adventurers decide to investigate and free this mystery prisoner and help them claim the vacant throne before the false heir is coronated.”

I can even think of inspiration for the story. Such as Robin Hood, The Man in the Iron Mask. And I might watch the movies for some more ideas.

So with the previous DMG example, and my #RPGaDAY Day 19 post there are now three examples of generating ideas for an adventure using tables and dice.

Yesterday I wrote briefly and poorly about my fascination with random generated stuff within D&D.

I also threatened to do a couple of examples.

And I’m a man of my word.

If I make a threat I like to keep it.

You know or how else will people know to take me seriously?

Ok this first example will be using the Dungeon Master’s Guide (DMG) to create/inspire a location-based adventure. The tables being used can be found on pages 72-75 in Chapter 3: Creating Adventures.

The first decision I need to make is whether this adventure is wilderness or dungeon focused. For this example I am going to generate a dungeon. I will look at wilderness adventures in another post.

Next I need to provide a goal that gives the adventurers a reason to enter the dungeon.

For this I roll a d20 against the Dungeon Goals table. I rolled a 3. Which gives me the goal of “Destroy a magical threat inside the dungeon.”

Already this is sparking ideas for what the magical threat could be. The magical threat could be a magic user of some sort threatening to cast some spell to destroy a town or open a portal to another dimension. It could be a magic item of some sort leaking magic into the surrounding area corrupting all that get close to it.

Next up is identifying important NPCs.

So who will be our villain for the adventurers to go up against? I rolled low again and got a 6. This gave me “Undead with any agenda.” On the Adventure Villians Table.

This fits very nicely with one of the ideas I had above. I’m going to run with that.

I’ve been looking for an excuse to run the Undead Monster Mambo by Jim Murphy (YouTube video below).

This is looks like the perfect opportunity to use this. Finally I can use the small skeleton horde I have built. There was a reason I pointed 15 odd skeletons, 2 minotaur skeletons and the dragon skeleton (I do want to add other creatures to this horde at some point). This is it.

So what is the lich doing?

Ok I’ll come back to that for the lich motivations and cunning plan.

I do feel that the adventurers might need an npc ally or two for this adventurer underground.

For this I have to roll a d12 on the Adventure Allies Table. I rolled a 12! That gives me “Villian posing as an ally.”

I like that. It gives a nice plot twist. Could also set up the next adventure. But I’m going to have this npc acting as an agent for the lich, who is luring unsuspecting victims to their masters dungeon to die and become part of the lich’ s army of undead.

I did say two allies. So lets give them another ally. This time I rolled a 3. So ally number 2 will be an “enthusiastic commoner.” The commoner will be some-one that the other npc has managed to convince to join them on stopping the lich.

Let’s give the adventurers a patron. So back to the d20 and rolling a natural 1! Against Adventure Patrons Table. This gets the adventurers a “retired adventurer.” As their patron.

The next step has me jumping to chapter 5 pages 99 – 101 for building the dungeon.

Our dungeon needs a location. Which is a d100 against the Dungeon Location Table. A 53 gives me “In a gorge.”

But who created this dungeon? I’m not going to roll on this one. We already have our dungeon creator with the lich.

However I do need a purpose for the dungeon. I rolled a 3 on the Dungeon Purpose Table. This means the dungeon is a “Lair“. It fits in nicely with the plot that is developing.

I don’t think I need to give the dungeon a history considering that the creator is still in the dungeon.

Back to the earlier tables and using the Adventure Introduction Table and a d12. I rolled an 8. So “An NPC the characters care about needs them to go to the adventure location.” I like this as I think this ties in nicely with the patron rolled above.

Finally I’m rolling a d12 against the Adventure Climax Table. A 5 gets me “The villain and two or three lieutenants perform separate rites in a large room. The adventurers must disrupt all the rites at the same time.” Nice. This can be the magical threat

So this is what I come up with when I tie it all together.

“Our party of adventurers get asked by an old friend (a retired adventurer) who has been hired to recruit adventurers, to help stop a lich opening up a portal to the Shadowfell Plane to unleash a massive army of the undead at the next full moon in 8 days time.

They are told that the only way to stop this from happening is to disrupt the lich and his lieutenants as the same time as they perform the rites to open the portal. This is when they will be at their most vulnerable.

The old friend has already recruited two others to help them (the enthusiastic commoner and the villain posing as an ally). The reward for stopping the lich is a treasure chest of gold.

The old friend gives the adventurers a map showing the location of the lich’s liar at the end of a gorge in a nearby mountain range that is a weeks travel away from their present location. The adventurers are given supplies, healing potions and some scrolls that will give their weapons a temporary magical bonus.”

So there you have it a dungeon adventure created inspired by using the tables in the DMG.

As for a dungeon map. I’d first look at Dyson Logos for something that might be suitable. I’d then just have to populate it. Otherwise I could use Appendix A to randomly generate one (I can do that another day) or just use the decks I have.

I hope this post has been of use.

Back to using the Map and Dice Playing Cards to generate a random dungeon.

With the party entering this dungeon through the Grim Gate (Ace of Spades) I see this being a long forgotten dwarven outpost on the side of a mountain.

The path leading up to the Grim Gate is a small, worn trail, More likely to be dismissed as a goat path than once belonging to battle harden dwarven warriors.

I like the idea of stealing from Tolkien and Lord of the Rings and that famous door to Moria scene. So to get into the dungeon the party will have to work out how to open the Grim Gate. However each failed attempt increases the likely hood that some unseen horror will appear and attack the party. I’d use clues like the temperature starts to drop, they notice some rocks falling etc.

Thought it was time to create another random dungeon. Once again using the latest addition I have for doing this The Deck of Many Dungeons.

Whilst I was creating this one it felt like I was doing a magic trick. The deck had been given a good shuffle before use.

I selected the starting/entrance card at random. Then before drawing a card cut the deck each time. And I be damned I drew nothing but spades.

Once again it came out as a small dungeon. Which I thought looked like it worked out nicely with out using any of the king cards to act as the stairs down to another level or completion of the quest. Although if I was going for a multi level dungeon the eight of spades is the card I’d replace with a random King.

I do like these little dungeons that are being created. They can be side quests, little distractions. Just something the party stumble upon.

For this latest random dungeon instead of using the quick and easy dungeon map cards. Which do create pretty looking dungeons. I’ve decided to go “old school” and use the tables in Appendix A: Random Dungeons of the DMG along with the tables from Chapter 5: Adventure Environments pages 99 – 101 of the same publication.

So for this random dungeon I used graph paper, pencil, and dice along side the above mentioned sections of the DMG.

Starting Area (1d10): 7

Dungeon Location: 59

Exotic Location: 4

Dungeon Creator: 17

Dungeon Purpose: 20

Dungeon History: 12

The entrance to our dungeon is in a mountain pass buried under an avalanche. The dungeon had been created by a liche to hold its hoard of treasure and magical items. The liche was destroyed by internal conflict. That conflict could be underlings rising up hoping to take the treasure for themselves.

Taking into account the entrance is under the debris of an avalanche any party wishing to enter must either enter through the secondary entrance if they can find it. Or successfully complete a group challenge or skill challenge to clear away the rubble to get to the entrance.

Starting Area (Room 1: 20) – Trap or trick designed to kill or capture creatures that enter the dungeon.

This room has a well in the centre.

Current state: 10 – pool of water, chamber’s original contents are water damaged.

Room 2: 1 – Antechamber for visiting dignitaries.

Current state: 5 – Holes, floor partially collapsed.

Room 3: 6 – Guardroom to defend against intruders.

Current state: 9 – used as a campsite.

Room 4: 4 – Barracks for guards.

Current state: 16 – Furniture wrecked but still present.

Room 5: 14 – Strong room or vault, for guarding the treasure hidden in the dungeon, accessible only by locked or secret door.

Current state: 19 – stripped bare.

Room 6: 10 – Kennel for trained beasts used to guard the treasure vault.

Current state: 15 – Furniture wrecked but still present.

Room 7: 2 – Armoury containing mundane and magic gear used by the treasure vault’s guards.

Current state: 12 – Furniture wrecked but still present.

Room 8: 11 – Kitchen for feeding guards.

Current state: 16 – Furniture wrecked but still present.

Room 9: 15 – Strong room or vault, for guarding the treasure hidden in the dungeon, accessible only by locked or secret door.

Current state: 12 – Furniture wrecked but still present.

Obviously there are a load more tables to use in Appendix A to determine obstacles, traps, monsters, treasure and magic items, plus how the rooms are decorated.

Yes my map isn’t the prettiest to look at. But it’s functional and does the job. And boy is that cross hatching boring to do.

Hope you liked the change,

Back to the random dungeon posts.

For the second time since getting them I’ve used the Deck of Many Dungeons to create this random dungeon.

I didn’t think when I was drawing the cards and had what was a “completed” dungeon that with a side entrance a goal complete card wasn’t required.

This struck me as a simple tomb for a party to stumble upon and explore whilst looking for the main dungeon.

Today’s random dungeon is different from the previous ones!

For today’s dungeon I am using a deck that arrived this morning from the US of A called the Deck of Many Dungeons.

Like the other deck Map and Dice Playing Cards it generates a random dungeon. Unlike the other it doesn’t simulate dice rolls. However it does have on the cards relevant tables to use to populate the dungeon with, along with a very handy joker card (see below). The Deck of Many Dungeons is more linked to D&D 5e than the other deck because of it’s tables. But you could always ignore them if using with another system or an earlier version.

Following the instructions on the second joker (above) for generating a dungeon you are creating a more complete dungeon.

Although I would be tempted to modify the instructions slightly for the no unconnected hall ways. I like having that dead end option. Something going nowhere. Also space allowing leaving one unconnected hall way would allow you to increase the size of the dungeon to a much larger size.

What I like about this deck are the tables. It removes that having to populate the dungeon on the fly (apart from the rolling against the cards table). However I find these cards less inspiring for telling a story around the dungeon. Something I found with the other deck flowed thanks to the names on the cards.

Two similar products filling the same role of generating a dungeon randomly. However taking slightly differing approaches.

With no further a do here is today’s random dungeon…

More very soon sadly!