The why of bounties

Inexplicably, you find yourself with no tombs to rob, no castles to storm and no towns to liberate. Money's tight. You've had nothing to eat for three days except dwarf bread - or possibly rocks a dwarf baker has painted like loaves? Worse yet, soon you'll be down to the rations you raided from that goblin camp. You're not sure what goblins eat, but it smells like something else ate it first.

Might as well see what the bounty board has to offer.

The amount is (1d6):

1. a pittance, but it'll put food on the table.
2. modest. There won't be much competition.
3. average. The meat and drink of the bounty hunter's trade.
4. good. You'd pass up other opportunities to take this one.
5. significant. Enough to live comfortably for a year.
6. astonishing. This could be the capstone of a bounty hunter's career.

You'll be hunting a:

1. bandit
2. merchant
3. noble
4. mercenary
5. priest
6. adventurer

for:

1. treason.
2. murder.
3. brigandage.
4. spying.
5. passing tainted goods.
6. heresy.

Their punishment will be:

1. imprisonment.
2. exile.
3. religious penance.
4. execution.
5. repudiation/disinheritance.
6. severe... but secret.

The bounty was posted:

1. by the kingdom
2. by a church organisation
3. by a merchant house
4. by a trade guild
5. by a wealthy individual
6. anonymously

But they didn't mention:

1. separately hiring assassins to hunt the same bounty.
2. exonerating circumstances surrounding the crime.
3. what they plan to do if the hunt takes too long.
4. their own part in the crime.
5. someone who will suffer if the target is captured.
6. someone powerful knows their plans will be disrupted if the target is captured.

Hunting this target is dangerous because:

1. they have criminal allies
2. they've tamed a dangerous creature
3. they have a powerful magic weapon they barely know how to use
4. they're under a curse that transfers to their attackers
5. they carry alchemical tinctures in fragile containers
6. they surround themselves with innocents

and:

1. have a cache of money.
2. have a coded letter of introduction to a thieves guild.
3. have an infectious disease.
4. posted their own bounty on anyone who captures or kills them.
5. transform into a monster on significant calendrical days.
6. are on their way to pay a debt to a powerful entity.

If cornered, they:

1. fight desperately.
2. try to bargain.
3. submit, but plan to escape.
4. plead with bystanders to help.
5. use a magic item.
6. attempt a trick.

If they're arrested:

1. a clandestine power struggle will become public.
2. a family secret will be exposed.
3. a respected person will be disgraced.
4. someone hated will be redeemed.
5. a convincing lie will come undone.
6 an ally will continue their plans.

(Thanks to Spwack of the Slight Adjustments blog for the generator code.)