Another 20 unusual potions

Potions potions potions! Want long nails? Shiny scales? Prehensile tails? Hair like flails? My potions can give you all that, individually or together! They'll fix your dyspepsia, or give it to you if that's what you want! Take a potion to cure your aches and it'll cure your thirst for free! Twice your dandruff back if you can't be healed!

Previous list here.

1. Spelunker's Libation

The drinker understands the difference between stalagmites and stalactites and recognises each on sight. Effect permanent.

2. Vino Veritas

The drinker is compelled to loudly announce their opinion on whether a given statement is true or not.

3. Pharmacophobic Philter

Makes the smell of health potions nauseating. Drinker must succeed at a DC15 CON roll to drink one without retching and losing the effect.

4. Hagfish Tonic

The drinker starts sweating copious amounts of slick slime, making them impossible to grapple. Also lets them slide, doubling movement but requiring a DC15 DEX roll or a collision to stop. Unarmoured only.

5. Sanguine Sight Salve

Renders the drinker oblivious to any danger threatening them, preserving a cheerful outlook and avoiding unnecessary distress. Offers no protection.

6. Anger (soluble)

Causes explosive irritability. Drinkers are prone to indiscriminate violence, but just as prone to exhausting themselves in a tantrum.

7. Anger (insoluble)

Grains that float on top of any common liquid for about five minutes, then crack in succession with a noise like a gun going off.

8. Miasmatic Venom Draft

A poison which affects the drinker and anyone else within CON bonus x 5 feet.

9. Hystricomorphic posset

The drinker grows a coating of strong, sharp quills like a porcupine's coat. Punches, slaps and elbows do +1d4 damage and the spines' springiness reduces incoming blunt damage by 1d4. While in effect, donning or removing armour is impossible.

10. Incendiary Sputum Tea

A round after leaving the drinker's mouth, their saliva catches fire. The tiny flame does only 1d2 damage to a combatant, but can ignite most flammables.

11. Bruxism Brew

Causes the drinker to involuntarily grind their teeth in a way that causes 1d4 psychic damage to any intelligent creature with a jaw within 15 feet.

12. Potion of Grace

Gives the drinker the strength, balance and confidence to climb through high, exposed, difficult traversals (+4 DEX). Wears off suddenly. Really suddenly.

13. Allium Exsudo

The drinker can create an offensive and alarming smell at will.

14. Porcine Fulmination Drink

A delicious tonic which any pig would be happy to drink. After about 5 minutes of digestion the pig explodes with a yield equal to one quarter of its weight in gunpowder. No effect on other creatures except for a stomach ache.

15. Last Chance

Restores 1d6 HP and changes any coins the drinker has on them into ordinary acorns. Also causes glass to harden, so the bottle can be used as an improvised weapon.

16. Dyscalculia Draft 

Causes the drinker to miscount things without noticing. List items in blog posts, for example. 

17. Equine Enhancement Liniment

Allows a horse to move at 3 x usual top speed for a full watch without rest. +1 cumulative chance on each dose for the horse to catch fire from the internal heat generated.

18. Static serum

Tasteless, colourless and odourless. One flask is about 12 full doses. The drinker takes 1d4 electrical damage from every piece of metal they touch, +1 for every dose they've swallowed.

19. Elongation Tincture

Causes the drinker to change height by +/- 5 inches whenever no-one is looking directly at them.

20. Parrot Comportment Tonic

Causes the drinker to repeatedly recite a message of 15 or fewer words that were spoken directly into the flask. Also works on animals.

The why of retainers

Who's holding that torch for you, and why?

This retainer was a (1d6):

1. soldier
2. sailor
3. farmer
4. trader
5. crafter
6. criminal

who dabbled in:

1. cooking.
2. brewing.
3. animal training.
4. foraging.
5. household repair.
6. music.

They're handy with:

1. a hatchet.
2. a rope.
3. fire-making.
4. navigation.
5. leatherwork.
6. herbal remedies.

They need money:

1. to pay a gambling debt
2. to set up in business
3. to retire from their trade
4. to buy a trinket for a loved one
5. to support a family member
6. to marry and settle down

And decided to try adventuring because:

1. it's high-reward.
2. of the excitement.
3. they can't get other work with their reputation.
4. of the chance of fame.
5. they always wanted to travel.
6. farm work looks exhausting.

They hope:

1. to see a unicorn, a mermaid and a fairy.
2. to earn a reputation.
3. to prove someone wrong about them.
4. to build influence.
5. to become skilled and powerful.
6. to learn lost and forgotten lore.

Awaiting them is:

1. a lover or spouse.
2. a child.
3. a younger sibling.
4. their aged parents.
5. an ill grandparent.
6. a group of friends who feel trapped in their small lives.

Their favourite party member is:

1. the fighter.
2. the wizard.
3. the cleric.
4. the thief.
5. the goblin torchbearer they picked up.
6. their horse, because screw these guys.

In a pinch they:

1. drop their gear and run. Retaining isn't for them.
2. act with reckless bravery.
3. keep a cool head and act with discipline.
4. wait for someone to tell them what to do.
5. stick to the plan until it looks like their side is losing.
6. look for ways to personally benefit while everyone's distracted.

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

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.)

Minor godly curses, how to attract them and how to lift them

I played Zork Nemesis back in the day. It's a point-and-click adventure game, very atmospheric. There's a section of the game where you explore a series of alchemy labs, one of which is in a deserted church. The poor box is interactable, but all it contains is a curse on anyone who would steal from the church.

We know that historically the clergy have felt they had the authority to dabble in mysticism, because there are records of tersely-worded missives from church leaders ordering monks to stop trying to summon demons to perform their labour for them! 

It got me thinking about the kind of curses priests would set as traps for people breaking the rules of conduct. Mild ones in this case, intended to teach rather than punish excessively. I imagine they'd be posted discretely near the entrance, where you'd spot them if you were paying attention.

He who, within these walls...

1. Mocks or raises his voice in derision,
2. Steals from the church,
3. Games or gambles,
4. Practices arcane magic,
5. Utters falsehoods,
6. Calls upon gods who are not venerated here,

May it be that...

1. He is unable to strike a light and let cookfires gutter when he comes close enough to feel the warmth,  (-2 HP healed per overnight rest)
2. Precious metals tarnish to his touch, (coins become worthless)
3. Any ale, wine or liquor that touch his lips turn foul, (CON save or spend a turn vomiting)
4. Birds cast stones upon him, (DEX save or 1d4 damage)
5. he is visited with fatigue and aching at the joints, (-1 DEX)
6. The stones beneath his feet cry his shame, (stealth impossible)

Until he...

1. Performs an act of contrition such as a week-long bread-and-water fast. (-2 HP healed per overnight rest)
2. Performs an act of service such as cleaning and repairing a shrine.
3. Performs an act of atonement such as contributing money or some kind of material support to the Church's good works. (10% of gold carried)
4. Makes a barefoot pilgrimage to the closest allied chapel. (-1d4 HP)
5. Repents his wrongs in a public square. (Permanent -1 CHA in this town)
6. Sacrifices a valued possession, (worth at least 50 gold).

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

The why of Big Bad Evil Guys

Good villains are like a spice you can add to an already-tasty meal.

This villain is a: (1d6)

1. priestly
2. wild
3. criminal
4. soldierly
5. mystical
6. monstrous

but:

1. efficient
2. brutal
3. bantering
4. sneering
5. charming
6. dispassionate

1. conqueror
2. corruptor
3. deceiver
4. oath-breaker
5. sadist
6. lunatic

who wants to:

1. get rich.
2. take revenge.
3. seize power.
4. eliminate a people.
5. control a precious resource.
6. serve a dark god.

Their allies are:

1. a fighting legion.
2. monstrous races.
3. malicious spirits.
4. high-level magic-users.
5. evil dragons.
6. servants of a chaotic god.

Their methods are:

1. treachery
2. force of arms
3. profane magic
4. bribery and blackmail
5. thievery
6. spies and assassins

But also:

1. bounty hunters.
2. spreading plague.
3. hauntings and evil omens.
4. traps and false trails.
5. innocent dupes.
6. fierce beasts.

Their secret lair is in:

1. an active volcano.
2. a tumbledown keep.
3. a cursed temple.
4. a malignant forest.
5. a stern tyrant's ruling city.
6. a haunted wasteland.

They've lived a life of:

1. harsh discipline and self-denial.
2. betrayal by loved ones.
3. visions and nightmares.
4. slowly accumulating of power.
5. unwillingly hearing whispers from dark spirits in the night.
6. cruel acts from a young age.

They're vulnerable to:

1. a double-cross by an ambitious lieutenant.
2. a specific magical item.
3. their own hubris.
4. the conditions of an ancient prophecy.
5. an imprisoned former ally who knows their secrets.
6. an exploitable flaw in their plan.

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

20 more unusual potions

Getcha potions here! Want long hair, red hair, blue hair, no hair? I got potions for that! I got potions for arthritis, blindness, ringing of the kidneys and fear of public speaking! My aunt took this potion to cure chronic nagging and her husband dropped stone dead! Potions potions potions!

Original list here.

Except where otherwise stated, potion effects last for 8 - CON bonus hours.

1. Trekker's Tonic 

Causes the drinker's forehead to form hard, leathery ridges. Headbutts do damage like a small club.

2. Odourific Catulary Tincture 

Allows the drinker to smell words. Scripture smells papery, poetry like flowers, taunts like pepper and lies like manure. Causes hair loss.

3. Catabolic Emission Draught

The drinker radiates heat like a small campfire, suffering 1d2 damage per hour the potion is active.

4. Postmortem Simulacrum Formula

Gives the drinker qualities associated with undeath - cold skin, silent movement, immunity to mind-effecting conditions. Also makes holy symbols appear painfully bright.

5. Maternal Oversight Blend

Causes the drinker a deep sense of shame and awareness that their mother would be disappointed while taking actions inconsistent with their alignment.

6. Prismatic Diaphoresis Salve

Causes the drinker's hands and feet to sweat a vibrantly-coloured liquid that stains what it touches and glows in torchlight. Better than breadcrumbs.

7. Potion of Mirthful Surprise

Has the colour, texture and smell of a more useful potion, but all this one does is permanently transform the drinker's ears into donkey ears. Good news: there's a bounty on the alchemist who invented it.

8. Potion of Gerald

Transforms the drinker into a skinny, red-headed, human barrel-maker with no levels.

9. Cricetus Receptacle Formula

Gives the drinker cheek pouches like a hamster's, providing two extra inventory slots.

10. Animate Ladder Tincture

Doesn't actually do anything to ladders. Causes the bones of the drinker's spine to lengthen and thicken into easily-gripped nodules, while their legs lock in place. They stretch by 3+STR bonus yards. Wears off after 1 or CON bonus minutes, whichever is longer.

11. Pox Mantle Tea

Briefly gives the drinker the symptoms of a disfiguring, contagious and embarrassing disease.

12. Serene Footwear Emulsion

Regardless of the drinker's actual footwear, they have the sensation of wearing comfortable slippers.

13. Decumbent Viewpoint Blend

Convinces the drinker they are a gnome. If drunk by a gnome, convinces them they are the ruler of all gnomes.

14. Aureal Lodestone Draught

Causes gold items to stick to the drinker as if magnetically. Sweep up that hoard while keeping your hands free! A coating of 600 + 5 x CON coins gives +2 AC but reduces movement by 10 feet.

15. Lagomorphic Fragrance Mix

Replaces the drinker's scent with that of a rabbit. May throw a nasally-gifted pursuer off track. Causes hunger for dandelions. May also attract natural predators.

16. Tenebrous Attenuation Formula

Turns off the drinker's shadow. Also makes them invisible to ghosts.

17. Patient Posset of the Braggart's Bride

Makes the drinker appear to be awake and alert while restfully asleep. They'll even make encouraging noises during lulls in conversation. (But honey, you love my roleplaying stories!)

18. Cud Chewer's Salve

Makes the drinker's choice of one kind of normally-inedible plant material useable as a ration. Spines, bark, poisons, plants that try to eat you back. They all taste like chicken.

19. Sediment Navigation Tincture

Allows the drinker to swim through soil or sand as though it had the consistency of thin mud. Care should be taken as roots and prepared stone won't part easily and dirt isn't breathable.

20. Draconic Likeness Discernment Tea

Makes the drinker hyper-aware of rock formations that look kinda like dragons. Not actual dragons. Just rocks that look like them.

The why of mcguffins

The macguffin. The prime motivator of a million campaigns. It doesn't matter what it is, everyone wants it, or wants someone else to not get their hands on it.

But you need something to tell the players. They can't chase halfway across the world after a mysterious, unnamed stand-in item. What if they find the wrong one? You can use this table to cook up an instant mcguffin.

This item resembles a (1d6):

1. sword
2. shield
3. staff
4. crown
5. book
6. statue

decorated with:

1. inlaid jewels.
2. eldritch runes.
3. an embossed holy symbol.
4. the personal sigil of a mythical figure.
5. a stylised devil's face.
6. a rare lacquer.

It's contained in a:

1. stained and discoloured chest.
2. velvet bag sewn with pegasus hair.
3. form-fitting container crafted from a single chunk of granite.
4. box with brightly-polished fittings and inlaid precious metals.
5. living creature's belly.
6. building's hidden alcove.

Its current holder is:

1. a wealthy merchant
2. a warlord
3. a wizard
4. a priest
5. a devil
6. a lich

and they obtained it through:

1. spoils of war.
2. trickery.
3. a game of skill.
4. a reward for a service.
5. a ransom.
6. a patron's gift.

It's said to have the power to:

1. heal any wound
2. crush any army
3. force any mortal being to obey the wielder
4. point the way to a great treasure
5. grant immortality
6. convey rulership of a kingdom

at the cost of:

1. corruption of the will.
2. a monstrous transformation.
3. the user's soul.
4. accepting a painful burden.
5. a loved one's life.
6. eternal servitude.

It's sought by:

1. a cult
2. a dying king
3. a dragon
4. a minor god
5. a general
6. a monster

using:

1. spies and assassins
2. mercenaries
3. monstrous servants
4. amoral adventurers
5. diplomats and agents
6. oracles and seers

for:

1. a war of conquest
2. a token of love
3. payment of a vast debt
4. a gift to impress a superior
5. the sake of denying it to an enemy
6. sheer greed

but secretly:

1. it's a powerless replica.
2. it has the opposite effect.
3. someone unexpected pays the cost.
4. it destroys the value of its gift, monkey's paw-style.
5. it has a second, hidden effect.
6. it fulfils its purpose in an unexpected way.

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

The why of travelling carnivals

Life in a small fantasy town is pretty dull when you're not being menaced by monsters. Harvest the turnips, tend the sheep, laugh at Old Hob getting drunk and falling off a stump... but when the travelling carnival comes to town, there's some relief from all that.

The carnival offers spectacle and regrettable snacks, but peer behind the tent flaps and there's also intrigue, danger, mysticism and adventure to be found. (By PCs, that is. Those turnips won't wait.)

The first thing you notice is (1d6):

1. colourful silk bunting.
2. a tall tent.
3. whimsical music.
4. strolling performers.
5. big animals.
6. garish pasteboard signs.

Wandering the grounds you might bump into a:

1. clown performing pratfalls.
2. stilt walker.
3. juggler tossing pins.
4. fire eater blowing fireballs above his head.
5. barker calling customers to an attraction.
6. roustabout carrying armloads of equipment.

On the stage you could see:

1. acrobats.
2. knife throwers.
3. sharpshooters.
4. strongmen.
5. a stage magician.
6. dancers in risqué costumes. 

You could pay to ride:

1. a mechanical bull operated with pulleys and cranks.
2. ponies.
3. camels or other exotic animals.
4. well-fed (but muzzled) monstrous creatures.
5. a horse cart with seats that go up and down as the wheels turn.
6. a wooden ferris wheel powered by a donkey.

If you're hungry, there are:

1. honeyed apples.
2. sausages.
3. spiced buns.
4. salted pease with pepper and vinegar.
5. fried pickles.
6. dried fruit and nuts.

This carnival's pride is its:

1. menagerie.
2. calliope.
3. retired adventurer who tells the tale of his greatest venture with help from actors in monster costumes.
4. alchemical fireworks.
5. trapeze artists.
6. dwarven-made mechanical dragon.

Prepare to get cheated at a contest of:

1. arm-wrestling.
2. pitching axes.
3. target-shooting.
4. ducking a fool.
5. ring-tossing.
6. jousting with padded lances on wobbly carts.

inside this tent is a:

1. fortune teller.
2. freak show starring exotic humanoids pretending to be savage.
3. magical item rare enough to impress the yokels.
4. wizard's apprentice earning money for their studies.
5. burlesque performance.
6. medicine show.

The carnival's misfortune is:

1. a crowd-pulling act that quit recently
2. an apprentice that died in a training accident
3. a big booking that fell through
4. a new law that restricts travelling entertainments
5. illness among the draft animals
6. a debt they can't pay

and their secret is:

1. the ringmaster and other managers are doppelgangers.
2. one of the trapeze artists is the runaway child of nobility.
3. they're spies.
4. their monstrous humanoids are polymorphed people they kidnapped along the way.
5. they're revolutionaries against a tyrannical authority.
6. they're retired adventurers, but a good enough score might tempt them to take up arms and race the PCs to the prize.

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

The why of festivals

You're approaching a town and you can hear music and laughter coming from around the bend. You've had the good luck of stumbling onto a local festival in progress.

Your pockets are jingling with coins - or else maybe you're broke and need to check the notice board for tavern keepers who want someone to kill the rats in their cellar. Either way, everyone's having a good time so you may as well join in.

It's a (1d6):

1. harvest festival.
2. commemoration of a famous historical event.
3. religious holiday.
4. trade fair.
5. guild day.
6. seasonal celebration.

You can smell the:

1. pork pies
2. sausages
3. pastries
4. raisin buns
5. candied fruits
6. peaches in sweet syrup

and there's flowing:

1. beer.
2. mulled ale.
3. black stout.
4. wine.
5. cider.
6. applejack.

The crowd are being entertained by:

1. wandering stilt-walkers
2. capering clowns
3. jugglers
4. performing minstrels
5. story-tellers
6. tumblers
   

and:

1. a game of ring-toss.
2. a wife-carrying race.
3. wrestling.
4. bobbing for apples.
5. a gurning contest (pulling grotesque faces).
6. a slippery pole race.

Beyond that is a stage where:

1. the mayor or headman is giving a speech
2. a priest is offering a blessing for all present
3. a history is being recited
4. a traditional song is being sung
5. children are reciting a teaching poem
6. an ancestral hero's armour and weapons are on display

but afterwards:

1. contest winners will be announced.
2. play actors will put on a performance.
3. a band will set up.
4. an effigy will be burned on a bonfire.
5. there will be dancing.
6. there's a scavenger hunt.

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

The Why of Armed Companies

Wander a fantasy landscape long enough and you're bound to come across an armed force on their way to or from inflicting violence. They may be a scrappy but brave force of irregulars defending their homeland. They may be raiders and slavers out to enrich themselves. They may be hideous monsters who want sacrifices for their dark gods.

The only thing all armies have in common is that they're probably not at all nervous about bumping into the PCs.

This company of soldiers is formed of:

1. a single folk, common in this area
2. several races, all local
3. a range of folks, including some flyers and some that don't speak Common
4. a mix of uncommon races from far countries
5. creatures unrecognised by locals
6. monstrous races and magical constructs

For the purpose of:

1. waging war.
2. patrolling a contested border.
3. suppressing a rebellious population.
4. suppressing banditry and putting down hostile monsters.
5. raiding neighbouring settlements and capturing slaves.
6. confiscating civilian property.

They're:

1. a ragtag militia
2. green recruits
3. experienced troops
4. veteran fighters
5. an elite force
6. trained to fight exotic threats like monsters or magic

And their equipment:

1. is a hasty assemblage of shoddy and mismatched armour and weapons.
2. is cheap and poor quality.
3. is serviceable and well-maintained.
4. is good quality and carefully looked after.
5. is expensively decorated with gems and company badges, and includes magic items.
6. includes esoteric weapons and defences for fighting unconventional enemies.

They're here because:

1. they're marching to battle.
2. they're making an orderly retreat.
3. they're returning from battle laden with loot and prisoners.
4. they mutinied against joining a hopeless battle.
5. they're pursuing a fleeing enemy.
6. they deserted to form a mercenary company.

They want:

1. good foraging opportunities
2. a guide to show them a shortcut
3. advance knowledge of the settlements they'll pass through
4. to conscript new recruits
5. to recruit spies
6. a hot meal and somewhere safe to rest

But they don't want:

1. witnesses to report on their travels.
2. to stop for civilian problems.
3. their supply train to lag behind.
4. to split into smaller bands.
5. dissent in the ranks.
6. to offend the local religion.

Their main problem is:

1. shortage of supplies
2. delay caused by weather
3. navigating unfamiliar terrain
4. misguided orders that place them in unnecessary danger
5. their planned route is cut off
6. intelligence on the enemy is completely wrong

and their hidden problem is:

1. disease spreading in the ranks.
2. a spy among the officers.
3. a host of enraged undead following them.
4. their leader is cursed.
5. they've made an enemy of a powerful third party.
6. they died in battle and they don't know it.

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

D6 healing (sort of) items

1) Orihalcum knuckles of the puissant pugilist

A knuckle duster of potentially godly origin. Appears to be made of gold with veins of light running through it, and a leather strap so soft it must be angel hide. This item literally allows you to punch the wounds off people.

When used it inflicts 1d6 damage (applied before any healing), then heals 2d6 damage. Each subsequent healing of the same person per day does an additional d6 of damage and healing.

2) Flesh-mending swarm of the laughing revenant

A bottle made from a dried gourd, plugged with a leather patch and wooden bung. It contains a swarm of undead beetles, each the size of a pin-head. When shaken onto a creature, the beetles will enter through the nearest orifice and stitch wounds from the inside. Over the next day the creature will cough up the beetles, now properly dead.

Heals 1d4 per level of the user over level x rounds. Can be interrupted by turning or spells that protect against evil or undead.

3) Unfire

A flint and steel made from a dark glassy material that seems to reflect light in the wrong direction. It produces a blue-purple flame that only burns on flesh. Instead of being consumed, the flesh is healed.

Restores 1d4 per user's level. 1d6 if the weather is windy or wet. Functions five times daily.

4) Wandervine

A thumbnail-sized pale green seed. Tastes like cumin. The injured character swallows it whole. Later, vines grow from under their fingernails. Each produces a single seed. At that point their internal vine withers and the healing they received earlier is reversed.

Restores 1d4 per turn for three turns.

5) Sacrificial flock of the eagle priest

This ring is a white gold band decorated with a feather motif and a yellow tourmaline gem. If the wearer whispers the activation word to it, it summons a flock of whatever birds are closest. They fight to the death above the wearer's head, raining feathers, blood and other fluids down on them. The gory rain heals them.

Restores 1d8 + level points. Each time it's used in the same day, the die type steps down by one stage. There are fewer available birds nearby.

6) Fulminator

Fulminator is a grey-green stone the size of a fig. if swallowed (with difficulty) it waits for the user to fall to 0 HP before activating. At that point it explodes, completely vaporising the user. A round later they reform from the dust and smoke at full HP. To be used again, Fulminator must be found and re-swallowed.

Magic item: the Cruet Cart

This loaf-sized cart of tarnished pewter was made as a cruet set for a rich man's table. It originally came with salt and pepper shakers, and bottles for vinegar and oil. The vinegar bottle has been lost over time. It was created in the form of a farm cart pulled by two mules, with two caricatured peasants riding on top. When ordered, the cart will drive to the speaker's plate and season it. When idle, the peasants and mules perform one of a series of silly play-acts reinforcing their bucolic stupidity. It becomes motionless when put inside a bag or other container.

The benefit to adventurers is that the little figures will sprinkle any powder or liquid the cart is loaded up with onto anything they're told to. Holy water, lamp oil, black powder, etc. And the cart is fully capable of driving up walls and across ceilings to get to the 'plate'.

Usage: all characters.

Charges: permanent.

Appearance: A cart and figures made of once-shiny grey metal, scratched and dented.

The why of encounter tables

Orc by Rafiico Creative Studio
on IconScout

Most encounter tables include two extreme results - the creature(s) attack immediately and the creature(s) are friendly and helpful. 

If the encountered creature is a beast of some sort, you can assume that instant hostility is because it sees you as food, a threat or intruding on its territory. An intelligent creature's basic motivation might be the same, but there should be something more complex going in the background.

To roll a D66, roll two D6s and take one result as the tens column.

D66 reasons to attack

11. This creature robs to support itself (carousing ain't cheap).
12. This creature robs to buy manufactured goods from a trader.

13. This creature robs to pay tribute to a warboss/feudal lord/necromancer/etc.

14. This creature robs to buy a family member out of slavery.

15. This creature robs for money to impress a potential spouse's family.

16. This creature robs because it's getting older and wants to retire.

21. This creature wants to eat you because its crops are blighted.

22. This creature wants to eat you to gain your spiritual power.

23. This creature wants to eat you because that gains it status in its culture.

24. This creature wants to eat you because it's lost and supplies have run out.

25. This creature wants to eat you because it's tried every other local meat.

26. This creature wants to eat you because it believes your flesh is medicinal.

31. This creature kills intruders because that's the law of its people.

32. This creature kills intruders because this is its home.

33. This creature kills intruders because it will lose its territory if it seems weak.

34. This creature kills intruders because others of its kind here can't defend themselves.

35. This creature kills intruders because this is its holy place.

36. This creature kills intruders because it has a secret here to protect.

41. This creature fights to prove itself.

42. This creature fights to win your respect.

43. This creature fights because it's fun!

44. This creature fights because it hates your kind.

45. This creature fights to please its gods.

46. This creature fights because those are its orders.

51. This creature attacks because there's another fighting force nearby and it doesn't want to be flanked.

52. This creature attacks because it's afraid you'll draw the attention of a much bigger threat.

53. This creature attacks because other encounters with your kind have always turned violent.

54. This creature attacks to prevent you from telling others that it's here.

55. This creature attacks because it believes you carry disease.

56. This creature attacks because you seem like a rival for its goal.

61. This creature wants to capture you to claim a bounty.

62. This creature wants to capture you as a slave.

63. This creature wants to capture hostages to extort local rulers.

64. This creature wants to capture you as a living shield in another fight.

65. This creature wants to capture you to ransom you to your family.

66. This creature wants to capture you to be a sacrifice for its gods.

The why of towers

Image by HBKerr

A tower is like the landscape's way of saying 'I have a quest for you'. Or 'someone with a beard down to his navel and purple robes lives here'. Sometimes you need a tower and you need a better reason for it than simply 'wandering tribes of architects and engineers'. Hopefully these tables can help.

This tower is

1. a square wooden structure with a stone ground floor.
2. a circular building of mortared fieldstone.
3. a reinforced stronghold with arrow slits and ramparts.
4. built up in layers of different construction.
5. a ruin repaired with a ramshackle conglomeration of branches, sticks and animal hides.
6. built from an odd material like obsidian, hardened lava, a giant tree trunk, etc.

It was built to

1. be a toll house on a travel route
2. be part of a signal network
3. house an order of holy knights
4. keep a watch for fires
5. defend a nation's borders
6. house a wizard's lab

and it overlooks

1. a forest.
2. a trade coast.
3. hills and pastures.
4. cliffs and ravines.
5. a village.
6. a marsh.

Nearby you can find

1. a ruined smithy.
2. a small cottage.
3. livestock pens.
4. extensive stables.
5. a graveyard.
6. an old battleground.

It has been used by

1. an astrologer studying the stars
2. a druid studying the winds
3. a bandit gang watching a trade road
4. generations of shepherds sheltering from the weather
5. tanners practising their smelly trade away from settlement
6. smugglers storing their contraband

and it's currently

1. unoccupied.
2. a den for wild beasts.
3. home to a hermit.
4. visited by travelling rangers to leave secret messages for each other.
5. abandoned and accursed.
6. used as a campsite by travellers.

Rumour says

1. at sunset on the Summer solstice its shadow points towards a buried treasure
2. an evil noble was imprisoned in it and went mad
3. a gang of robbers walled up one of their own alive inside
4. if you make an evil wish at the highest point it will be granted
5. the ruler's spies meet there under the new moon to discuss what they've learned
6. it was built on the site of a structure from an older civilisation

and an odd thing about it is

1. the tiny airship moored to the roof.
2. sometimes there's an extra window.
3. its image reflected in water shows it in its early years.
4. eerie lights visible in the windows at night.
5. sometimes there's a fine black horse hitched at its door.
6. unknown plants growing around its base.

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

The why of the beast in the woods

The beast in the woods is a trope I'm fond of. The town is haunted by a beast that kills man and livestock indiscriminately. It lurks in the woods during the day and only emerges when it can cause the most fear — during night or thick fog. Swords don't hurt it, arrows seem to pass harmlessly through it. Worse yet, if you somehow do kill it, it comes back. Because the beast is just a manifestation of the curse afflicting the town. A curse one or more of them brought down on the whole community by committing a crime so vile that the gods turn their faces away and nature itself rebels.

The only way to dismiss it for good is to reveal the crime and punish the transgressors.

The beast is a huge 

1. shadowy
2. skeletal
3. smoking
4. bloody-coated
5. grave-smelling
6. glowing

1. stag
2. ram
3. boar
4. wolf
5. bull
6. chimera

with

1. human qualities.
2. burning eyes.
3. a crown of flames.
4. dripping poison.
5. iron fangs.
6. twisted horns.

You know it's near when 

1. a fog rolls in.
2. a frost forms.
3. a storm begins.
4. a cloud of locusts forms.
5. animals panic.
6. dogs howl and babies cry.

It brings

1. pestilence
2. madness
3. ghosts
4. insidious whispers
5. a flock of enraged crows
6. souring and rot

and

1. the sound of women lamenting.
2. blight to crops.
3. disturbing shapes in torch and hearth flames.
4. the buzzing of flies.
5. causes lights to darken.
6. rumbling in the earth.

Worse yet,

1. metal weapons strike sparks from it.
2. it leaves burning paw/hoof prints.
3. the earth turns barren where it walks.
4. chains shatter on it.
5. holy symbols grow hot in its presence.
6. corpses twist and contort when it's near.

It's here because

1. someone starved a dependent elder.
2. a parent abandoned a child to die.
3. a host broke the laws of hospitality and murdered a guest, or vice versa.
4. someone broke a sacred vow and won't make amends.
5. a believer defiled a holy place.
6. someone completed a deal with a ruinous power.

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