DP's OSR Adventure Generator

[DangerousPuhson]

Folks, I've cracked the formula and now I've built a random generator that will give you the name/premise of your next OSR adventure module.

The Table 1 Table 2 of the Table 3 Table 4

Roll d30:

Table 1

1. Random number
2. Random color
3. Witless
4. Forlorn
5. Congealed
6. Contemptuous
7. Lackluster
8. Encrusted
9. Oblique
10. Carrion
11. Filthy
12. Enshrouded
13. Plastered
14. Metaphysical
15. Jaded
16. Opalescent
17. Irradiated
18. Scummy
19. Elongated
20. Milquetoast
21. Oblong
22. Graven
23. Craven
24. Tumultuous
25. Sacrificial
26. Arduous
27. Flirtatious
28. Resplendent
29. Incandescent
30. Flayed

Table 2

1. King
2. Queen
3. Bastion
4. Larder
5. Jester
6. Masks
7. Whistle
8. Highwayman
9. Slayer
10. Roadhouse
11. Derry
12. Paradox
13. Reliquary
14. Panopticon
15. Jezebel
16. Pit
17. Maze
18. Flame
19. Library
20. Burgomaster
21. Reeve
22. Highway
23. Vaults
24. Enigma
25. Zealot
26. Tryst
27. Sewers
28. Lord
29. Witchdoctor
30. Loch

Table 3

1. Random number
2. Random color
3. Youthful
4. Vigorous
5. Arduous
6. Nasty
7. Virulent
8. Cumbersome
9. Hamstrung
10. Gilded
11. Tempting
12. Tepid
13. Midnight
14. Wandering
15. Bifurcated
16. Truncated
17. Blathering
18. Amputated
19. Shaved
20. Worn
21. Marked
22. Troubled
23. Censored
24. Volatile
25. Disproven
26. Eloquent
27. Simulant
28. Sorcerous
29. Carcinogenic
30. Cloistered

Table 4

1. Repute
2. Allure
3. Kings
4. Queens
5. Lords
6. Pearl
7. Skies
8. Depths
9. Codex
10. Fixation
11. Rage
12. Masters
13. Secrets
14. Samurai
15. Warriors
16. Observance
17. Theorem
18. Basking
19. Crevasse
20. Students
21. Lore
22. Incident
23. Warrens
24. Scarring
25. Poultry
26. Trace
27. Dream
28. Chalice
29. Altar
30. Bastard

Some examples:

The Jaded Highwayman of the Volatile Dream

The Craven Queen of the Amputated Skies

The Flirtatious Paradox of the Midnight Rage

...and so on, and so forth.

Now you too can create weird, artsy adventure concepts just like the pros!

 

[squeen]

You should patent this.

 

[bryce0lynch]

Bonus points if you do another one populated with entries from actual adventures. Sleeping Place feathered swine. etc.

 

[bryce0lynch]

Also, I have these bookmarked for Black maw purposes ...

Seventh Sanctum: the page of generators - random tools for art, gaming, writing, and imagination.

A site of generators to randomly produce concepts, characters, and descriptions for stories, role-playing games, and art, as well as have fun and alleviate creative blocks.

www.seventhsanctum.com

Generic Fantasy Dungeon Name Generator

skaught.net

Dungeon names

Dungeon name generator. 1000's of names are available, you're bound to find one you like.

www.fantasynamegenerators.com

Dungeon Room & Location Name Generator -

All dungeons have rooms. It’s a defining feature. This Dungeon Feature generator is to help...

enneadgames.com

Random name generator | Four Against Darkness

Random name generator | Four Against Darkness

boardgamegeek.com

donjon; Fantasy Name Generator

A collection of random generators for Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop role-playing games

donjon.bin.sh

 

[squeen]

Matt Finch's Tome of Adventure Design does something similar. It's intended to germinate creativity.

 

[DangerousPuhson]

Matt Finch's Tome of Adventure Design does something similar. It's intended to germinate creativity.

Ah but the difference is that his efforts are genuine, whereas mine are parody.

 

[squeen]

Ah but the difference is that his efforts are genuine, whereas mine are parody.

Yes, I did appreciate the humor...but it's ironic that some folks lean into the approach. I had never been much of a random-table-generation fan myself, but am starting to realize it is a serious tool in adventure design. We tend to create too uniformly/linearly at times. Sometimes, both DM and players should be surprised---it can break up "scripted" scenarios (in a good way).

The notions your crazy tables generate---don't necessarily have to suck. It's all in how you riff off of it.

Here's the result of my rolls:

Graven's Bastion of the Eloquent Theorem --- some spells are simply too powerful to be written down on parchment. The Bastion of the Eloquent Theorem is a structure designed to record a complex innovation that can not be held within the bounds of a grimoire or even a living mind. It's builder, the philanthropist Theophile Graven, was driven mad during the construction of his magnum opus---a topological nightmare resembling an inverted windmill. Rumor has it that Graven's substantial worldly fortune was converted to electrum and used to line the walls of the complex, and---at it's core---is enshrined the fabulous Enigma Diamond.

 

[DangerousPuhson]

Sometimes my jokes are too true to life, and consequently outputs useable things. I suppose art mirrors life which is mirrored again into art.

Your adventure write-up seems to work out - the question is, do you intend to actually do anything with it?

 

[squeen]

Your adventure write-up seems to work out - the question is, do you intend to actually do anything with it?

Probably not unless the muse seizes me---it's free for the taking.
Short term, I really need to get my submission together for Footprints.

...and I'm swamped at work until next summer (at least).

 

[DangerousPuhson]

I've decided to dive head-on into my own meme, and flesh-out some randomly generated adventure concepts.

The Encrusted Slayer of the Disproven Masters: rising from amongst the scabrous mass graves and congealed corpses of the death pits left over during the last purge, a vengeful spirit fueled by pain and suffering emerges as a mass of scars to go on a murderous rampage against members of the newly-deposed Noble Council, now hiding in exile.

The Scummy Pit of the Censored Incident: most people don't remember the reign of Emperor Tyber, and for good reason - the man was a death cultist who rose to the very top of power before the church uncovered his past and buried his history. Tyber's ceremonial pits, crusted with the blood and offal of hundreds of sacrificial peons, now serves as his prison in undeath. The church still denies the existence of the pits and Tyber to the very end, though the missing children are getting harder and harder for them to explain.

The Metaphysical Roadhouse of the Wandering Skies: whether they know it or not, everyone has been to The Shoeless Horseman - a quaint roadside carriage house that exists uniformly in the dreams of all the locals. Once in a while, locals inadvertently dream themselves into the roadhouse for a fun evening of debauchery. What few know is that The Shoeless Horseman is a real place; an extraplanar inn caught between dimensions, cursed to wander the material plane upon a silver cloud. The innkeeper hopes to lure someone to the skies in order to break the curse, but first they need to unravel the mystery of the dream inn and decipher the call for aid.

The Indigo Sewers of the Carcinogenic Pearl: the people of town are sick, weakened and riddled with tumors. The culprit? Poisoned waters. Outflow sewage has been glowing a pale blue hue for the last week; surely the two issues must be linked. Delve into the sewers and pluck the cancerous pearl (carelessly flushed away by a wizard) from the spot where it has been lodged, and hopefully the rest will take care of itself.

 

[squeen]

Love the Matephysical Roadhouse best, with the Sewers a distant second. Nice job.

 

[Ice]

The Metaphysical Roadhouse of the Wandering Skies: whether they know it or not, everyone has been to The Shoeless Horseman - a quaint roadside carriage house that exists uniformly in the dreams of all the locals. Once in a while, locals inadvertently dream themselves into the roadhouse for a fun evening of debauchery. What few know is that The Shoeless Horseman is a real place; an extraplanar inn caught between dimensions, cursed to wander the material plane upon a silver cloud. The innkeeper hopes to lure someone to the skies in order to break the curse, but first they need to unravel the mystery of the dream inn and decipher the call for aid.

This idea is super funny. I like it a lot. It reminds me of a bit of the short story Eyes of a Blue Dog by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Why is the Shoeless Horseman caught between dimensions? Bum deal with some genie, devil or extra-planetary creature? Did the proprietor screw up a forbidden magic spell that would attract new patrons? A vengeful, entitled wizard got poor service and writing a bad review simply wasn't enough? Geographical bad luck of building an inn on a fault-line between realities?

What's the mystery that needs to be unraveled?

 

[DangerousPuhson]

What's the mystery that needs to be unraveled?

I dunno, I just wrote the "backpage blurb" for each entry. Could be anything...

I mean, I have some ideas, but that's not really in the purview of the exercise.