DP's OSR Adventure Generator

DangerousPuhson

Should be playing D&D instead
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!
 

bryce0lynch

i fucking hate writing ...
Staff member
Bonus points if you do another one populated with entries from actual adventures. Sleeping Place feathered swine. etc.
 

bryce0lynch

i fucking hate writing ...
Staff member
Also, I have these bookmarked for Black maw purposes ...

 

squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
Matt Finch's Tome of Adventure Design does something similar. It's intended to germinate creativity.
 

squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
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

Should be playing D&D instead
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

8, 8, I forget what is for
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

Should be playing D&D instead
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

8, 8, I forget what is for
Love the Matephysical Roadhouse best, with the Sewers a distant second. Nice job.
 

Ice

*eyeroll*
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?
 
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