RANDOM EVENTS

1 A wild-eyed man, scurrying along half-crouched is looking desperately for something on the ground. He
stops when he sees the adventurers’ feet in front of him and looks up. “Have you seen it,” he demands. If the
characters question him he only responds loudly, “You’ll know when you see it”, and scurries off continuing
his search.
2 A temple bell is sounding the hour when, on the last sounding of the bell, instead of the expected “bong”
the characters hear a shrill scream. Something has befallen the acolyte who was ringing the bell.
3 A farmer’s cart careens dangerously past, with the white-haired farmer slumped at the reins.
4 A tailor steps from his shop and begins sizing up a passing adventurer, quoting measurements of the
character’s chest, legs and arms just by looking. A passing casket maker overhears the tailor and the two
begin arguing about the character’s height and width.
5 A young man strings his lute and begins serenading a young woman in a second story window.
6 Two heavily armed warriors escorting a third man in stocks stop the adventurers and ask where the nearest
inn is.
7 An outlandishly dressed artist with easel and pallet in hand stops an adventurer, insisting he be allowed to
paint a portrait of him or her. the artist claims it will be greater than the portrait of the Weeping Princess of
Willingham.
8 A sudden gust of wind blows a tumbleweed across the road, where it tumbles into a smithy and promptly
catches fire.
9 A tall man in a large coat, his face hidden behind a wide brimmed hat, stumbles in the characters’
direction. He can be heard repeating “right, right, right” in a hoarse whisper. He manages to step out of the
characters’ way before stumbling and falling. the oversize coat spills open to reveal it actually contains three
halflings all dressed in the garb of circus acrobats.
10 A passing trader warns the adventurers to stay away from the inn up the road with the “sign with a badger
on it”. He tells them it’s a den of outlaws and cutthroats.
11 A stray dog snatches a cooling pie of a nearby windowsill and drops it at the adventurers’ feet before
bolting in the other direction.
12 A crow settles on a nearby fencepost and begins pecking at something grasped in its claw – a bloody
human eyeball.
13 A trio of workers, busy repairing the roof of a nearby building, leap to safety as the building falls into a
sinkhole.
14 A dwarf woman pitches the contents of a bucket containing spoiled fruits and vegetables out a window
and it lands in the adventurers’ path.
15 A woman who appears to be a drunken wizard lurches from the entrance to a tavern. She pauses in front
of the one of the adventurers, languidly circling a finger in front of his face and slurs, “I’m going to cast a
spell on you, I’m going to cast a spell on you”.
16 Two town guards approach the characters and ask bluntly if they’re affiliated with the “Brotherhood of
the Broken Crescent”. the guards tell the characters not to start any trouble and proceed to follow them for as
long as they stay in town or the rest of the day.
17 A decrepit old man missing a leg hobbles up to the adventurers, tells them he lost his leg in “the wars”
and pleads with them for a few coppers, or something to eat. If the adventurers indulge him, he leans in close
and tells them “actually, they took my leg”, and points a bony finger at a group of gnomes who are nearby
selling magical salves and tonics out of the back of a dilapidated cart.
18 A roguish looking man wearing an foppish hat with a peacock feather in it, wielding a rapier storms up to
one of the adventurers, opens his mouth, raises his free hand, and then stops short. He says, “Sorry old fruit,
wrong person,” and walks past continuing purposefully up the street.
19 A jester standing atop a table outside a busy tavern is telling ribald jokes about maidens and unicorns to a
crowd of laughing drunks when the adventurers walk by. He stops his joke to poke fun at the adventurers,
pointing out anything out of the ordinary about their dress or characteristics. the jester goes on to belittle
some recent mishap or failure the characters endured, listing details with inexplicable accuracy.
20 A man bursts up from the doors of a nearby root cellar, carrying various scrolls and parchments. He
stumbles, dropping his papers, and shattering his spectacles. He wails “No, no”, pulls a holy symbol from
beneath his shirt, clutches it tight and runs flat out for a nearby copse of trees. As the characters puzzle over
the papers that contain scribbled notes in a dead tongue, and complicated mathematical formulae, a solar
eclipse begins.
ON THE ROAD
The following ten entries are appropriate for random events on and well-traveled road or trail.
1 There is an abandoned wagon in the road ahead. It is stuck in a muddy rut and has lost a wheel. It is full of
rotting fruit that is being picked over by insects and small animals from the nearby wood.
2 The bodies of several gnolls strung from the high branches of nearby trees sway in the wind. the bodies are
all riddled with arrows with bright red fletchings. A large puddle of congealed blood lies below the bodies.
3 A bridge ahead that crosses a small gorge is completely covered in thick, stringy webs. As the adventurers
approach the see an enormous web extends below the bridge, between both sides of the gorge. the web
contains the bodies of several dead horses, a few saddles, and several partially smashed crates, but no people.
there are no spiders large or small to be found. the adventurers can easily hack through the webs covering the
top of the bridge.
4 A column of chanting monks passes going the opposite direction. they chant in a strange guttural tongue
and march under a cloud of incense that pours from their censers.
5 A haggard and bedraggled halfling approaches along the road from the opposite direction. She tells a sad
story of being chased by bandits who rode out of the wood. Her horse went lame after she eluded them and
she was forced to put it down. She cut some meat from the horse to help her on the remainder of her journey
but has now run out of food and water. She asks the adventurers if they can spare anything to help her
complete the last leg of her journey.
6 the adventurers catch sight of a fierce looking orc staring out from the wooded perimeter at the side of the
road. He has wild, hate-filled eyes and holds a spear over his head. Closer inspection reveals the “orc” is
actually an expertly carved statute made from the remainders of a fallen tree. It is painted just as brilliantly
and looks realistic even up close. At a distance it is indistinguishable from the real thing.
7 A large boulder blocks the road ahead. Inspection reveals that it either fell from a great height or was
driven into the ground be tremendous force.
8 An unexpected cloudburst has caused a nearby stream to overflow and floods the road ahead. the hard rain
and soaked terrain not only makes for hard traveling but may make it hard to stay on the road.
9 the adventurers notice there are several freshly dug holes in the road ahead. these are large enough to cause
problems for a cart or wagon and need to be navigated around by those on horseback. After another ten
minutes of travel the adventurers round a bend in the road and discover a dirt-covered dwarf is busy digging
up the road with a shovel and pick. He eyes the adventurers suspiciously. He’s convinced an ancient treasure
cache is buried here and is afraid someone may be trying to beat him to it.
10 A fork in the road bears a moss-covered stone marker indicating directions to the next destinations along
either path. the marker has been defaced and the names have been chiseled off. Hung from the tree branch
above the marker is a holy symbol of the god of death.
IN THE WILDERNESS
the following ten entries are appropriate for random events while traveling overland or through the woods.
1 the adventurers happen upon a woodsman digging a grave. Another woodsman lies dead with an arrow in
his chest. the woodsman will panic upon seeing the adventurers and immediately begin to explain himself.
He claims he shot his friend accidentally while the two were hunting in this wood. they are several days from
home and he couldn’t possibly carry his friend, a much larger man, all that distance.
2 the adventurers are trekking through a wood when several frogs drop from the sky around them. A few
moments later a Fortean rain ensues as frogs begin falling from the sky.
3 A massive tree falls nearby. the adventurers spy, through the thick cover of trees, a giant beaver pulling the
fallen tree towards a river in the distance.
4 In a clearing ahead stands the remains of a burned-down cabin. Several charred bodies can be found inside,
but anything valuable has long since been picked over. the cause of the fire is not evident, and the trees and
grass around the area have either grown back or were left unmarked by the fire.
5 the adventurers encounter several snares and traps in the overgrown woodland ahead of them. Fortunately
these traps have been here for years and the ropes have rotted and the metal components have rusted,
rendering everything inoperable and harmless. Inspection of the traps by a character with the appropriate
knowledge or skills will reveal that the traps were designed to catch either large animals, or possibly humans
and humanoids. The adventurers witness a meteor come crashing down on the planet. this can happen during
the day but would be much more spectacular at night. the meteor punches through the side of several trees,
sets some bushes and undergrowth alight and cuts a jagged rut in the ground. the meteor offers no danger or
great mystery to the adventurers (other than being red hot for several hours after impact). If the characters
can haul it along with them they could sell it to a blacksmith who could use the metal to make weapons and
armour.
7 A small clearing is covered in short dark green grass. In the middle of the clearing stands a ring of
toadstools, a fairy ring. Depending on your campaign this could be a mundane coincidence, an ill omen, or
something with true magical significance (turning those entering the ring blind, cursing them, or transporting
them to the kingdom of the faefolk).
8 the adventurers nearly trip over the pommels of rusty broken swords and the edges of rusted shields that
are all protruding from the muddy ground. this was the site of a great battle decades ago and there is ruined
weapons, rusted armor, and skeletons embedded in the soft soil.
9 Gusty winds start whipping through the trees, kicking up dust and leaves. the trees bend and creak. the
adventurers are nearly knocked over every time a gust cuts through the woods. It makes for rough going as
the characters are buffeted by the wind and battered by whipping branches. the winds carry strange sounds,
which may or may not be a trick of the weather.
10 From overhead the adventurers hear someone calling down to them. An elf is perched in a tree forty feet
above the ground. He has a large longbow in his hand and his quiver hangs from a branch close at hand. He
quietly explains that he’s been perched there for days waiting for a dire creature that’s been terrorizing that
part of the woods. He urges the characters to move on quickly so they don’t spoil his hunt or accidentally
encounter the dangerous creature themselves.