341. The Watch Captain of the city is seen on the way around town with a mongrel at his heels. A perception check of DC 22 will tip of the player that it is not a real dog, following with a DC 15 knowledge planes will reveal it to be a Hound Archon in disguise.
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343. While visiting one of their usual taverns (or other place of business), the owner is accosted by an average looking man of unremarkable appearance offering to sell him "golem insurance." The owner loudly scoffs and jests that "there hasn't been a golem around these parts in a decade." The insurance agent smiles, agrees, and leaves. The party eventually forgets the encounter, only to learn that several weeks later, their favorite establishment has been absolutely wrecked by a golem made of steel. The local constabulary was unable to prevent its escape and is at a lost as to where it came from...
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344. A cassocked street preacher on a soapbox ranting about end o'times, singling out deaf-eared passerbys in order to catch and draw their attention. Calling out their sinful ways and describing likely retribution unless they recant and follow the scripture according to [insert deity here]. If any engage to debate the firebrand father, he thrives willingly into a wild discourse to save the individual. Derogatory and intentional blasphemy gets him red-faced and he doubles down with his very descriptive retribution by his deity sooner rather than later.
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351. A pair of youths are attempting to draw customers to their family's bakery by offering small, bite-size pieces of artisanal bread to passersby in the hopes of convincing them to buy a loaf. They are clearly having trouble, however, as an obese, malodorous, ornery old man is arguing that since the samples are free, he is entitled to as many as he wants, and is trying to snatch the bread basket away from them.
63. The city guard asks the PCs if they've seen a farm boy and an old wizard with two clockwork servants.
Took me about 1.3 seconds, but I burst out laughing when it,struck me.
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352) The party has arrived mere minutes after the end of what appears to be a very large celebration, with most of the crowd already dispersed and heading back home.
A DC 40 Perception check reveals a wooden box roughly 14ft. high and 6ft. wide sitting on the side of the main city street. The box is painted a deep blue and has two doors on one side; the doors are impossible to open by any means short of divine intervention. If the blue box is noticed, the PCs also notice a couple, a man and a younger woman, chatting happily about the day's events before approaching the box and entering it, oblivious to the presence of the PCs. 1d4 rounds after both of them enter the box and the doors are shut, the box vanishes in a white light.
353. The party notices a young girl laying roses at the edge of a darkened alleyway. She appears to be crying and muttering "I won't forget..."
354. A rope and grapple streaks across the skyline, hooking a steepled spire. "Tally HO!" can be heard as a green-cloaked figure in an eye mask goes swinging, rooftop to rooftop.
355. In an open public stall a man stands behind a counter laden with 2 piles of copper coins. 2 boys stand before the piles, their eyes blindfolded. The man calls "Go!" and the lads begin sorting, stacking and counting the coins in some kind of race. (DC 12 Knowledge: Religion reveals this is an Abadaran training ritual)
356. Three blind women join hands around a brazier on a nearby street corner. One of them calls out "Sisters: it is TIME!" and they shriek as the fire surges into a spiraling column for a moment. As the moment fades the three women fall dead. Moments later stormclouds appear on the horizon and the distant sound of thunder can be heard.
357. A dog is choking on a bone
358. A gnome, his face darkened with soot with acrid smoke rising from his hair, stumbles out of a derelict building muttering "Well I'll never try THAT drink again..."
359. four skulls peer at the PCs from where they've been inserted in a hedge; the shrubbery frames the path to the door of a sinister looking cottage built into the side of a hill
360. A man with 2 buckets of cider hanging from a pole across his shoulders offers a ladle of the stuff for a copper a drink
I'd want to use these, but I'd worry that any random event that happened would spiral off into it's own game.
Fun though!
That's kinda the idea. Imagine: you had a stressful week and haven't looked at the notes of your homebrew game since last session. Suddenly you realize that you have nothing planned and your players will start arriving in 10 minutes. It'll take you 9 to get the table cleared and get the party sub and chips laid out.
The one thing you DO remember is that you ended with the party in town. In desperation you grab this thread and skim it. #321 catches your eye so as people file in you grab an NPC from some source and use his/her stats for the "Brash Warrior".
The party might fight or they may be spectators. If they engage in the duels, run a quick fight and they win some cash. The watchman pulls them aside afterwards and laments that the brash warrior now must return to his owner - he was attempting to move up from simple slave to gladiator in order to win enough cash for his freedom. Now he's not only failed but faces the flagellations of his owner as penance.
If they just watch someone picks their pockets. However instead of taking anything they're left with a map. Said map leads to a treasure buried under the gnarled old roots of an ancient pine grove. Unfortunately for the PCs the earthen dungeon is also home a handful of mites and vermin. Depending on the party's level the fey might also have levels in NPC or PC classes such as adept, warrior, rogue or ranger.
Suddenly your game is solved with a random encounter and a bit of tap dancing. Mission accomplished.
369. Passing an inn, the party sees a horse floating 15' in the air, it's long lead held by a flustered stableboy.
370. The party notices a woman begin walking with them as if she is one of the group. If not accosted, she does so for five minutes before peeling away to go another direction.
371. A large mural is being painted on a wall. It is of the party, but the genders are reversed. The party has never been here before.
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372. The Tax Collector making her rounds, accompanied by alert guards. While she is professionally cordial, the guards ensure a respectful tone is maintained and transactions completed with minimal complaints. She gives the characters an stare, seemingly to appraise their value all the way down to the frayed boot laces, but otherwise does not approach. "You'll want to keep those weapons peace-bonded or risk a fine and loss of weapon. I'd rather you spend your gold here in the marketplace. Get my drift?"
The guards glare at you significantly until the weapon(s) are re-bonded to the sheathes. She moves onward with her collections.
Two men come down the street that evening dressed like Razmiran wizards in ornate cloaks and gold masks. One says to the other 'think we might have over done the fancy dress tonight mate'.
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374. At night a figure in a black cloak and mask wanders from house to house in the poor district. Whenever he finds an unlocked door or window the throws in a mysterious bag. When investigated, the bags all contain 15 GP.
375. A woman at the market is obviously being gouged for the prices of supplies, and is blissfully unaware. If the players help her out she thanks them, though remains somewhat confused as she leaves town. If followed, PCs see her go to a nearby forest where she meets with a unicorn.
376. The party hears a baby crying shortly before a man yells out in joy, "It's a boy! It's a boy!"
377. A group of servants in the pub discuss how their master is "getting desperate for a cure".
378. The team comes across a twelve year old boy painting pentagrams on a bunch of walls in an alley. He runs if spotted, and if caught he says he just thought it'd be funny to scare everyone a bit.
379. A man is thrown out from a Temple of Calistria... into a wasp nest.
380. A hanging takes place.
381. Two tiefling children are being tied to stakes in the town square.
382. Two nobles discuss about one of their peers managing to have nine sons and no daughters.
383. A circus of freaks has come to town, and the main attraction is a dhampir.
384. While the party is drinking at a tavern, one patron drives a stake through the heart of another and decapitates them. The body immediately collapses into dust, and the patron proceeds to anoint it with holy water.
385. One morning the PCs leave their room to find a skinsaw cultist pinned to the wall with several crossbow bolts. On him is a note reading: "It was nothing, really."
386. A woman is guiding a cow through the town. DC 15 perception reveals that the two are having a conversation. The cow is the woman's recently cursed husband, and she's looking for someone to break it.
387. There is a masquerade dance at a noble's house, and he's been looking for "exotics" to give some entertainment for the guests with their presence.
388. Players see someone they know to regularly commit violent crimes slip into a nearby alley. The criminal speaks with another man, who passes him a helmet, which the man dons before tearing it off and running away. Players who go after the man find him making a donation to the nearest good-aligned church. Players who investigate the helm find that it is a Helm of Opposite Alignment.
389. As players walk by a sewer grate, a clawed pink hand reaches out to them. "Please! I need to get out of the city!" It is a tiefling boy, looking to get to the country side after a mob had chased him into the sewers.
390. A Calistrian and a Shelynite discuss sex and romance in public, loudly.
391. As players walk down the street, a parade of gnomes begins blocking their way.
392. At an evil settlement, a man is alternating between beating a halfing and dunking their head in the town square fountain.
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393. A venerable man bursts out of a house with his wrinkled wife chasing after him, yelling "Humperdinck! Humperdinck! Humperdinck! Humperdinck!"
394. Two men in town are seated at a table with two glasses of wine. One of the men explains that this is a duel of wits. One glass is poisoned with an odorless and tasteless toxin, and the other man must select a glass to drink from based on what the men know of each other.
395. A group of adventurers that look oddly similar to the PCs walks the opposite way down the street on the other side. Players who follow the group witness it getting jumped by thugs with clubs.
396. A half-giant is taking bets that he can best any three men in wrestling at once.
397. A contract devil is walking down the street in business clothing. Nobody is paying him any attention.
398. An alchemist steps out of a temple of Calistria with only a few potions remaining in his cart. Investigation reveals that they are potions of Remove Disease.
399. A Keketar Protean is putting on a show of transforming various dancers and bards into various objects and creatures mid-performance before changing them back a few moments later.
400. A man bursts out with a backpack of clockwork mechanisms and a crossbow-like device hooked up to it. Behind him you hear the angered wailing of ghosts. He turns to party briefly and says: "Who ya gonna call? ... Someone else."
Dotted.
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38. The entire town is mysteriously transported to Germany a bit less than a third of the way into the fifteenth century.
It should be a town in America in the modern era, grin. Could be interesting to see the effects actually.
Edit
406) The party see a well built man in a skintight red and blue outfit fly overhead. A nearby commoner mutters "Bloody wizards, too good to walk like the rest of us."
407) While walking down the street the part sees two gangs having a danceofff. They then realise everyone in town is singing and dancing till they explode.
38. The entire town is mysteriously transported to Germany a bit less than a third of the way into the fifteenth century.It should be a town in America in the modern era, grin. Could be interesting to see the effects actually.
Omg, this, A lost town of modern skilless people stuck in a DnD world XD
Sounds like a FX show to me
408.) One of the members in the party finds a golden ticket in the gutter, on it says "Admit one: Killy Waagh'grugs Rocket Factory", Killy is a whimsical orc who has musical slave goblins doing labor downtown.
409.) A cowardly blink dog with a Speech Impediment runs up to you asking for help, because a monster is haunting old man jenkin's home!
410.) The party is offered some "Rare candy" Automatically giving them a level if they eat it
Set, I have to say your suggestions are my favourites in this topic. The Otyugh asking for help, and rewarding in jewelry that leads to further adventure is an awesome idea.
All of mine aren't original. Aside from the obvious joke in the first one, the rest are ideas I've plundered from various websites and gaming mags.
412: A travelling preformance troupe mostly composed of monsters sets up for a show. The troupe leader is a particularly green-skinned, flustered grippli, and the main singer is a short, very porcine orc. Other members include a werebear with a lame stand-up act, an alchemist who shows off his latest discoveries on his oft-abused, non-common speaking assistant, and a strange blue creature who either preforms daredevil acts, or sketches involving singing chickens.
413: Trying to get into the city, the party is hassled by a pecksniff gate guard animal customs agent. Said agent spends a ridiculously long time inspecting every animal (Familiars and other intelligent varieties are not spared) finding numerous, insignificant faults. There is a good chance he refuses entry for said animal without either a good Diplomacy or Animal handling check. (He refuses to be bribed, and intimidation just results in the alarm being rung.)
414: Trying to get into the city, the party is hassled by a young, arrogant Officer who torments the party with his insufferable ego. He'll forbid entry for made-up reasons unless placated with diplomacy (or bluff) and a bribe of particularly shiny equipment, especially magic items. (Even basic rings of protection +1 or simple magic daggers) Coins and gems do not greatly interest him. Intimidation sends him screaming, but soon he'll have wanted posters placed around the city with the party's faces on them, accusing them of trumped-up charges.
The jerk guard is the son of the Captain of the town guard, which is how he gets away with his shennanignas. GM's choice on if his dad is overcoddling his son, blissfully unaware of his abuses of power, or hoping a stint in the guard will stop his spoiled nature. Or perhaps his dad wants to punish him, but his wife insists on spoiling him, and refuses to hear any talk of a discipline problem.
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416. You encounter a child selling Tindertwigs. She is frigid cold but is dressed only in rags despite the temperature. All she will accept is small change for her wares; anything else or any other action and she sprints around the corner into an alleyway where there is no sign of her, save for a pile of rags and burnt twigs.
417. A cart is clattering down a slope out of control towards a few children at play
418. a man in white and black robes moves effortlessly through the crowds in broad daylight. The hood and cowl of his garments are drawn tight, obscuring his face regardless of Perception checks. He disappears for a moment and suddenly is moving up the walls of the buildings with unearthly style and grace
419: a down-on-her-luck wizardess is propped on a gutter. All she has left is a small portion of her spellbook and some pre-purchased scroll paper and inks. She will pen her only spell left, Floating Disk, as a scroll spell for only 10 GP, just to survive.
420: A summoner is entertaining a crowd with minor conjurations. Suddenly one of his spells goes terribly awry and infernal sounds ripple through an ever-widening portal of fire and brimstone. A singular voice cries out "AFTER TEN THOUSAND YEARS! AT LAST! FREEDOM!" as framed in the portal a skull-topped scepter crowned with ram's horns begins to appear.
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416. You encounter a child selling Tindertwigs. She is frigid cold but is dressed only in rags despite the temperature. All she will accept is small change for her wares; anything else or any other action and she sprints around the corner into an alleyway where there is no sign of her, save for a pile of rags and burnt twigs.
419: a down-on-her-luck wizardess is propped on a gutter. All she has left is a small portion of her spellbook and some pre-purchased scroll paper and inks. She will pen her only spell left, Floating Disk, as a scroll spell for only 10 GP, just to survive.
Is it wrong I want to save these two?
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Bump in the hopes of more Mark Hoover posts.
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Its nice to have fans :)
421. a young girl in black and red garb chases a group of thugs; suddenly she spins, spectral rose pedals in her wake while a red baton springs from a wrist sheath. With clicking and clanking and more than a little magic the baton extends and transforms into a great scythe glowing red with eldritch energy
422. in the midst of a darkened alley you spy a bowl of cream left on a doorstep; the liquid is rippling. 3 tiny, winged forms circle the bowl, each seeming to want to prevent the other from getting any. (Three pixies are arguing over who gets the first drink).
423. A pair of mangy dogs snarl at the PCs while guarding their food; if the PCs look closely (DC 15 Perception or DC 15 Heal check) they note that the "food" is a humanoid's leg, freshly butchered.
424. Coy pond
425. At night a crowd of teens gather in a side lane off a main plaza. They watch in rapt anticipation as one lad nervously mumbles some statement to his compatriots and then extends his hand into the mouth of a draconic bust in relief on the wall. (Knowledge: Local DC 15 reveals that this is a Test of Truth: supposedly the bust is an aspect of Apsu. The ritual goes that a statement is spoken before it and then the hand is placed inside the mouth at which point the truth is judged by the god. If true nothing happens; if false the dragon supposedly roars and marks the offender as a liar for 30 days. The bust holds a mild aura relating to Illusion and Transmutation magic if detected for. This can be identified as a Ghost Sound and Arcane Mark trap though there is no obvious trigger)
426. A gnome in a leather duster with soot all over his face jumps from the ceiling of a building to land near one of the PC's. He stands up with a flourish, extending a hand towards the closest PC. He glares silently for a moment, then says in a high-pitched voice -
"Come with me if you want to live."
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427. A seedy street vendor with an eyepatch is excitedly hawking sausages in a bun. The PCs could swear they'd seen him - or a man just like him - in several other cities, none of which were anywhere near here.
428. A vampire is running around the marketplace enumerating everything in sight. He intermittently cackles maniacally; every time he does, there is a distant lightning strike and thunderclap.
429. A team of mountaineers in full gear and equipment are scaling the street as though it's an unforgiving mountainside.
430. Suddenly, a massive choreographed song and dance number!
427. A seedy street vendor with an eyepatch is excitedly hawking sausages in a bun. The PCs could swear they'd seen him - or a man just like him - in several other cities, none of which were anywhere near here.
Wait, was that CMOT Dibbler, DMH Dibhala, CMOHO Dhblah, or FG Dibbler? What city are we in again?
431. The PC's come upon a crowd that has gathered around to watch a duel between two witches, one young and one very old, and to win the witches have to out-stare the sun.
432. The PC's have found lodging at an inn in a very sedate town, but at sundown a bell rings and all the young people run outside yelling "Festival!" and engaging in violence and debauchery. The PC's are told they must also participate, or they will be judged by the local deity.
433. The PC's are walking thru a shady part of town when they come across a brick wall mostly fused into glass and still clicking and pinging as it cools, and they see the only parts of the wall not fused are the silhouettes of a group of humanoids with raised weapons. Large tracks in the mud seem to indicate enormous taloned feet.
434. The PC's encounter an old man as he runs naked into the street, his long beard the only thing protecting his dignity. He is soaking wet as if he was just in the bath, and he keeps shouting "Eureaka!" Nobody seems to think this is strange, and as he stops at a wine merchant, the merchant hands him a towel, parchment, quill and ink. The man begins to write rapidly.
435. The PC's encounter an old man sweeping in a temple. He beckons them to follow him outside where he shows them what he is cultivating. Instead of tiny pruned bonsai trees, the old man has a garden with tiny realistic mountains. They can even feel the cold from the snow.
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436. A short bugbear with bulging eyes and blue fur is rampaging through a bakery.
Is he singing? If so, is it something about the letter "C?"
439. You spot a cart selling a stinking fruit that smells so foul crows are circling. Soon after spying it the guard arrives to make an arrest, holding their noses.
440. As you pass an alleyway you spot the corpse of an old man you'd seen begging in the square the night before. (For the GM - there's nothing nefarious; the old man was homeless and this settlement has no social policies in place for this sort of thing. He died of exposure after a tough night on the streets)
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441. A child is asking their parents "why the gods won't help the poor."
442. A not-huge-but-decent-sized group of people are lobbying for social programs to help the homeless.
443. A not-huge-but-decent-sized group of people are lobbying for social programs to exterminate the homeless like rats.
444. A beggar discovers they have some serious sorcerous powers.
445. Standing on the gallows you see a very uncomfortable bard with a noose around his neck, the crowd is riled up for the anticipated hanging. On a manor balcony overlooking the square and gallows you hear the muffled pleas for mercy and leniency, from what looks like another band of adventures, addressed to an impartial and stern governor.
446. You're entering the city through the main gate, with the guards keeping a careful watch on those entering. Your high perception check spots someone hidden in a hay wagon entering the city, the guards do not notice.
447. Stumbling back to the inn after a night of post-adventure revelry, you hear a strange muffled click-click along the exterior wall. Anyone trained in Knowledge(Engineering) recognizes immediately that someone is tunneling under the wall.
448. During a routine rat removal operation, someone over-swings and breaks open a crate full of contraband.
449. The lid on the lye pit has been pried off and a freak wind is blowing the caustic dust everywhere
450. A single-sail longboat is seen rowing into port, the great dragon's head carved on the prow glowing menacingly. A yipping chant calls out the oars. On board are the kobold Vikings; all white-scaled kobolds from the ancient north
451. A tattered old carpetbag has been left laying unattended in an alleyway. Upon closer inspection you spy flickering lights from somewhere inside and catch a faint whiff of the sea even as the distant sounds of waves whisper through the thread-bare handles
452. An old woman is throwing rotten fruit at a young lad, all the while admonishing a pretty young girl behind her for "wasting your powers on such a worthless sod!"
453. A thrush in a nearby window boasts "Birch bark scrolls and cheap alchemy!"
454. a trio, 2 men and a lady covered in soot and carrying wire-bristled brooms come climbing down the masonry of a nearby row-house
455. A clever street vendor with a thick, waxed moustache grins broadly as he snaps his fingers over a sheet filled with dough balls; before your eyes each ball in turn flattens then coils itself into a pretzel even as the man sweeps over then with coarse salt. Another snap sends the sheet floating of its own accord into the oven of his cart even as another sheet is produced, filled with steaming hot pretzels
456. Two middle aged women hang clothes on lines while gossiping about their neighbors
457. A sudden rain bursts, sending almost everyone from the street with the exception of a ragged beggar. He is dressed in tatters and doesn't appear to have bathed in days. His scraggly hair however is bound in ribbons of what appears to be seaweed. "Thank you my lord; you are a gracious lady!" he shouts up into the storm even as he produces a simple wooden cup with a shell for a lid and opens it to fill it with rain water
458. A cart prattles down the street at a steady pace; behind it a young lad garishly dressed and riding some kind of wood plank fitted with caster wheels trails behind by holding the kick step on the back
459. Three young women with jangling costumes and cymbals on their fingers gyrate rhythmically even as a pair of minstrels with stringed instruments play the tune they dance to; a small bowl is filling rapidly with the copper of the predominantly male audience
460. Two young toughs chase a woman into a nearby alleyway, laughing lasciviously with daggers drawn; screaming in a female voice can be heard
Can I play at your table Mark?