Build Complex D&D Adventures with Random Tables
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- Mike talks about how to generate deeper and richer adventures using layered rolls on random tables.
Scenario Building: From Cliche to Complexity - Joseph Manola, Against the Wicked City
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I have a campaign fueled by the randomness of the magic item Bag of Beans. The farming village where the PCs live is dying, and a witch comes in with lots of bags of beans to help bring it back to life. The twist is that there are different colored beans that sprout different things. Theres a table for each color of the rainbow (blue beans sprout weapons, orange beans srout monsters etc) and then the standard plain beans. Everytime the players find a green bean, part of the village comes to life and new services are added. Its a fun and chaotic game, while still being reigned in by the beans themselves. One set opens doors to other planes that could be a whole new adventure. It requires minimal planning and no two campaigns would be the same.
Aye, I was the one who posted about this in the discord a while back. Neat, glad this awesome advice is being spread out.
Yay!
I really like those more complex quests, I remember the process from the Halloween adventure you made. It's really cool to see the roll tables once more come alive.
Love these tables. So much fun. They remind me of a condensed version of the Tome of Adventure Design by Matt Finch which has many wonderful rollable tables.
A really good source of random plots is Sine Nomine's Stars Without Number and Worlds Without Number. System agnostic and rich.
I got a copy of WWN a while ago and I am loving it. Great book to get your creativity running
Yes!
This is really helpful! I’ve been using the DM’s companion but haven’t thought about adding this complexity to it. Such great ideas, thanks as always for the great videos!
Very good! Thanks and congratulations!
reading that Manola article, i'm reminded of the structure of "Blades in the Dark" setups, with overlapping facets / factions / fronts, each with their own agenda, which intersect(s) with the PC's activities to a greater or lesser extent • of course, in "Blades", this is partly the result of the work that the rulebook has already done in setting up the city for you, but it also emerges "organically" as all the players add suggestions while cooperatively establishing what the pivot (heist, recovery, protection, etc) will likely be • importantly, it's not entirely on the DM; just as here, the random tables "behind the scenes" allow the DM to offload some of that cooperative decision making onto random chance (which of course is still a large element of "Blades" in determining the parameters and details of the main activity)
I really need to do more Blades homework
Awesome fast informative and super examples of implementation of the adventure building tools 😎🎲
Really love your videos and the ideas you put out. Bought the return of the lazy dungeon master yestarday!
Thank you!
I love this method, I´ll use it to fuel my hombrew campaign. Can´t wait to get my physical versions of your books.
Mythic Game Master Emulator is a good tool for building adventure outlines as well. It's a bit complicated to understand at first and more so to explain so I won't bother, but basically it's a probability engine that relies on the player(s) (or GM if you're using it to make a plot outline) asking questions and then creatively interpreting the results of random tables in the most logical way, with random events occasionally mixing things up.
Great when combined with other random tables. I'm looking forward to trying it with the LDM's Companion. Love your videos btw, Sly
Been following and liking for a few weeks, literally just noticed I wasn't subscribed. XD
Thank you!
So rolled (8,19) for a Haughty patron who requires the parties help.
(15,5) The NPC convinces them to help clear out some monsters
(19,11) so they can locate a monument that opens a gate
(10,4) after which they will need to close that gate uncovering a secret whilst they do.
So using the other rolls its to discover their patron is cursed with lycanthropy and needs their help to get inside an Ancient Temple to the Keeper of Secrets currently home to a band of Orcs.
Within they have to locate the skull of a long dead Tiefling using that to adorn an Obelisk within a Tomb located near the heart of the Temple opening a portal that will either permanently turn the Patron into their were form or cure them depending on what has transpired during this trip.
However to close the Gate they will need a broken Dragonborn Goblet filled with a poisonous brew thats cast into the gate closing it but will now shatter the goblet entirely this time.
IF the patron survives they will reveal they were part of a band that came to this temple and the gate was opened resulting in him being cursed with lycanthropy whilst the rest fled through the gate permanently transformed.
However their patron is thus revealed as a member of the Keeper of Secrets Cult who will either flee or attempt to recruit the party as his new lietenants.
He has no intention on curing them of the lycanthropy that effected him, trusting they will not recognise their peril before the end of the next full moon when he will be able to command them whilst they're in their lycanthropic state like he has been and still is albeit willingly this time round.
EDIT: The brew is from a wineskin the patron brought with them he will attempt to befriend a member of the party or be accompanied by a loyal henchman to carry out the deed to save their master.
Needs a bit more work, but a good start!
Just an after thought.
The portal is to the Feywild opening it infects everyone present with lycanthropy that until the first full moon is treated as a disease after which it's treated as a curse.
The brew allows the brewer to control those who are subsequently infected with lycanthropy BUT only whilst in their lycanthropic state.
So unless they drink the brew or have some resistance to disease they will transform and run straight through into the Feywild forever lost.
TIL unseelie is a word
I enjoy your content, but this is just not the style of my campaign quest writing. It's just too all over the place. I've got eight players at my table. They're all over the place enough on their own!