Random Tables

Underground Lair: Exotic Areas

Roll d12 or choose one or two areas from this table when you want an unusual element in an underground lair.

d12	Area	Description
1	Bat Roost	A chamber or high passage colonized by bats. They are a reliable food source and a living alarm — they scatter noisily when disturbed, alerting the rest of the lair.
2	Bioluminescent Passage	A tunnel where lichen or fungi emit a faint cold glow — blue, green, or pale white. No torches are needed here, and nothing in this passage burns easily.
3	Clay Pit	A deposit of workable clay exposed by digging or water erosion. Inhabitants may use it for crude pottery, trap vessels, or tunnel sealant.
4	Crystal Pocket	A chamber where mineral crystals line the walls — quartz, calcite, or something stranger. Some inhabitants may treat it as sacred ground or harvest crystals as offerings.
5	Deep Shaft	A vertical drop going well below the rest of the lair. The inhabitants avoid it, guard it, or have sealed it off. What lives below is unknown.
6	Dragon's Old Den	A space that still carries signs of a dragon — old scorch marks, drag furrows in the stone, a broken scale. Many inhabitants would treat this as holy ground.
7	Flooded Chamber	A room partially or fully submerged. Blind fish may live here. Passages continue below the waterline. Something may have sunk to the bottom.
8	Fossil Bed	A section of wall or floor where ancient bones, shells, or plant impressions are embedded in stone. Some inhabitants may have dug carefully around them; others smashed through.
9	Fungus Grove	A damp chamber where large mushrooms grow in clusters. Some are edible; others may be toxic or hallucinogenic. Bioluminescent varieties provide dim natural light.
10	Natural Cavern	A large unworked cave absorbed into the tunnel network — stalactites, stalagmites, and possibly an underground pool. Larger and more dramatic than the dug passages around it.
11	Old Stonework	A remnant of prior construction — dwarven, human, or unknown — integrated into the tunnels. A worked door, a carved corridor, a collapsed room. Someone built here before.
12	Purple Worm Bore	A smooth, wide shaft bored by something enormous. The inhabitants have colonized it but may not know whether the creature that made it still passes through.

Urban Lair: Exotic Areas

Roll d12 or choose one or two areas from this table when you want an unusual element in an urban lair (guard barracks, courthouse, magistrate's office, etc.).

d12	Area	Description
1	Converted Chapel	A shrine attached to or absorbed into the building. The altar and iconography remain; some inhabitants treat the space with reverence, others with unease.
2	Sewer Access	A basement door or floor grate opening into the city sewers. An escape route, or a way for unwelcome things to creep in.
3	Hidden Chamber	A secret room from a past era — a priest hole, a smuggler's stash, a sealed study. The current occupants may or may not know it exists.
4	Old Library	A room of forgotten records, ledgers, or possibly forbidden books. The contents may incriminate, exonerate, or merely confuse.
5	Forgotten Vault	A sealed door whose contents are unknown to the current occupants. Could be empty, could be valuable, could be dangerous.
6	Haunted Room	A former victim or prisoner still lingers — a sad spirit, a vengeful shade, or a quiet presence that occasionally answers questions.
7	Underground Tunnel	A passage running to another building in the city — an escape route, a smuggling line, or a covert way to move people unseen.
8	Rooftop Aviary	Falcons, hawks, or messenger pigeons kept on the roof. Useful for communication, surveillance, or perhaps hunting.
9	Wine Cellar	A well-stocked cellar inherited from the building's previous use. The vintage may be valuable; the bottles may also conceal other things.
10	Inner Garden	A concealed greenspace within the building's walls — herb beds, a small well, perhaps a meditation bench. Easy to overlook from outside.
11	Catacombs	Burial vaults beneath the building, often older than the building itself. Some occupants are honored dead; some are not.
12	Servants' Passages	Narrow corridors built so servants could move unseen between rooms. Forgotten by most current occupants; remembered by a few.

Volcanic Lair: Exotic Areas

Roll d10 or choose one or two areas from this table when you want an unusual element in a volcanic lair.

d10	Area	Description
1	Sacrificial Altar	An old altar from a forgotten cult; dried blood and worn runes. Its god may or may not still be paying attention.
2	Forgotten Hatchery	A clutch of abandoned eggs laid by a subterranean creature. They may be dead, dormant, or perhaps already hatched and hungry.
3	Bone Pile	Heaped remains of past adventurers, livestock, and prey. Sometimes carries armor, weapons, or signet rings worth identifying.
4	Sulfur Pool	Bubbling sulfurous water; fumes inflict damage on anyone breathing nearby for an extended period.
5	Lava Falls	A vertical magma flow — scenic and hard to traverse.
6	Crystal Garden	Formations of obsidian and gemstone grown from slowly cooled magma. Visually striking and genuinely valuable.
7	Old Workroom	A wizard's setup, abandoned long ago. Dusty tomes, arcane glassware, and half-finished diagrams.
8	Buried Structure	Fragments of an older building (dwarven hall, hermit's tower, lost shrine) subsumed by the volcano's growth.
9	Cavern of Echoes	A large open space where every sound carries strangely. Whispers from the entrance can be heard at the back, and vice versa.
10	Frozen Pool	A pocket of inexplicable cold water amid the heat. A magical curiosity and possible evidence of an older inhabitant.

Tribal Faction History

Roll d12 to determine what shaped this faction before the players encounter it. The result explains the faction's current condition and gives the DM something for players to discover through investigation.

d12	History
1	Nearly destroyed — was almost wiped out by violence; has slowly rebuilt; cautious and wary
2	Displaced — driven from richer or more desirable territory; this lair or camp is a fallback
3	Lost a patron — once served a powerful creature that died or departed; now without clear direction
4	Fractured — broke away from a larger faction after internal conflict; leadership legitimacy is contested
5	Recently arrived — new to this area; the lair is rough and relations with neighbors are undefined
6	Long established — has been here for generations; well-dug in and resistant to change
7	Overgrown — expanded rapidly; numbers have outpaced organization and resources
8	Leaderless — the previous leader died recently; new leadership is untested or disputed
9	Victorious — recently defeated a rival or repelled a serious attack; confidence is high
10	Damaged — fire, flood, collapse, or plague has taken part of the faction; the lair shows it
11	Allied — aligned with an unexpected creature or faction; others in the region are wary of this
12	Betrayed — by a patron, an ally, or one of its own; deeply suspicious of outsiders and insiders alike

Tribal Faction Goals

Roll d12 to determine what this faction is actively trying to accomplish. Pair with a history result to establish the faction's trajectory — where it came from and where it is going.

d12	Goal
1	Expand the lair or territory — push boundaries, dig deeper, claim more ground
2	Raid nearby roads, farms, or settlements for food, wealth, or captives
3	Avenge a specific defeat, killing, or insult
4	Reclaim lost territory or a sacred site
5	Drive a rival faction from nearby territory
6	Grow to the next faction level — recruit, capture, or breed to increase numbers
7	Find a powerful patron to serve
8	Survive a known threat — hunker down against a pursuing force, predator, or rival
9	Secure control of a specific resource — water, hunting ground, passage, or mine
10	Demand tribute from weaker creatures or nearby settlements
11	Build strength for a conflict the faction knows is approaching
12	Establish dominance over neighboring factions through raids or shows of force

Urban Faction History

Roll d12 to determine what shaped this urban faction before the players encounter it. Use for city guards, magistrates, mercantile orders, criminal syndicates, and similar institutionally embedded factions.

d12	History
1	Newly founded — a recently established branch, precinct, or office; few traditions yet
2	Long established — generations of service; entrenched habits and old grudges
3	Reformed — restructured after a public scandal or major failure; on probation
4	Underfunded — chronically short on coin, equipment, or staffing
5	Politically captured — beholden to a noble, guild, or merchant patron
6	Leaderless — the head died, was promoted away, or recalled; succession is unsettled
7	Disgraced — recent public failure has cost the faction its credibility
8	Decorated — recent high-profile success has emboldened the faction
9	Veteran-heavy — many old hands; skilled but scornful of new ideas
10	Recruit-heavy — recent purge or expansion has filled the ranks with the green
11	Corrupted — an internal corruption ring is active; loyalty is divided
12	Foreign-led — head is an outsider to the city; trust is uneven

Urban Faction Goals

Roll d12 to determine what this urban faction is actively trying to accomplish. Pair with a history result to establish trajectory.

d12	Goal
1	Crush a specific organization — break a gang or rival guild
2	Catch a notorious individual — serial killer, master thief, ex-member
3	Quell unrest — suppress public dissent, protests, or labor agitation
4	Win the next budget — political maneuvering for increased funding or charter
5	Expand jurisdiction — claim territory from an adjacent faction or office
6	Cleanse internal corruption — root out a corruption ring within the ranks
7	Protect a visiting dignitary — escort a noble, ambassador, or sacred relic
8	Enforce a new edict — implement an unpopular law from the throne or council
9	Investigate a conspiracy — pull at the threads of a hidden plot
10	Stamp out a heresy or cult — religious or magical enforcement
11	Capture a fugitive — a specific named target on the run
12	Negotiate a peace — diplomatic accommodation with a rival faction or gang

Dragon Faction History

Roll d10 to determine what shaped this dragon's experience.

d10	History
1	Newly settled — claimed this lair within the last few decades; still consolidating
2	Long established — has ruled here for centuries; the locals know the dragon by name
3	Slumbering — recently woken from a long sleep; the world has changed in its absence
4	Wounded — survived a recent attack and bears scars and grudges
5	Hoarder — has spent recent decades amassing rather than expanding
6	Conqueror — recently drove out the previous tenant (giant, rival dragon, fey, etc.)
7	Hunted — knows that adventurers or a rival actively seek to slay it
8	Inheritor — took over a deceased dragon's lair and its unfinished plots
9	Reclusive — has not been seen openly in a generation; some believe it dead
10	Bested — lost a contest, raid, or duel and now plots revenge

Dragon Faction Goals

Roll d10 to determine what this dragon is actively trying to accomplish.

d10	Goal
1	Add to the hoard — acquire a specific named treasure or quantity of wealth
2	Eliminate a rival — destroy another dragon, archmage, or notorious hero
3	Expand territory — claim more land or settlements as tribute zones
4	Brood — find a mate or guard an existing clutch of eggs
5	Drive away adventurers — eliminate intruders permanently rather than just repel them
6	Acquire an ally — secure a specific powerful creature's service or pact
7	Reclaim a lost item — recover something stolen from the hoard in the past
8	Avenge a slight — old grudge against a clan, town, family, or order
9	Establish tribute — set up or enforce a tribute system from nearby settlements
10	Dominate the region — assert primacy over other regional monsters and warlords