Create Random Adventures - The Mudworld Blog

Adventures often involve a new patron, rumors of enemy activities, or investigating current events and rumors.

As a follow-up on previous posts of creating adventures, dungeon adventures, and city adventures, here’s a simple random generator to generate a framework for your adventure design.

The main text is also available as a Random Adventure Generator.

Patrons, Antagonists, Persons of Interest, Items, and Places of Interest

d20	Random Patron, Antagonists, and Persons of Interest
1	Assassins	11	Mage Guild
2	City Council	12	Merchant
3	City Guard	13	Necromancer
4	Courtesan	14	Noble House
5	Craftsman	15	Seer
6	Crime Lord	16	Sellswords
7	Cultists	17	Slaver Ring
8	Druids	18	Smuggler
9	Foreign diplomat	19	Templars
10	Innkeeper	20	Thieves’ Guild
d12	Item of Interest	d12	Location of Interest
1	A chest with gold	1	A thieves’ marked
2	A holy relic	2	Castle Ruin
3	A map	3	City Sewers
4	A medallion	4	Dark Forest
5	A piece of jewelry	5	Deserted Catacombs
6	An arcane focus	6	Horde Outpost
7	An heirloom sword	7	Lost Caves
8	Arcane tome	8	Mountain Fortress
9	Bag of gems	9	Sinister Mansion
10	Earthly remains	10	Sinister Warehouse
11	Stack of letters	11	Temple Ruin
12	Staff of Power	12	Lost Mines

d6	Enemy Activities and Plots
1	Accusations. The characters are investigated for murder or some other crime.
2	Assassins. Enemies send assassins to deal with the protagonists.
3	Enemy Agents. There are rumors of enemy agents appearing in the area.
4	Shadows. Someone is keeping an eye on the protagonists.
5	Subversive attack. Property is stolen, or followers have been killed.
6	Whispers. Someone is spreading rumors of the characters.

d20	Local News, Rumors, and Events
1	A person of an ethnic minority is killed.
2	An ethnic minority celebrate.
3	Ball or grand party.
4	Betrothal or wedding in the neighborhood.
5	Commoner is slain at home.
6	Diplomatic meeting.
7	Foreign dignitaries are visiting.
8	Funeral for a known, loved or perhaps vilified person.
9	Inns and merchants organize a celebration.
10	A jealous rivalry has turned violent.
11	Jousting and archery contests.
12	Mages are meeting for a conference.
13	Market day.
14	Merchants offer magic items or exotic goods.
15	Religious celebration.
16	A scandalous marriage of love.
17	Several caravans have arrived.
18	Someone is killing the local prostitutes.
19	Someone of importance has died.
20	Thefts or mugging in the area.
d6	Twists and Complications
1	Rival force or foreign power investigate.
2	Local authorities ignore the event.
3	Local factions disagree on the event.
4	Foreign involvement is suspected.
5	Merchants are behind the event.
6	A sinister cult is involved.

Monsters have been sighted in the region.

d12	Monster Sightings
1	A flight of Wyverns has been spotted in the area.
2	A pack of Wights attack a local settlement and work their way to the center areas.
3	Humans and Orcs have been meeting in the wilderness. Something is likely to be afoot.
4	Orcs have ambushed travelers on the road.
5	Raiders are passing through the area. They have established a camp in the nearby hills.
6	Zombies have appeared on an old battlefield.
7	Horrid Fish-Men come from the sea and stalk the shores.
8	Packs of Wolves and Half-naked Wildlings hunt in the woods at night.
9	Some say they have seen Giants moving in the mountainside.
10	Pilgrims have been attacked on the way to a Ritual Site in the area.
11	Someone is skulking at the local Catacombs at night.
12	Strange lights and noises are heard from a nearby Dungeon.

d4	One-Page Dungeon
1	Catacombs: Something stir in the old catacombs.
2	Caves: Darkness has crept back into nearby caves.
3	Ritual Site: Cultists gather at a religious site.
4	Ruins: Scouts have spotted activity around an ancient fallen stronghold.
d8	Twists
1	Agents of exiled nobles have appeared in the region.
2	Demon Cultists or Diabolists investigates.
3	Enemy Agents are exploring a nearby ruin.
4	Local Merchants have illicit dealings at the site.
5	Necromancers may be afoot!
6	Royal Agents has taken an interest.
7	Scavengers have been spotted around an arcane ruin in the area.
8	Soldiers are watching the area.
d10	Monster Theme	Random Feature
1	Alien Horrors	Binding Circle
2	Dark Druids	Cultist hideout
3	Dark Fey	Dark Shrine
4	Demons	Dormant portal
5	Devils	Imprisonment Spell
6	Giants	Lost Tomb
7	Horde Outpost	Monster settlement
8	Men	Ruined city
9	Undead	Slave Pen
10	Underground Horrors	Thieves’ Den
d10	Secret Vault of the…	Random Dungeon Villain
1	Ancient Elves	Ascended Cabalist
2	Forgotten King	Cultist Priest
3	Mage Guild	Death Knight
4	Mage Lords of the Past	Fallen Angel
5	Royal House	Horde Chieftain
6	Secret Order	Horror from the Deep
7	Swords of the Crown	Imprisoned Demon
8	Templar Knights	Possessed Chieftain
9	Thieves’ Guild	Shadow Giant
10	Unhallowed Ones	Undead Sorcerer

Into the City, an improvisation environment cheat sheet.
Into the Sewers, an improvisation environment cheat sheet.
Dungeons of the Demon Cult. Cheat sheet for brainstorming and running demon cult dungeons.