Cairn uses Forests as its “wild locations”, including rules for randomly creating and procedures for wandering around in. Sometimes you just need some extra description… Roll Description 1 Sun-dappled clearing filled with wildflowers 2 A slow-moving, mossy stream 3 A dense thicket of thorny brambles 4 The base of an ancient, colossal oak tree 5 A patch of ground covered entirely in glowing, blue mushrooms 6 A hidden cave entrance obscured by vines 7 A small, bubbling hot spring 8 An area of charred, burnt-out trees 9 A cluster of towering, thin birch trees 10 A rocky overhang with a small waterfall 11 A badger sett with numerous entrance holes 12 A patch of soft, deep peat moss 13 A large, circular fairy ring of mushrooms 14 A disused, overgrown logging road 15 A quiet pond covered in lily pads 16 The remnants of an old stone wall or ruin 17 A small hunting blind built into the trees 18 A grove of weeping willow trees 19 A massive, fallen tree trunk creating a natural bridge 20 An area with a strong, unusual smell (e.g., sulfur or sweet perfume) 21 A field of waist-high ferns 22 A small, dilapidated wooden shack 23 A narrow canyon or gorge 24 A large boulder with strange carvings 25 A spot where the canopy is extremely dense and dark 26 A squirrel’s midden (large pile of discarded nuts/cones) 27 A patch of rare, vibrant red soil 28 A swift-flowing, shallow brook 29 A tangle of exposed tree roots forming a natural barrier 30 A bird’s nesting ground, filled with calls 31 A sudden, steep embankment 32 A small shrine or altar dedicated to an unknown deity 33 An area where the sound of the wind is particularly loud 34 A small, dusty animal trail 35 A place where the trees grow in a strange, twisted pattern 36 An old campfire site with some scattered belongings 37 A quiet pool known to be a watering hole for deer 38 A large formation of natural rock stairs 39 A grove of tall, slender pine trees 40 A patch of carnivorous plants 41 A misty hollow that never seems to clear 42 A deep sinkhole covered by loose leaves 43 A large tree with a beehive hanging from a branch 44 A secluded area with a remarkably soft, mossy floor 45 The remains of a poacher’s snare or trap 46 A natural amphitheater in the landscape 47 An area where the ground feels hollow underfoot 48 A tree marked with old, faded trail markers or symbols 49 A small patch of wild berries or fruit 50 A quiet, shallow ford across a river 51 A large raven’s nest at the top of a dead tree 52 An area with a surprisingly strong echo 53 A natural bridge formed by two intertwined trees 54 A small hill with an opening to a large ant colony 55 A pile of discarded, rusted machinery or metal 56 A hidden spring that provides clean, cold water 57 An ancient, overgrown cemetery 58 A patch of ground where the air is noticeably cooler 59 A large hollow log, big enough to hide inside 60 A quiet place where many animal bones are scattered 61 A muddy bank with fresh animal tracks 62 A cluster of oddly shaped, pale white fungi 63 A small, eerie stand of bald cypress trees 64 A secluded clearing where light never seems to reach the ground 65 An abandoned well with a broken cover 66 A rock face perfect for climbing 67 A spot where only dead, silvery trees remain standing 68 A small, circular indent in the ground (maybe an old fire pit or impact site) 69 A place where several different animal paths converge 70 A stream where small, colourful fish can be seen 71 A high point offering a view over the lower canopy 72 A patch of extremely tall, impenetrable bamboo 73 A large tree that has been struck by lightning multiple times 74 A natural maze formed by dense, low-hanging branches 75 An area filled with the sound of buzzing insects 76 A large, flat rock ideal for resting or a picnic 77 A small, artificial bridge, possibly very old 78 A section of the forest floor covered in bluebells or other seasonal flowers 79 An ancient stone circle, half-hidden by growth 80 A quiet pool reflecting the sky like a mirror 81 A large, thorny rose bush growing wild 82 An area where a specific type of bird is very common (lots of jackdaws?) 83 A deep ravine, difficult to cross (perhaps a pushed over tree) 84 A natural rock slide 85 A place where many spider webs are visible between the trees 86 A large, old treehouse, still in good condition 87 A very quiet spot, almost devoid of animal sounds 88 A small hillock covered in wild mint 89 A cluster of red cedar trees with their distinct smell 90 A muddy wallow, clearly used by boar or large animals 91 A patch of unusual, purple-coloured grass 92 A rocky area with small caves and crevices 93 A very old, barely visible human trail 94 An area full of vibrant green moss and liverwort 95 A small, overgrown orchard with wild fruit trees 96 A circular opening in the canopy, like a skylight 97 A small island in the middle of a wider stream 98 A place with a natural echo chamber 99 A patch of giant dandelions or other large wildflowers 100 The exact centre of the forest (arbitrarily defined) Enjoy!

Characters wander towns, often looking for something to buy or someone to talk to…but sometimes you want to bring these towns to life a bit. Activating all the senses can bring the streets to life… d100 The Smell of… d100 d100 01 Baking rye bread 34 Roasted chestnuts 67 Dried lavender 02 Woodsmoke 35 Wet stone/damp 68 Freshly cut grass 03 Horse manure 36 Boiling pottage 69 Rosewater 04 Rotting fish 37 Pine needles 70 Saffron & spice 05 Tallow candles 38 Sharp vinegar 71 Sweet pipe tobacco 06 Fresh sawdust 39 Stale ale/beer 72 Beeswax 07 Acrid urine 40 Wet wool 73 Fermenting fruit 08 Roast meat 41 Oiled leather 74 Hot copper/pennies 09 Salty sea breeze 42 Damp plaster 75 Burnt hair 10 Animal butchery 43 Sewer gas 76 Garlic & onions 11 Drying herbs 44 Fresh rain (Petrichor) 77 Mildewed fabric 12 Raw sewage 45 Wood tar 78 Smoked ham 13 Incense (temple) 46 Pig manure 79 Wet dog 14 Unwashed bodies 47 Crushed mint 80 Bitter almond 15 Tannery chemicals 48 Boiling laundry 81 Clove & nutmeg 16 Fresh mud 49 Ripe cheese 82 Stagnant river 17 Brewer’s yeast 50 Burning fat (Nidor) 83 Metallic blood 18 Damp straw 51 Old parchment/books 84 Fresh honeycomb 19 Coal smoke 52 Rotten eggs (Sulphur) 85 Burning peat 20 Fried onions 53 Cardamom 86 Dry hay 21 Wet clay 54 Rancid butter 87 Alchemical ozone 22 Lamp oil 55 Pungent ginger 88 Gunpowder 23 Hot metal (forge) 56 Sage & rosemary 89 Dead rats 24 Cider/apples 57 Anise or fennel 90 Honey and lilac 25 Muddy livestock 58 Freshly tilled earth 91 Burning resin 26 Stable hay 59 Sweet pastries 92 Sheep’s wool grease (lanolin) 27 Sour goat milk 60 Musty cellar 93 Boiling tar 28 Turps/Resin 61 Black pepper 94 Cinnamon & sugar 29 Rotten cabbage 62 Burning charcoal 95 Stale vomit 30 Jasmine flower 63 Salty fish sauce 96 Limewash (paint) 31 Thyme 64 Muddy river silt 97 Dusty road 32 Soap (citrus) 65 Turmeric 98 Hot wax 33 Fresh blood 66 Sweet pottage 99 Multiple: Roll twice 100 Pure Air: Unnaturally clean Enjoy!

Your PCs are making their way down a classic fantasy road, you roll for an encounter: Is it an ambush by humanoid forces who have no motivation other than murdering people and taking their stuff? Is it a military force on patrol keeping the road safe? Is it a group of adventurers seeking their fortune? Perhaps its a train of caravans…either making their way slowly or on a bit of flat land just beside the road. ...

Cavern dressing is hard…and games like Skyrim set the bar quite high. Add some random stuff to your next dungeon cavern… d100 Item/Feature d100 Item/Feature 01 Bioluminescent fungi (pale blue) 51 Stacked pile of balanced rocks 02 Rusted iron piton 52 Small fumarole leaking heat 03 Shattered clay jug 53 Half-buried dragon scale 04 Calcified animal skull 54 Fossilized giant trilobite 05 Damp, rotted bedroll 55 Silver ring in an iron box 06 Glow-worm silk strands 56 Chipped obsidian dagger 07 Shallow pool of murky water 57 Small pouch of iron ball bearings 08 Broken wooden ladder rung 58 Dried bat guano (valuable) 09 Faded charcoal wall markings 59 Bundle of dry firewood 10 Single, perfectly round pebble 60 Ornate dwarven oil lamp 11 Clump of sticky spider silk 61 Discarded snake skin (5ft long) 12 Corroded copper coin 62 Cracked bronze bell (no clapper) 13 Petrified tree root 63 Worn whetstone 14 Empty glass vial (green) 64 Scuffed leather eyepatch 15 Cluster of quartz crystals 65 Jar of thick blue paste 16 Bent iron key 66 Broken lute with one string 17 Claw marks on a low ceiling 67 Small, hand-drawn map fragment 18 Remnants of a cold campfire 68 Iron bucket with a hole 19 Scrap of mouldy parchment 69 Tarnished brass locket 20 Broken spearhead (flint) 70 Large, flat sacrificial stone 21 Tiny, non-magical bone flute 71 Bundle of dried herbs (stale) 22 Dripping stalactite (slow) 72 Heavy iron chain (broken) 23 Discarded, notched greave 73 Carved idol of an eyeless god 24 Small heap of owl pellets 74 Polished mirror shard 25 Tattered red banner 75 Leather pouch of salt 26 Skeleton holding a tin cup 76 Broken hourglass (no sand) 27 Edible (but bitter) moss 77 Gnawed humanoid femur 28 Heavy stone door (jammed) 78 Collection of assorted buttons 29 Tin whistle (slightly bent) 79 Rusty bear trap (sprung) 30 Small bag of colourful marbles 80 Frayed coil of hempen rope 31 Dried honeycomb 81 Wax-sealed ceramic jar 32 Broken glass lantern 82 Strange, metallic humming stone 33 Carved bone dice (showing 1s) 83 Handful of gold-flecked sand 34 Splintered shield (willow) 84 Empty leather scroll case 35 Pile of discarded snail shells 85 Rusty iron mask 36 Moss-covered altar 86 Fragment of a stained-glass window 37 Chisel with a broken tip 87 Potted plant (carnivorous) 38 Loose tooth (large, jagged) 88 Bag of pungent, dried mushrooms 39 Tattered leather map case 89 Small, lead-lined box 40 Broken clay pipe 90 Skeletal hand clutching a gem 41 Drip-stone “curtain” formation 91 Vial of glow-in-the-dark ink 42 Scrap of chainmail (rusted) 92 Broken compass (needle spins) 43 Charred remains of a torch 93 Iron spike with a tattered ribbon 44 Small wooden figurine (horse) 94 Preserved giant beetle wing 45 Patch of slippery, black slime 95 Heavy stone mortar and pestle 46 Bundle of arrows (fletching gone) 96 Ornate, keyless padlock 47 Copper thimble 97 Small bag of silver dust 48 Handful of smooth river stones 98 Rotted wooden chest (empty) 49 Broken quill pen 99 Unusually warm, smooth egg 50 Cracked hand mirror 100 Glowing, sentient crystal fragment Enjoy!

Previously, I wrote up my list of dimly-lit corridors… I prefer new-school style games, and a key element of this style of play is telegraphing danger…it’s not enough to have a clever trap to allow the thief-like character to shine if they can have insta-death because they didn’t spot it. Add a warning to your traps…this is how attentive Players find the trap, because avoiding or disarming it is the fun part. ...

Building on top of yesterday’s post I can turn a random NPC into someone that could easily become a patron for the PCs, turning “You all meet in a tavern” into something more interesting. Let’s roll the dice and see who’s sitting in the corner of the taproom tonight. The Profile: Silas One-Eye Last Big Score: He once sold the location of a rich Mithril vein to a dwarven mining guild. He’s been living off the royalties ever since, though he claims the dwarves “short-changed” him. Why He Retired: Silas developed a nasty, wet cough from breathing in too much dungeon mould during a three-week crawl in a lightless abyss. His lungs just can’t handle the deep air any more. The Legend He Lost: He is obsessed with The Mirror of Elsewhere. He’s convinced there is a version of himself in another world who never stepped into that mouldy tomb, and he’d give his last copper to find it. How’d he lose his eye?: He alludes to a romance gone wrong. What the Locals Say (Rumours) ...

Getting a drink in a tavern usually means running into an old-timer who has seen too much and survived with just enough coin to keep their mug full. Character Name d20 Name 1 Bramwell “The Brick” 2 Kestrel of the High Moors 3 Silas One-Eye 4 Mother Marrow 5 Gallowglass 6 Orla the Tall 7 Hobb the Stout 8 Vane the Veiled 9 Corvus Thorne 10 Pippin “Rat-Catcher” 11 Elara of the Sunken Isles 12 Mordecai Grave-Tender 13 Seraphina the Pale 14 Thistle the Nimble 15 Barnaby “Big-Iron” 16 Lysandra the Loud 17 Grimnir of the Iron Crags 18 Rowan the Red 19 Zadok the Silent 20 Blythe the Bold Last Big Score They may tell you all about this…maybe for a coin, maybe for a few mugs of beer, or they might not and this is really just rumoured. ...

Describing a corridor gets a bit boring…10’ wide by 10’ (enough for two abreast), smooth stone, rough stone…natural. Sometimes you want to add something extra for atmosphere, set the scene by rolling a d20. Flickering Braziers: Cast-iron braziers sputter with dying embers, throwing long, jerking shadows that seem to dance and reach across the cracked stone floor. Bioluminescent Veins: Faint, pulsing blue lichen and violet moss cling to the walls, illuminating the passage with a cold, sickly glow that doesn’t quite reach the centre of the hall. Dusty Motes: Shafts of weak grey light filter through narrow high-altitude slits, revealing thick clouds of swirling dust that make the air feel heavy and ancient. Mirror Haze: A strange, thin fog clings to the floor, reflecting what little light there is and making it difficult to judge the corridor’s actual depth. Glistening Damp: Water trickles down the walls in a silent cascade, catching the light of your torches and creating a shimmering, distorted effect on the masonry. Soot-Stained Vaults: The arched ceiling is blackened by years of torch smoke, absorbing light and making the corridor feel claustrophobically low. Shattered Crystals: Fragments of a broken magical lamp lie scattered, occasionally emitting a dying, rhythmic pulse of amber light. Echoing Murk: The darkness ahead is so thick it feels physical, and the sound of your footsteps seems to flatten as if the shadows themselves are muffled. Iron Grate Shadows: Light from a floor below filters through rusted iron floor-grates, casting a sharp, cage-like grid of shadows across the ceiling. Tattered Banners: Faded, moth-eaten tapestries hang from the walls, swaying slightly in a phantom breeze and obscuring what might be hidden in the alcoves behind them. Reflective Slime: A trail of translucent, glowing snail-slime zig-zags across the floor, providing a faint, phosphoric guide deeper into the dark. Candle Stubs: Dozens of melted wax nubs line the floor-edges; a few still gutter with tiny, blue-flamed wicks that provide more shadow than light. Carved Nightmares: Bas-relief carvings of leering demons line the hallway, their recessed eyes catching the light in a way that makes them appear to watch you pass. Glow-Worm Ceiling: Thousands of tiny, pin-prick lights from cave-dwelling insects create a “starry” effect on the ceiling that fails to illuminate the floor below. Smoky Haze: A lingering, acrid haze from a recently extinguished fire hangs at eye-level, stinging the eyes and blurring the far end of the passage. Obsidian Walls: The walls are made of polished black stone so dark they reflect your own torchlight back at you, creating disorienting ghostly twins in the periphery. Rusted Sconces: Empty, orange-rusted torch sconces look like skeletal hands reaching from the walls to grab any light that passes by. Mouldy Tapestry: Thick, grey mould has grown over the wall hangings, appearing in the dim light like fuzzy, bloated figures standing in wait. Cracked Slabs: The floor is uneven with uprooted stone slabs; shadows pool in the deep cracks, hiding potential traps or small, scurrying creatures. The Void End: The corridor is perfectly straight, but after thirty feet, the light simply seems to stop, as if a wall of solid ink has been erected across the path. Enjoy!

In the wilderness where rations and clean water are critical resources, discovering a spring can mean the difference between a failed expedition and a successful one. Water is life…but it can also mean death…drop a freshwater spring into your next forest. 1. The Spring’s Quality (d6) Not all water in the world is life-giving; some is deceptive or ancient. Roll Water Type Description & Effect 1 Crystal Pure Unnaturally clear. Drinking here removes the Deprived status. 2 Effervescent Bubbling with natural gasses. Drinking it tastes like sulphur, but it is safe to drink. 3 Starlight Pool Reflects the night sky even during the day. Water glows in a bottle for 1 Watch. 4 Heavy Mineral Thick with a mineral taste but it is safe to drink. 5 Opaline Silt Swirling with iridescent particles. Drinking it makes it feel like the character has put on a very dark pair of sunglasses, but they can see invisible things. This lasts for 1 watch. 6 The Deep-Chill Freezing cold glacial water. Drinking it clears 1 Fatigue, but you must make a STR Save or take 1 damage from the shock. 2. The Protective Feature (d6) A spring is “Hidden” for a reason. This table determines what keeps it secret. ...