Apr 28, 2021

Building something using words, chaotic cursor movement and maybe some dice

I don't know what this is, but there are two ways of doing it: the LINEAR, and the CHAOTIC.


THE LINEAR WAY

  1. Roll a die and consult table INTRODUCING. This is what you're "introducing", or adding (an object, a scene, whatever). When adding a new sentence, you must connect it to what was described in the previous sentence, so that the two sentences flow naturally into each other (or chaotically, if you prefer that)

  2. Repeat 1


THE CHAOTIC WAY

  1. Roll a die and consult table CURSORY MOVEMENT. This tells you where to place your cursor (or pen, if you're doing this by hand and therefore must have incredible penmanship). Never place the cursor (or pen) in the middle of a sentence; a sentence is always isolated and untouched and locked down etc so to speak

  2. Roll a die and consult table INTRODUCING. This is what you're "introducing", or adding (an object, a scene, whatever) exactly where your cursor (or pen) is. When adding a new sentence, you must connect it to what was described in the previous sentence, so that the two sentences flow naturally into each other (or chaotically, if you prefer that; people who use pen and paper for this method would probably do it chaotically)

  3. Repeat from 1


TABLE CURSORY MOVEMENT

Place cursor (or pen)...

  1. After the first sentence
  2. In the middle of the document
  3. After the last sentence
  4. After the second sentence
  5. Where your finger lands with your eyes closed
  6. In the middle of the middle of the document, so like in the first quarter I guess

 

TABLE INTRODUCING

At the cursor (or pen), introduce by describing, using one or several sentences...

  1. A stuffed bear
  2. Stairs up
  3. Stairs down
  4. A door with writings on it
  5. Used pots and pans
  6. Shrubbery
  7. Unusual tiling
  8. A horse that's about to leave
  9. A rug, halfway rolled up
  10. A horrible landscape painting
  11. A wall
  12. A hallway, crudely lit
  13. An open knapsack
  14. An unusually small dog
  15. A locked chest
  16. Spiderwebs in the ceiling
  17. A festive hall
  18. A concealed weapon
  19. Dirt and soil
  20. Fire
  21. A bottled message
  22. A painting of a king
  23. Several chests
  24. Rats
  25. A fireplace
  26. A room with a large table
  27. Stairs up and down
  28. A person in a wet hat
  29. Water breaching in
  30. Several guards looking for something
  31. A marketplace for illegal food
  32. A pond and a toad
  33. A blind ogre
  34. A marble statue
  35. A flowerbed
  36. Someone lost
  37. An intruder
  38. A broken mirror
  39. Lots of barrels
  40. A deserter from a distant war
  41. Rope hanging down from far above
  42. Mechanical device that hums
  43. Mechanical device that clicks
  44. A sundial
  45. A window
  46. A floating creature with scales
  47. Blood
  48. A magical swirl
  49. A makeshift instrument
  50. Foreign coins
  51. Claw markings
  52. A rainfall
  53. A well, with rope hanging down
  54. A terrible yell
  55. A dog digging
  56. A scholar writing in a tome, a large list of ingredients, currently at item 56
  57. A murder of crows
  58. A crown made of wood
  59. A golem waiting for a command
  60. A gust of wind
  61. Sand
  62. An authority
  63. A false prophet
  64. A cheese wedge, disappearing
  65. Mushrooms
  66. A hidden way out
  67. A rug of unusual quality
  68. A secret
  69. A mechanical person stuck in a loop
  70. A portal too small to enter
  71. A mirror concealed as a painting
  72. A great hole in the ground
  73. Bats carrying candlesticks
  74. A mole with something attached
  75. Lots of alcohol
  76. A corner
  77. Sudden movement
  78. The passing of time
  79. Glass jars containing experiments
  80. Spoiled food
  81. Smoke
  82. A large bird, interesting
  83. Something rotten
  84. Concealed danger
  85. A crowd looking for something
  86. Out-of-place animals
  87. A chest filled with stone, hiding a trap door underneath
  88. Chanting
  89. Displacement
  90. Roots
  91. An acorn, afloat
  92. Intelligence
  93. Religious practice
  94. Slow but safe transport
  95. A slow disassembly
  96. A nest
  97. Large optical instrument
  98. Fancy clothes spread about
  99. A highly sought-after glass bauble
  100. Living vines

Apr 22, 2021

Four picture prep



 




As I upload these sketches and as I type in the title of this blog post, I start to wonder if you could use only four pictures for all things in session - that is, that's the prep for the night.

The four pictures above would then - for the whole session - all represent:
  • The adventuring party
  • Random encounters
  • Loot
  • Plot hooks
  • Room descriptions
  • NPC personality traits
  • etc
For instance, you need to roll for a random encounter. Roll a 1d4 and either just use that picture as is ("You meet a knight in a never before seen armour; the knight waves at you and greet you all with a monotonous "HELLO EARTHLINGS!"), or rip off the various pieces found in the picture ("You find animal horns and hair - lots of hair").

(Now I need to get back to work. Ta-da)