Thursday, 23 February 2023

Generate Your Own Module/Pulp Novel Title

In my weekly game session last week I observed that 'Revenge of the Centaur Queen' (a phrase which came up in the course of events) would be a great title for a pulp novel or AD&D module. 

Sometimes a title is evocative enough in itself to be suitable inspiration for an entire creation. I bet anybody reading this blog could have a decent stab at Revenge of the Centaur Queen. It almost writes itself.

Without further ado, then, I present you with the Generate Your Own Module/Pulp Novel Title table:

D20

The

NOUN

of the 

COMPLEMENT

NOUN

1

The

wrath

of the 

red

queen

2

The

revenge

of the 

two-headed

king

3

The

love

of the 

mad

serpent

4

The

hatred

of the 

unholy

phaoroh

5

The

city

of the 

pale

prince

6

The

fortress

of the 

ghost

dragon

7

The

tower

of the 

dread

mage

8

The

lair

of the 

dead

sorcerer

9

The

crown

of the 

lost

knight

10

The

sword

of the 

weeping

beast

11

The

spear

of the 

purple

giant

12

The

tomb

of the 

yellow

werewolf

13

The

lust

of the 

cloud

wizard

14

The

death

of the 

mountain

princess

15

The

return

of the 

cave

assassin

16

The

sorrow

of the 

invisible

khan

17

The

blood

of the 

undersea

lord

18

The

slaves

of the 

whispering

demigod

19

The

lover

of the 

silent

demiurge

20

The

treasure

of the 

iron

priest(ess)


My first five, with elevator-pitches:

The Wrath of the Ghost Knight (a Lord Soth-type figure has laid waste to a hex-mapped region and the PCs adventure amidst the ruins; the ghost knight appears at random locations and times)

The Death of the Yellow Mage (the titular archmage has died and word has got out that all the treasures in his tower are ripe for the taking)

The Lust of the Whispering Mage (the PCs visit a Palace of Love-style 'paradise' which is not all that it appears, searching for lost relatives/friends)

The Tower of the Pale Beast (the title is itself an elevator pitch for this one)

The Sorrow of the Two-Headed Demiurge (the two-headed demiurge makes both wonderful and horrible, benevolent and hateful, beneficial and dangerous creations depending on which head is in charge at any given moment; they populate his palace in rival groups and he weeps over their mutual antipathy)

Now you try.
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15 comments:

  1. dansumption23 February 2023 at 09:42

    What do you get if you cross the yellow mage with the third blue wizard? Presumably the first green sorcerer.

    Apropos of not much, this post reminds me of the time when, aged 12 or 13, I was sat in the school library reading Conan the Usurper, and my friend Andrew Gilligan (who later found fame for triggering the downfall of the BBC) said "do you even know what a usurper is?"

    I didn't, but I looked it up pretty damned quick.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. noisms24 February 2023 at 04:34

      Never let it be said that you can't learn anything from reading Conan books.

      Delete
  2. Spencer Beem23 February 2023 at 12:42

    The Wrath of the Cloud King ( A cloud giant and his retinue are attacking the kingdom from their castle atop a cloud. The PCs have to fend them off)

    Lust of the Invisible Queen (Sounds like a LotFP adventure about the obvious)

    The Tower of the Cave Demigod (There is a grand tower deep within the earth, said to hold untold riches and the body of a demigod. Strange malformed creatures inhabit the tower, worshiping the the corpse that warps their minds and bodies.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. noisms24 February 2023 at 04:35

      Lust of the Invisible Queen is a great one.

      Delete
  3. Theo Thaconatos23 February 2023 at 16:14

    I wanna play! Module Ξ - 1: Fastness of the Susurrant Cloudwhopper

    ok, ok

    "Fortress of the Whispering Giant"

    (a) The nearest urban center is all-of-a-sudden riven by conspiracies, street fights, assassinations: the Altocumulus Collective, the Cirrostratus Society, the Cumulonimboys, the Circus Cirrus. As the party investigates, it turns out these are manifestations of a poisoned Cloud Giant's psyche, slipping into shadow, his crude castle crashed into the adjacent swamps. (b) Said swamp, and its toothy inhabitants. (c) The Castle, tower first, listing to the South, the Giant at the center, ashen gray/grey and waiting to die.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. dansumption23 February 2023 at 21:35

      There was a really great adventure called the Lichway in an early edition of White Dwarf which had a monster in it called the Susurrous. It was (a) where I first learnt that words and (b) a great monster - and super-creepy: you could hear it susurrating throughout the dungeon.

      Delete
    2. noisms24 February 2023 at 04:35

      Write it, Theo.

      Delete
  4. Roger G-S23 February 2023 at 19:18

    Also works in a pinch for prog rock album titles.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Fitz23 February 2023 at 23:52

    Love this. In fact, I might steal "The Death of the Yellow Mage" for a game. A fiendish tower crawl with competition from other murder hobos? That should keep the players busy. :) Thanks for the post.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Narmer24 February 2023 at 07:08

    The Death of the Iron Pharaoh

    ReplyDelete
  7. dansumption24 February 2023 at 15:00

    The Recrudescence of the Indefatigable Usurper

    (I learnt the word Indefatigable from a Warhammer module, Shadows Over Bogenhaven; no idea what Recrudescence means, but it sounded right)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous24 February 2023 at 16:32

    Nice, I think I'm going to steal, I mean borrow, this to generate adventure ideas/titles. Can be augmented by adding a suitable preposition as well:

    Before the Sorrow of the Whispering Queen
    Below the Fortress of the Invisible Assassin
    Against the Slaves of the Dead Princess

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. noisms24 February 2023 at 17:53

      Below the Fortress of the Invisible Assassin sounds like a great high level adventure.

      Delete
  9. Lord Gargoyle27 March 2023 at 09:11

    The Death of the Dead Dead-Guy

    ReplyDelete