Thursday, 19 September 2024

A Simple Iterative Method for Module and Campaign Inspiration

Are you struggling with ideas for a module or campaign setting?

Struggle no longer. Here is a simple method:

1. Put a country, any country, into the wikipedia search box (for example, Sudan).

2. Now navigate to the section on geography (many countries have their own 'Geography of' page, as indeed does Sudan).

3. Choose somewhere which sounds interesting (for example, the Marrah Mountains, described as the highest mountains of Sudan: 'a small area of temperate climate with high rainfall and permanent springs of water amidst the dry savanna and scrub of the Sahel below').

4. Click around until you find somewhere beautiful, odd, spooky, dramatic, or otherwise inspirational (for example, the Deriba Caldera, a dormant volcano at the heart of the Marrah Mountains, notable for having two large lakes, one traditionally thought of as female and the other, male, in its crater).

5. Pick some nice images to fix the geographical mood in your mind:



6. Randomly generate a title using the aforementioned table which I will kindly replicate for you here:

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)



7. Profit. Hence, for the dormant-volcano-with-temperate-climate-which-rises-up-from-the-semidesert-and-has-two-lakes-in-its-caldera, we get:

The Sorrow of the Ghost Pharoah

And from this we derive a module wherein the PCs are confronted with the opporunity to explore the ruins of the titular ghost pharoah, who was exiled to the volcano in ancient times from his lowland kingdom, and there with his court established a hidden fortress complete with treasure chambers, temples, etc., before eventually dying. The fortress consists of tunnels bored into the volcano itself, which can only be entered through caves or hidden entrances which are found in the sides of the caldera lakes and only readily accessble by boat or perhaps abseiling. Each lake is home to a demigod, one male and the other female, and hideous unknown aquatic beasts which moved into the area long after the pharoah's death. The ghost pharoah, naturally, still roams about his tunnels, filled with the traditional hatred of the living which one has come to expect in such entities. 

And there you have it. Go forth and multiply.
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5 comments:

  1. Solomon VK20 September 2024 at 04:55

    Hmmm. So, based on the Solovetsky Monastery from a recent post...

    The Revenge of the Silent Khan

    A module wherein the PCs are sent to an isolated archipelago to which the foes of the dreadful Silent Khan were dispatched, to a fort ruined by an opponent in a long-ago war. The main island is itself kept in a cone of silence, heightening the misery of the exile. Perhaps the unquiet (hah!) spirit of the Silent Khan has even been condemned to wander the centre of his degrading wrath.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. noisms23 September 2024 at 21:48

      Appropriate it should be a Khan. Clearly somewhere on a lake in the middle of the steppes....

      Delete
  2. Anonymous21 September 2024 at 12:45

    Location: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devils_Lake_(North_Dakota)
    This article is a potential title all on its own: https://ghostsofnorthdakota.com/2014/01/19/the-rise-of-devils-lake/
    Title: Crown of the Serpent King
    The spirits which inhabit this lake were once respected, but now after a massive flood the locals call them demons. The flood started after the local cleric's death and viking-style funeral. The burial gifts in the boat with her included a wreath made from a hideously evil hydra's teeth. The module would be a sailcrawl of the lake's many islands and harbors.

    ReplyDelete
  3. sanngetall17 October 2024 at 15:42

    «treasure of the weeping king»
    The random country generator gave me Luxembourg, the first name that caught my eye was the Valley of Seven Castles. Seven castles along the river (in fact, there are fewer, some are ruined), you can walk around them in two or three days, and by boat, probably even faster. Well, since the name of the module is treasure of the weeping king, then the weeping king built them to hide the treasure. If he is a king, then it can be something less vulgar than just gold and gems. A kidnapped beautiful wife, a magical relic, a beastman son in a garden labyrinth, something like that. Maybe weeping in a more unpleasant sense and the king is a leper like Baldwin. Well, accordingly, the atmosphere of a garden baroque falling into disrepair in the castles scattered in the river valley is something between Red & Plesant Land and Ynn Gardens. More pointcrawl than hexcrawl, for the countryside is quiet, and all the strangeness and danger comes from within the crumbling, overgrown gardens of the fortresses, which are more graceful than truly fortified.

    https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/499969284714528782/1296375426523992116/Valley_of_the_Seven_Castles_Map.png?ex=67120f33&is=6710bdb3&hm=b7b7313c02159141b7cca104d998606ac1e35e252904fda14bfcc01365464d5e&

    https://img.luxtimes.lu/public/luxembourg/4g73kq-picture-title-binary/alternates/BASE_SIXTEEN_NINE/Picture%20title%20binary

    https://www.visitguttland.lu/images/y7trFzyG0aA/g:ce/aHR0cHM6Ly9jZG4ucmVnaW9uZG8ubmV0L21lZGlhL2NhdGFsb2cvcHJvZHVjdC9iL2kvYmlnLXRpY2tldC1pbWFnZS02MmRmZDBhOWE5YmEwNDI0ODA4MzIyLWNyb3BwZWQ2MDAtNDAwLmpwZw

    ReplyDelete