RPGaDay 2025 05: Ancient
Similar to yesterday’s entry, today I wanted to make another random roll table. Again, I wanted to make a d30 table, using a different style this time. Here, the result on the 10s determine how to interpret the result on the 1s.
Since the theme for today is “Ancient”, this table is to generate features of an ancient civilization. Use it to determine a field of societal development and whether or not this is less, more, or the same type of development as current day society. It’s therefore always from the perspective of another society.
| 1s | Feature | 10s | Development |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Infrastructure | 1-10 | Less advanced |
| 2 | Magical understanding | 11–20 | Similar to now |
| 3 | Military | 21–30 | More advanced |
| 4 | Construction | ||
| 5 | Divine occurences | ||
| 6 | Interplanar travel | ||
| 7 | Settlement of land | ||
| 8 | Means of transportation | ||
| 9 | Social equality | ||
| 0 | Technology |
I always enjoyed how in Lord of the Rings, there’s a theme of loss throughout. Wherever the hobbits (or the rest of the fellowship) travel, there’s old ruins. Those ruins are always grand in scale or import. Whether it’s the giant argonauts signifying an old, largely lost kingdom or something like Weathertop, each bit of the Lord of the Rings landscape is a callback to an older era. A table like this could help inspire such small little hints at older times.
Look forward to more RPGaDay posts throughout the month!
