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RPGaDay 2025 29: Connect
“Common” as a shared language in fantasy games has always felt like an odd compromise to me. On the one hand, it’s odd to have a singular language that everybody speaks to communicate with everybody else. On top of that, where is “common” from? What giant empire gathered such power that everybody uses that language as a baseline? There’s not even a real analogue of a language like that on earth. Sure, English may have the most total speakers (though Mandarin Chinese has the most first-language speakers) but by no means could we argue that every human being on earth is fully fluent in English as a shared language. On the other hand, at what point do you draw the arbitrary line of having separate languages? Will each species have its own language? Each kingdom? Each province? At some point, you also just want people to connect so they can get to the interesting bits.
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RPGaDay 2025 28: Suspense
I once read about Hitchcock movies and the difference between fear and suspense. Fear being an immediate response to an immediate stressor. Suspense, on the other hand, is a response to an imagined negative future. When I think of this in the context of the OSR, Mothership immediately springs to mind. I dislike jumpscare horror but I really enjoy horror that creates a sense of unease. So, in that light, here’s a d8 table of elements to add a sense of unease to your suspenseful Mothership games:
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RPGaDay 2025 27: Tactic
At some point, I would like to try my hand at making a flowchart for monster tactics. Today’s not that day, but it’s a thing that’s been on my mind. For now, a random table of chosen actions might see me through as well. So, here’s d8 approach to combat for a monster to take:
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RPGaDay 2025 26: Nemesis
Today’s d8 table is for a set of motivations for a nemesis NPC character. To me, a nemesis isn’t always a grand vizier, super evil kind of person. In fact, more often than not they aren’t. I prefer bad guys to be just regular people, perhaps with different ideas on how to solve the same problems. So, here’s a small table to inspire some NPC motivations.
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RPGaDay 2025 25: Challenge
Today’s entry is a d8 table of type of challenges NPCs and PCs could get into. After all, not every contest has to be a fight to the death. A one-on-one could also be resolved in the field of public spectacle! What do you think? Is this a handy table?
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RPGaDay 2025 24: Reveal
Today’s random table is a d8 of ways that a secret door reveals the next area. Let me know what you think!
d8 Reveal of secret passage 1 Stones in the wall slide backwards and then to the side. 2 An illusory wall ripples like a pond as PCs step through it. 3 A bookcase pops out slightly, and can now swing as a door. 4 Stones in the wall slowly slide downwards, dust settling. 5 A panel in the floor pops up, and enters into a small passage. 6 A passageway is hidden behind a heavy tapestry. 7 Stones give way to a smooth tunnel, going down like a slide. 8 A panel opens up underneath the PCs, causing them to fall down. Look forward to more RPGaDAY posts throughout the month!
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RPGaDay 2025 23: Recent
I use random encounters in one of two ways: either it’s what’s happening right now, this turn; or, alternatively, it’s what around the next corner. However, I’m starting to realize it’s also good to hint at what’s to come. After all, rangers need to have something to track too, right? So, I wanted to make a little table with signs that things are nearby or used to be here. Below is a quick d10 table of traces left of recent interaction in a hex. I hope it’ll be useful to you as well!
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RPGaDay 2025 22: Ally
Ever since reading Torchbearer, I’ve been struck with their description of adventurers. Lousy, good-for-nothing, down-on-their-luck losers. Who would ever want to become an adventurer? Only short life and a horrible death awaits you. It’s the question I now have when I think of why anybody would wnat to become a porter hireling for a group of PCs. Who in their right mind would do that?
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RPGaDay 2025 21: Unexpected
For today’s entry, I want to pay an homage to Fiona Maeve Geist’s entry on pp. 59–60 of Knock! Issue 1. In that entry, Fiona has a d100 table of “It Has Something In Its Pockets!”, for random goblin items. Some are useful, most are strange, a few are downright outlandish. I’m not quite as creative as to make a d100 table, but I wanted to do a small d10 of weird things that a goblin will have in its pockets.
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RPGaDay 2025 20: Enter
Today’s random table is a selection of various ways to enter a dungeon. Roll a d8 to get ideas for an entry, ranging from common to ephemeral!
d8 Type of entry to a dungeon 1 A tunnel breached into the dungeon 2 An old masonry wall crumbled down into new tunnels 3 An entryway hidden deep inside caves 4 A trap door in a basement leads down into a dungeon 5 A stone slab locks away a mausoleum 6 Tumbling down an open tree trunk lies a new area 7 Climbing up through dense trees leads to a fantastical new land 8 The dungeon can be reached when you slip between cracks in a non-euclidian direction. Look forward to more RPGaDAY posts throughout the month!