Great Cities are the bustling metropolises of the world. They may be built upon flat land or carved into hilly ground, or they might have sprung up beside seas or rivers. The people here can be cosmopolitan or culturally homogenous, and clear social hierarchies may be evident in different parts of town. Great divides between rich and poor are not uncommon, and stories abound in every corner. While many humanoids call these cities home, animals and monsters alike prowl the streets, crawl through its underbelly, or even fly high above, perching on the architectural wonders that dot the landscape. # Weather | 1d10 | Result | | ---- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | 1 | Chill, blustery winds that blow between the arches and the buildings of the city | | 2 | Warm and sunny, with scant cloud cover in the sky | | 3 | Rain sprinkles down from the heavens, a gentle pitter-patter on windows and walls | | 4 | Hot, humid, and still. A typical summer’s day, thick with the smell of sweat | | 5 | Thick snow covers the pavements and the streets, impeding foot traffic | | 6 | Crisp autumn leaves dance along the streets, blown about by winds that delight in the coming of winter | | 7 | A pleasant spring day devoid of rain, though the sun is shielded by fluffy clouds | | 8 | A thunderous boom in the sky overhead, as dark clouds gather and twirl above the city spires | | 9 | Water, lots of water, a relentless downpour, giving rise to mud puddles and light flooding | | 10 | Chilly and overcast, dry but gloomy, as if the weather cannot decide what season it is | ^db31c5 ## Flora and Fauna | 1d10 | Flora and Fauna | | ---- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 1 | Rats and insects, common vermin that inhabit urban spaces, always looking for food | | 2 | Domesticated cats, dogs, and parrots, beloved pets and companion animals | | 3 | Decorative fish and reptiles in glass aquariums and display cases | | 4 | Grass, weeds, and neatly trimmed hedges, found in the strips of green that line the sidewalks and roads | | 5 | Ivy curtains on the trellises above beds of roses and chrysanthemums in the city’s botanic gardens | | 6 | Bonsai placed in intervals next to towering spires, designed to stress the aesthetics and perspective | | 7 | Decorated horses, the trusty mounts of the city guard, clop-clop-clopping along cobbled streets | | 8 | Birds nesting in the spaces under the rooftops, while flocks of pigeons roost on any surface they can find | | 9 | Languid geckos on the walls of roadside cafes and public rest houses, the enemy of spiders and flies | | 10 | **Gargoyles** hiding amongst their carved cousins on countless cathedrals, waiting to pounce and torture | ^9de9b8 ## Local Inhabitants | 1d9 | Local Inhabitants | | --- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 1 | Shopkeepers and business owners. Aspiring industrialists rub shoulders in the commercial district | | 2 | Families with children of all ages, jostling for space and attention, scrounging for every scrap of food | | 3 | The middle class, full of aspirations, occupying institutions of education and trendy cafes | | 4 | Flighty upper class folk, their servants carrying their meticulously groomed pets and babies in dainty carriers | | 5 | Nobles parading in the latest haute couture, wearing ornate jewellery and masks | | 6 | Peasants in the slums, going about their daily lives, working but wishing for a better tomorrow | | 7 | Stall owners cajoling people in the market to buy their wares, offering deals and discounts | | 8 | Spectators mill around a stage and the antiques on display; auctioneers gesture to the high bidders | | 9 | Academics, sages, and researchers gather at a conference within the ivory towers of a grand university | ^6c3ffb ## Points of Interest | 1d9 | Points of Interest | | --- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 1 | A baroque exhibition hall with domed ceilings and gaudy frescoes | | 2 | The grand library, towering over the other academic buildings. Gold-accented statues greet visitors | | 3 | A temple to the god of trade and commerce is austere and minimally furnished, as if advocating frugality | | 4 | A museum offers guided tours of its displays of artefacts and antiquities from ancient times | | 5 | A bustling, suburban night market, offering street food and unique handcrafted goods | | 6 | An award-winning restaurant opposite the grand fountain, where the rich and famous prefer to dine | | 7 | A notorious inn by the docks, patronised by scallywags from the sea and rogues of the land | | 8 | The boulevard outside the palace boasts magnificent orange trees with delicious sweet blossoms | | 9 | A long and narrow alleyway that snakes and winds through the darkest and dirtiest slums | ^6c0563 ## Possible Journeys | | Possible Journeys | | --- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 1 | An up and coming middle class family needs assistance in preparing a grand soiree to impress the nobles | | 2 | A thieves guild sends a spy to the party, seeking their help to assassinate a rival guild member | | 3 | The mayor needs the party to go undercover and identify traitors amongst her staff | | 4 | A xenophobic city counsellor has hired the party to spy on some foreign diplomats | | 5 | A greedy merchant has hired the party to protect his warehouse full of illicit magical items | | 6 | Killing a local gang member on behalf of a noble, who intends to trigger infighting with their enemies | | 7 | A petty nobleman suspects his wife is cheating. He needs a subtle team to find proof of her infidelity | | 8 | A poor family asks the party to investigate disappearances in the slums, as the city guard have no interest | | 9 | A clan of nobles seeks to sabotage talks between two other houses who are intent on forming an alliance | ^ec42b8 # A Chance Meeting Player Desc: [[A Chance Meeting]] DM Details: [[Encounter Types#A Chance Meeting]] ***Remember to note [[Journey Rewards]] while this is fresh in your mind!*** | 1d10 | Result | | ---- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 1 | **Hear Ye, Hear Ye!:** A Halfling town crier with a booming voice sings the news of the city. Charismatic and compelling, he easily draws a crowd wherever he goes. His dream is to become a bard, but he lacks the confidence. Should the party help him, he would be forever grateful. | | 2 | **We Built This City:** A drunken Dwarf offers to share secrets in return for ale. He was part of the construction crew that built this city and he knows the secret passages that the thieves guild paid to have threaded through it. | | 3 | **Not Again!:** A member of the party quite literally bumps into a character they’ve brawled with previously. This could be played straight as a rematch, or maybe the character has changed since the last encounter. | | 4 | **Privileged Annoyance:** An obnoxious young dilettante is attracting the wrong kind of attention in the wrong part of town. Whether the party assists, harasses, or ignores them, they are later revealed to be a relative of the party's patron. | | 5 | **Street Preacher:** An older man with a voice seemingly amplified by magic shouts at passersby of his dead god. Heedless of harassment heaped upon his head by the jeering crowd, he threatens the party with eternal damnation unless they confess their sins and convert immediately. | | 6 | **Tourist Trap:** A sparkling edifice is filled to the brim with enthusiastic workers, eager to provide information on the history of the building, its founder, and the surrounding area. Their eyes betray a hollowness and exhaustion in direct contrast with their overly cheery surroundings. | | 7 | **The Chosen Ones!:** An emaciated, raggedly robed priest barrels toward the party, spitting ‘You are the Chosen Ones!’. The priest is enraptured with the party, and demands that they follow him to ‘the prophesied location, on this, the most sacred of days!’, which may or may not be where the party is already headed. | | 8 | **Chuck & Hurley’s High-Flying Transport Service:** Hurley is a loud, extravagantly moustachioed **Halfling**, proudly announcing their high-flying transport service. The service involves purchasing a rickety hang-glider, then being thrown in vaguely the correct direction by Chuck, a friendly and exceedingly well-fed **Hill Giant**. | | 9 | **A Disagreeable Sign:** Two carriages have crashed at a city crossroads. The scene is under control, being managed by an **Ettin** watchman. The Ettin is trying to direct traffic, but its two heads constantly argue with one another about the best path. | | 10 | **The Harmonic Expert:** An upset Tiefling is trying to persuade several business owners to evacuate their buildings immediately as there is ‘something wrong with the street’s flow’. The shopkeepers are suspicious and hesitant, but passersby note she is a famous architect who knows the feng shui of the city better than anyone. | ^8520cc # Hidden Reserves Player Desc: [[Hidden Reserves]] DM Details: [[Encounter Types#Hidden Reserves]] ***Remember to note [[Journey Rewards]] while this is fresh in your mind!*** | 1d10 | Result | | ---- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | 1 | **Unlicensed Alchemist:** The party is drinking in a shady pub when one of them notices a suspicious patron purchasing a sealed flask. The proprietor is actually an unlicensed alchemist willing to sell potions at a discount. Many come here to buy *Potions of Poison*. | | 2 | **No Room Service:** A rented room turns out to be a gold mine as the previous guests left quite a bit of equipment and even a few minor magic items behind. In fact, they were killed performing an overnight adventure, but since they paid in advance the lazy innkeeper didn’t notice, nor did he bother to clean the room. | | 3 | **Wrong Alley:** The party encounters a few deceased adventurers in a random alley. While they’ve obviously been killed, their bodies are strangely unlooted. If the party tries to take the few common magic items, the city guard will spot them and assume the party are the killers. | | 4 | **Peepers Peri:** A friendly Halfling approaches the party claiming intimate knowledge of the city, from its darkest streets to its noble mansions. She offers her services as a guide for a reasonable fee. While Peri is very knowledgeable, she can’t resist taking the scenic route, pointing out all the ‘more fun’ locations, people, and events along the way. | | 5 | **Estate Sale:** A Halfling cheerfully announces discounts from their shop, boasting the finest antiques for the cheapest prices.Their entire supply of family heirlooms is pilfered from homes foreclosed by their clever cousin, a noble breaking mansions down into smaller rooms for short-term ownership. | | 6 | **Paid Research:** The local mage’s college is hiring test subjects. The fee is moderate and involves testing first-year students' spells and potions, but requires signing a lengthy non-disclosure agreement. | | 7 | **Fast Food:** As the party passes a small bakery, they are treated to a surreal sight — dozens of small baked goods have grown legs and dashed into the street, smearing passers by with cream and frosting. The sobbing baker explains that his new oven was made from stones taken from a fairy ring, and he is desperate to make amends. | | 8 | **Tempting Treats:** In a busy square a table packed with baked goods, pies, and pastries is unattended and ignored. A sign in half a dozen different languages declares they are free for the needy and the curious. Should a player character consume one, a scholarly individual begins to follow them for the rest of the day, taking notes. There is otherwise no effect. | | 9 | **Hey You!:** A sight above a stall declares it to be ‘Sybil’s Speaking Sundries.’ As the party passes by, several objects on the table begin to cry out, begging to be bought. Each boasts of its own merits, and most seem well made. They have all been enchanted by the eponymous ‘Sybil’, who completely ignores the many ethical questions raised. | | 10 | **Everything Must Go!:** A Dwarf trader loudly proclaims the imminent closure of his trading emporium. All his goods were originally incredibly overpriced, so they are now mostly average; however, there are some real bargains to be had amidst his adventurer’s gear, and a modest selection of potions are all half-price. | ^3ff028 # A Bump in the Road Player Desc: [[A Bump in the Road]] DM Details: [[Encounter Types#A Bump in the Road]] ***Remember to note [[Journey Rewards]] while this is fresh in your mind!*** | 1d10 | Result | | ---- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 1 | **Distracting Race:** A group of children are having a race through the streets, practically bowling the party over in the process. The children are pickpockets, who rob the party as they pass. The [[Outrider]] must make a Wisdom (Perception) check to notice the scheme in time. | | 2 | **Pressed into Service:** An enemy army is approaching and the local defences need to be shored up quickly. Having assessed the party’s capabilities from a distance, a fearsome army recruiter aggressively tries to press them into service, refusing to take no for an answer. The [[Outrider]] must make a Charisma (Intimidation or Persuasion) check to drive off the recruiter. | | 3 | **Magical Duel:** The party finds themselves on a street at the precise moment that two rival Mages, fortified by one too many ales, decide to settle their differences once and for all. It requires a Dexterity saving throw from the [[Outrider]] to avoid the worst of the Fireballs, but there are innocent people caught in the crossfire. | | 4 | **Inconsiderate Carriage:** The party is travelling down the street when a noble’s flying carriage swoops down and parks right in front of them. The magnificent carriage and pegasi take up the entire street, causing a traffic jam and drawing a crowd of gawking pedestrians. The [[Guide]] must make an Intelligence (Survival) check to identify the most optimal route around. | | 5 | **Ghost Tour:** The party bumps into a group of ten Commoners led by a Ghost. The ghost is giving a tour of the neighbourhood to those with an interest in life after death. The tour guide immediately accuses the party of joining the tour without paying. A successful Charisma (Persuasion) check soothes over the situation while a Dexterity (Stealth) check allows them to dissolve back into the crowd. | | 6 | **Roadblock:** The roads are blocked by several Stone Giants tearing the street up to make way for new construction. The giants refuse to stop their work or let anyone see what they are building. Speaking to them in Giant may convince them to build a veiled ramp around their work to ease traffic. Those unable to speak Giant can reach the same result by arm wrestling the giants via a Strength (Athletics) check. | | 7 | **Mimely Manner:** An annoying street performer pesters the party as they pass, imitating each member in a comical fashion. If the party are good natured with this mime, and offer coin for his performance, he jauntily strolls away. If they refuse to tip, the mime will create invisible walls to block the way, requiring a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to scale. | | 8 | **Running of the Chuuls:** The party’s path is blocked by a cheering crowd. An odd festival is taking place, in which several Chuuls are released into the blocked off streets. Participants flee from the creatures, clearly in danger despite the festive mood. PCs who join in can make an Acrobatics (Dexterity) check — they may even be crowned this year’s Chuul Champion. | | 9 | **Toll Road:** The party discovers a wide-open street in an otherwise crowded city. If they use it to cross between dense neighbourhoods, they will eventually be accosted by a contingent of guards asking to see their travel pass. They’ve taken the ‘Noble’s Way’ and it will take a Charisma (Deception or Persuasion) check to avoid a heavy fine. | | 10 | **When You’re a Jet:** A long-anticipated knife fight between rival gangs has drawn a raucous crowd, blocking several streets. Passing unharmed through the wildly swinging youths takes a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, causing the surrounding crowd to cheer. Stopping the fight is unpopular, and requires the [[Outrider]] to make a Charisma (Intimidation) check or a Charisma (Persuasion) check. | ^81ac94 # Needing Assistance Player Desc: [[Needing Assistance]] DM Details: [[Encounter Types#Needing Assistance]] ***Remember to note [[Journey Rewards]] while this is fresh in your mind!*** | 1d10 | Event | | ---- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 1 | **The Odd Rod:** The gate to another section of town has been barred with an Immovable Rod. The gathering crowd is desperate to get through. The gates themselves may be smashed open with an Athletics (Strength) check. An Intelligence (Arcana) check can be made to recover the rod instead. | | 2 | **Collapse!:** A building near the party begins to crumble. Several people are trapped inside and will be crushed if they don’t escape. A group Intelligence (Athletics) check is needed to determine how to best support the structure long enough for everyone to get out. | | 3 | **Miniature Madness:** A pet shop owner purchased a number of exotic “miniature pets” from an unsavoury peddler. The Enlarge/Reduce spell that was placed on the animals is wearing off, making them instantly spring back to normal size, confused and panicked. The owner implores the party to help wrangle the creatures. | | 4 | **Arms Race:** A cart was upturned in the street, spilling a pile of umbrellas and canes into the street. Each is actually a +1 Club and while the owner managed to collect most of them, a few children ran off with some to play Catacombs & Critters. The purveyor of self-defence weapons begs the party to return them before someone gets hurt. | | 5 | **Granny’s Groceries:** An older woman is struggling with her shopping bags. Her walking speed is 5 ft. and she lives a long way from the town square. Carrying Granny’s groceries is easy, and a Strength (Athletics) check allows a PC to carry Granny herself. She offers 1 cp per party member and cookies as recompense. | | 6 | **Cat Carriage:** The cat carriage — a massive carriage pulled by tamed Tigers — is late, leaving a line of frustrated commuters. Characters with access to a vehicle can transport the irritated townsfolk with a successful Navigation (Land Vehicles) check or track down the cat carriage with a successful Wisdom (Survival) check. The Tigers are sleeping on a rooftop nearby. | | 7 | **Closed for Construction:** An Iron Golem leads a procession of constructs protesting for the rights of automaton workers. They refuse to budge unless given support, and the party can make a group Charisma (Performance) check to join in the chanting. The protestors become aggressive if any member shows intolerance of their plight. | | 8 | **Big Kids:** A young pixie plays a ball game with her much larger Human schoolmates. Adopted by a Human family, she is disheartened that she is ‘*not like the other kids*’. A group Charisma (Persuasion) check may help her realise that true strength comes from within. | | 9 | **Fire!:** A building explodes in flames, leaving those on upper stories trapped. If the party thinks fast, they can scrounge a large blanket to catch them. It takes a group Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to properly stretch out the blanket and safely intercept falling victims. | | 10 | **Hissy Isn’t Well:** A desperate wizard is afraid for her beloved pet ‘snake’, as it has recently been sprouting strange new growths. It will take a collective group Wisdom (Animal Handling) check to figure out how to care for a young Hydra. The grateful wizard offers her magic item identification expertise as payment. | ^355ad8 # Danger Afoot Player Desc: [[Danger Afoot]] DM Details: [[Encounter Types#Danger Afoot]] ***Remember to note [[Journey Rewards]] while this is fresh in your mind!*** | 1d10 | Event | | ---- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 1 | **Spring Cleaning:** In the process of cleaning out their cluttered laboratory, an eccentric wizard has hung an old *Rug of Smothering* on a washing line. The party hears the muffled cries of a hapless citizen caught in its suffocating grasp. | | 2 | **Ouch!:** A sloppy wizard's apprentice has accidentally summoned a pack of Steam Mephits. The mephits have been running along steam pipes and jumping into carriages, scalding locals in their wake. | | 3 | **Trash Collector:** The party walks through an unusually clean stretch of alleyway. A Wisdom (Perception) check is required to notice the tentacles emerging from the sewer grate, otherwise someone is grabbed by the waiting Otyugh, who has gained a taste for human flesh. | | 4 | **Flush of Death:** An assassin is employing a Water Elemental to attack victims from the plumbing system. The party finds themselves in the vicinity of such an attack and a character with an appropriate tool proficiency can make an Intelligence or Wisdom check to notice unusual activity in the pipes. | | 5 | **Tigers Den:** An Oni disguised as a Human runs several back alley card games taking advantage of the city’s more desperate denizens. A PC in the area can make a Dexterity (Gaming Tools) check to discern the cheating or a Wisdom (Insight) check at disadvantage to realise that the house shouldn’t be winning by this much. | | 6 | **Kobold Dueling Ring:** A group of Kobolds, angry their local fight club has been closed down, have decided to turn their aggression towards the building’s new owners. Whispers of the Kobolds launching an attack on the new venue reach any characters who speak Draconic, otherwise characters may spot the Kobolds stockpiling weapons with a successful Wisdom (Perception) check. | | 7 | **Familiar Sounds:** A Wererat attempts to lure passersby into an alley by mimicking the sounds of a person in distress. If the party follows the sounds, they are ambushed. The thief shapeshifts and attempts to escape, but if cornered, will lash out with its cadre of Giant Rats. | | 8 | **A Fruitful Life:** A Green Hag disguised as a greengrocer is selling cursed apples, claiming they will bless consumers with a ‘fruitful life’. The morning after eating one, the victim wakes with a miniature apple tree sprouting painfully from their head. While under this curse, a creature’s Hit Point maximum is reduced by 3, but the tree provides 1 Ration of small, bitter apples each morning. | | 9 | **Oops!:** A flock of Axe Beaks have escaped from a crashed circus carriage, and are causing chaos. To make matters worse, the driver demands that the bird not be harmed, as they are a gift to the lord of the city. | | 10 | **Abandoned Rickshaw:** The party spots an abandoned rickshaw in a nearby alley. It is lavishly decorated, but there is no driver attending it. A Wisdom (Perception) check reveals the wallet and coin-purse sitting upon the seat, ripe for the taking. The rickshaw is a Mimic, and it attacks anyone who attempts to steal its lure. | ^ea46cb # Natural Wonders Player Desc: [[Natural Wonders]] DM Details: [[Encounter Types#Natural Wonders]] ***Remember to note [[Journey Rewards]] while this is fresh in your mind!*** | 1d10 | Event | | ---- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 1 | **The Floating Castle:** An ominous castle floats over the city, its ever-moving shadow causing twilight below. The residents never look up for fear of agitating their silent ruler, a powerful sorcerer and warrior. Their fear is palpable, as any who displease the Overlord faces retribution. The despair is infectious, threatening to take root in the party. | | 2 | **The Magical Zoo:** The party comes across a massive zoo that contains exotic beasts from around the world and magically restrained monsters. It is an awesome sight to behold, as many of the monsters interred within would be almost insurmountable challenges to the party. | | 3 | **Prophetic Stone:** A large stone sits in the oldest part of the city. Its provenance is lost to time but it has become a huge tourist attraction. An Intelligence (Masonry Tools) check reveals carvings in an ancient language. If deciphered, it spells a prophecy of great danger. | | 4 | **Healing Waters:** A cathedral is built around a healing spring. The water acts as a Potion of Healing or a Potion of Poison, depending on the drinker’s fidelity to a local god. Dark rumours about the spring’s true nature persist. | | 5 | **Tiny Town:** In the town square, roped off for its own safety, is a tiny scale model of the entire city. The magical miniature city is enchanted to change along with its full-size counterpart. Sprites offer tours, but non-tiny tourists must allow themselves to be reduced in size to participate. | | 6 | **Root for the Home Team:** In anticipation of a massive sports competition, brightly coloured magical lights fill the horizon. Every building is illuminated with the local colours, and encouraging messages to the team flash through the skies. | | 7 | **Prancing Through the Sky:** Elegant Pegasi dash above the city, pulling enchanted carriages behind them. Their celestial grace is a sight to behold as they cart wide-eyed passengers between beautifully maintained stables. | | 8 | **In Memoriam:** A narrow alleyway between two buildings is a lush tunnel of vines and dancing lights. The roots can all be traced back to an old, thorn-covered quarterstaff, said to have once belonged to a heroic Druid. | | 9 | **The Mirrored Market:** An ancient enchantment causes all solid surfaces in this market to take on a polished-mirror shine. The inhabitants embrace this, filling the streets with coloured lights and bright fabrics, ensuring the market is a riot of colour, day and night. | | 10 | **A Towering Miscalculation:** A half-formed Wizard’s tower hovers above the street, broken into shattered fragments and spinning and rotating at all angles, in an unpredictable dance of gravitational pulls. | ^f579b2 # Monster Hunt Player Desc: [[Monster Hunt]] DM Details: [[Encounter Types#Monster Hunt]] ***Remember to note [[Journey Rewards]] while this is fresh in your mind!*** | 1d10 | Event | | ---- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | 1 | **Gang War:** Two warring families, one Wererat, one Werewolf, are locked in an escalating war. Each side approaches the party seeking help to eliminate the other. Alleyways have been scraped and scratched by claws and teeth. The two families have built up collections of stolen goods from each other's homes. | | 2 | **Infestation:** A recent spate of floods has led to an infestation of Stirges in the uncollected refuse. The city council is paying handsomely for pest control, but unfortunately, the Stirges are attracting larger predators to the area. As no-one has been able to clean out the area, riches hidden in the debris are not yet taken. | | 3 | **New Tenant:** A Phase Spider has taken up residence in a dilapidated tenement. It has been preying on people in the streets and in surrounding tenements. It has amassed quite a horde for any courageous adventurers willing to kill it. | | 4 | **Jelly Cleaner:** A Gelatinous Cube has escaped from an ailing Wizard who was using it as a cleaner. It sits on a window sill, waiting to drop on anyone who dallies in the alley behind the house. At night, it gets more brazen and lurks on a shadowy part of the pavement. | | 5 | **Sewer Struggles:** A group of Giant Crocodiles have grown to a massive size, having fed off of the growing rat population as well as lost pets. Many of the town guards have been sent to deal with the beasts, but have fallen prey to them, leading to a large stockpile of arms building up in the sewers. | | 6 | **Bats in the Belfry:** The skies are blotted out by Swarms of Bats every dusk. Following the bats reveals that they tend to circle religious buildings and magnificent abandoned halls. An ancient Vampire has grown tired of their accommodation and is scoping out new real estate. | | 7 | **Regent of Rats:** As the party passes near an open sewer grate, a filthy Halfling tumbles out. She takes one look at the party, whispers ‘Run!’, and then follows her own advice. A moment later, a wounded Rat King emerges from the sewer, screeches, and dashes towards the party. | | 8 | **Seeing Double:** This market square has many vibrant stalls and shopkeepers selling their wares. Several of the shopkeepers are Doppelgangers running a scam, they only have a few personas to disguise as currently, and the party may notice duplicate merchants. They have a hidden cache of money they have made by dodging commerce taxes by changing identities. | | 9 | **Feral Alley:** All the wild dogs and cats in the district have been dropping dead of a grisly wasting disease. Fearful rumours suggest the curse of a witch, and fear it might spread to pets. In reality, a Death Dog has been hunting the smaller animals for sport. | | 10 | **Mind the Verge:** A newly restored tenement building has been abandoned amidst rumours of its haunting. Multiple inhabitants died in their sleep, their bodies already rotting by morning. The true culprit is a beautiful nocturnal variant of Violet Fungus which was accidentally planted all around the apartments. | ^171531 # A Place to Rest Player Desc: [[A Place to Rest]] DM Details: [[Encounter Types#A Place to Rest]] ***Remember to note [[Journey Rewards]] while this is fresh in your mind!*** | 1d10 | Event | | ---- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 1 | **Bardcore:** An unassuming inn offers free room and board in exchange for performing for patrons. During the night the innkeeper wakes the party Bard (or other suitable character), as another performer is challenging them for the room. Should the party Bard lose or refuse, then the whole party is turned out and must pay for their food and drink. | | 2 | **Illusions:** This inn is magically enchanted by a Gnome mage to appear as the mountaintop retreat where she grew up. The tables and benches are all ‘outside’ and food is being prepared on spits and fires. Each room in the inn is an isolated cabin. Behind the illusions is a filthy hovel. | | 3 | **Hidden Fighters:** A Gnome approaches the party near an alley, offering them free room and board if they join his ‘gym.’ The inn’s entrance sits in the alley with no identifying marks. In truth, it hosts illegal boxing matches in the basement. | | 4 | **Entertain Us:** A bored noble offers the party rooms in their mansion in return for entertainment. Over the course of the evening, requests progress from simple stories and songs to humiliating trials. If the party falls short, then they are unceremoniously thrown out. | | 5 | **Feeding the Faithful:** This simple tavern is staffed by disturbingly friendly Acolytes who offer free housing and food to all in need. Before eating, the entire inn takes part in a group prayer and all spending the night must attend a reading of spiritual literature. Priests stand at every door, eager to hear confessions. | | 6 | **Best Inn Town:** A hotel with vivid flashing lights and blaring music promises to be the most ‘authentic’ place to stay. Far more expensive than any other inn or tavern in the area, they offer bland versions of local food, group activities, and themed bedrooms. | | 7 | **Perfectly Normal Pub:** The party strides into an inn, only to be met with complete silence as surprised patrons turn and stare. Uncomfortable conversation with the innkeep can secure a room for the night, although they insist on cleaning the room. It soon becomes obvious that the party has stumbled into a cult meeting. | | 8 | **Urchin’s Cove:** A Human boy sitting lazily on a wall tosses back the purse he stole from one of the party members. He claims to feel a kinship with the party, and offers to show them the warren of alleys that the urchin children all call home. | | 9 | **Den of Thieves:** One of the players accidentally trips a guard in hot pursuit of a waif carrying stolen food. The guard berates them, giving the thief enough time to escape. Later on, the thief offers the party a key and an address for a safe house. Not all of the thieves who frequent this safehouse agree the party should be allowed to know of its whereabouts. | | 10 | **Dream a Little Dream:** A wizard styling themselves ‘The Oneiromancer' offers a place to rest to all who volunteer as test subjects. The subject is given a draught of ‘Sunset Coast’ and that night they dream about watching the sunset on a frigid beach. If they report this, the wizard mutters that ‘It wasn’t meant to be cold!’ but is otherwise satisfied. | ^fcda84 # Old Memories Player Desc: [[Old Memories]] DM Details: [[Encounter Types#Old Memories]] ***Remember to note [[Journey Rewards]] while this is fresh in your mind!*** | 1d10 | Event | | ---- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | 1 | **The Old City:** A century ago, an earthquake pulled part of the city beneath the ground. City planners simply built over it, leaving several streets and former ground floors buried. The undercity was promptly taken over by the thieves’ guild, who now operates it as a safe haven from the city’s laws. | | 2 | **Grounded:** This city was a Cloud Giant paradise before it plunged to the ground. Now, its current residents have transformed it into a Human city, although ample evidence of its original form remains. Giant staircases are chiselled down the middle to allow the people of the city to ascend the enormous staircase, and old floors have had two or three storeys retrofitted into them. | | 3 | **Poor Advertisement:** An old statue sits in front of a tavern that’s named after it. The tavern owner has woven great tales about the statue’s source. An Intelligence (History) check reveals that the statue’s subject was a cowardly figure who did terrible things to save their own skin. Publicly revealing this sends the tavern into financial ruin. | | 4 | **The Tunnels:** Centuries ago, the city was under constant threat of dragon attacks. In response, an undercity of tunnels and shelters was built into the hill. Most of these tunnels are filled in or repurposed, but some of the old maze remains, making for strange connections between buildings. | | 5 | **Pave Paradise:** A historic temple, once deemed a wonder of the planes, is being torn down to create more stalls for a local noble’s carriages. Historians and devout citizens alike bemoan the loss by holding a silent vigil of protest, while a Gnome bard composes a song about the temple. | | 6 | **We Want You:** In a destitute area of town, old propaganda murals encourage the populace to sign up for the military. The art style of the ancient campaign and its outdated recruitment slogans are now used ironically in local advertising and slang. | | 7 | **Gone and Forgotten:** An unremarkable statue stands in the centre of this square, covered in the waste of city birds and ignored by the locals, who can’t even identify the figure. An Intelligence (Investigation) check can scrape some detritus away from the base and reveal the statue to be the founder of this part of town, who fought hard for its construction. | | 8 | **Walls of Old:** The walls of an older city are present here, mostly demolished to make room for expansion. Hundreds of scraps of paper, cloth, and cracked pottery have been shoved into the cracks of the crumbling edifice, each bearing a message of hope, despair, or longing. As the party watches, a small child adds another note. | | 9 | **The Glory Within:** The largest cathedral within the city is a massive structure, filled with stained glass and beautiful statuary, the whole built with both expert engineering and magic. It was built about a small shrine said to be old as time. Its stones are inlaid with the luminous script of angels, their meaning endlessly debated. | | 10 | **Blue’s Lair:** All the city stretches out from a tavern set within the side of a mountain. The tavern boasts a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside and a strangely shaped, incredibly smooth stone floor. Long ago, it was once the lair of a Blue Dragon. So vast was its hoard that settlers came in search of fortune. | ^9b8468 # A Dark Place Player Desc: [[A Dark Place]] DM Details: [[Encounter Types#A Dark Place]] ***Remember to note [[Journey Rewards]] while this is fresh in your mind!*** | 1d10 | Event | | ---- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | 1 | **Worm Welcome:** The party enters a boutique tea room to find groups of patrons all slumped over their tables, dead. Purple veins criss cross their skin, and a look of surprise is etched onto their lifeless faces. A successful Intelligence (Investigation or Nature) check reveals the tea has been tainted with the poison of a Purple Worm. | | 2 | **Work Doesn’t Pay:** The party struggles against the tide of people returning home from work. From children to elderly folk, these labourers are filthy with grime and sweat, many of them lacking limbs and digits from countless workplace accidents. Their endless toil sits uneasy with party members who have traversed through wealthier districts. | | 3 | **The Sentinels:** Decades ago, a cult opened a portal beneath the city to spawn an undead army. While that army was destroyed, the portal remains. Clandestine sentinels stationed in the sewers fend off any undead that make it through, but occasionally, one gets past them. | | 4 | **By Invitation Only:** A band of young nobles patronise taverns in poor and questionable districts, making fast ‘friends,’ especially passing travellers, and inviting them back to their club. As it turns out, these nobles are bound to a demon, devil, or other powerful creature, and their ‘new friend’ is due to become the latest sacrifice. | | 5 | **Shantytown:** There are more guards stationed in this section of the city, and the air is thick with the cries of infants and putrescent miasma. The guards stop and frisk anyone on the streets who seems suspicious, something determined by each guard individually. | | 6 | **Alley of Woe:** Between a gated community for nobles and the merchant quarter, runs the dark alley where ‘broken things are thrown away.’ The party sees an assortment of starving people staring dead eyed as they pass, too hopeless to ask for food. | | 7 | **Great Fire:** The party finds themselves in a ghost town. This neighbourhood is a burnt out husk, the damage so extensive that little still stands, and a dreadful sense of loss oozes from the ashes. The city has closed off and built around this section, cutting its losses and leaving this disaster in the past. | | 8 | **The City Beneath:** A sinkhole opens within one of the deep cellars of the city. It leads down to a grim revelation — the city was built upon the ruins of another city, one that was populated by serpent folk who built temples to their strange gods. The underground city is clearly long abandoned, but disturbingly well preserved. | | 9 | **Who’s in Charge?:** At first glance, this seems to be a safe city. The party observes no criminal activity even when there are no guards. City residents whisper reverently of ‘the burgomeister,’ although no one is willing to discuss them. The burgomeister’s house is heavily guarded, with no one coming in or out, yet their proclamations are routinely read to gathered crowds. | | 10 | **Beware the Cats:** Everyone in the city takes care of the numerous alley cats, leaving food and letting them roam free through buildings. At night, however, all cats go outside, with those stuck inside wailing until they are let out. Residents warn the party not to seek out the cats at night, for they are the servants of a powerful lunar god. | ^4dfb62 # Deadly Fight Player Desc: [[Deadly Fight]] DM Details: [[Encounter Types#Deadly Fight]] ***Remember to note [[Journey Rewards]] while this is fresh in your mind!*** | 1d10 | Event | | ---- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 1 | **Thief Trouble:** After dealing with a pickpocket, the party soon discovers that they have run afoul of the local thieves guild. Unfortunately, this is no ordinary thieves guild, for it is run by Wererats, who attack the party when they are sleeping or otherwise about in the night. | | 2 | **Walls Won’t Stop Them:** A colony of Ankhegs has moved in under the city. While the party is in a park or garden, several of them burst through the dirt, perhaps catching them by surprise before bathing them in corrosive acid. | | 3 | **Carnival of Terror:** A risk-taking carnival owner purchased a half-dozen Cockatrices and is displaying them as ‘lizard-chickens.’ On the night that the party is perusing the carnival, several Cockatrices escape. Several people are turned to stone before the party has a chance to react. | | 4 | **Cosy Killer:** A Cloaker has discovered a clever way of finding victims. During the night, it finds a grand party and slips into a carriage, pretending to be a blanket. When the occupants arrive and pull up a ‘blanket’ to stave off the evening chill, the Cloaker strikes. It uses its moan to frighten the driver and horses, leaving its victims unable to escape. | | 5 | **Defenders of the Night:** A thousand year old ritual awakens the city's Gargoyle population. They have been created to punish sinners, but what was ‘sin’ a millennium ago is now common behaviour and the entire city is threatened. | | 6 | **Urban Coyotes:** Improved waste disposal has left the local coyote (treat as Wolves) population without food. In their desperation, they've turned to attacking and eating people. Their larger packs have begun to congregate in parks during the day before roaming the streets at night. | | 7 | **Wasting Away:** A horrid smell wafts from an open manhole that leads into the sewers below the city, where brown streaks lead to alleyways all along this road. Walking a few paces further, the party is swarmed by Mud Mephits, creatures formed by, or attracted to, the waste beneath the city, seeking to create more organic waste to supply their brethren below. | | 8 | **Hiding as Hide:** A leatherworker’s shop has been the lair for an opportunistic Cloaker feeding every night on drunken stragglers from the tavern across the road. When the party spots this attack, the Cloaker moans hauntingly, fighting to keep its hunting techniques hidden. | | 9 | **Wrath Unseen:** To a witnessing crowd’s horror, a merchant is beaten to death in the street by an unseen enemy, his head crushed on the cobblestones. The Invisible Stalker was unleashed by a demented Mage, upset with the way the merchant haggled. The Mage doesn’t much like the look of the party, either. | | 10 | **A Deadly Mistake:** One of the city’s most ruthless criminal lords, a Rakshasa who has long disguised himself as an Elf drug dealer, mistakes the party for enemy agents. He and his gang of Veterans ambush the party as they make their way home from a tavern one night. | ^be1e65 # Fateful Encounters Player Desc: [[Fateful Encounter]] DM Details: [[Encounter Types#Fateful Encounter]] ***Remember to note [[Journey Rewards]] while this is fresh in your mind!*** | 1d10 | Event | | ---- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 1 | **Cosy Job:** A reformed Succubus runs a ‘comfort inn’, and offers the party room and board if they help deal with the Thugs bullying her staff, as she thinks having the party inside might dissuade them. She turns out to be knowledgeable about other cities in the region and even knows a few helpful rumours and tips on handling individual merchants and nobles. | | 2 | **I Want a New Life:** The heir to a powerful merchant family has run away from home, and wishes to accompany the party. They are willing to be a servant, apprentice, or squire to pay their way. Unfortunately, the child is likely to be more hindrance than help, although they do have many family connections in the region. | | 3 | **Inconvenient Test:** A Deva serving a character’s deity decides to test them at an inopportune time. While the character is busy doing something else, the Deva approaches as a beggar and asks for aid. If the character stops and helps them, the Deva rewards them with something that will help their quest. If the character dismisses them, then they draw their deity’s ire. | | 4 | **The Protégé:** One of the characters has attracted a young Commoner that wants to train under them. At first, they seem eager enough and won’t take ‘no’ for an answer, but it quickly becomes apparent that they are running from something. Eventually, that ‘something’ is going to catch up to them. | | 5 | **Lichbrary:** A local library is spoken of only in whispers. Thought to hold any scroll or spellbook imaginable, its powerful patron has never been seen and only provides entry to the most powerful mages or spymasters. The patron, a Lich who stayed alive to learn everything in the world, is hungry for knowledge and secrets. | | 6 | **Bootleg Merchandise:** A shapeshifting scam artist sells bootleg magic items with disastrous effects. Bags of Devouring sold as Bags of Holding, Potions of Poison sold as Potions of Health, and cursed weapons sold as +1 weapons. The shapeshifter’s family was killed by adventurers, and this is their way of taking revenge. | | 7 | **Sweet Dreams:** The mystical store ‘Salamun’s Sumptuous Sweets’ has been following the party through the city; they’ve noticed the sign in different neighbourhoods. The shop is run by an elderly Elf, whose sweets allow the party to astrally travel to fae lands whenever they dream. | | 8 | **The Moonlit Circus:** A gaudy circus tent promises a daring acrobatics show every night this week. The performers wear elaborate costumes and masks, performing amazing feats of physical prowess, astonishing the crowds who come to see their midnight shows. A peek backstage reveals that these performers are all lycanthropes, hiding their cursed forms from the cruel public. | | 9 | **Very Old Money:** The city bank is an ancient institution. Their interest rates are steep and their agents are ruthless when collecting on unpaid debts or hunting thieves. The bank is owned by a Mummy Lord who knows many buried secrets and is always in need of skilled agents with negotiable ethics. | | 10 | **The Mimic Man:** A Dwarf entertainer, famous for his troupe of well-trained Mimics and the delightful shows he puts on with them, is the talk of the town. He always has interesting news to share, as his charges are the delight of every level of society. Some whisper that a body eaten by a Mimic completely dissolves without a trace, but that’s just jealousy talking. | ^3713f0