For February posting daily with collections, tomes, blogs and rpgs with random tables at rpg_generators subreddit. Building on previous Generator Months.
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All the 28 Days of Random Tables with links
- Day 1 - Meaning Tables of Mythic GM Emulator 2e
- Day 2 - The Tome of Adventure Design
- Day 3 - Knave 2e and Maze Rats
- Day 4 - d100 Subreddit
- Day 5 - Table Fables by Madeline Hale
- Day 6 - Tables of Shadowdark
- Day 7 - Cyberpunk Random Tables
- Day 8 - Ironsworn, Starforged and Sundered Isles
- Day 9 - Chartopia - Making Your Own Tables
- Day 10 - Tables of Dicegeeks
- Day 11 - Category on DriveThruRPG for Random Tables
- Day 12 - Worlds, Cities, Stars and Ashes without Number
- Day 13 - What are YOUR favourite tables for RPGs?
- Day 14 - Perilous Wilds Tables
- Day 15 - 2d6 Dungeon and 2d6 Realm
- Day 16 - Science Fiction Random Tables
- Day 17 - Tables of OrkishBlade and d4 Caltrops
- Day 18 - Dolmenwood
- Day 19 - Emulators and Oracles for Solo
- Day 20 - Tables of Raging Swan Press
- Day 21 - Ultraviolet Grasslands
- Day 22 - Fantasy Hexcrawl Tables
- Day 23 - Horror and Dark Fantasy
- Day 24 - What is YOUR Favourite RPG for Random Tables?
- Day 25 - Post-Apocalyptic Tables
- Day 26 - Tables of Roll & Play Press
- Day 27 - FORGE - Fantasy Open Roleplaying Game Engine
- Day 28 - Random Tables: All the Rest
Day 1 - Ironsworn, free Solo RPG by Shawn Tomkin
Kicking of 28 Days of Random Tables is Mythic Gamemaster Emulator (2e) by Tana Pigeon. It's a system for playing an RPG without a gamemaster, whether that's solo, co-operative or group-based.
We're interested in the many d100 tables of the book. There are the Actions Meaning tables (2 linked d100 tables) and the Descriptions tables (two d100 tables). Then there are 30+ more d100 Meaning tables with different themes, from Object, Animal and Character Appearance to Gods and Scavenging Results.
The book comes in Hardcover, Softcover and PDF (link to word mill games). There are also several apps and tools that support Mythic.
Day 2 - The Tome of Adventure Design
The Tome of Adventure Design Revised (drivethru link) by Matt Finch is a huge collection of system-neutral fantasy tables. There is an older version which has mostly the same tables but different presentation.
I have the (revised) pdf and this is 514 pages, with sections for Monsters, Dungeon Design, Non-Dungeon Adventures (castles, cities, planar, sea, wilderness, caravans), and an introduction with advice and mission tables. Each page of tables also has small snippets down the side to help with inspiration.
Mythmere games also has two more tomes of tables with the Tome of World Building and The Nomicon (names for people and places).
Day 3 - Knave 2e and Maze Rats
Knave 2nd Edition (drivethru) is an old-school rpg by Ben Milton (Questing Beast) with many random tables. (There's a first edition but it's six pages with only a couple of tables). I've played 2e a little bit but mostly just use it for the tables. (it will probably be on sale at some point if you want to get it cheaper)
Lots of d100 tables (with 100 entries) covering dungeoneering, encounters, travel, spells, alchemy, equipment, treasure, cities, Inns, NPCs and monsters (75+ish total). Many of the tables have a few reference to other tables so you can get quite unusual results (in a good way)
By the same author is Maze Rats (drivethrurpg), a lightweight rpg known for it's compact d66 tables. These cover characters, monsters, city, wilds and dungeon.
Day 4 - r/d100 Subreddit
If you want to create collaborative tables, then the d100 subreddit is a great place to do it.
It's also a source of weird and specific tables, and a place to mine ideas. Many of the tables that power DnD Speak and OSR Vault also come from here.
Day 5 - Table Fables by Madeline Hale
Tables Fables are a series of books of random tables, smaller than many rpg tomes, with a variety of useful and quirky tables.
There are several titles, including Table Fables (1&2), Arcane Artifacts, Table Fables Modern and Inns & Taverns. The easiest place to find them is on Amazon (and a few on ebay in the UK).
I've got the first Table Fables, which is 84 pages with sections for Characters, Items, Areas, and Miscellaneous. There are tables such as noncombat encounters, a kingdom generator, character backgrounds, weather, dreams, scavenged items and festivals.
Day 6 - Tables of Shadowdark
Shadowdark is a modern rpg built on the bones of old-school D&D and popular with soloists, old-school fans and those looking for a lightweight alternative to Dnd 5e.
It's also powered by random tables. From random characters, talents, 80ish pages of tables in the gm section, treasure and other assorted, it's got lots to play with.
It also has a Free official supplement for playing solo in SoloDark, including a few more tables.
Day 7 - Cyberpunk Random Tables
Some tables for Cyberpunk include...
- Augmented Reality from Geist Hack Games has over 50 tables of cyberpunk city goodness
- Cities without Number from Sine Nomine Publishing is an RPG with lots of support for random tables, and a Free Version (which still has many random tables).
- Cybersworn (itch.io link) is a hack of Starforged: Ironsworn set in a Cyberpunk setting
- JV Random Tables: Cyberpunk and Modern by JeansonVaars is a pay-what-you-want set of d20 tables for locations and characters.
- CY_BORG from Free League Publishing, cyberpunk/dystopian rules-light RPG based on MORK BORG. And supported by many random tables
- dicegeeks has The Book of Random Tables: Cyberpunk, and two sequels. Each has lots of d100 tables, including names, items and encounters.
- D-oom Products has pay-what-you-want adventure tables with the Cyberpunk Adventure Generator
- Kindof like random tables is the GameMaster's Apprentice 2e: Cyberpunk Deck from Larcenous Designs. A deck of cards, with each containing descriptions, NPC traits, keywords and dice rolls, all with a cyberpunk theme.
- From Fishwife Games, Overheard Cyber City Chatter is a pay-what-you-want title with d100 things you might overhear in a future city, such as
For more Cyberpunk tables and tools there was 29 Days of Cyberpunk a couple years ago.
Day 8 - Ironsworn, Starforged & Sundered Isles
The Ironsworn family of games by Shawn Tomkin are well known in the solo world.
Ironsworn, Ironsworn: Delve, Starforged and Sundered Isles are also packed with random tables.
Ironsworn has basic oracles (Action, Theme) to names, characters, locations and events.
The other books have more tables than the original starforged, being great for space adventures (Starforged), fantasy seas (Sundered Isles) and fantasy dungeons (Ironworn Delve)
Ironsworn is available for free in digital format.
Day 9 - Chartopia - Making Your Own Tables
Chartopia is a place to find online random tables created by others, and also Collections of those tables (such as this one for Starforged)
It's also a place to create your own tables, with various options for combining and mixing up tables.
There's a Docs / Help area, Developer API and a Code Playground.
Day 10 - Tables of Dicegeeks
Dicegeeks creates books of random tables (usually d100 tables), filled with names, npcs, encounters, items and other useful lists.
There are several genre-specific titles, such as
- The Great Book of Random Tables - Science Fiction
- The Book of Random Tables - Grimdark
- Fantasy NPCs
- Great Book of Random Tables (Fantasy)
- Book of Random Tables - Post-Apocalyptic
- Book of Random Tables - Cyperpunk
- Modern
They are available on amazon (kindle / paperback) and drivethrurpg.
Day 11 - Category on DriveThruRPG for Random Tables
Pretty niche today.
On DriveThruRPG there is actually a category for random tables. It's disguised as "Itemized Charts and Lists" under "Supplements and Expansions"
Here's a link to the category on DriveThruRPG.
You might find this useful if searching for random table titles or listing them yourselves.
Don't think there is an equivalent tag on Itch.io, but comment if there is!
Day 12 - Worlds, Cities, Stars and Ashes Without Number
The "Without Number" Roleplaying games from Sine Nomine by Kevin Crawford all have lots of random tables and a free version. They are compatible with other Old School Revival (OSR) games (such as Basic D&D. and each covers a different genre.
Worlds Without Number covers Fantasy, Stars without Number Science Fiction, Cities without Number is Cyberpunk and Ashes without Number is post-apocalyptic. Links are to free versions.
Each has support for lot of random tables in the free version, and more support and tables in the full version. The games can also be combined with each other as they use the same basic system.
Day 13 - What are YOUR favourite tables for RPGs?
Halfway through Feb, so curious about your favourite random tables to use in Solo,
Collections of tables, ones from published rpgs, your own tables, ones from blogs, whatever!
What are YOUR favourite rpg tables? (leave a comment)
[post with comments on reddit]
Day 14 - Perilous Wilds Tables
The Perilous Wilds - Revised from Lampblack & Brimstone by Jason Lutes and Jeremy Strandberg is a set of fantasy tables. Along with advice and procedures on creating places, weather, wilderness and dungeons (using Dungeon World procedures).
There's a version which is just the Perilous Tables, taking out all the advice and presenting 24 pages of compact random tables (I have this version).
The tables are compact and complete, giving a great range of possibilities. For a Place Name I rolled on the Place Name Template (d12) to get [PLACE] of the [ADJECTIVE] [NOUN], then rolling on subtables (d100 each) to end with "Keep of the Red Priest", which has many possibilities.
Day 15 - 2d6 Dungeon and 2d6 Realm
2d6 Dungeon isn't a collection of tables or an RPG with lots of tables.
It's a solo dungeon-crawler mapping-game, powered by random tables.
You play a single character, exploring, fighting and thinking your way through 10+ levels of dungeons, procedurally generated by d6, 2d6 and d66 tables. Rooms, monsters, loot, traps, events, opportunities, shrines, gods, town events... Sometimes too many tables! I did an intro and actual play if you're curious about it.
2d6 Realm is an expansion that takes it into the wilderness, making it into an overland crawl. With all the tables needed for that.
Many solo rpgs and similar games make heavy use of random tables, and this is one that takes it to heart!
Day 16 - Science Fiction Random Tables
Some tables for science fiction (cyberpunk is here) include...
- Ironsworn: Starforged is a solo rpg packed with random tables. There's also the pay-what-you-want Starsmith: Expanded Oracles to add more tables.
- The Perilous Void from Lampblack & Brimstone is a large system-neutral collection of generation tables and advice to go with them
- Stars without Number from Sine Nomine Publishing is an RPG with lots of support for random tables, and a Free Version (which still has many random tables).
- Dicegeeks has the Great Book of Random Tables with 138 d100 tables. Lots of names, items and encounters.
- Traveller RPG has many random tables and a procedural approach to many situations (could have been it's own day, but have never played or owned). It's had several editions, two of which are available via Mongoose.
- Paradiso has Hundreds: Essential d100 Tables for Mothership and Sci-Fi RPGs. It has a collection of d100 tables for a fairly grim future
- From Candlenaut is Entity, a solo game taking on the roal of a synthetic AI explorer, stranded in an expanse filled with alien ruins. It's powered by random tables and has a few expansions.
- Never Engine has a Planet Generator, with several tables crammed into a one page format.
- Ennead Games has Starship Maker with 100+ pages of tables
- A cheap option is Science Fiction Codex of Lists from JEN Games with 300+ pages of assorted lists of varying length
Day 17 - Tables of OrkishBlade and d4 Caltrops
A double feature today, each with lots of random tables.
First up is The Random Tables: Compendium of OrkishBlade (link to the reddit post). This is a pdf compilation of tables from r/BehindTheTables (which is no longer active). There's all sorts in there but its free.
Second up is d4 Caltrops, which has been a D&D blog with random tables for over 15 years. A collection of Random Tables is here. There's also a list of posts with random tables. The tables cover all sorts, from magical belts to faction features and random rivers.
Day 18 - Dolmenwood
Unlike other featured RPGs (with lots of tables), Dolmenwood has hundreds of pages of content detailing the setting. It's a british-fantasy setting from Necrotic Gnome with fungi, faerie, whimsy and faith, built on the bones of old-school D&D.
It's many tables are found in all parts of the game, supporting the players and gm, procedures of the games. There are kindred background tables (background, trinket, appearance, etc), names, and glamours for players. Ones supporting the environment in hunting, foraging, fishing, weather, encounters (inc. by region), getting lost, saints, rumours (by town) and what's served at the inn.
In addition to the encounter tables and activities, each creature has a table of specific encounters and lairs (if they have lairs), plus some npc tables. The Referee also has treasure and magic item tables, including rare comestibles, trade goods and rare herbs. There are dungeon tables, including encounters, traps, doors and weirdness.
And of course the Symbiotic Flesh to see what grows on a mossling when they level ("parsley chest hair", "edible toe-cheese")
The tables make Dolmenwood an excellent choice for solo play, and the rules are free online.
A double feature today, each with lots of random tables.
Day 19 - Emulators and Oracles for Solo
Solo rpgs often use random tables for procedures, ideas and decisions. The systems, oracles and emulators that support these games have a wide variety of versatile and focused tables.
These include
- Juice Oracle is a compact (and free) emulator designed for a single page, packed with tables.
- The GameMaster's Apprentice Decks from Larcenous Designs each have cards packed with oracle results, dice rolls, atmosphere, names, npcs, situations and other sparks. There are decks for cyberpunk, fantasy, sci-fi and other genres.
- Mythic GM Emulator 2e by Tana Pigeon, covered on Day 1.
- Plot Unfolding Machine by JeansenVaars has sets of oracles customised for different types of adventures. You also have the option of building your own tables up within the framework.
- One Page Solo Engine by Karl Hendricks is a Free, compact oracle with tables using cards and d6s.
- Solo RPG GME - Fantasy from Wilona's Cave Games is a fantasy-focused oracle with tables for events, verb/nouns, npcs, points of interest and further tables. Plus a system for using tarot cards (and basic meanings)
- Chaos Solo Engine - Fantasy Basic is my own free oracle, with 2 pages of d20 tables for characters, setting and inspiration. Plus tables for Yes/No Oracle, Test the Scene and Events.
Day 20 - Tables of Raging Swan Press
Raging Swan Press has long published books of detailed tables such as the Dread Thingonomicon, Dread Laironomicon (monster lairs) and GM's Miscellany: Urban Dressing. There's usually decent previews on these too.
There's also a healthy number of Free Table PDFs on the Raging Swan site.
There are also random tables in the Raging Swan blog Archives (less in more recent posts). Many are under the tag "20 Things".
Day 21 -Ultraviolet Grasslands
Ultraviolet Grasslands and the Black City (2E) by Luca Rejec is more of a setting than an RPG. It is also a unique kaleidoscope of varied places and creatures in a fantasy-science world.
It also has great table support (and procedures), with Encounters and Misfortunes for each area, plus tables specific to each region. There's also tables for Who is this Hero, Quirks, Carousing, Foraging, Research, Pets (an amazing table), ones for each Creature, Vehicles, Trade Goods, Novel Discoveries, Languages, Weather, Gates.
If it's in a list, it's a table. And full of weird elements pulled from all over the place.
Day 22 - Fantasy Hexcrawl Tables
Hexcrawls seem more popular in current times, whether Old School, solo, Western Marches or something else (such as Dolmenwood). Many crawls are powered by random tables, such as...
- The Sandbox Generator from Atelier Clandestin with hex maps and tables for filling them with settlements, npcs, dungeons and other pieces of interest
- Manual of Hexterity by BroadSwordBard is a pay-what-you-want guide to running sandbox wilderness hex crawls. Concise and print-friendly.
- On itch.io there is a tag for 'hexcrawl' with all kind of resources and tables. Free and paid.
- From Philip Reed Games is Hex Dek, Systemless Fantasy RPG Hexcrawl Cards with a deck of 50 double-sided cards, containing hexes, short description, extra info and random encounter table
- For D&D 5e one option is Hexcrawling - Wilderness Exploration and Random Encounters on DM's Guild, by Tim Bannock.
- From Shielddice Studio is Hex-Worlds & The Domain Cartographer, a grid and system for creating hex-icon worlds.
- The Hexcrawl Toolbox from Games Omnivorous is a collection of 150 map hexes, covering eight biomes. Plus a 48 page guide on running hexcrawls, with random tables to support these.
- Infinium Game Studios has FlexTale Hexcrawl Atlas: Western Realm of Aquilae, with many hexmaps for wilderness terrains.
Day 23 - Horror and Dark Fantasy
Some tables for Horror include....
- The Dread Thingonomicon from Raging Swan Press is a collection of 400+ pages of fantasy dread-themed lists.
- The Solo Investigator's Handbook from 5E Solo Gamebooks has advice, systems and tables for playing Call of Cthulhu solo.
- For system-neutral group or solo goodness, Larcenous Designs has The GamesMaster's Apprentice: Horror Deck. A deck of 60 cards with prompts, dice rolls, npc traits, names and more for solo inspiration. There is also the GameMaster's Apprentice: Weird Horror.
- A bit different is Sidequest Decks: Lovecraftian/Paranormal from Inkwell Ideas, 55 cards with maps and adventure ideas.
- Silent Legions from Sine Nomine Publishing is a toolkit of random tables and advice for running modern investigative horror. Compatible with the free Stars Without Numbers game.
- The Book of Random Tables: Eldritch from dicegeeks has 24 d100 tables for Lovecraftian-themed games such as Call of Cthulu. It is complemented by The Great Book of Random Tables: World Between Wars for settings in 1920s and 1930s
- From Chaos Factory Books there is the Teratogenicon, a tome for generating dark fantasy monsters.
- From Blackoath Entertainment is Across a Thousand Dead Worlds, space horror salvaging and exploring to coordinates of unknown sites, where dangers and treasures, aliens and death await.
- Never Engine has the Pay What You Want Weird Shit Generator (Fantasy)
Day 24 - What is YOUR Favourite RPG for Random Tables
So far we've had several rpgs with solid tables. Knave and Maze Rats (Day 3), Shadowdark (Day 6), Ironsworn & Starforged (Day 8), the X Without Number games (Day 12), 2d6 Dungeon (Day 15), Dolmenwood (Day 18) and Ultraviolet Grasslands (Day 21).
Others such as Traveller, WFRP, Electric Bastionland, Troika, Dragonbane, FORGE, Pirate Borg and many Solo RPGs are also known for their tables. Whether tables for that game or useable in others.
So what is YOUR favourite RPG (or rpgs) for random tables?
(link to post on Reddit with comments)
Day 25 - Post-Apocalyptic Tables
Tables for Post-Apocalypse settings include
- Daniel Roos has Post-Apocalyptic Loot with 800 main results by categories and more subtables.
- 49 Lists for Atopic Punk 2160 from Felbrigg Herriot is a pay-what-you-want with 49-themed lists for post-apocalpyse games.,
- From dicegeeks are Book of Random Tables: Post-Apocalyptic filled with d100 tables of items, encounters, characters and more.
- Revenant by Killian Gillespie is an rpg written for solo (or coop/group), playing a reanimated character in a post-apocalyptic future. Using similar system to Ironsworn: Starforged.
- Failed Fallout Shelters from Kai Pütz a.k.a Gregorius21778 is pay-what-you-want and has random tables for what you find in a ruined fallout shelter.
- The Metamorphica Revised from Chthonstone Games has hundreds of mutations, a frequent part of post-apocalyptic games.
- Ashes Without Number from Sine Nomine Publishing is an old school rpg dedicated to post-apocalyptic settings. It has a Free Version. with huge support for random tables. It has sci-fi, cyberpunk and fantasy companions.
- For curios and imaginative elements Skirmisher Publishing has 100 Oddities for a Wasteland with examples in the title blurb. They also have Artifacts of the Wastelands for more options
- 100 Useful Scavenged Items from a Zombie Apocalypse from Grinning Skull Studios gives you things to pick up to help against hungry zombies.
Day 26 - Tables of Roll and Play Press
Roll and Play Press started with the Game Master's Fantasy Toolkit and have been producing amazing tables ever since. The layout is a step-up from most random table collection, and the tables are varied and engaging. This one has Names (common, magical, outlaw, cute) alongside Desert Encounters, Supernatural Patrons, Busking Bards, Critical Hit: Ranged, Works of Art and Bizarre Plant Life.
It's complemented by the Fantasy Character Kit.
And they have Science Fiction options with the Game Master's Sci-Fi Toolkit and the Sci-Fi Character Kit.
Day 27 - FORGE - Fantasy Open Roleplaying Game Engine
F.O.R.G.E is a pay-what-you-want roleplaying game and/or solo emulator with lots of random tables.
The rpg rules are compatible with OSR and B/X D&D, but of more interest to us are the tables. These cover quick characters, Yes/No Oracle, Events, Verbs & Nouns, Quests, Wilds, Dungeons, Settlements, Creatures, Characters, Names and Treasures.
Day 28 - All the Rest
Random Tables that didn't get highlighted in other days. In no particular order.
Tomes of Tables
- The Monster Overhaul is an OSR book packed with tables for monsters and advice on how to use them.
- The Game Master’s Book of Random Tables from Topix Media Lab has 300 random tables on all kinds of things, such as pickpocketing, carousing, dreams, worldbuilding and side quests. Plus one on Gelatinous Cubes!
- Ultimate Toolbox is packed with d20 tables spread over 7 chapters (Character, World, Maritime, Civilization, Dungeon, Magic and Plot) The tables are hit and miss, but it got me fully into using and creating random tables.
D&D 5E Tables (for OSR/older D&D see Days 3, 6, 12, 18, 21, 22 and Cities - below)
- The 2014 DMG has a surprising number of decent tables (but no pdfs)
- Nerzugal's Dungeon Master Toolkit by Steven Williams is a monster of a PWYW title with 114 pages including magic item enchantment tables. The sequel, Dungeon Master Toolkit 2, is also hefty, with random encounter tables.
- For solo D&D... is Solo Adventurer's Toolbox from 5E Solo Gamebooks. Encounters for wilderness, urban and dungeon, random generation of dungeons, wilderness terrain, merchants and other scenarios for solo D&D. There is also The Solo Adventurer’s Toolbox Part Two: The Toolbox Expanded
- Detailing the planes of D&D, with random tables for each, is The Infinite Staircase from Oliver Darkshire.
- A Pay What You Want option is Random Encounters Expanded by Benjamin Campbell with 76 pages of statted encounters, with options for different environments.
- From Guilherme Bento is the Solo Adventurer's Guide - D&D Solo Engine, a guide on how to play solo but in less than 25 pages.
- I've published many Random Table titles on DM's Guild, with probably my favourite being 200 Non-Combat Encounters.
Solo RPGs (see also Emulators and Oracles from Day 19)
- The Solo Games Masters's Guide from Mophidius has advice on how to play RPGs solo, from reading oracle results to examples and random tables.
- The Covetous Poet's Adventure Creator and Solo GM Guidebook has guidelines for creating adventures using an act structure and adventure sheet. It also has random charts for Fantasy, Horror and Sci-Fi.
- D100 Dungeon and D100 Space from Martin Knight are solo rpgs driven by random tables, with lots of supplements available.
- UNE, the Universal NPC Emulator from Conjecture Games is free and creates NPCs for you and how they'll behave.
RPGs with table support
- Dragonbane from Free League is a modern take on an older (Swedish) RPG. It's got good support for random tables, including a section on Solo play by Shawn Tomkin (of Ironsworn fame)
- FIST (Freelance Infantry Strike Team) is an rpg about paranormal mercenaries doing tough jobs in the Cold War. It also has a large section of random tables.
- Electric Bastionland Free Edition from Bastionland Press is a Space-Fantasy game with an old-school feel where you have a failed career and colossal debt. There's lots of support from random tables.
- Pirate Borg from Free League is a rules light rpg with ships and seas and seafarers. Based on Mörk Borg and filled with system-neutral tables.
- Troika from Melsonian Arts Council is a perfect example of quirky space fantasy. It's a simple system for trying Space Fantasy RPGs. It uses random tables for character concept / profession, spells, monster mien, and anywhere else it matters.
Cities
- Cities from Midkemia Press has encounter tables (by area), tables for populating settlements, a downtime section and appendices.
- City Encounters from Mythmere Games features 200 daytime encounters and 200 night-time encounters for OSR games.
- The Nocturnal Table is a supplement for Cities, with a 300-entry random table for night encounters at it's core. Built for OSRIC but should be useable with most old-school D&D.
And a last mention to my own system-neutral tables on DriveThruRpg.
