d100 | Local Colour |
---|---|
1 |
A beckoning hand has been painted on the wall of narrow alleyway. |
2 |
Abundant berries and fat gourds grow from vines in back street. A single, vivid red flower can be seen high on one of the stalks. |
3 |
Arrow in charcoal points at cellar entrance with dead rat hanging on hook next to it. |
4 |
Badly beaten man tries to stand up. Too scared to speak about perpetrators. |
5 |
Barefoot stranger laments theft of fine boots, offers reward for a new pair (paid “tomorrow”). |
6 |
Barrels packed with seaweed have been left to ferment in side alley. Some have ruptured, and are crawling with flies. |
7 |
Beggar explains to companion about “blind” windows which never open, citing Roll 1d6 examples. |
8 |
Beggars are sleeping off the effects of soporific glasses with Roll 1d6 discarded glass tubes. |
9 |
Beggars’ chalk marks on walls warn of “Master of Beatings”. |
10 |
Bells jingle and doves flutter in small aviary. |
11 |
Boy produces live spider from mouth, offers to tell meaning for 5 gp. Can produce Roll 1d12 more. |
12 |
Brackish water swirls in tub half covered with dirty tarp. |
13 |
Brass case left behind judge’s statue in niche contains bird mask, two knives, killing contract and advance of Roll 1d6*10 gp. |
14 |
Brick wall has been broken through into lost cellar. Discarded lantern and pair of slippers by en- trance. |
15 |
Buckets and long hooked poles are stored neatly next to locked shed. |
16 |
Buckets hanging from chains suspended from higher-story windows swing and sway ominously. |
17 |
Cart loaded with sacks of grain has been left without wheels. Gathering rats. |
18 |
Cats are fighting over carcass of dead dog. |
19 |
Children are dancing around hat skewered on pointy stick. Fall silent and afraid if asked of origins. |
20 |
Children are prodding dead dog with sticks. |
21 |
Children are telling stories of their peer eaten by underworld monsters. |
22 |
Clothes have been left hanging on lines close to ground, one valuable (Roll 2d6*20 gp). |
23 |
Coils of rope (Roll 1d6) on row of pegs. Restocked each night. |
24 |
Confused man asks what year is this. |
25 |
Crone sells earthy roots she grows in “the deep cellars, where they grow the best”. |
26 |
Crones engaged in bitter argument about existence of long-forgotten street. |
27 |
Disembodied hand grasping random potion drifts by, gradually rising towards rooftop windows. |
28 |
Dishevelled man sells painted needles from tin box. |
29 |
Doorman inquires about invitation, extremely sharp about tricks or fakes. |
30 |
Drunk claims to have seen company member go the same way “just a little while ago”. |
31 |
Drunk dances on overturned barrel and offers free drinks to anyone who will sing with him on dead wife’s birthday. |
32 |
Eel-seller with metal pincers selling merchandise next to row of clay pots. |
33 |
Expensive-looking cat starts following company, bolts on attempt to catch. |
34 |
Eye in pyramid glares from old mural with inscription: “WE BUY AND SELL” |
35 |
Fish have been hung up to dry on a string. Cats gather for the right opportunity. |
36 |
Fruit seller’s unsold wares have been left to rot, and are crawling with hard-shelled beetles. |
37 |
Gourd of wine and money pouch on snoring nomad already stripped of sword and boots. |
38 |
Group of shadowy men size up company, laugh among themselves, then depart. |
39 |
Houseplants knocked off high ledge, grappling hook lies stuck in grille next to open shutters. |
40 |
Irrecognisable stump of a statue in wall niche is garlanded with flower wreaths. |
41 |
Large tomes have been burned in street kiln, cinder floats above smouldering embers. |
42 |
Lovers’ quarrel behind open window eventually turns to murder plan. |
43 |
Lumps of iridescent metallic stuff are embedded in broken chunks of igneous rock on the ground. |
44 |
Man in black toga marked with embroidered silver fish walks into curtained alcove and disappears; blank wall with chalk marks beyond. |
45 |
Man in fantastic clothing and bizarre mask lies in the street, ignored by passersby. |
46 |
Man looking for glass eye lost in altercation. Claims the eye sees “The big one”. |
47 |
Man sells hoods for 2 gp each “For your safety” and “So they don’t recognise you.” |
48 |
Man tied to wooden post demands to be freed. |
49 |
Mark of an “X” has been scrawled in chalk on Roll 1d12 shutters. |
50 |
Masked man beckons and whispers, “They are watching the transversal”. |
51 |
Masses of rats swarming on wooden platform creaking ominously under weight. |
52 |
Miser offers one gold piece to clean his out cellar’s rat infestation. If offer is insufficient, he recon- siders, and offers company can take the rats when they are done. |
53 |
Miserable furniture is thrown into the street from upstairs window, sounds of altercation. |
54 |
Moon man painted on blue banners over street. |
55 |
Mother accuses sons of heinous deed behind curtained window. |
56 |
Muddy tracks lead across street along the traces of a heavy, dragged pack. |
57 |
Mute beggar entrusts key to random character, makes strange sign. |
58 |
Mystery man frowns at company, declares “Your path is crooked” before continuing on way. |
59 |
Obscure door is bound with several chains and locks. |
60 |
Oil lamps have been left in orderly row before empty pedestal. |
61 |
Old woman watching from window points, “You are back, fiend!”, reaching for crossbow. |
62 |
Padlocked cistern hatch has been marked “WARNING! CLASS III MEGAVORE!” |
63 |
Peeling plaster reveals ancient mural of dancing skeletons in expensive jewelry. |
64 |
Picpocket victim is looking for people to accuse. |
65 |
Pile of melons left unattended on cart for Roll 1d6 minutes. |
66 |
Pipes overhead gurgle ominously, and creak under unseen stress. |
67 |
Plum-coloured smoke drifts from open window. |
68 |
Polite man asks directions towards nearest whorehouse. |
69 |
Prostitute and Roll 2d12 friends celebrating her “Divorce from the bed”, which they burn in middle of street. |
70 |
Prostitute offers key to whorekeep’s stash box for half the proceeds therein. |
71 |
Puppet player performs macabre play before painted shack to no audience. |
72 |
Ragged curtain in bright primary colours embroidered with grinning suns over ingress to narcotic den. |
73 |
Rotting wood ornament of potbellied goddess is crawling with fat green slugs. |
74 |
Row of old wooden statues has been covered with greasy cloth. |
75 |
Scroll cases dropped by fleeing woman contain sealed contracts. |
76 |
Shadow in brazier animates to point towards gilt spire in distance. |
77 |
Shadows lengthen and lights dim. Distant howling fills the area. Roll 1d6 minutes later, it passes, and it begins to rain. |
78 |
Single candle burns next to body of dead beggar. |
79 |
Sleeping dog cradles carved bone-hilt dagger (15 gp). |
80 |
Smiling, jowled man with symbol of sun on robe nods, advises “All is illusion” before walking off. |
81 |
Smoke cloud over brazier forms shape of panter with ember eyes before drifting away. |
82 |
Sour-faced youth has had too much to drink, just about to stumble into character’s arms. |
83 |
Stars and comets are painted on a torn canvas over wooden boards. Three stars have been care- fully cut out. |
84 |
Steam rises from cellar window, splashing and bubbling noises from inside. |
85 |
Stone arms (Roll 1d8) propped against brick wall. |
86 |
Storefront looking abandoned for many years has newly painted “FOR SALE. INQUIRE WITHIN” sign on dusty windows. |
87 |
Stray dogs being fed by scrawny beggar training them into killing fiends. |
88 |
Street sweeper brags to comrade about golden chain found around severed arm “down back”. |
89 |
Syrup from overturned jug has attracted a black mass of ants. |
90 |
Tattered clothes hanging on clothesline must have been worth a fortune... once. |
91 |
The croaking of frogs and the thumping of drums comes from behind bolted storefront. |
92 |
The drifting scent of spices brings feelings of strange melancholy; people openly weep in the street. |
93 |
The mark of six cat’s eyes are visible on an old wooden board above walled-in entrance. |
94 |
The smiling face of an enormous stone head has been partially walled over in house foundation. |
95 |
Three doors marked with paint on vacated tenements warn of the hazards of unpaid rent. |
96 |
Two doors have been freshly painted bright orange and lavender. |
97 |
Urchins drawing lewd graffiti and insults to Overlord on wall next to closed shop. |
98 |
Vagrant offers ring of false keys “found down the narrow” for 15 gp. |
99 |
Wild-eyed man shouts “Doooom! Doooom! Doooom!” while ranting about forthcoming collapse. |
100 |
Woman lights lamps in Roll 1d12 house windows, eyes passersby warily. |
Local Colour (d100)
See the full collection: The Nocturnal Table
Gabor Lux’s The Nocturnal Table is available for purchase:
• Print+PDF from the EMDT store: https://emdt.bigcartel.com/product/the-nocturnal-table
• PDF from DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/292156/The-Nocturnal-Table
Citation
The Nocturnal Table, by Gabor Lux. Reproduced by permission of the author.