Chris polled members of the GMMastery Yahoo group for benign urban encounter ideas and then added a few of his own to come up with this awesome list you might find useful for your own campaigns. Editor Isaac and I added a few more as well. Thanks Chris, Telas, and GMMastery contributors!
Try using this list a few different ways:
d150 | Details |
---|---|
1 |
Chamber pot emptied near/on |
2 |
Cats chasing each other dart past |
3 |
Please watch this cart for me, just for a minute. |
4 |
Birds of prey circling overhead |
5 |
Urchin approaches for minor scam |
6 |
Shadow passes across the ground |
7 |
Smoke rises in distance (brush fire) |
8 |
Feeling of deja vu |
9 |
Insect swarm/nest on building |
10 |
Howling/barking in the distance |
11 |
Beggar asks for alms |
12 |
Children pester party |
13 |
Local teen wants to join party |
14 |
Graffiti on building |
15 |
Stumble onto amorous teens |
16 |
Child looking for pet frog |
17 |
Snake slithers away |
18 |
Street vendor (food, drink, trinkets, etc.) |
19 |
Rainbow in the distance |
20 |
Group of bats rise in the distance |
21 |
Drunken fist fight |
22 |
Stumble on lover's quarrel |
23 |
Religious pilgrims with vow of silence are jeered at |
24 |
"Recognized" by a drunk |
25 |
Overturned vegetable cart |
26 |
Criminal held in public stock |
27 |
Sudden sun shower |
28 |
Wind kicks up |
29 |
Street performer(s) |
30 |
Religious fanatic |
31 |
A discarded, tattered cloak |
32 |
A rusty old weapon found in gutter |
33 |
Dark storm cloud approaches |
34 |
Large beetle buzzes around head |
35 |
Kids playing game (hide 'n seek) |
36 |
Criminal in custody is marched past |
37 |
Mother looking for child |
38 |
Sandstorm |
39 |
Small dust whirlwind |
40 |
A dead ox causes a gridlock |
41 |
An overturned cart causes a gridlock |
42 |
A few sun bleached papers blow by |
43 |
Well-armed adventurers pass by |
44 |
Roof tile falls, barely missing party |
45 |
Approached by prostitute(s) |
46 |
Smell of baking/cooking |
47 |
Pimp ("you messin' with my woman?") |
48 |
Wailing baby |
49 |
One person chasing another |
50 |
Stench of feces |
51 |
Ray of light seems to surround one person |
52 |
Unusually cool breeze |
53 |
Rats are following you |
54 |
You get a dull, throbbing headache |
55 |
Injured bird lies helpless |
56 |
Skunk smell |
57 |
Eerily quiet |
58 |
Customer angry with shopkeeper |
59 |
Food fight occurring |
60 |
Stung by a bee |
61 |
Arid dust coats your mouth |
62 |
Cop/guard walking a beat |
63 |
Spoiled brat wants party item |
64 |
Someone teleports away |
65 |
Very friendly cat |
66 |
Parent scolding child |
67 |
Someone bumps pouch--nothing's missing |
68 |
Find a copper piece |
69 |
Parade in honor of minor saint, hero, etc. |
70 |
Foreigners arguing in their own language |
71 |
Allergic reaction to exotic spice/pollen |
72 |
Discount holy water salesman |
73 |
Witness a minor crime |
74 |
Something scurries away (chipmunk) |
75 |
Street preacher accosts you |
76 |
Witness a major crime |
77 |
Two religious processions meet head-on |
78 |
City watch follows you for 2d4 blocks |
79 |
Find a silver piece |
80 |
Dogs chasing each other run by |
81 |
Very active beehive nearby |
82 |
Howling gust of wind |
83 |
Approaching lightning storm |
84 |
Crow squawks repeatedly at approach |
85 |
Rubbery mass stuck to your boot (gum) |
86 |
Step in crap - dog, dire rat, etc. |
87 |
Someone stomps in nearby puddle--splash! |
88 |
Street cleaner sweeps by |
89 |
Unconscious stranger on side of road |
90 |
Pair of small birds harass you |
91 |
Feral cat is trailing the party |
92 |
A case of mistaken identity |
93 |
Cloud shaped as holy symbol |
94 |
Shopping list for potions is found |
95 |
Old ring is sticking out of the dirt |
96 |
One person has an intense itch |
97 |
Hawk takes mole/mouse near party |
98 |
Find a gold piece |
99 |
Loose chickens peck at the street |
100 |
Passing child drops pottery, cries |
101 |
Raven lands in path, stares, leaves |
102 |
Injured mounted scout charges through the street |
103 |
Noble is carried past in a sedan chair |
104 |
Two hooded people whisper on street |
105 |
Young consumer is watched closely |
106 |
Singing floats out of nearby building |
107 |
Circus wagon trundles past, animal calls |
108 |
Weapon sharpener approaches party |
109 |
Large flock of birds flies acrobatics, then darts away |
110 |
Private guards flank a door |
111 |
Distracted senior totters straight for party |
112 |
Weary knight is mobbed by adoring children |
113 |
Partial eclipse of the sun |
114 |
Emaciated children tug at party sleeves |
115 |
People cheer for the party |
116 |
A strong, young, healthy beggar asks for coin |
117 |
A politician on a box of soap during a speech makes eye contact with a PC |
118 |
A cat is stuck in a tree and mewls at the PCs |
119 |
An escaped pet rodent rolling around the street in its ball bumps up against a PC's leg |
120 |
A religious leader and his incense burning retinue cuts across the PCs' path |
121 |
A diseased old man resting in a chair asks for help standing up |
122 |
A paint can spills from above and splashes PCs |
123 |
Political activists on parade beckon the PCs to join |
124 |
A dangerous fish in a tank bumps loudly against the glass |
125 |
A bee stings a nearby child who blindly runs to a PC for soothing |
126 |
A small bird egg drops out of a nest from above and land intact nearby |
127 |
An elf walks by with living snakes wrapped around his shoulders |
128 |
A visitor stops to ask for directions to an interesting place |
129 |
A fish vendor bends over to vomit and people point and laugh |
130 |
A sheet of music blows into a PC's face |
131 |
A garbage bin rattles; inside is a tied sack of kittens |
132 |
A depressed bard asks sing-song, rhetorical questions of the PCs |
133 |
A dangerous-looking racoon has claimed an apple cart as his--merchant beseeches PCs |
134 |
A known crime boss sits and reads while sweating shoe shine boy buffs and casts the PCs worried looks |
135 |
A woman with too much fashion going on breaks her shoe and stumbles into a PC |
136 |
A man gets down on one knee and proposes, drawing a crowd and knotting traffic |
137 |
A beggar with his hand down a drain hole brings up a ring and immediately asks the PCs to buy it |
138 |
Three performers in masks surround the PCs and do a ring dance around them |
139 |
Clothing tossed out a window during a lovers' spat lands on a PC |
140 |
A woman drops a basket of fruit--can the PCs dodge before squashing some? |
141 |
A crazy man points at PC's equipment and lists its magical properties--and he's right! |
142 |
A little boy confronts the PCs and shoots them with an imaginary crossbow |
143 |
PCs pass an alleyway blocked by a new spider web |
144 |
A fishmonger dumps a cart of rotten fish for scavengers to clean up |
145 |
A young noble passes trailed by a pickpocket |
146 |
A messenger collides with the PCs and numerous papers start blowing around |
147 |
A body of an evil wizard tied to a stake, body still smoking |
148 |
A chatty bard walks alongside the party |
149 |
A chess match |
150 |
A person passed out from too much drink, looted, with writing on forehead |