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Tuesday, August 30, 2022

D100 Non-Combat City-State Encounters

DMs may use this chart to liven up the PCs stay in a city state. Some of these may work for larger client villages, or trade forts as well. 

Roll 1 D100

001: A procession is approaching. The Sorcerer King or Queen is moving through the city.

002: A templar and their guards want to arrest a player character, for crimes real or imagined. The crime should be serious, such as murder or sedition.

003: A man fleeing the templars bumps into one of the characters and slips something small into their pouch, backpack, or hand. The person then flees and is killed by the templars moments later.

004: The player characters see the templars arresting someone they know. Preferably someone close to them.

005: A young noble, seeking to make a name for themselves or showing off for their friends, challenges one of the player characters to a duel. The noble is a psionicist and will use this to their advantage.

006: A slaver will offer to buy the shoddiest dressed player character from the other characters.

007: A merchant offers to sell the group a cure for poison, or disease, at a reasonable rate. They should be very charismatic. There is a 50% chance that the cure is fake and the merchant, a charlatan. A 25% chance that the cure is fake, but the merchant did not know it was fake. And a 25% chance that the cure is real and the merchant, honest.

008: The characters witness a slave drop something, it could be water, food, or some frivolity. The slave's master begins beating the slave furiously for the mistake.

009: The characters run into an escaped slave, who is obviously hiding from some armed men who are looking for him/her. The slave begs for the characters help in getting out out of the city.

010: A drunk stumbles toward the player characters and vomits on, or next to one of the characters. You may require a save vs breath weapon to avoid the vomit.

011: The characters see a man get robbed and stabbed. The perpetrator flees, but his victim is lying on the ground, bleeding badly.

012: A templar will approach the player characters and accuse them of breaking some arbitrary law. They will then offer to overlook the infraction for a small fee.

013: An elf approaches the group and offers to sell them some goods, or slaves, at a deep discount.

014: A thief attempts to pick a characters pocket. 60% of the time, the thief is a street urchin. 40% of the time, the thief is part of a larger criminal enterprise, or an elf tribe.

015: A beggar asks for money, food, or water. If the player characters give the beggar what they ask for, 2d6 more beggars arrive and begin asking for the same.

016: A juggler is juggling on the side of the street, while begging for bits. The templars allow the juggler to do this, as long as he gives 80% of his earnings to the templars.

017: A public execution is taking place. The crime of the condemned is announced and it should be something in line with the views of the player characters, such as attempting to free the sorcerer monarch's slaves or attempting to teach forbidden people to read.

018: A merchant will offer the player characters a discount for their wares, if they do him/her a small favor. This could be as simple as delivering something to another merchant across the city, or as difficult as framing a rival. He will give the discount once proof of their work is provided. The discount should reflect the complexity of the task.

019: A runaway wagon, being pulled by a spooked kank or erdland, is racing down the street. A child, or old person, is in the way of the runaway animal.

020: A man approaches the player characters and accuses one of them of committing some wrong against his family, such as publicly insulting the family. This is a case of mistaken identity, but the man is convinced he is correct.

021: An elemental cleric is preaching a street corner sermon and asks one of the player characters to explain how their element has assisted them, or made their life easier.

022: A small child approaches the most trustworthy looking player character and tells them that he/she is lost and needs to find their mother.

023: Two gangs of ruffians have started a fight, with each other, but the player characters, or an ally, are caught in the middle of it.

024: A baker catches a man trying to steal bread. The man cries out that his family is starving. The player characters hear the heated exchange.

025: A random old, hunchbacked person on the street turns around and points at one, or more, of the player characters. They say, "Trouble follows you like lice on a jankz. You stay away from me." The old person then scurries off.

026: The player characters come across a wanted poster, with the likeness of someone they know sketched on it. If the characters don't know anyone locally, it could be someone from their past.

027: The characters are told to clear the road, as a noble's, or templar's, retinue march past. The noble, or templar, is in a palanquin, or on a kank or crodlu.

028: A food seller is giving out free samples of roasted rat. If the players try a morsel, there is a 30% chance that is is savory, a 40% chance that it is bland, and a 30% chance that it is acrid. If the characters are dressed poorly, they are not offered a sample.

029: A templar takes a liking to one of the characters. This may be romantic interest, or just seeking friendship. The templar should be unattractive physically, socially, or both. Not being tactful could get the character into trouble, or the situation can be used to the characters advantage.

030: A passerby faints, while walking close to the characters. The passerby could be suffering from heat stroke, or possibly poisoned.

031: The characters find a poorly concealed dead body. If they stay too long, a person will see them and call for the templars. The characters will be accused of killing the person. If they run, they just look more guilty.

032: A couple of elves will try and steal one of the character's footwear. They will attempt to trick a character into removing their footwear and once they do, it'll be a snatch and dash. One trick they can try is to offer a special sand that removes weariness from a person's feet. Of course, the sand is just sand. 

033: A wig maker offers to buy a character's hair. Naturally, it will be the player character with the longest hair.

034: A man ahead of the characters, and moving away from them, drops a belt pouch. He doesn't notice and keeps walking. Inside the pouch is something enticing to the characters. Do they keep it, or return it?

035: A person approaches one of the characters and claims to be from, or see, the future. He explains that a great calamity is going to befall the city-state and only the player character can prevent it. The person may be crazy, drunk, or a seer. Dungeon Masters may use this as a fun distraction, or to get the characters back on track.

036: A noble hands a poor person something and while the poor person inspects it, the noble backs away and starts shouting that the man is a thief. He will claim the poor man stole the item from him. Ideally, the poor man is known to the player characters in some way, or is one of the player characters.

037: A rug merchant offers to sell one of the characters a rug. He does not take no for an answer, and has hired some street toughs to force the characters to buy the rug. This works exceptionally well, if the characters split up.

038: A group of diseased inhabitants have been locked into a building, as a quarantine. One of the player characters sees one of the quarantined inhabitants sneaking out.

039: One of the player characters feels a tingling sensation. All of the food, being carried by that character, is instantly spoiled and their water is fouled.

040: A street dog cautiously approaches one of the player characters and begs for food and water. If the character feeds it, it will start following them. The dog is useless in combat situations.

041: Flies and lice have infected part of the city. If it is an important district, the templars are attempting to deal with the situation. If it is a poor district, people are suffering horribly.

042: A ghostly apparition is haunting a large building, or several small buildings, in an area. It may be an actual haunting, a murder victim attempting to expose his murderer, or a false haunting, attempting to scare people away for a nefarious purpose.

043: A drunk walks up to the player characters and attempts to pick a fight. Unbeknownst to the player characters, the drunk is related to an influential templar.

044: Two citizens are fighting over a bucket. If the player characters do nothing, it will come to blows and a feud will start.

045: A bedraggled child will run up to the player characters wielding a stick. The child will challenge one of the player characters to a duel.

046: A person, or group of people, will point at one of the player characters and start laughing at them.

047: The group is approached by a cautious individual and is offered a chance to serve one of the fabled secret societies in the Tablelands. The society should be in line with the characters ideals. It could be the fabled Veiled Alliance, or The Free, but the dungeon master may create their own secret society as needed.

048: Some children take a liking to one of the player characters. The children attempt to emulate the player character, as much as they can, and follow them around.

049: A person on the street offers to play a game with the player characters, for bits. The game should be similar to three card monte, or the shell game. For the best results, have the players play on their character's behalf, if possible.

050: The city is having some supply and demand issues. There is a broad group of items that cost 50% more, or 50% less than usual. Metal items are never 50% less than usual.

051: A merchant will shout at one of the characters that he has magical herbs to remove curses. Even if one of the player characters has not been cursed, the merchant will tell them they have been. The merchant will claim to have "the sight" and will insist one, or more, of the player characters has been cursed with bad luck. He will happily sell them a cure.

052: Some street performers are playing dancing songs. An attractive dancer spins toward one of the player characters and holds out their hand, inviting them to dance.

053: A town crier is calling out news. Most of the news is propaganda, which praises the sorcerer monarch and makes them appear more powerful. Such as: "Today the glorious armies of the great Lion of Urik crushed a slave uprising in the client village of Sura. Praise the king of the world, who protects us from our enemies!"

054: The roof, or the contents, of a building are on fire. People can be heard yelling within. The templars have not yet arrived or it is in a poor area of town, that the templars don't care too much.

055: A bird follows one of the player characters around. The bird is noisy and keeps the player characters from getting a moments peace.

056: A bird follows one of the player characters around. It is eerily silent and watches the character intently.

057: One, or more of the player characters notice a half-elf following them. The half-elf keeps at least 30 feet away and will flee, if the player characters point him/her out.

058: A drunk stumbles up to one of the player characters, the wealthiest looking one, and asks for two bits. He says it's his birthday.

059: A disease has broken out in the city and the templars have declared a quarantine. The player characters are trapped in the quarantined area.

060: The player characters hear an exchange between a merchant and a customer. The customer is accusing the merchant of raising his prices, just because he is from another city-state.

061: A person approaches the player characters. The person is in obvious distress, but cannot speak any of the languages the characters speak.

062: An elf will offer to sell the wealthiest looking player character a gemstone. They elf will admit that it is stolen and is trying to get rid of it quickly, as the elf is a suspect. In reality, it is colored glass, but only a character with the proper non-weapon proficiency, such as appraising, will realize it. 

063: The player characters see a procession of gladiators being lead toward the arena.

064: A person approaches one of the player characters and begins talking to them. The person doesn't say anything important, but is convinced that the player character wants to hear everything about him/her.

065: The player characters witness a woman selling her child into slavery. It may be because the child is unruly or because she cannot afford to feed him/her.

066: A dog begins barking at the player characters. The dog is tied up, but really doesn't seem to like one of the characters. If you don't want to use a dog, use a jhakar instead.

067: A man carrying an earthen jar, full of live crickets, trips and falls. The jar breaks and crickets fill the street. This causes a small panic.

068: Some children, or a crazy person, will throw some animal dung at one, or more, of the player characters.

069: A thief is attempting a daring get away, by climbing a building. The thief slips and falls to the street below. The ones chasing the thief laugh and take back their property. No one is going to help the thief, as he slowly bleeds out.

070: A woman is crying in the street. If the player characters inquire, she will tell them that her husband was just arrested. The crime should be petty.

071: A very busy shopkeeper asks one, or more, of the player character's for assistance. Make sure the character asked has a non-weapon proficiency that is useful. For example: A leather worker walks up to the characters and asks them if any of them know how to work leather. He would be willing to give them some leather goods, in exchange for a days assistance.

072: The player characters stumble upon a templar planting evidence, in order to frame someone for a crime. For example: The characters witness a templar drag a body into an alleyway and place a piece of torn cloth in the body's hand. The cloth could come from a rival templar's robe, or a noble's cloak.

073: A dying man has a terrible disease and begs the player characters to end his life.

074: One of the player character's mounts, or pack animals, takes a dislike to someone else's animal. The two will attempt to quarrel. If the character's have no beasts of burden, they witness two merchants having such problems.

075: The city is having a food shortage and there are many more beggars than normal. Food prices are doubled, or even tripled.

076: A teenage citizen is whining to their guardian. It seems the teen wants to go to the merchant area, with their friends, but there is work to be done.

077: A man approaches one of the player characters, preferably in a crowded area, and claims to be immune to any stab or cut. He hands one of the player characters a dagger and encourages them to use it on him. The dagger may be a fake, and is trying to impress someone, or the man is crazy.

078: A sandstorm is raging outside of the city state. This is preventing the characters from leaving. The storm will rage for hours, or days, based upon the dungeon master's needs. If a random roll is desired. roll 1d4, for the number of days the storm will last.

079: The player characters hear a trader, merchant, or shop keeper, complain about not having enough of something. One, or more, of the player characters should know where that something is. For example: During the player character's last adventure, a wall made of granite blocks was mentioned. Now, in the city, the player character's hear that a stone cutter in is need of granite.

080: A small creature, that has been taught to steal from travelers, is sent to follow the player characters. The creature could be a crow or a critic.

081: A mad person is pouring water into the dirt, claiming that the water had been turned to sand.

082: A blight is affecting certain crops in the farmland around a city-state, or the forest in the case of Gulg. Templars and nobles are seeking help to find out what is causing the problem. It may be a rival city-state, causing the blight to harm their rival city, a noble attempting to destroy another noble's fields, or a natural occurrence being spread by a creature.

083: Unless the player characters are paying close attention, one of them steps in some animal dung. It could be kank or erdlu dung. The nicer the area of town, the fresher the dung.

084: The player characters witness a small slave revolt. Slaves, equal to double the number of player characters, are trying to escape from their handlers. One or two might escape, but the rest will be recaptured.

085: One, or more, of the cities wells has become fouled. Water prices have doubled and citizens are only getting half of their daily ration. The well will become clean again in 1d6 days.

086: The player characters witness a man, dressed in rags, handing over a few bits to a better dressed man. The man in rags claims his debt has been paid and he is now free. The better dressed man disagrees. 

087: A templar stops the player characters and asks them their business in the city.

088: The group witnesses a gang of ruffians shaking down a business owner. If it is in a poor area, the gang is being overtly violent. If it is in a richer, or more populous, area, the gang is subtly threatening the shopkeep with violence, if a protection fee is not paid.

089: The player characters witness a terrified man running out of his home, or place of business. If the characters ask, he will tell them that a sink hole opened inside his home, or business. The hole leads beneath the city.

090: A wagon, loaded with goods, has broken a wheel and trapped a person under it. A group is trying to unload the wagon, because it is too heavy to lift, but the rescue is going slow.

091: Another sorcerer monarch is sending a small army to attack the fields of the city-state the player characters are currently staying in. The army is looking for volunteers to bolster the cities defenses.

092: A pale, sickly crodlu is walking through the street, on its back is a figure in a tattered dark brown robe. No one on the street seems to notice the figure, except one or more of the player characters.

093: Out of a cloudless sky, a bolt of lightning strikes a passerby. The group may be blinded for a short time, because of the light. The passerby, however, has been turned to crystal.

094: A little girl approaches the friendliest looking member of the group. "Take my doll." She says, while holding up a ragged doll made of scraps of cloth and old hay. If they take the doll, the girl laughs and runs away. If they refuse, she will tell them, "Take my doll, the dragon demands it."

095: An event of importance is going on. A noble or high templar is getting married, or there is a funeral for someone important. The player characters may be inconvenienced, as all merchants were commanded to close their shops and stalls for the event.

096: A merchant is selling baubles that are not useful for most adventuring groups. The merchant will approach, holding one of the baubles, and will present it to a player character. If the player character fails a saving throw vs. spell (mind affecting), they will desire the bauble above anything else. The merchant is a defiler, psionicist, or something worse.

097: The templars are performing a ceremony and demand everyone in the area pay attention, the type would depend on which city-state the group is in. In Draj, it may be a human sacrifice; while in Raam, it may be a religious ceremony to Badna. In secular city-states, the templars will be forcing people to swear loyalty to the city's Sorcerer Monarch.

098: A person walks up the characters and begs them to take a very young tree, that they have growing in a ceramic pot. The person claims that a defiler is trying to destroy the tree. He could be crazy, or could be telling the truth. He might claim that the tree grows magic fruit, but it won't mature for three years.

099: A group of free citizens try to recruit the player characters into starting a revolt against the sorcerer monarch of the city.

100: Clouds gather above the city. There is a 50% chance of rain. If it rains, it is a torrential downpour.

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