The Dragon’s Tower

It can be frustrating to have an excellent game idea but no setting to put it in. Take Korric’s Hall for example. Great idea but if we want to fill it out further, we’re going to need to do some research. To start, the original hotel on which the adventure hook is based is located in Farmington, New Mexico and some quick googling will get us some information about the area but alot of it is modern advertising. Not useful for our purposes and it can be time consuming to wade through all the links Google can provide. What we need are Continue Reading »

Here’s a website that’s been out there awhile - Hero Machine. It has some serious limitations (the only sex selectable for human fantasy is female) but if you’re having some trouble coming up with a character portrait, consider it.

One fun thing to try is using the die button near the bottom of the options section, setting everything to “all random”. This is especially cool if you’re stumped for new character ideas. And who hasn’t been?

This can be a cute trick but use it carefully. It’s one thing to mislead players and challenge them and something else altogether to just frustrate them and piss everyone off.

The BBC has a small, quick quiz about the senses. Take it. Be surprised at the things you find out, it’s harder than it looks. Some of the questions, like missing the word “the” typed twice in a sentence, are ideas that have been around for quite awhile but the things on perceptions (man, I really screwed up on that circle) could be used to create interesting and challenging puzzles.

We all know Druids liked trees, right? How about snakes? Check out this site on Irish Druids and old Irish religions. Not only are Irish Druids covered (obviously) but also the German and French varieties. Wait. French Druids?

If you’re as clueless as I am about all these Druids, and they’re in your game, you want to read it.

You know them, no matter what system is your favorite. In fantasy: It’s made of wood, has a fireplace and some tables, the barwench and a few rooms upstairs. Upscale it and there’s a stable out back. Modern games have them, too, although they show up less often in my experience. Bars are more common social nuclei in contemporary modern settings.

But what if your players were traveling through a canyon and found this one? There, at the only source of water for 20 miles, is Korric’s Hall. Korric is an unimaginative fellow, a collector of rocks, which first led him to this place. After exploring several area caves, finding some unusual quartz and other gems, Korric noticed that the traffic always had to come here. Everyone needs water.

He used his gems, and some savings from earlier exploits, to hire diggers and miners to build the Hall. While there’s something of a pungent smell (dried manure is the main fuel, wood being scarce), most travelers forced to stop here enjoy the unusual fare Korric offers. Spike-growth salad is served alongside the very tasty remorhaz steaks. Fermented mare’s milk is chilled in the lower rooms and served by the young desert elf maid.

Adventure Hooks:

• Korric’s running low on food. He’ll pay well for anything edible the party can bring back.
• Bralani nomads have been plaguing travelers and driving Korric’s customers north to avoid them. Find out why these usually peaceful neighbors are causing trouble.
• Lallaneah, the elf maid, never looks up. Why?

All of this was 15 minutes thought after seeing a site about Unusual Hotels of the World. There’s something there for just about any game, no matter the setting. Check it out.