The tables in this section can help you generate a core fantasy adventure based on the traditional concept of getting hired by a patron or other NPC to take on a quest in a specific location. Often these adventures take place in small settlements surrounded by ancient ruins and monstrous lairs on the edge of civilization.
Use these tables together to generate and inspire full adventures, or use individual tables to fill in the details of other adventures you create or play. This generator (and specifically, the Dungeon Monsters table and the Treasure table) is set up for characters of 1st to 4th level, but can be easily modified for higher-level adventures.
Use these tables to generate a patron or NPC for your adventure, applying an NPC stat block to create villains, hirelings, rivals, or heralds.
Roll on the table below for Behavior and Ancestry:
| d20 | Behavior | Ancestry |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enthusiastic | Human |
| 2 | Flighty | Elf |
| 3 | Shifty | Dwarf |
| 4 | Optimistic | Halfling |
| 5 | Paranoid | Orc |
| 6 | Well spoken | Drow |
| 7 | Superior | Tiefling |
| 8 | Haughty | Dragonborn |
| 9 | Pessimistic | Fey |
| 10 | Suspicious | Goblin |
| 11 | Worried | Construct |
| 12 | Greedy | Celestial |
| 13 | Brave | Ghost |
| 14 | Stern | Wizard's familiar |
| 15 | Sly | Talking animal |
| 16 | Wise | Avian |
| 17 | Reserved | Lizardfolk |
| 18 | Cheery | Catfolk |
| 19 | Opportunistic | Lycanthrope |
| 20 | Soft spoken | Artifact |
Any quests the characters are asked to fulfill might be distilled down to one of the following starting points.
The location of the quest might also contain specific monuments or items tied to the adventure's goals.
Roll on the table below for Location, Monument, and Item:
| d20 | Location | Monument | Item |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tower | Sarcophagus | Coin |
| 2 | Crypts | Obelisk | Figurine |
| 3 | Keep | Orb | Gemstone |
| 4 | Cairn | Bone pile | Amulet |
| 5 | Giant statue | Skull | Earring |
| 6 | Caves | Megalith | Bell |
| 7 | Sewers | Pillars | Bone |
| 8 | Temple | Throne | Bowl |
| 9 | Mines | Statues | Candle |
| 10 | Mansion | Well | Ring |
| 11 | Academy | Orrery | Circlet |
| 12 | Dungeon | Effigy | Bracelet |
| 13 | Barrow | Arcane circle | Dagger |
| 14 | Vault | Spire | Goblet |
| 15 | Tomb | Altar | Key |
| 16 | Warren | Pit | Lamp |
| 17 | Ship | Fountain | Brooch |
| 18 | Sanctum | Archway | Skull |
| 19 | Cove | Cage | Mask |
| 20 | Castle | Brazier | Necklace |
Locations, monuments, or items can be flavored by determining their condition, description, and origin.
Roll on the table below for Condition, Description, and Origin:
| d20 | Condition | Description | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Smoky | Ruined | Human |
| 2 | Acidic | Decrepit | Elven |
| 3 | Bloodied | Obsidian | Dwarven |
| 4 | Burning | Haunted | Halfling |
| 5 | Frozen | Unholy | Gnomish |
| 6 | Poisonous | Sunken | Tiefling |
| 7 | Necrotic | Forgotten | Dragonborn |
| 8 | Thunderous | Macabre | Orc |
| 9 | Ringing | Ancient | Goblinoid |
| 10 | Lightning | Festering | Undead |
| 11 | Radiant | Monstrous | Celestial |
| 12 | Shadowed | Golden | Fey |
| 13 | Oozing | Spired | Elemental |
| 14 | Ethereal | Towering | Giant |
| 15 | Whispering | Forsaken | Fiendish |
| 16 | Windswept | Gloomy | Unseelie |
| 17 | Drenched | Horrific | Aberrant |
| 18 | Diseased | Colossal | Shadow |
| 19 | Crystalline | Overgrown | Ethereal |
| 20 | Silvered | Shattered | Abyssal |
Use this list when you need to define the purpose of a chamber in a dungeon, keep, or similar site. Reflavor any chamber to suit the theme of the adventure.
Add useful discoveries such as the following to your adventure, to create upward beats in the characters' story.
You can add monsters and other foes to your adventure by consulting the following list. Roll a d8 for easy monsters, roll a d12 to expand the range into hard monsters, or roll a d20 to also include dangerous monsters. If you decide to use a monster as a boss monster, give it double hit points and let it take an extra action each turn.
For foes such as bandits and cultists, you can also roll for ancestry on the NPC creation lists if those foes having a common origin makes sense for your narrative.
Add traps as they make sense for the adventure. At 1st through 4th level, traps often have a DC of 13, and deal 7 (2d6) damage for easy traps or 11 (2d10) damage for hard traps.
This list lets you add treasure to the adventure as appropriate. Roll a d10 to determine monetary treasure, or a d20 for monetary and magical treasure.
Some commonly discovered relics might grant a single- use spell, while less common magic items might allow their wielder to cast a spell daily. Use the list of common spells below or choose specialized spells to create unique magic item rewards.