Category: Random Encounters
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Random Encounters: 1890s Manaus
In the late 19th Century, the industrialized world's demand for rubber shot up exponentially. Suddenly poor jungle regions had a valuable cash crop — and that quickly attracted ruthless men eager to cash in on the boom. Manaus, on the Amazon, grew from a remote outpost into one of Brazil's biggest cities. It was a…
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Random Encounters: Derelict Space Colony
When new, it was a glittering gem of the heavens: a rotating cylinder four kilometers across and ten kilometers long, with great mirrors to focus sunlight inside. It boasted towns, farms, schools, factories — a city in space. But time and economics haven't been kind to the colony. The resource ran out or the trade…
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Random Encounters: Prague
The ancient capital of Bohemia, Prague boasts one of the world's most beautiful city centers. Since the fall of Communism, millions of people from all over the world have flocked to Prague to enjoy the city's beauty and amazing historical and cultural sights. Roll 1d20 every 15 minutes of walking around Prague to see what…
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Random Encounters: In the Wizard’s House
It looks like a whimsical little cottage on the outside, but on the inside the Wizard's House is a bewildering maze of hallways, endless staircases, courtyards, and rooms of every size. The windows look out on a frightening variety of landscapes, some which cannot exist on Earth. You're not the only ones exploring the Wizard's…
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Random Encounters: Neutral Istanbul
Turkey remained neutral during World War II, but Istanbul's strategic location made it a hub of espionage and intrigue. American, British, Russian, German, and Italian agents all spied on each other with varying success, and the Turkish Security Service spied on them all. Exiles and displaced persons sought refuge there, and crooks flocked to take…
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Random Encounters: A New Star System
You've just emerged from hyperspace, or shut off the Alcubierre drive, or switched on the plasma sail to slow down from relativistic speed. You're here, in a new star system, and it's time to look around. Long-range telescopes have already showed you all the major planets, but you still have to chart moons, asteroids, and…
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Random Encounters: In the Wizard War
When the great wizards go to war, even Kings run and hide. In this D20-inspired fantasy setting, two factions of wizards have moved from rivalry to outright warfare. Everybody thought it would end quickly, but of course it has dragged on, drawing in new allies as blazing anger turns to implacable hate. Cities, kingdoms, and…
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Random Encounters: The Hell-Fire Caves
In 1748 the famous libertine baronet Sir Francis Dashwood ordered the excavation of a complex of chalk caves under his family seat of West Wycombe Park. The work incorporated existing caves and mine tunnels, as well as new chambers and galleries, and may have linked to some of the "follies" on the grounds of the…
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Random Encounters: The Floating City
Akmon is a city of a million people floating in the hazy blue-green atmosphere of Uranus. The city's held aloft by a ten-kilometer balloon made of diamond, filled with hydrogen superheated by a fusion powerplant which doubles as an artificial Sun. Akmon serves as a hub for atmosphere mining, a base for airships hunting the…
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Random Encounters: The Infinite Library
"The universe (which others call the Library) is composed of an indefinite and perhaps infinite number of hexagonal galleries, with vast air shafts between, surrounded by very low railings. From any of the hexagons one can see, interminably, the upper and lower floors. The distribution of the galleries is invariable. Twenty shelves, five long shelves…
The Cambias Digression 