Category: Random Encounters
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Random Encounters: On the Fantastickal Moon
We know what you'll find on the Moon if you get there via a Saturn rocket and Apollo Program Lunar Module lander. But what if you sail to the Moon aboard an elven galleon or step there through an enchanted silver door? ENCOUNTERS ON THE FANTASTICKAL MOON (Roll 1d20 when roving about the Lunar surface,…
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Random Encounters: The Golden Age of Deimos
In the 22nd Century, Deimos is the Solar System's hub of trade and finance. Linked to Mars by an orbital elevator, and occupying an enviable position requiring very little energy expenditure to reach both Earth orbit and the outer planets, Deimos is fantastically rich. Its wealth draws in talented people from across the Solar System…
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Random Encounters: Occupied Honolulu
When secret Japanese superweapons caught the American carriers unprepared at sea just after Pearl Harbor, the Pacific was defenseless. Imperial Marines landed on Oahu a few weeks later and the Rising Sun flag now flies over Hawaii. America's still in the fight, but it will take time to rebuild the fleet. The people of Honolulu…
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Random Encounters: Fantastic Egypt (Part 2, The City)
Assuming you made it past the desert, the ribbon of black earth and green vegetation hugging the banks of the Nile is studded with grand cities. They are filled with whitewashed brick houses, grand palaces and temples of stone, and busy markets. As the richest kingdom in the ancient world, Egypt is renowned for luxuries,…
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Random Encounters: Fantastic Egypt (Part 1, The Desert)
Even historical Egypt was like a fantasy kingdom to ancient historians like Herodotus or Pliny. In a fantasy setting, all you need to add is a few monsters. This table covers the wilderness beyond the valley of the Nile — which visitors will have to cross in order to reach the rich Black Land of…
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Random Encounters: Aboard the Orbital Elevator
The Orbital Elevator, stretching from an artificial island south of Singapore 36,000 kilometers up to geosynchronous orbit, is one of humanity's great engineering achievements. Capsules leave the ground terminal every two hours, and the whole journey up the long carbon-fiber cable takes two days. Each capsule is a self-contained spaceship, with lounges at the top…
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Random Encounters: City of Supers
Almost every superhero has a home town. Whether it's Batman's Gotham City, Superman's Metropolis, or Marvel Comics's shared New York City, it's the place where the heroes live in their secret identities, where their non-super friends live, and the place which keeps getting attacked by villains. ENCOUNTERS IN THE CITY OF SUPERS Roll 1d20 if…
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Random Encounters: Decadent Venice
The Most Serene Republic of Venice was a major player in Mediterranean trade and politics for at least nine hundred years, but in the 17th century the city's power went into a terminal decline. It went from being a commerical and naval power to being a tourist destination. Foreigners came to enjoy the Carnival season,…
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Random Encounters: The Bar Outside Area 51
It's a tumbledown roadhouse on a desert highway, no cute signs, no come-ons for tourists. Inside it's shabby but comfortable. The customers are mostly crewcut types with sunglasses. But the photos on the walls include shots that can't be anywhere in the Solar System. This is the bar where the people who Know The Secrets…
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Random Encounters: The Cloud Island
Cloud Island is a mile-wide mass of solid cloud, shaped rather like an egg. It was settled long ago and is currently ruled by a Cloud Giant sorcerer. The island serves as a free port and marketplace for ships and creatures that sail the sky or venture through the ether. ENCOUNTERS ON THE CLOUD ISLAND…
The Cambias Digression 