Variegated Vocabularies for Limited Languages
Ten Lists for making some methods of communication more interesting with word constraints
(Common, Speak with the Dead/Plants/Animals, Thieves Cant, Alignment Languages, Divination, and Telepathy)
blog.d4caltrops.com/2026/03/vari...
I know! I feel like some would be the same for me, but I never expected to receive some much "Brainfood" in return when I wrote these 😅
Absolutely amazing!
Can't believe someone tackled all 100 Questions, and it's incredibly interesting to see where they led!
Some of my Convenient Cantrips might fit this bill:
blog.d4caltrops.com/2022/04/d100...
And I often grant Witches some of the more fairy tale things from here: blog.d4caltrops.com/2025/01/d100...
Heh, I borrowed some of these for a Pigfolk Class 😅
Stat Block for a "Lesser Haunt" type Monster for a lower Level "Ghostly" Undead Foe.
Quick and Dirty:
Heh, in that case the Birthday of a Parent, Close Friend, or Partner (or even an Anniversary!) can sometimes decorate that Calendar a bit more :)
Make sure everyone lists their Birthday as well!
Pages from the Glossary of The Victorian Underworld by Kellow Chesney. Detailing some slang/cant terms.
I still need to give it a read, but the first thing I thought of when it showed up was using some things from The Victorian Underworld
by Kellow Chesney. Nifty glossary of "cant" terms in there:
Fancy Furniture and Fusty Fittings is one I keep handy for anything going in an "interior" (helps me come up with "what this room is for?" on the fly sometimes)
blog.d4caltrops.com/2022/01/d100...
My "Some City Streets" comes to mind for location framing (I use the "sparks" from this a lot, and it's always nice to have a name for where the "meet" is or the lookout might be camping!)
blog.d4caltrops.com/2024/01/d100...
I ended up doing a "dish" generator a while back and it's been great to generate a ton of "Implications" via the Foodways: What crops they tend, animals they raise/hunt, spices they might trade for, etc. Some even end up sounding tasty!
campaignwiki.org/hex-describe...
Refresh for more
Hehe, then the Party must find a way to Contact the Plane of Dog-Catchers!
Snip from my Demiplanes & Pocket Realms d100 Table with the Entry for Galeanthropia: Everyone is Cats here, hope you're not Allergic highlighted
The solution is to open one to the Plane of Cats naturally!
blog.d4caltrops.com/2023/08/d100...
And a dinkus!
The origins of this table actually come from another Referee struggling with those terser Stonehell keys!
I've made a few attempts myself! Not a lot of room for long histories in my tables though 😅
These focus on giving some Treasure a bit more of a "Reputation" blog.d4caltrops.com/2025/10/d100...
blog.d4caltrops.com/2025/02/d100...
d100 - Some More Specific Concealed or Secret Doors
Detail for when a Dungeon Key is found to be Lacking
blog.d4caltrops.com/2026/02/d100...
#osr #randomtables #ttrpgs
Chinese Crested dog. Tongue sticking out of mouth, tufts of wispy white hair on head. Two big black eyes.
I'm partial to the Dog-bold versions, specifically basing them on the Chinese Crested breed (especially the ones that are so awkward looking they end up being cute!)
Players often underestimate them!
Give that Cleric a Fishing Rod as a Holy Symbol!
I love these "emergent Callers" when they show up!
I definitely get that sensation sometimes. Most of my Tables are really just a primary form of my Prep, and they can sometimes be challenging and fun to complete. Some of them have those *silly constraints* (rhyming, alliteration, etc.) that put my mind in a more Playful/Improvisational mood!
There is a bit of whiplash with it sometimes, but over time most Players seemed to adapt to it. Led to a lot less "Unlucky" dice over the years (they would sometimes even save those "Low Rolling" ones for different things!) 😅
In most instances it's not *too difficult* to "flip" things though.
You could spend more or less to have a more powerful or less powerful effect though.
And 1 point could always be spent to fire an "Eldtritch Bolt" that had damage/range as Dagger (up to your level in Bolts per Round.)
Our Vintage Spell Point System from the 80s:
d4 Spell Points per level (like Hit Points with a bonus for INT)
This was rolled anew after a good 8 hours of sleep. Sleeping in some places granted more: d6, d8, d20!...good place to build a Tower 🙂
Spell cost 2 points per level to cast
Or maybe Sorority/Fraternity Names? I did get it from a College 😅
Some of these symbols get used quite a bit in Equations, so my thought was maybe they'd use it to type those into an already typewritten piece?
The one I did as a kid was done on a typewriter and I used underscores/parenthesis and other symbols to make the art (a bit like the ASCII art that would later be popular!)
Wish I still had that old thing 😅
Illustrated portraits of Female Player Characters with effigies of game designers Gygax, Lakofka, and Kask preparing to hang them from nooses.
They got a quite a bit *spicier* in Alarums & Excursions! Bless those early Female Gamers!
I still really enjoy the Pixies cover on that one!
