Oriental Adventures is a TSR publication often noted for two things. The one I want to talk about today is its regional events because the other has been far better handled elsewhere and regional events are relevant to a recent problem I had at the table: when returning to your game world after being gone IRL 4-6 weeks, shouldn't something change in-game? And what good are these events for your table?
I. AS THE WORLD TURNS (YEARLY EVENTS)
Okay, as a general principle, most D&D games do not last years. Those that do last years are a rarity, and I say that as someone currently participating in a multi-year game. So what practical use is a table of yearly events for ~75% of campaigns?
I believe a yearly event table can help to provide a specific overall game-defining world event ("world" here being earth-encompassing or just "regional") which may or may not have a specific mechanical impact. For example, a campaign starting in a year of famine would be very different than one that starts with the arrival of the ambassador from the stolen moon. These events provide a sense of scale of the PCs to consciously or unconsciously judge their place in the world. For OSR games this enhances the idea that your players are starting as nobodies trying to make their place in the world.
Practical Use In A Campaign: But it also helps the PC calculate the impact of their actions. For instance, if the yearly event is a political plot and they happen to rob a runner of one of the political groups then they immediate understand who might be after them and who might pay handsomely for the information they just gained.
Here is the above table converted into a d20 table for convenience. With yearly events, I'm not concerned with precise weighting in so much as I am concerned with interesting events. After all, I will not be rolling on this table a lot.
YEARLY EVENTS (1d20)
- Ambassador
- Assassination of a Lord
- Birth
- Comet
- Death of a Lord
- Earthquake
- Famine
- Fire
- Flood
- Incursion
- Marriage
- New Religion
- Plague
- Political Plot
- Rebellion
- War
- Visitation
- Volcano
- Missing Constellation
- Dragon
II. GUIDING LIGHT (MONTHLY EVENTS)
Monthly events are divided into three different types. I don't like the titles so I'm gonna list them as Political, Natural, NPC. Once we have a year-event, we can further define it impact by rolling one of the columns of the monthly events for each month of game time.
I'd not try to precisely define each Yearly Event long these three categories as a lot of the entries could be interpreted multiple ways. A "comet" result for instance could be a natural event or a political one (as a sign from the gods). The red comet in Game of Thrones has multiple meaning for different groups.
Practical Use In A Campaign: Monthly events help define the impact of the Yearly Event. So what a comet appeared? If its just mentioned once its a throwaway, but if in the same month, a strange birth happened followed by two months of incisions, one physical and one ethereal, well then it feels far more significant. Also monthly events can help an indecisive DM (Hi! Its me! I'm the problem its me!) know when to bring in factions, NPCs, or "things" they've been holding back.
But not only can this table help signal the start of events, but it can help signal the end of events as well. Perhaps a nice rule is that if you roll on the same event twice in a year it can signal the end of a previous event-- a rebellion gets put down or a monster is slayed.
And even these endings don't have to signal an end to the energy an event creates. A quashed rebellion could mean that all subsequent bandit events are remnants of that rebellion (Firefly's whole plot) or a slain monster could give rise to a new hero, whose been given lordship over the lands the PCs are in (and that "hero" is a diiiick).
Let's also simplify this table into a d20 version. Again, I find d100 tables awkward, space-eating, and a little intimidating when I want a general framework that could be modified for different types of campaigns.
Political
1 Accident2 Bandit3–4 Birth/Death5–6 Incursion, major7–8 Incursion, minor9 Injustice10 Major Battle11 Monster/Haunting12–15 No Event16 Person of Interest17 Recruiting18 Taxes19 Troop Move20 Uprising
Natural
1 Accident2-3 Bad Harvest4-5 Bandit Acivity6 Birth7-8 Death9 Earthquake, Major10 Taxes, Excessive11 Fire, Minor12 Flooding13 Haunting14 Monster15 Injustice16 Landslide17 Maneater18 Plague19 Uprising20 VIP Visit
NPC
1 Accident2 Bandit Acivity3-4 Birth5 Death6 Famous Person7 Fire Minor8 Haunting9-10 Injustice11 Maiden of Virture12 Maneater13-14 Mairrage15-16 Notorious Criminal17 Vengful Stranger18-19 VIP Visit20 No Event
III. THESE ARE THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES (DAILY/WEEKLY EVENTS)
So a further subdivision depending on where your PC are currently adventuring. I honestly feel that the Wilderness and Ocean subtables are weak because they could easily be replaced by or would already be replaced by an existing random encounter table. Additionally, they could also be replaced by the other three event subtables here.
Practical Use In A Campaign: Weekly Events pull double duty depending on how the DM judges the proximity of the PCs to the Yearly or Monthly event.
If the PCs are "close" either by actual distance or due to their actions, then the Weekly Event result might pertain to the Monthly Event (and by extension the Yearly Event) that has taken place. For example, if the monthly event was a crushed rebellion that occurred in the region, then "bandits" might be those exact rebels taking over surrounding area.
If the PCs are "distant" from the Yearly or Monthly event, then "bandit" might simply be an irritating collection of nar-do-wells or a goblin faction with be ideas moving out of the 1st level of the local dungeon.
Additionally, the results here can be more oracular in nature. For instance, "haunting" could be someone's past misdeeds coming to catch up to them or literally ghosts coming from the 3rd level of the local dungeon.
Unlike the prior two d20 tables, I used a 2d8 table for weekly events to implement a stronger weighting influence towards "nothing" as a DM will be rolling on this table frequently. We don't want rolling on this table over shadow the PCs' own choices. Also, I use various carousing tables which are also events in themselves and PCs should be the biggest source of local headaches. Since I am writing this for my own Nightwick game, I might just stop at village/rural area and save the rest for later.
WEEKLY EVENTS in a RURAL SETTING
2 Haunting 1.56%3 Crime 3.13%4 Shrine 4.69%5 Shrine 6.25%6 Monster 7.81%7 Bandit 9.38%8 Nothing 10.94%9 Nothing 12.50%10 Nothing 10.94%11 VIP 9.38%12 VIP 7.81%13 Stranger 6.25%14 Stranger 4.69%15 Crime 3.13%16 Haunting 1.56%
IV. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Alright, so let's say we have a village located next to a hell-haunted megadungeon inside a local forest who's inhabitants' hearts are aligned with the old gods, so what is the major event that has happened this year? (Rolls d20)...15... Rebellion (political).
You arrive at The Village during a time of unease. The Southern Kingdom has declared independence and separation from Church-held lands. Now each eyes the hamlets, villages, and towns in between these political powder kegs.
This month how has this rebellion manifested in the local environment? (Rolls d20)...8...Incursion, Minor.
Not wanting to be a pawn in the brewing war (Yearly Event), local forces aligned with the old gods have press-ganged local logging camps and sawmills into service and fealty. Building material are in short supply & current prices are doubled.
And has something specific happened this week related to the minor incursion associated with the rebellion? (Rolls 2d8)...3...Crime. Since the PCs are located near a Monthly Event, I'll interpret through this lens.
The Villages only inn is a buzz with rumors that the sheriff's son was captured by the pagan loyalists (Monthly Event) while other rumors say that it was agents of the Church who stole the boy away in the night (Yearly Event).
And there you have it! Regional Events. Now the environment surrounding the players feels more dynamic. And in 4-6 sentences, 3 factions, 2 problems, and a potential local hook as been introduced. That is quite the value generated from three tables and as many die rolls!
