d8 entries from my commonplace book

I keep a commonplace book, a notebook where I record any kind of random idea or inspiration tidbit that can be utilized in games. It's a cool low pressure way of keeping ideas. Some of them come from media. Some are random things that come to my mind. I record them. There is no pressure to develop them into anything --- but at least they are not forgotten, and might come in handy. Here's a selection:

1. Lost-world style tribe who worship a great idol. The idol is in fact a spaceship (rocketship) that landed here, and since then the pilot has been staging divine epiphanies (Wizard of Oz?) – see also “Flash Gordon and the God of the Beastmen”, Flash Gordon #5, 1967, King Comics.
2. Tribe of reptiloid creatures, who currently live in a surprisingly democratic society. However, there is a great danger looming. Their race can rejuvenate/live forever, as long as they hibernate from time to time for a 100 years. The greatest tyrant of their history is soon returning from hibernation and will surely overpower the newly-formed democracy (aided by his troops that also went with him to “sleep”). Their place of hibernation is well-hidden… Quest to find it and destroy them, before they can enact their hideous plans?... (see Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World TV show, S01E03 “More Than Human”, 1999, for Roman Reptile inspiration).
3. If the party is imprisoned, the local authority (prince, king…)’s representative approaches one of them, who is the most interesting (e.g. a Magic-User = man of knowledge, or a Fighter = mighty adventurer). The character taken to an audience with the authority and is asked to regale stories about their adventures.
4. An expedition to the North, to retrieve “antediluvian” bones and tusks. Superstitious local folks. Sub-arctic perils. Greedy merchants looking for ivory. And perhaps an ancient vampyric creature, that wishes to relive its youth by feeding on the beasts of yore…
5. Giant hermit crab in post-apocalyptic wasteland uses burnt-out vehicle as its shell. As seen in The Barren Earth, “The Long Trek”, incl. in The Warlord, #64, DC.
6. Swift-moving glacier. In a year’s time the lower terminus will reach a settlement, while up in the mountains a dungeon or cave will be revealed.
7. Amphibian city; a city of amphibian creatures, their buildings are half-submerged towers. Movement is possible by swimming, boats, and the occasional walkway.
8. Sea of Primordial Muck. Created by a botched terraforming attempt – the aliens liquefied a large territory as part of the process, but never got around to reshaping it. Perhaps only a small island is shaped in the middle of the sea.

Happy holidays, everybody!

d10 adventure seed haiku generator

	NPC	Detail	Action
1	immoral noble	aided by seven warlocks	steals ancient gold relic
2	glamorous wizard	shamed by potent new rival	plans bloody jailbreak
3	band of highwaymen	worshipping the chaos gods	hosts one last game night
4	barbarian tribe	repenting for ancient sins	seeks arcane revenge
5	famed adventurer	on payroll of criminals	is back from the dead
6	young treacherous scion	disguised as foreign merchant	explores catacombs
7	addicted burglar	blackmailed by shady prophet	rekindles old flame
8	rioting beast mob	returning from colonies	changes history
9	local champion	with claims to power and fame	diverts threat of war
10	shape-changed murderer	respected and feared by all	builds secret tower

immoral noble
shamed by potent new rival
steals ancient gold relic

Decadent heir of famed house conspires to steal signet ring (supposedly the source of magical influence) from successful nouveau riche family.

barbarian tribe
disguised as foreign merchant
plans bloody jailbreak

Warriors from the Western Wasteland resort to trickery: disguised as fur traders, they enter the city in order to break out their imprisoned leader.

glamorous wizard
blackmailed by shady prophet
seeks arcane revenge

Leila the Lovely no longer wishes to be associated with the Cult of the Peacock God; but the prophet has a drop of her blood; Leila will try to fight magic with magic.

Special thanks to Syllable Counter.

Edit, later that day:

Appending this extra set of tables for creating locations/dungeon rooms. I'm not that satisfied with this one, because not all combinations end up having the needed flow, they are more like, well, random table results.

	Description	Danger	Reward
1	stones still wet with blood	magnetism pulls you under	secret deep below
2	absolute darkness	crystal spikes grow in the pit	the low-hanging fruit
3	balcony above	guarded by reptile army	hand-cranked machinery
4	bookshelves with curtains	but nothing is what it seems	way towards glory
5	bisected by fence	hopes crushed by armored fist	shiny but buried
6	clouds of vapor float	long-forgotten enemy	soft silks, sharp blades, joy
7	chapel to beast god	gathered around starlit flag	boxes in boxes
8	sculpted colonnade	behold, winged nightmares swarm!	leftovers from feast
9	overgrown by moss	reflection of past mistakes	flawless gems, inset
10	ink-like liquid flows	the ruthless leader thunders	alien knowledge

Magnum, P.I. + Pulp Cthulhu [Random game idea]

Mustaches vs tentacles on Hawaii! So, yes, just take the basic idea of Magnum, P.I.: it's the 1980s, the group of protagonists are security experts, bodyguards, private investigators (some of them Vietnam vets) etc., who work for a mysterious rich patron (who only communicates through recordings or the trusted estate manager). Initially, their job includes perimeter checks at the mansion, low-key investigative work... but eventually the weirdness ramps up as the mysterious patron's missions become more mysterious and plunge the team into the depths of cosmic madness.

Yeah... just a random game idea for this lazy Saturday afternoon.

I kinda dig the [something + Cthulhu] formula. You know, like Scooby Doo + Call of Cthulhu.