Tables for a Nautical Campaign

Two junk tables for world building.

Illus. Harry Clarke

Flotsam (1d100+1d6)

Based heavily on Chris G's Secret Santicore 2013 contribution, "What did the ocean barf up this time?". I favor terser entries, so where there is a corresponding entry in that table I have put it in square brackets after. Entries that are bold with a "*" should not be replaced after they are rolled.

1. 20th Century Radio & Debris [31]
2. Addictive Air Bubble [81]
3. Alistair the Whale [78]
4. Ambergris [40]
5. Amnesiac Noble [12]
6. Anchored Ghouls [45]
7. Baby [62]
8. Baby Seal [89]
9. Bagpipes [73]
10. Barnacled Pier [58]
11. Barrel of:
1. Nothing
2. Ale [63]
3. Oil [16]
4. Vinegar[22]
5. Wine
6. Admiral Nelson
12. Blood [41]
13. Body* [95]
14. Boot, containing: [1]
1. Nothing
2. Foot with Toe-Ring [13]
3. Prosthetic
4. Crabs
5. Gemstones
6. Smaller Boot
15. Bottle, with Message: [100]
1. From a Castaway
2. Warning to PC from Future Self
3. Old Love-Letter
4. Plea for Help from Noble
5. Deed to Creepy Island
6. Treasure Map
16. Bottles, Broken [6]
17. Box of Chocolates [75]
18. Bridge
19. Capstan
20. Chalk [56]
21. Chest of MLT [23]
22. Chill Sea Serpent [84]
23. Cloak of the Manta Ray [91]
24. Coracle
25. Crate of Rations* [32]
26. Creepy Masthead [21]
27. Crystal Ball [87]
28. Cursed Sand-Counter [46]
29. Diary of a Time Traveler [10]
30. Dog [82]
31. Dragon Turtle Shell
32. Driftwood [34]
33. Drunk Assholes [70]
34. Escaped Rowing-slave [15]
35. Eavesdropping Seashell [60]
36. Evil Mermaid Wizard [3]
37. Famous Painting [9]
38. Fishing Net [67]
39. Fleet of Paper Boats
40. Floating City, Run Aground [99]
41. Floating Wizard's Tower
42. Floating Zombie
43. Formal Invitations to Poseidon's Party [37]
44. Garbage [55]
45. Genie in a Bottle [33]
46. Ghost Ship [20]
47. Giant Egg, Hatches in (1d6x2)² Hours [14]
48. Giant Oar
49. Giant Ornery Clam [35]
50. Grand Piano [19]
51. Hallucinogenic Kelp [11]
52. Haunted Treasure Chest [4]
53. Hecate [80]
54. Iceberg
55. Incandescent Sea-Slime [79]
56. Invading Military Force [59]
57. Jaunty Sea-Snail [39]
58. Lifeboat (False Bottom) [18]
59. Lobster Trap (1d6-1 Lobsters)
60. Lodestone [64]
61. Loose Buoy
62. Loose Oranges (1d6x100) [77]
63. Love Bomb [97]
64. Lovers [69]
65. Moldy Rope [57]
66. Murderous Mutineer [5]
67. Namor [66]
68. Nereid [38]
69. Oil Slick
70. Oracle Tortoise [61]
71. PC Sibling [17]
72. PC's Favorite Bag [86]
73. Pirate Philosophers [26]
74. Pirates Burying Rum [92]
75. Pleasure Barge [54]
76. Poltergeist with Anchor [27]
77. Pumice
78. Queen Seekers [28]
79. Rando Sailor*
80. Random Potion
81. Refugees [44]
82. Rower Golem
83. Sailcloth
84. Sea Chariot [76]
85. Sea Devil [68]
86. Seagull [51]
87. Ship's Manifest [74]
88. Ship's Mast
89. Skipping Stone [65]
90. Soul-Swapping Sea Cucumber [88]
91. Swimmer Racing Shark [43]
92. Tiny Deity [48]
93. Trail to the Far Lands [7]
94. Tricorne Hat [90]
95. Trident [72]
96. Upright Mirror
97. Vikings [96]
98. Waterskin*
99. Wooden Shoes [83]
100. World-Shattering Horror [98]

"I Search the Body…" (1d100+1d6)

There is an implied real-world setting to some of these. Entries that are bold with a "*" should not be replaced after they are rolled.

1-50. Number of sp equal to d100 roll just thrown.*

51. Abacus
52. Astrolabe
53. Auger
54. Barometer, Wrong
55. Block & Tackle
56. Chalk
57. Coded Message
58. Compass
59. Contagious Tattoo
60. Crowbar
61. Cup-and-Ball Toy
62. Deck of Cards
63. Dowsing Rods
64. Ear Trumpet
65. Fine Perfume
66. Flares (1d6)
67. Flask of Rum*
68. Flute
69. Giant Shark Tooth
70. Grappling Hook
71. Grenades (1d6)
72. Hand-Hooks (1d6)
73. Hatchet
74. Keys
75. Knitting Needles
76. Letter of Marque
77. Live Fish
78. Mattock Head
79. Mop Heads (1d6)
80. Packet of Seeds
81. Pearl Eyeball
82. Pocket Bible, Annotated
83. Political Pamphlet
84. Rations* (1d6)
85. Scrimshaw
86. Sea Salt
87. Seaglass
88. Sewing Kit
89. Sextant
90. Silk Rope
91. Snuffbox Full of Parmesan
92. Spare Flag:
1. Dutch
2. English
3. French
4. Portuguese
5. Spanish
6. Other
93. Spyglass
94. Treasure Map
95. Tuning Fork
96. Voodoo Doll
97. Wanted Poster for:
1. Corpse
2. Party Patron
3. PC
4. PC's Sister
5. Rando
6. Rival
98. Waterskin*
99. Weights & Scale
100. Whistle

Addendum

I have removed a mention of a product by Zak S. and also a link to some work I did related to his Discord server. For more information, see my post here.

Creatures of Near Kingdoms

I made a Goodreads account just to review this book (although hopefully it will encourage me to be more thoughtful in my reading). I'm afraid that whatever I do, my reviewing style will probably be very dry, but FWIW, I really enjoyed this book.

Creatures of Near Kingdoms by Zedeck Siew
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The book is ~160 pages, paperback, liberally illustrated with woodcuts. There are 25 flora and 50 fauna inside, with each described on the right-hand page via a short second-person vignette with ecological digressions, and illustrated on the left-hand page. It could be described as a bestiary of a near-future mythical Malaysia.
I loved this book. The second-person narration seems strange at first, but it quickly becomes very comfortable, like the voice you talk to yourself in your head with. I don't think you are meant to be a specific person. Instead, each new vignette gives you new family, new surroundings that immerse you in the narrative much more deeply. The creatures are not described scientifically, but rather they are brought to life by the ways that they interact with your newly-assumed everyday life.
My heart was broken several times and I laughed out loud a few times also.
It is hard to describe the illustrations in a way that do them justice, but they are critical to the mission of the book.

View all my reviews

You probably don't need to know this, but for whatever reason, some books take me months to get through, and some books I read overnight (this doesn't seem to affect my enjoyment either way). Despite its format suggesting the former, I devoured this book. Maybe it was the anticipation while it was in the mail.

You can order Creatures of Near Kingdoms here, or by contacting Zedeck directly (he is on tumblr, instagram, G+, etc.).

What's the Deal with this Island? (Pt. 1.5)

To my shame, I missed the relevant generators on Abulafia in my previous roundup.

Ancient Greek Island Names

Where to get it

Abulafia, but apparently it is drawn from AGON.

What is it

Generates five plausible names of Greek islands every refresh. Underneath, it appears to be a flat table of ~100 entries (I didn't count).

Sample Output

• Kandeloussa
• Kefalonia
• Mykonos
• Armathia
• Vous

Notes

Could be useful in a specifically Greek campaign, but doesn't give any insight into the island, so not great in a pinch. Risk of duplicates if used a lot.

Island

Where to get it

Abulafia

What is it

Generates ten island outlines every refresh. Underneath it's a mess of nested tables (which is what Abulafia does best, and which also would be really annoying as dice-rolling exercises).

Sample Output

• Plentiful Island. Stream. Catoblepas. Tarn. Hill. Stream.
• Luxuriant Island. Cave. Marble.
• Teeming Island. . Hill.
• Sandy Island. Poisonous rivulet. Porous Lava Spring.
• Rugged Isle. Hill.
• Monstrous Island. Giant rats. . Hill. Water naga. Giant lampreys. Promontory. Hill.
• Teeming Island. Dormant fissure volcano. Hill. Stream. Agate.
• Barren Rocks. No features. Try again!
• Meager Isle. Warm spring.
• Luxuriant Island. Cave. Active dome volcano. Mountain. Stream. Hill. Hill. Cliff. Stream.

Notes

I like some of the specificity it gives that wouldn't normally appear. For example, and island made of agate is great! And it gives some of the same "ecosystem" type stuff that I like about other generators. But it also requires a little extra parsing (e.g. "Mountain. Stream. Hill. Hill. Cliff. Stream."), and not every detail is relevant. Also, a lot of the more interesting results are less likely due to the nesting nature of the tables.

Addendum

I have removed a mention of Zak S's Discord server and also a link to some work I did related to it. For more information, see my post here.