TEXT: Random and unexpected events can help give 
  your campaign a realistic verisimilitude. It gives 
  the players the idea their characters exist in a real 
  breathing world and things are occurring outside 
  the scope of their limited perceptions. ey can 
  experience unexpected weather, witness strange 
  actions that make little sense when you don’t know 
  their context, or encounter other travelers all over 
  the campaign world.  
  ese random events should be used judiciously; 
  you don’t want to derail the adventurers while they’re 
  doggedly pursuing clues in their quest to uncover 
  the location of the Harem of the Concubines of 
  the Rakshasha. But you do want to add some spice 
  when the action slacks off, or the adventurers are 
  kicking their heels trying to figure out what their 
  next move should be. 
  e random events listed in this installment 
  of the GM’s Cookbook take place on the road 
  while the adventurers are traveling from location 
  to another, or traveling overland through the 
  wilderness. ese events are left open-ended; 
  you’ll have to improvise if the players 
  wish to involve themselves in the event 
  but isn’t that when some of the most 
  memorable 
  roleplaying 
  moments 
  occur? When things go off the 
  rails and something unexpected 
  and 
  unpredictable 
  just 
  happens.
  
  ON THE ROAD
  e following ten entries are appropriate for 
  random events on and well-traveled road or trail. 
  1 
  ere is an abandoned wagon in the road 
  ahead. It is stuck in a muddy rut and has lost 
  a wheel. It is full of rotting fruit that is being 
  picked over by insects and small animals from 
  the nearby wood. 
  2 
  e bodies of several gnolls strung from the 
  high branches of nearby trees sway in the 
  wind. e bodies are all riddled with arrows 
  with bright red fletchings. A large puddle of 
  congealed blood lies below the bodies.  
  3 
  A bridge ahead that crosses a small gorge is 
  completely covered in thick, stringy webs. As 
  the adventurers approach the see an enormous 
  web extends below the bridge, between both 
  sides of the gorge. e web contains the bodies 
  of several dead horses, a few saddles, and 
  several partially smashed crates, but no people. 
  ere are no spiders large or small to be found. 
  e adventurers can easily hack through the 
  webs covering the top of the bridge. 
  4 
  A column of chanting monks passes going 
  the opposite direction. ey chant in a strange 
  guttural tongue and march under a cloud of 
  incense that pours from their censers. 
  5 
  A haggard and bedraggled halfling approaches 
  along the road from the opposite direction. 
  She tells a sad story of being chased by bandits 
  who rode out of the wood. Her horse went 
  lame after she eluded them and she was forced 
  to put it down. She cut some meat from the 
  horse to help her on the remainder of her 
  journey but has now run out of food and water. 
  She asks the adventurers if they can spare 
  anything to help her complete the last leg of 
  her journey. 
  6 
  e adventurers catch sight of a fierce looking 
  orc staring out from the wooded perimeter 
  at the side of the road. He has wild, hate-
  filled eyes and holds a spear over his head. 
  Closer inspection reveals the “orc” is actually 
  an expertly carved statute made from the 
  remainders of a fallen tree. It is painted just as 
  brilliantly and looks realistic even up close. At 
  a distance it is indistinguishable from the real 
  thing. 
  7 
  A large boulder blocks the road ahead. 
  Inspection reveals that it either fell from a 
  great height or was driven into the ground be 
  tremendous force.  
  8 
  An unexpected cloudburst has caused a nearby 
  stream to overflow and floods the road ahead. 
  e hard rain and soaked terrain not only 
  makes for hard traveling but may make it hard 
  to stay on the road.  
  9 
  e adventurers notice there are several freshly 
  dug holes in the road ahead. ese are large 
  enough to cause problems for a cart or wagon 
  and need to be navigated around by those on 
  horseback. After another ten minutes of travel 
  the adventurers round a bend in the road and 
  discover a dirt-covered dwarf is busy digging 
  up the road with a shovel and pick. He eyes 
  the adventurers suspiciously. He’s convinced 
  an ancient treasure cache is buried here and is 
  afraid someone may be trying to beat him to 
  it. 
  10 A fork in the road bears a moss-covered 
  stone marker indicating directions to the next 
  destinations along either path. e marker 
  has been defaced and the names have been 
  chiseled off. Hung from the tree branch above 
  the marker is a holy symbol of the god of 
  death. 
  IN THE WILDERNESS
  e following ten entries are appropriate for 
  random events while traveling overland or through 
  the woods. 
  1 
  e adventurers happen upon a woodsman 
  digging a grave. Another woodsman lies dead 
  
  with an arrow in his chest. e woodsman 
  will panic upon seeing the adventurers and 
  immediately begin to explain himself. He 
  claims he shot his friend accidentally while 
  the two were hunting in this wood. ey 
  are several days from home and he couldn’t 
  possibly carry his friend, a much larger man, 
  all that distance. 
  2 
  e adventurers are trekking through a wood 
  when several frogs drop from the sky around 
  them. A few moments later a Fortean rain 
  ensues as frogs begin falling from the sky. 
  3 
  A massive tree falls nearby. e adventurers 
  spy, through the thick cover of trees, a giant 
  beaver pulling the fallen tree towards a river in 
  the distance. 
  4 
  In a clearing ahead stands the remains of a 
  burned-down cabin. Several charred bodies 
  can be found inside, but anything valuable 
  has long since been picked over. e cause of 
  the fire is not evident, and the trees and grass 
  around the area have either grown back or 
  were left unmarked by the fire. 
  5 
  e adventurers encounter several snares and 
  traps in the overgrown woodland ahead of 
  them. Fortunately these traps have been here 
  for years and the ropes have rotted and the 
  metal components have rusted, rendering 
  everything inoperable and harmless. Inspection 
  of the traps by a character with the appropriate 
  knowledge or skills will reveal that the traps 
  were designed to catch either large animals, or 
  possibly humans and humanoids.  
  
  6 
  e adventurers witness a meteor come crashing 
  down on the planet. is can happen during 
  the day but would be much more spectacular 
  at night. e meteor punches through the 
  side of several trees, sets some bushes and 
  undergrowth alight and cuts a jagged rut in 
  the ground. e meteor offers no danger or 
  great mystery to the adventurers (other than 
  being red hot for several hours after impact). If 
  the characters can haul it along with them they 
  could sell it to a blacksmith who could use the 
  metal to make weapons and armor. 
  7 
  A small clearing is covered in short dark green 
  grass. In the middle of the clearing stands a 
  ring of toadstools, a fairy ring. Depending 
  on your campaign this could be a mundane 
  coincidence, an ill omen, or something with 
  true magical significance (turning those 
  entering the ring blind, cursing them, or 
  transporting them to the kingdom of the 
  faefolk). 
  8 
  e adventurers nearly trip over the pommels 
  of rusty broken swords and the edges of rusted 
  shields that are all protruding from the muddy 
  ground. is was the site of a great battle 
  decades ago and there is ruined weapons, 
  rusted armor, and skeletons embedded in the 
  soft soil. 
  9 
  Gusty winds start whipping through the trees, 
  kicking up dust and leaves. e trees bend and 
  creak. e adventurers are nearly knocked over 
  every time a gust cuts through the woods. 
  It makes for rough going as the characters 
  are buffeted by the wind and battered by 
  whipping branches. e winds carry strange 
  sounds, which may or may not be a trick of the 
  weather. 
  10 From overhead the adventurers hear someone 
  calling down to them. An elf is perched in a 
  tree forty feet above the ground. He has a large 
  longbow in his hand and his quiver hangs from 
  a branch close at hand. He quietly explains 
  that he’s been perched there for days waiting 
  for a dire creature that’s been terrorizing that 
  part of the woods. He urges the characters to 
  move on quickly so they don’t spoil his hunt or 
  accidentally encounter the dangerous creature 
  themselves.  
  GM’S COOKBOOK: RANDOM EVENTS #2
  By Michael Todd
  GM’s Cookbook: Random Events #2 is TM and © 2008 Michael 
  Todd. Reference to other copyrighted material in no way constitutes 
  a challenge to the respective copyright holders of that material. Some 
  artwork is from the Image Portfolio series. 
  Big Finger Games, the Big Finger Games logo are trademarks 
  owned by Michael Todd. All Right Reserved. is document is a 
  work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, 
  or events is purely coincidental.
  
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